Family Reunion

It was the worst possible day to drive, but our second cousins drove up from the Peoria area anyway to get together for the first time in a long while. It was decided a number of months ago we all needed to get together and see each other and it not be at a wedding or funeral, so the menu was set and they all drove up. We had a great afternoon of food, fellowship, fruit basket upset- at which Aunt Jean was the most fun, and games. Our favorite game was "Name that Hymn" which the girls won thanks to the superb musical memory of the Philip's women. It was great to see everyone and we look forward to getting together again real soon.

Dan and Jo come to visit...and our HS Reunion

Dan and Jo came to visit beginning of November and we had the opportunity to attend our HS reunion with them. Little Jed is so cute and Issac has really grown up and become quite the little charmer! It was so much fun to hang out and take homecoming pictures with them before the reunion. We can't wait to see them in Hawaii this coming January!

The reunion was very interesting. It was cool to see everyone and how we have all grown up and married, and to see who we have married.

God Makes No Mistakes

Haven't updated this in awhile, but I did want to share that I did have another miscarriage at the beginning of October. This time I was only around 7 1/2 weeks along, but the tests have revealed that again there was nothing wrong with the baby. So we are having healthy babies, I just can't seem to continue carrying them. The doctor says I will need hormones next time, but he will be running other tests to make sure there are no other problems. Just continue to pray for us as we wait on the Lord's timing for a little one.

WEEK 1 OF HUNTING SEASON NO DICE!!!!!

Well it all started last week at work when the steel fabarctor said they were out of truck loads of steel to send us. So I was given Tuesday through Friday off! Knowing how fortunate I was to hunt opening week of archery season , I was obviously very excited to have all this time off. So I hunted Monday evening, Tuesday all day- swaying in the tree during a wind storm that evening, and then I started getting burned out on Wednesday. Thursday morning the temperature dropped, which allows more deer movement, so I saw three or four deer, one of which was an eight pointer, but it was too dark to shoot. I also saw a doe and a fawn the size of our Kona bean! Thursday night I was back in the woods again and again I saw two does walk under my stand but it was too dark to shoot! By Friday it was getting just too hot! So, I still hunted Friday morning and Saturday morning, but have officially declared a hunting holiday for myself until the weather cools down.

For the record, Keri thinks I am nuts.

odds and ends

Just some random pictures of what we have been up to in the past few weeks. Dave went paintballing with all the guys and thought it would be a great idea to bellycrawl across the field to take somebody out. Well he had the last laugh when he wound up with tons of chigger bites all over his body! Anyway, you can see the tons of tomatoes we got from our garden this year! my goodness... and this was the second picking. We ended up with over 100.

We are also refinishing a dresser... this has changed from my weekend project to my summer/fall project.

Here is our whiteboard... Dave is getting a little excited for deer hunting season...

And lastly, hanging out at Jer's football game. Dave really likes to be the center of attention!

Dave's Birthday

A few weeks late, but better than never! We celebrated Dave's 29th Birthday with his family a few weekends ago. Dave loves cake... especially Kim's cake and he really wanted Dan to know just how tastey the cake was!

Northern WI family Adventure

So our family decided to risk another vacation together... and we actually went up almost exactly to the same place as last time! I think we enjoy spending 6hrs in a car together... Thanks to Rob and his generous Aunt, we spent a few days on the largest Apostle Island of Madeline. On the way up, all 5 of us kids, and the little bean, took our car up to our land, and then on to spend the day at the Porcupine Mtns. in Upper MI. It was beautiful up there! Diddy loves taking car rides with the little bean, and says, " Kona can sleep on my pillow whenever she would like, I just love dogs." :) Anyway, we hiked and Jake and Dave biked and then we drove to Ashland, spent the night, met up with the rest of the fam in an overloaded minivan, and drove to the ferry and across to the Island. We saw black bears and snakes and deer, so Dave was in his glory. This was a lot of fun, and I think I got a little tan so even I was happy!

