Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Jake's really cool job :)

Froerer Reunion 2012

A few memorable moments:
1. Theme: the Amazing Race, Location: Huntsville.  
2. We attempted to camp out in Grandma Froerer's backyard, but the wind blew a storm in and blew our tent away.  In an effort to quickly rescue it, we tried to stuck it in the garage, but not without putting a hole in the top. Of our brand new family tent.  But it was for the best, because the kids went to bed inside and slept great, and Jake and I attempted to sleep on the patio.  Until about 3 in the morning when we were on the ground because of a hole in our air mattress.  So we bailed and found a twin mattress and some couch cushions to sleep on in the basement.  I think our total sleep was about 2 hours.  :)  
3. Evan singing Called to Serve
4. Feeding the horses
5. Swinging, of course
6. Making pipe cleaner flowers for Grandpa's Grave (part of the Amazing Race)
7. The kids' activities, including a fish pond where Ethan scored some awesome heart sunglasses.
8. Swimming At Bryce and Joan's afterwards
9. Enjoying Grandma's backyard.  I could watch my boys play there all day.  It is therapeutic.  And every time I finally make it up there, I think, Why don't I do this more often?!




Owen's cute cheese face!













Jake's Birthday...31!

This big hunk had a birthday way back in August!  
And he is the big 31! 
 I feel so young that I'm still in my twenties.  :)
So I would like to write 31 reasons why I am so glad he was born.
But I am now almost two months past the day, and so I will just say that I love you and love you and love you, thirty one times.  :)
Really, I'm so lucky he is mine!
See how cute he is? 




Boy, that's a LOT of candles!  :)




A giant snickerdoodle!  I guess this might be becoming a tradition! 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Visitors from Arizona

Back in September, Taylor, Kaitlin and their two girls came for a visit.  It was so fun to have the Merkley cousins here and they all played so well together!  We are also thrilled that they now live in Arizona, a much more do-able drive, so we can hopefully see them more often, both here and in AZ!

While they were here we went to the zoo and thoroughly enjoyed Rizzo's performance in the pool, spent time in Wallsburg, and enjoyed some time on the boat.  It was a great time!

The Zoo with Grammy
I love this attempt at all the grandkids!  I think it says it all.  :)


The kids LOVED this!  Rizzo would flip around and come up at the glass, over and over.  And every time he did, Owen would growl.  It was so fun to watch!  If you haven't been to the zoo to see Rizzo, you gotta go.  

CUTE!
Owen, Ethan, Christian, Nora, Eliza

Riding the train for the last time before it was closed for the renovation for the Savana project
 Funny story about riding the carousel...
Christian and Ethan have had no interest in riding the carousel, in fact they refused to.  Well, Christian rode it for the first time last spring while at the zoo with his preschool.  And he rode on the stationary bench.  This time he wanted to ride again, but he chose the giraffe to ride on, the stationary giraffe that does not go up and down.  Meanwhile, Ethan was brave and rode on an animal that went up and down.  Well, we went to the zoo again a week ago and Christian and Ethan were both excited to ride on animals that went up and down! Slow and steady, Christian overcame his carousel fear!  :)

WALLSBURG
We all couldn't get enough of Owen enjoying his ice cream!


The Grandkids with their Great-Grandparents


Traditional blueberry buttermilk pancakes--YUM!
On the BOAT







Jake finally convinced Christian to get on the tube!  At first he was a bit mad about it, but in the end he had a great time!  Jake did a good job making it fun.  :)


I love this pic!
 And then Ethan didn't even have to be dragged on like Christian.  He is always the braver one.  :)  He had fun too!

Daddy is so fun!



Look who has a BIG bike!

We were lucky that Christian's friend down the street got a bigger bike, and they had no use for this cute 12 inch.  I had planned to get Ethan one for Christmas, since he's been telling me he "needs a big bike like Christian."  You should have seen the look on his face when they brought the bike to our house, we put the training wheels back on, and I told Ethan this bike was for him!  His whole face lit up in this smile, and he didn't stop smiling (or riding the bike) for days.  It was priceless.


this little brother likes big bikes too!  :)



Ethan rides his bike down to the school and back every day.  And let me explain that it is down hill to the school the whole way, and therefore UP hill the whole way home.  And he RIDES his bike every step of the way!  I am impressed every time.  He'll be off those training wheels before long!