Together We Have It All

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Italian Cream Sodas

My brother Kyle made a special treat for our family during our reunion. Italian Cream Sodas. Pick your flavor, add some ice, top with cream, and don't forget the straw!

Yummy!

Tasty!

Can I have some more?

Monday, August 18, 2008

It's officially started. Goodbye to sleeping in, staying up late, free afternoons, and family vacations. Time to get back to work. The kids were actually excited to start school this year.

Andrea feels much more confident in Jr. High this year. She will be working hard in Algebra and enjoying her Chef Prep. class as her elective. She even has P.E. 1st period like she wanted.

Seth was thrilled to have Mr. Bishop as his teacher this year. He is always coming home and telling me something else that "Mr. Bishop" has taught him. He also loves having all of his close friends with him in his class.

Kiana has Mrs. O'Connell for a teacher. She seems to be enjoying school and adjusting well. I only had to walked her to her class on the first day. She is now completely comfortable and does not need "her mom" to escort her anywhere!

Am I sad that they are back in school? Of course not! But I am sad that the years go by so quickly.

Can You?

Can you eat 10 Saltine crackers in one minute? Well, Seth thought that he could, but realized after about three that his mouth wasn't working properly. He sure had fun trying. What a good sport!

Try it for yourself and let us know the results. Happy munching!!!

Family History

My Great Grandfather, Herman Fredrick Gherhardt, passed down some personal belongings to my father. Some of these things were stones that he had collected throughout the years. As a special momento of our recent family reunion, each family member was given a stone. It was either made into a necklace or a tie tac so that everyone could have somthing from their ancestor. It was a wonderful way to share a little bit of our family's history with our children. Thank you "Aunt Nicole" for making such beautiful pieces of jewelry that will remind us of our family and the times that we were able to share together.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Family Reunion

What do you get when you add 2 parents, 7 siblings, 5 spouses, and 17 grandchildren?

A FAMILY REUNION!!!

Oh, it's that time of year again when you bring the family together to enjoy each other's company and make some new memories. This year my family met up at Lake Almanor for some "Camping good time!"

Our days were filled with various activities such as boating, riding a wave runner, making smores, playing ping pong, tag & Duck-Duck-Goose (in the dark), catching chipmunks, eating, napping, relaxing in a hammock, fishing, swimming in the lake, visiting & taking pictures! Wow we were exhausted by the time the weekend was over but we definitely want to do it again----in a couple of years.

Monday, August 4, 2008

The Art of Food

What is this you may say, well Andrea thought her french toast needed a bit of dressing up. She topped it with peanut butter, syrup, fresh picked blackberries, peaches and a spot of whipped cream. Wow--what a masterpiece! We never knew how much fun having breakfast could be, and Yummy too! (we're not counting the calories on this one!)

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Arrow of Light

Last week we attended Seth's last official Cub Scout Pack Meeting. He along with 2 other boys were able to receive their Arrow of Light award. I can't believe that Seth is now done with cub scouts and is moving on to boy scouts. The years just keep flying by. Congratulations Seth for all of your hard work--keep it up!!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

School's Coming

It's that time of year again. The countdown to the start of school has begun. With only 14 more days left of summer vacation, we went on our annual school shopping trip. Our first stop was to the mall to pick out a new outfit for everyone. Once Seth found the shirt that said "Play more video games; Homework kills trees", he was hooked. We then had to stop by Claire's to pick out some jewelry for the girls. Our trip then consisted of going to Arby's for lunch. And then of course we had to stop and pick up some paper, pencils, erasers, & binders for our new 2nd grader, 6th grader and, 8th grader. I even found a few things for myself during our trip. (I'm attempting to take 3 classes this fall--we'll see how I do.)

Growing Up!

After wearing glasses for 6 years Andrea decided to give contacts a try. It was kind of tricky at first but then she got the hang of it. I don't know if she would say that she loves them yet, however we can now get a better glimpse of her beautiful green eyes.

Before . . .

After!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Summer Time!

"Oh, what do you do in the Summertime when all the world is green?"

We swim in a pool to keep oursleves cool.

A popsicle is a must too!

It's so nice to have friends to invite us over to swim when it's hot. Thank you friends!!!

Father & Son

Aaron & Seth went on a Scout overnighter. They hiked in 3 miles to Loch Level Lake. They were able to spend the night and they enjoyed fishing, orienterring, and swimming.