Halt!

Jeremy's marathon training has suddenly taken a serious halt. He found out today that he has a stress fracture in his femur. He can hardly walk, let alone run. The running specialist that he saw today told him that he should not run the Grandma's Marathon coming up next month. They actually told him that he would be lucky to be able to run one mile after two weeks of recovery. So, cross-training on a bike or in a pool it is for now to stay in shape.

We are still planning on a great weekend in Duluth in June though. I am running my first every 5K (hopefully!!) and Julie is going to be running the marathon too. We are going to cheer her on while we take a ride on the Marathon Train!

She said "Yes!"

My dear sister Stephanie is engaged! Yesterday Tim asked if she would be his wife and she said yes. We are all thrilled for them. Tim is a wonderful man and he will be a great husband.

Unfortunately, this is the only photo I have of them onhand...

They make a great pair of Christmas Trees!!

Swanky Swigs & Adventures in Self Feeding

Swanky Swigs are small juice glasses that originated in the 1930s. They began as Kraft cheese spread containers. Once people finished the cheese they cleaned out the container and used it as a glass. The popularity of these glasses flourished and more glasses were designed throughout the depression era. Today you can find them at antique stores running between $6-9 dollars each, depending on condition and make. I was introduced to these cute little swigs from Great Rose. She has a collection of them at her home in Hayward. They are so detailed and different. I love them. My mother-in-law have me two of my very own for Christmas this past year.

As Jack begins to learn to drink from a regular cup these Swanky Swigs have come in handy! They are perfect for his little hands and mouth. He does a great job...but we have had several soaked shirts. He is also learning to feed himself. I thought you might enjoy these pictures of him eating oatmeal for breakfast this morning. It took more time to clean him up than it did for him to devour the meal!

One Fruitful Group

We have had a group of married couples meeting in our home for the past year every other Tuesday evening. It has been a great opportunity to get to know our friends on a deeper level and to be challenged by growing in God's Word together. We have been studying Job and parenting this year.

Last night we celebrated the end of our year with a potluck. It was a great time of fellowship. With nine couples participating, seven of whom have children, the house can seem quite full at times. Here is a picture of the bounty of this group - eleven children ALL under the age of two and a half! Oh, and we have a hunch that there will be more babies to come! As a matter of fact, one more is due in just three to five short weeks!

(Titus - 2 weeks, Timmy - 2 1/2, Tamar - 18 mo, Alayna - 6 mo, Kalea - 22 mo, Ruby - 9 mo, Jonas - 6 mo, Jack - 15 mo, Logan - 15 mo, Arden - 3 mo, Gabe - 23 mo, and coming soon...Sadie)

Question: How do you get 11 little children to pose for a group picture?

Answer: Have all of their fourteen parents sing

"If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands!!!"

5 Years, Mother's Day & Animals

Today we spent the morning at the Hugo Animal Farm with some friends from church. It was a great place to visit. Very personal and interactive for kids of all ages. We were able to see rams, ewes & lambs; roosters, hens, chicks and eggs. We even got to hold the chicks in our hands. We were able to feed the cows. We held kittens and puppies, pet bunnies, a lamb, two kids (baby goats), and a piglet. We also went on a fun hayride! What a great day.





On Mother's Day we went to Wisconsin to visit with Jeremy's Grandmother, Eileen. Jack got to see his great grandmother for the second time. He gave her lots of kisses. He loved to run up and down the halls and visit with everyone. His favorite part of the day was petting the dog statue in the entry.



Five Whole Years! On May 10th Jeremy and I celebrated our five year anniversary! To mark the occasion we decided to go on a hot air balloon ride. What fun. We had scheduled to go on our actual anniversary, but Aamodt's Ballooning called us and got us on a private flight the day before. It was such a treat. It was just us and the pilot in the balloon.

Hot air ballooning is such an adventure, much more than just the time spent in the actual balloon. We went to the orchard to meet our crew (Scott, the owner and our pilot & Megan and Tim, our chase crew). We loaded up in a big truck and headed to Wisconsin to take off, since we had an east wind. Balloon pilots are the closest thing you can get to meteorologists. They are constantly checking the weather, currents and any other conditions that can affect our ride. When we arrived at our departure spot, we helped to get the balloon and basket unloaded. They use fans to fill the 6 story balloon with air so that it can hold the heat to get us into the air. We had to wait until the conditions were just right and then they filled the balloon with hot air. All the crew members had to hold the balloon down until it was filled with enough hot air to lift us up quickly so we could avoid a nearby treeline. We had to jump into the basket quickly and off we went.

Our views were so beautiful. We went over western Wisconsin, the St. Croix River, Stillwater, both of the prisons (Stillwater Minimum & Oak Park Heights Maximum) which had inmates out in the yards, and finally landed in someone's yard in Bayport. During our time in the air we noticed that we were going up really really high. We actually hit 3600 feet. Jeremy mentioned this to our pilot. Then I mentioned how we were staying in one spot and it seemed like we weren't moving. It turned out we were in a "thermal," which is like a mini vertical wind tunnel. It sucks you up really high really fast and then shoots out out the top.

After our flight, the pilot said that he realized we were in it right away, but didn't want to freak us out. It was great that we had such an experienced pilot because he kept heat in the balloon (which makes the balloon continue to go up). Apparently, if you don't keep the balloon hot while you are in one of these, if you get to the top and have no heat, you can drop really quickly. We had no idea. Scott did a great job! We highly recommend hot air ballooning, and if you live by us, we highly recommend Aamodt's Hot Air Ballooning. :)

Since we went hot air ballooning on the 9th and we still had a babysitter lined up for the 10th, we decided to take advantage of TWO date nights!!! We celebrated with dinner at the Lake Elmo Inn and talked a lot about where God has taken us in these five years of marriage. We are so amazed at the inner workings of our great God in our marriage. He works in all the little details. We have been challenged by each other and so supported by our church. We are thankful for five blessed years and we so look forward to many many many more!

Sweet Memories

I hold dear memories in my heart of my grandma Sally. A few of my favorites are how I would sit on her lap in the kitchen and sing songs like, "Froggy Went A Courtin." Or how she would let me play with her A-Tracks and Record Player, which I am sure I broke on more than one occasion. I remember her telling me stories that I cannot remember: like biting her ankle while she was on the phone with an important client, or pouring tomato soup over my head just to gain the attention of my cousins. I miss her dearly, and often think of her. Today was her birthday.

We LOVE the Park!

For the last few weeks we have taken full advantage of beautiful days by getting to local parks! What a joy to see Jack growing into a little boy. He loves to be outside. He loves to play in the dirt. He loves to go down the slide, and try to climb back up. He LOVES the swings.