Mid-March Vacay!

This blog post is over a month overdue. I wanted to share about a vacation we took with my parents to Lake of the Ozarks, MO, about a half hour south of us.

We checked my parents into the resort on Saturday night March 16, went out to eat, then our little family of 5 came home to prepare for church the next day. Everyone was out celebrating St. Patty's day that night.

We went back on Sunday afternoon and got settled in. There was a kitchenette there, so we brought most of our own food and were able to eat in.

Tired teddy bear.

Judah and Grandma Linda playing a game she invented with the cribbage board. They also liked to play the board game Sorry!

 Monday, we went to the Bridal Cave and to Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

We visited the Bridal Cave. It left a huge impression on Judah, and somewhat of an impression on Andrew. Whenever they see a billboard advertising the cave, they ALWAYS let me know with great enthusiasm!

Grandpa Allan inside the cave.

I thought this wall was just super cool.

We went out to eat at the Dairy Queen next. The many faces of Judah.

Hepped up on a DQ blizzard.

No cavities yet...

The many faces of Andrew.

Also hepped up on a DQ blizzard.

This was before his tooth turned brown from hitting it really hard...

My better half.

The extremely cool Ha Ha Tonka State Park, where the ruins of a turn-of-the-20th-century castle lay! We are walking up the path to it. The castle burned down in the '40s.

Grandpa Allan and Enoch with the ruins behind. It was chilly but sunny, so the nicest day of our vacation.

Family shot. The sun was so warm, the boys wanted to take off their coats, but the breeze was cool... so we were constantly putting on and taking off jackets.

Enoch stomping around... look at that view!

Grandpa Allan and Grandma Linda

Andrew refusing to turn around.

Me (with everyone's hats stuck in my coat pockets) with the ruins in the background.

The water tower. The water was up top and a family actually lived underneath it to take care of it.

We couldn't go in. :-(

The boys enjoying the trails.

Tuesday, we went swimming in the morning (the water was SOOO COLD! Yes it was an indoor pool!). Then to a winery and to a historical site that explained the making of the Bagnell Dam... so interesting! I must've stopped taking pictures because I don't have anymore! Good job, Mom. Jeff had to return home that evening to get ready for church the next evening (it was Lenten season), but before he left we realized that across the inlet from our resort, we could see the police poking around. There had been a death on one of the boats! And the police had been poking around for evidence. Weird...

Wednesday, we took the boys swimming, although none of the adults wanted to go because of yesterday's near-pneumonia experience... but the boys didn't care. We played and got things packed up to head back home for the evening church service. After church, Mom and Dad headed back to stay one more night at the resort. (Another funny thing, the lady at the front desk, Mom discovered, was related to someone from my hometown of Colo, Iowa and would be going there in May for a graduation party! Small world!) On Thursday, they wanted to visited Tan- Tar- A Resort where they honeymooned 33 years ago.

I enjoyed the vacation, and look forward to going back to the old castle again... but when the weather is a bit nicer. :-)

Judah/Andrew/family update

We need a post about the boys!

The last post about them was for Andrew's first birthday in October. And we're already nearing the 15 month mark (Jan 22). In between then and now, there was hunting in early November, and an early Christmas present from Ohio grandparents: a jeep!

Thanksgiving Day, 2010. At Great Grandma's.

Just before Christmas, my brother Tyler came to visit. He helped butcher chickens. We also went sledding on the only hill in the area, Bemis Hill, which is in a state forest. Boy was it cold out!... But what am I saying?! It's still cold out! I think the high today is supposed to be -6 degrees Fahrenheit!

Here, Judah just opened a present from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Allan... it's a Fishing Game! The picture is a little blurry... it was hard to keep Judah still.

Andrew likes to look at books.

Sledding...we all fit!

Andrew's expression at Tyler makes me laugh.

Judah likes helping me hang up clothes on our indoor clothesline.

We opened Christmas presents on the 23rd, as we had Christmas Eve service with our church on the 24th at our house. Judah got Star Wars underwear, pretty exciting.

Andrew wasn't nearly as excited about opening gifts as Judah was.

Andrew holding a book I got...hmm, is it any coincidence it's about stain removal? ;-)

Christmas Eve meal: Lutefisk, Lefse, Rommegrot, peas, mashed potatoes.

