Ready for Spring!

Took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for Valentine's Day

Lexi - Artist #1Jordyn - Artist #2

Well I don't know that I've ever made this statement before but it seems like winter just flew by. I don't know if it's because we've been busy or just that I wasn't dwelling on how much I hate winter. Anyways, I'm excited to have Spring here and to get started on opening up that trailer! It's like by the end of the season I'm ready to be done with it and halfway through winter I can't wait to get back up there.
My sister decided to stay in town until this summer which made us very happy. Maybe that contributed to my fast winter. I had someone to spend more time with while she is taking care of lil Cutty. I can believe that Jordyn is going to be 2 in just over a month and she already starting to potty train. She has a long way to go but I wasn't sure I was ready for her to be that big yet and then I thought "No more diapers!" I can deal with this.
I am a little bummed that Ken & I will not be going away on vacation this year. Our friends will be heading to Las Vegas in a couple weeks and we just couldn't work it out to join them. Every time I see that someone else is going away, I am crazy jealous :)
Well, I think that's it for now. Zac is busy as always with sports and school, Alexis is ready to sign up for preschool next year and I am looking forward to a nice long spring/summer/fall!

A little bit of everything...

Well a lot has been going on since my last post. We had a very busy Christmas and left the day after for Florida. We insanely packed 7 of us in a minivan and drove straight through to Orlando. It was probably worse on the adults than it was on the kids. We spent most of the afternoon on Saturday napping :) We had exceptionally warm weather and spent 2 days down by the pool area and 1 day Disney World (Magic Kingdom). The rest of the time we just hung out with family and did some shopping.

The last couple weeks I've spent trying to catch up after being gone. I think I've been doing laundry that entire time and still had a few family/friend gatherings to go to. We went to Lansing to visit our friends and see Gretchen & Cory's beautiful "new" house. And this past weekend we had our last "Christmas" gathering with Ken's dad. We were back at the Ramada Inn for a night of swimming & maybe a little drinking :) Hope everyone is having a great start to 2009 and hopefully we'll see you all soon!

Cory & his God daughter - Jordyn & God son - CarterGretchen & her God daughter - Alexis & God son- Carter Alexis got a hair cut - now Jordyn has longer hair!Matching jammies from GretchenJordyn swimming like a fish!Had to add this one - Daddy making jewelry with Alexis :)

Bring on the Holidays!

Well we've been busy again with my sister having her baby to Zac playing basketball to getting ready for Christmas.
Toni & Cut had their baby boy Cutivetti Fennon Dye II on 11/17/08. Both are doing very well at home. Toni is still a little sore from having an unexpected C-section but is getting out more and more each day (and already is wearing some of her own clothes - so not fair!).Zac is playing basketball for middle school this year. They are not having the best season as far as wins go but Zac seems to be getting better as the season progresses. He really loves playing and it has encouraged him a little more in school too. He was nominated for Student of the Month in December. We go to a ceremony on 12/16 to hear why he was nominated, etc. I'm so proud of him!

Zac at North Rockford (let's just say this wasn't a very good game for them)

Alexis is crazy excited for Christmas this year. It is the first year that she is understanding Santa Claus and the anticipation of the whole thing. Jordyn just copies whatever her sister is doing so when Alexis starts jumping up and down and yelling "SANTA!" she just follows along - so cute! These 2 are definitely sisters and I get a glimpse of our years to come with them. One minute they are are pushing and fighting and the next minute they are holding hands and hugging. Oh how wonderful the teen years will be :)

Well I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and if we don't see you before a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are leaving for Florida the day after Christmas and will be gone through the new year. Something different for us to be gone around Christmas but I hope it will be fun to be around our family down there for part of the holiday season. Love to you all!So hard to get a good picture of all 3Trying to decorate the house for Christmas was definitely a challenge this year but fun!

Busy Fall....

Ok so it's been a while since I posted. We had 2 birthdays, lots of fall activities and Halloween to keep us busy :)
Alexis turned 3 and had a ball at her party. We went to Play World with our friends Stacy, Elsa & Molly (grandma came along too). She got to run and play, have pizza for dinner and then home for the cake, ice cream & presents.

