a day at rib mountain

We spent a day up on Rib Mountain with the kids during peak fall colors. Talk about beautiful! We were able to ride the ski lifts up and down the slopes. The kids were amazed...as were we. It was just gorgeous! It makes me so thankful to be living in Wisconsin. We'll see how I feel a few months from now...

huge pile o' leaves

After consolidating our front yard leaves with the neighbors, we had quite a mountain for the kids to play in. They had SUCH a great time. Bill and our neighbor Jon were just launching them. They kept saying, "higher! higher!" "again! again!" What a fun day!














Yes, it's true, my kids can fly!

Buried in leaves...

Birthday Girl

Anna turned 4 years old on August 4th, her golden birthday! She had been talking about her birthday for about 364 days. She got to have two parties this year, one in Park Falls over Flambeau Rama weekend with all of her extended family, and another at our house with some of her little friends. It was a special weekend for her and she's very excited to be a whole year older. She is excited to be four because she gets to go to preschool and can ride on some big girl rides at the fair.

4th of July

We had a great time at the lake on the 4th of July weekend. Slaytons were visiting from Florida and we had our annual party out at Nanny & Papa's. We all had a blast in the water and on the boats. The weather was perfect and the water was refreshing. We all got beautiful tans and thousands of mosquito bites. Daddy and Chris had quite a fireworks show. It was pretty amazing. The kids made it through about 5 minutes of the show, then zonked out simultaneously in our laps. The fresh air and lack of an afternoon snooze was just too much for them, despite the loud booms and bangs. The evening ended with more booms and bangs - a performance by Matt, Harrison, Bill, and Chris playing Rock Band in the basement.

Busy summer

We have had a very busy summer with the kids. The move into our new home has kept every free moment occupied. The kids love their loft bedroom and their play room downstairs. Jackson calls everything "new." My "new room," my "new neighbors," my "new grass." Moving has been a difficult concept for them to understand, but they haven't had any challenges in leaving the old house - which we are very thankful for. It's obviously been a lot of work, but it is finally coming together. We love our home and feel very blessed.

I wonder...

I wonder how chasing bubbles never loses it's thrill. I wonder how many diapers I've changed in the last few years. I wonder how Jackson can spin in a circle so many times and not throw up. I wonder if I'll ever learn to play the piano. I wonder how a person can live their life believing there is no God. I wonder how much money I've spent at Wal-mart in my lifetime...even though I don't think I want to find out. I wonder how Bill can wake up at 4:15 am every day. I wonder what goes through Anna's head at night when she tries to fabricate the next excuse to sleep with mom and dad. I wonder how many hours a day the neighbor's dogs are wishing they were outside playing with our kids. I wonder if I'll ever take my dream vacation. I wonder how many pairs of sunglasses I have lost. I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I wonder what I'd look like if I worked out every day. I wonder how I find the time to update our blog. I wonder when (if) I will ever be debt-free. I wonder how lost people would be without cell phones. I wonder how a person could possibly write a dictionary. I wonder when Jesus is coming back. I wonder what I would change about myself if I had my life to live over. I wonder if my kids will think I'm cool when they're teenagers...probably not. Why am I writing all of this...I wonder.

there is nothing sweeter

There is truly nothing sweeter than watching your kids walk hand in hand. And it's fun to walk behind them when they do. Everyone they meet can't help but grin. I wonder if they even know they're being cute. I wonder if they know they make people smile and say, "Awww!" and "How precious!" As active as a 2 and 3 year old can be, there are the tenderest of moments that a mother will never forget.

memorial day

We spent Memorial Day at Oak Island with the Amstutz family. The kids had a blast running and playing and soaking up the warm sun. It was great to spend a day with Eric and Kara before their big move to South Bend.

the shrine circus

We took the kids to the circus on May 25th. It was quite impressive. It's been so many years since either Bill or I had been to a circus and we both really enjoyed it. So many of the acts just blew us away. We watched an elephant play a trumpet and skip in a circle. We saw tigers and a lion jump through rings of fire. We saw amazing acrobatics acts and five motorcycles in a globe cage. It was great fun! Hope they're back next year!

at the lake

Mother's Day

Great-grandma Rosie is always begging the kids to sit for a nice picture with her. Those of us who know toddlers at all know what a difficult process that is when there's a grandma who wants to squeeze and kids who want to get down and run. So anyway, I am very proud of this photograph and wanted to share it with everyone. The best part is, Grandma snuck in behind the kids and they didn't even know she was there. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

AWANA awards night

Congratulations Anna! Anna recieved an award for finishing her first Cubbies book! She got to go up on stage in front of church to get her new cubbie bear she'll wear on her vest. She memorized so many bible verses! We're very proud of her! I believe it was about 40 verses! She loves Cubbies and is sad she won't be going back this Wednesday.

anna & abby

Anna had her friend Abby over for an afternoon. They were busy little girls. They played dollies, painted pictures, played outside on the swings and in the sandbox, and played dress-up. What a fun day for the girls!

anna's new little friend

When I pulled up in the driveway after work on Tuesday, Anna came running from the backyard with a little painted turtle she had found. She named her new little buddy Franklin. It was pretty sweet. She made a little nest for him and tried to feed him grass and weeds. It was pretty sad for her that she couldn't keep him, but we decided it would be best to release him down by the lake later that evening.

tessa's first little smile

Anna, Jackson, and Mommy went to the hospital on Wednesday the 30th to visit again. I captured this photo that I just had to share. It looks like Tessa is giggling and cooing at her mommy. This just melts my heart.

baby tessa is here!