Boston- Maine Trip

boy what a trip out East was! I think we went everywhere we possibly could. I started out in Hartford, CT visiting an old friend, and then took the bus to Boston to meet up with the rest of the fam. After a long walk around the city, suitcase in tow, I finally met up with everyone! Boston was very cool. We toured the downtown, Quincy Market, took a graveyard tour and ended at the USS Constitution, our personal favorite. Then Steve, Mo and Dave and I went on to Plymouth, saw Plimoth Plantation and Mayflower...had some winey chowder and traveled to the metropolis of Waterville, ME to see Dan and Jo. We spent the weekend hiking and kayaking in Acadia National Park on the coast and it was a lot of fun. It was a great opportunity to see the east coast, so thanks Dan and Jo for inviting us out!

Spring/Summer Projects

It seems like we never stop doing projects. Mostly this is my fault I suppose. I happenend to mention one day how cool it would be if we added a stone patio off the deck for our grill and firepit, and wouldn't you know Dave was out there like the next day with an axe cutting out the lawn. He is very handy and loves to work outside! Perhaps I should have moved the laundry room outside. :) Here are some pics of his project and the house...

Memorial Day

My whole family got together for Memorial Day this year at my mom's house. My grandpa was there and it was a wonderful time of sharing testimonies, food and bean bag toss!

That same weekend we celebrated my grandpa's birthday...and took one bad family photo!

Noodle graduates

Party at the Taylor's house for Noodle's graduation.... A few words from Dave on the festive celebration: "the food was awesome, it was a lot of fun, best of luck to Noodle. And he pities the fool who picks a fight with her" I think there was something else he said about loving the tea party he had with Ben...Anyway, Mo had some fetish with everyone's feet that evening, so you will see all the latest in footwear displayed here.

Post-Op and Pasta

Okay, waaaaaay overdue for a blog update. Time for some more uplifting blog postings! Here are a few pictures of me after the sugery and you will notice Kona was by my side every minute. :) Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve drove down and cooked us a wonderful pasta dinner and left enough sauce for 3 months... Dave just finished it all last week! And, of course, enough cookies for the neighborhood! So very thoughtful and sweet. Jake and Katherine also brought us over food as well... thanks to all...

Our Loss

Some of you may not have heard that God decided to take our baby from us a few weeks ago. I found out Monday during my 16 week check up when the dr. and I discovered there was no heartbeat. After double checking with an ultrasound, I went home to share the bad news with the rest of the family. The next day, our good friend and neighbor Gen, helped us find a doctor in town who would perform the operation so we would not have to go to the abortion clinic as recommended by my doctor (now ex-doctor). Anyway, graciously Dr. Manas took me in and started the process that evening. I had an amnio and we are having the fluid tested to determine what went wrong after 14 weeks. On Wednesday I was admitted to the hospital for surgery and was there 7 hours! I went under and was really glassy eyed and groggy when I awoke, but Dave was there the whole time. He has been a great support to me and I am so thankful for him! So has all our family and friends who have sent cards, and food, and food and tons of flowers and plants! It is so nice and comforting to know so many people care for us and we appreciate all your kind words and prayers for us. We are not too discouraged although a bit grieved at the moment, for we know God makes no mistakes and has a better plan for us. We are comforted knowing He is merciful if there was a problem with the baby to take it now rather than later. Thank you for your support, and once I heal in a few months, we will just try again!

Sunday Lunch with the Whole Family

For Easter (Resurrection Sunday) lunch this year we had both sides of the family. We had ham, lamb, potatoes and berry pie! It was very tasty. Maureen entertained us with songs from America's past, while everyone had a chance to goof off together.

Dave's Job and Reconnecting with old Friends

A few weekends ago, Dave had to work at the Rkfd Airport loading a military tank onto an aircraft. At first he thought it was an actual military tank, but found on upon arrival it was actually a large tank. Nonetheless it was a huge tank and really cool! Here are some pictures. And on another note, at lunch that day an old friend of ours from way back when we were little kids came up to visit; Charity! Last I remember, she borrowed my fushia swimsuit to run through the sprinkler with us and never returned it! hmmph!