Alexis' birthday cake

Trying on her new princess gear

Scanning every present she got with her new cash register

At Play World w/ Elsa

We also visited 3 orchards/pumpkin patches again this year - Robinette's, Post & Uncle John's. We had a lot of fun at all of them except next year I hope it's not 85 degrees when we go to Uncle John's. Kids get a little cranky when they are sweating to death in the hot sun in a pumpkin patch - in case you didn't already know that :) We also drove to Milwaukee for a weekend to meet up w/ the Beach's. We had a very nice, relaxing weekend and I look forward to planning another one soon!

1st Pumpkins of the year - ones they could hold

Picking a pumpkin @ Post Family FarmHayride @ Post Family FarmTrying to get a group shot @ Uncle John's - I think Brenna is the only one that is totally missing from the picture

And last was Halloween. We had a great time trick-or-treating. Jordyn made it about half way around the neighborhood. Alexis was not giving up until we hit every house, even though she had given up on walking and I was pulling her in the wagon for the second half. Zac went to his dad's house this year. I think to get away with trick or treating another year or at least that's what I think ;)

I hope everyone else was enjoying the great Fall weather we've had. One more plug before I go - my mom & I have a booth again at the Byron Center Craft Fair this Saturday (9am - 3pm). Come and see us if you have time! We are selling the Cuddle Bug Blankets, Burp Cloths and Hooded Towels again so if you need any baby gifts for the holidays or new one on the way, come and visit.

Busy Weekend

Well I'm happy to say that this weekend was a great success! Our annual cookout on Friday was a ton of fun. Again I was disappointed that I didn't get to talk with everyone but I think it happens every year. I should just be used to it by now. I also forgot to get the camera out. Another cookout undocumented but I will try to do better next time.
My sister's baby shower was also a lot of fun and went off without any problems. We had a nice big group and Toni & Cut got a ton of gifts. It's not hard to imagine how spoiled that baby is going to be!
I hope everyone that attended the gatherings this weekend had a good time too. I (we) really had fun putting them on and look forward to many more gatherings with family & friends in the future!

The cake - red velvet....yummy!

Toni & her girlfriendsOpening presents - Cut came to help outNef, Toni & me

Family Pics

Jordyn being stubborn - now you see the way the evening went.

Probably one of the best shots

Maybe the happiest Jordyn was the whole time - w/ a cell phone in her hand!

Not a bad one

Is the resemblence scary to anyone else besides me!

We finally received our proofs. It really didn't take that long but it seemed like because I was so excited to see the outcome. Jordyn was not really in the picture mood as you will see from some of the pictures but they still turned out pretty great. I just love having a more relaxed atmosphere for taking our pictures. I just would have been horrified to have been in a studio while Jordyn was not wanting to sit still. I think that we would have probably bailed if that were the case. So thank you so much to Jesamin @ Emery & Co for being so patient with us :)

She always gets a few great pics that are so natural - love them!

Wow - where does the time go?

Really we're standing on top of a huge sand dune!

Alexis looking so sweet

Safety 1st is Jordyn's motto @ the beach!

Alexis and her summertime bf - Jack

The crew - Noordyke's, Bergsma's, Schneider's & Zimmer's

Well it seems like it was just the week before Labor Day and now we are already to the middle of September. Zac started the 7th grade this year. So far things are going well hopefully we can keep up the great focus on school that he has right now. I think it has helped a little that he didn't play football this year and we aren't running off to practices or a game every day.
Labor Day week/weekend - the kids and I went up to Sleeping Bear Dunes with my parents, Toni, my Aunt Jan & cousin Oksana. FridayI left for the trailer with the girls and Zac stayed up with the rest of the family. I was a little sad to see our camping season come to an end. We had a lot of fun this year up there and will be counting down the days until we can start it all over.
We just celebrated Ken's 32nd birthday and had a good-bye dinner for some good friends of ours. The Schneider's are moving to North Carolina at the end of the month and will be greatly missed around here. It will be nice to have an excuse to travel to NC but they will be terribly missed on a regular basis. We also had our family pictures finally taken so stay tuned for some updated photos of the whole bunch!