Tessa Karilyn Weik was born on Tuesday, April 28th (one day after her due date). She was 7lbs 11oz and 20 1/2 inches. Heather's labor was very rough and resulted in a c-section. Tessa was a trooper though and was very healthy. Momma is doing very well considering all she had to go through. We prayed really hard for them during the difficult process and we thank the Lord they are both healthy and there were no complications.



Anna loves her new little cousin so much. She talks so sweet to her in a cute little high pitched voice. She's still a little nervous around her because she's so tiny, but she'll get over that soon I'm sure.


Jackson, on the other hand, cannot keep his hands off her. He is, to say the least, completely fascinated with her. He held her like a big boy and likes to watch her little movements when she sleeps. He's going to be a good buddy for her.


We are all so happy she is here. She is a little sweetheart and we're all completely smitten. Congratulations Trent and Heather! You've got a precious little girl!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." James 1:17

happy birthday ellie!

Ellie turned two on April 13th. Ben & Megan had a party for her on the 20th when Ben had gotten home from Texas. It ended up being the first day of the year in the 70's. The kids had a lot of fun outside. Anna played football with the McEvoy boys and had all of us in awe. She grabbed the ball and ran like the wind. They tried to tackle her, but she was just unstoppable! That's my girl!

jurassic jack

Jackson plays like such a big boy now. I'll find him in his room making his dinosaurs roar and tromp around or having two cars crash together. (I know...he sounds like such a destructive kid.) Trust me, he's not. He is more gentle with Anna's baby dolls than she is.

A friend of mine once told me, "The years seem to fly by faster than the days." I have really found truth to that statement. Some days seem to stand still, but it seems like yesterday when the kids were tiny helpless little babies.

anna got her ears pierced

Yep, you read it right! Anna got her ears pierced on Saturday, March 29th! We were shopping one day and she saw some pretty earrings she wanted to get. I explained to her that she couldn't wear earrings until her ears were pierced.

Saturday afternoon, she and Bill were out on a date together and she asked him if he would take her to get earrings. He didn't know anything about it, so of course consulted mommy first. After going through the process with her, she decided she wanted to have them done that afternoon.

So after grabbing the camera (of course) we went to the Wausau mall and got them done. She was such a big girl. As you can tell from the pictures, she got a little nervous (poor little honey), but she really did remarkably well.

She is such a proud little girl! She shows everyone she comes into contact with that she has diamonds in her ears now. They really are cute on her. What a milestone!

easter greetings

He has risen! Greetings to everyone! We hope you had a blessed Easter.

The kids had a great time with the egg hunt at Nanny & Papa's house on Easter Sunday. As Anna says, "We got lots of stuff in our Easter baskets, like candies and toys and monies."

I think this year Anna has begun to grasp the concept of why we truly celebrate Easter. She can tell us the whole story about Christ's death and resurrection and even quote several verses.

With our kids, we try to emphasize the true meaning of the holidays we celebrate and make sure they know we are pretending the Easter bunny comes and pretending Santa Claus comes. Easter morning, I asked Jackson "Should we go and find your basket? Who do we pretend hides your basket?" "Ho Ho!" He exclaimed. We thought that was pretty cute.

Our buckaroo turned 2!

Our little guy turned two on February 24th. It's truly amazing how fast that time goes. He is such a big boy now. He is talking up a storm. He can count to 14, helps clean the house, shoot baskets like a pro (Papa's game as he calls it), colors pretty well for a 2 year old, and cleans his plate + whatever Anna doesn't eat. We had a birthday party for him on the 24th. He got to pick out his own cake at the grocery store. He loves Lightning McQueen, so it was his first choice. He had fun opening his presents (and laying in the middle of them apparently). He got lots of great gifts for his birthday. He got some new tracks for his train set, a tent and sleepingbag, a dumptruck, helicopter, and bulldozer, an activity center, a racetrack for his hot wheels cars, a tee ball set, and lots of cute clothes! What a spoiled kid! Thank you to everyone!

Snow much fun!

Well, I do believe we've got record breaking snowfalls this year. Although it's been a lot of work with our shovels, it sure has been a gorgeous winter and a lot of fun with the kids! It seems like this week the storms are just not going to stop. We'll have to make the most of it now before it all turns to slush. Right now the banks by our driveway tower over the kids. I feel a snowman family photo comin' up soon!