Dave's Newest Project

It is time to update our blog. Dave has started on a new project: a patio off the deck. He has been working on this for several weekends and I have a few pictures to show you his progress. It is going to be very nice to grill on when he is finished. If it would just stop SNOWING perhaps we could move forward on installing our patio doors as well. Dave is very proud of moving his big rocks.

Go Bears! Superbowl Party

So, we were totally jazzed for the Superbowl this year! Okay, maybe just me because I am a bear fan. But Kona was really excited too! We went over to Steve and Maureens where we ate chicken noodle soup, doritos and cheese! yummy! Too bad the Bears lost. :(

Happy Holidays!!

From one family adventure to another. Christmas Day, Dave and I, will the little bean, went over to Steve and Mo's house to have dinner and family fun with the whole family. Dan, Jo and Issac were in town from Tacoma!
Issac is now a bit past 1 year old! He is toddling everywhere. Mo was in her glory of course. We had a nice time opening gifts, Steve got the biggest present of all, a new gun safe, and then a scrumpious dinner of prime rib...great job Mo! Kona tried to play with Scarlet and Issac, but neither were interested.
Tuesday night Dan and Jo came over for dinner, and then we went to Bob and Melissa's house for dessert and High School memories.. Booby Bob!
The next Saturday, the whole family crammed into 2 cars and went into Chicago to see the King Tut exhibit and prowl the streets of the Windy City. It was really neat! My fav. though was spending the afternoon in the Macy's building... We had a little bit of an issue getting across Michigan Ave. at one point when we tried to go under the street on the pedway, got totally lost underground for around 15 mintues, and then came up about 4 feet from where we orginally started! good grief... I love Chicago!! Don't you Dave??

Family Ski Trip!!

Our family thought it would be a great idea to all drive up 6 hours to the tip of WI in the middle of winter and go skiing. Of course all the girls were a bit sad as we preferred a family vaca somewhere warm for goodness sake. But the guys were totally excited. We rented a condo at Big Powderhorn, packed a ton of fleeces, all my scarfs and coordinating hats, long underwear, wool socks... things I never pack when on vaca... vaca should be tank tops! Who's idea was it to leave at 4 am anyway?? Not mine. And we had to leave the poor little bean. 6 hours and 3 potty breaks later, we get not to a snow covered, winter wonderland, but a slushy mess! The guys went skiing anyway, and us girls just sat in the hot tub... the one that belonged to the condo next to us as our's was broken!! Needless to say it didn't get fixed til 2 hours before we ended up leaving. Oh well... thankfully Friday night brought a beautiful snow fall and we all got up and put on our boots, hats, snowpants and etc. Sat. morning ready to take off. Mom, Christie and I stuck together and found out that Mom is terrified of the ski lift!! She made quite the exit off the bunny hill lift as she rounded the corner at the lift exit, then jumped off and landed face first! I subsequently peed my pants at the sight of that. Once at the top of the hill, we girls had NO clue which slope to go down. There was nothing marked, and after at least 30 mintues of inching our way up an incline to a map, which offered us still no clue, we picked a slope and snow plowed our way down. We all ended up on our butts, and later found out it was a fairly advanced slope!
All in all, it was a fun time. Mom will probably never go again, I fell a million times, Dave, of course, was awesome and hung out on the black diamonds with the other guys the whole time. Jer learned to snow board, Dad threw out his back trying new tricks, and Diddy and I mastered every green slope and then advanced ourselves to a few blue ones!!

Random things....

So, I thought I would post a few random things that have happened in early winter. First, we thought we would show you our ghetto patio door. It is SOO cold by this back door we have fixed it up Loves Park style. Heaven forbid we go out and get a storm door or something!

And the second picture is the result of me, Keri, trying to get a bit too much accomplished in the morning before work. Dave had already told me I was only allowed to get myself ready in the morning after I left the sliding glass door open ALL DAY. But, I thought it would be a good idea to start baking my yams for around 45 mintues before I went to work so I would only have to bake them another 15 when I got home. Too bad I forgot about them and they baked ALL DAY in the oven... like for at least 8 hours. ooohhh stink!!