Christmas Day at Great Grandma's. After this we traveled to Iowa.

Then we arrived in Iowa on Saturday night. Next morning we opened gifts, went to church, then had a family gathering.

Andrew got a new bib!

Musical entertainment at Great Grandpa and Grandma Armbrecht's...

Then after a few days in Iowa, it was to time to start on our way back home, but not without a stop to Mankato!

And now we have mid-winter cabin fever.

Judah found Daddy's toy crossbow... he's pretty good! Andrew would run and get the balls.

He's not always happy, see?

Andrew is "flying Lutheran"... see the words on the plane by Grandpa Merseth?

And that should catch you up to now! We're all happy and healthy. The boys love going outside in the snow, although the bundling up and bundling down time usually takes longer than the actual outside time, since it's so cold! We are still enjoying our log cabin, though I need to be diligent about keeping wood in the stove, especially now that Jeff is at work during the day, and even putting in overtime. He's been leaving at 5am to get to Polaris by 5:30 to work until 3:30. It's a long day that leaves him exhausted. He's supposed to move to 2nd shift in a week or two. Oh, and we need to find another place to have church at, now that we can no longer use the Roseau Electric Cooperative. Until we find a place in Roseau, we'll be having church at our house. Never a dull moment!

Honey, we're home!

It's been a long time in coming, but FINALLY we're calling northern Minnesota HOME!

After a week at my parents' in Iowa and a family reunion for my side at the end of June/beg. of July, we made the trip up to our new home on July 5th (Jeff's and my 8th anniversary!). We started unpacking that week into the log cabin we're renting, then traveled down to Jeff's grandma's house for a mini-reunion on Saturday. And Sunday, Jeff officially became a Pastor, and me, a pastor's wife, and my boys, rotten PK's... haha!

Now hopefully things will settle down... well, at least we will stop living out of suitcases.

So now I'll post some pictures to tell the story of the past month!

June 20-Seminary graduation.

June 20-Father's Day

June 21-Judah discovered cousin Johnny's bike. He's smiling. Need I say more?

June 22-Andrew is 8 months!

June 25-Visiting Great Grandma Ginny in Iowa.

June 25-Do you think Judah likes raspberries?

June 29-Andrew likes standing up next to things. Still needing help at this point. He likes to walk if you hold his hands. Will straighten his arms and legs while on the ground. Fast crawler.

July 1-Bathtime fun with Andrew!

July 1-Riding the mini-loader with Grandpa Allan. Super cool!

July 4-Independence Day. Picking apples with Grandma Linda was an exciting event.

July 5-"Making do" without our kitchen stuff. Yes, that plate is a lid.

July 6-While we were moving in, Andrew was perfecting his ability to pull himself to standing. This is the wood-burning stove we'll be using during the winter months. Don't worry, I plan to use gates to make this inaccessible to little hands when in use!

July 9-We found this ninja outfit while unpacking. I had wrapped it up for a Christmas present, then hid it and forgot about it. So it was Christmas in July! Nevermind that he's waaaay too big for it now.

July 10-A hot humid day was a perfect chance to fill up water balloons. A huge water fight ensued! I think the adults had more fun than the kids. ;-)

July 11-Jeff's installation and ordination day.

All the cousins

July 12-We were celebrating my 29th birthday while my folks visited (birthday is the 16th). It's messy, but this shows you a little of what the interior of the house looks like.

July 12-This picture is blurry, but I thought it was cute. I am taking the picture through the spaces in the steps that he was CLIMBING! He climbed all the way to the top with his daddy behind him. He thought he was big stuff!

Some recent pictures of the house after it's been (mostly) put in order. We had a little extra incentive to get things put away when we were told that the house was going to be shown by the realtor on Mon, July 19th! (For those that don't know, we're just renting this place till we can find another place a little more in our price range... but already we love it here. Jeff says we might want to buy it just because then we wouldn't have to move again, ugh!)

View of garden out front door
View out of sliding door
Wood burning stove!

Inside views from front door, you can see the stairs up into the loft.

There's the massive table that's been in storage all year! Now we have some space for it.

Up next, a long overdue recipe...