Toothless Wonder

"BEFORE"

"AFTER"

Our trooper Caitlin finished up phase two of teeth pulling last Monday. She got 4 pulled and didn't even phase her a bit. Well, maybe a little after it was all done and the novicane was wearing off. ;) Here is a before and after picture of her.

3rd Week Vacation; Father's Day celebration

This past week was not too busy and just a bit lazy in the mornings. Just what I like! No where to be at until 11:45 each day. Emily and Caitlin had a week of Gymnastics which both of them landed cartwheels on the beam! They were super excited! By the end of the week a few of the girls were trying handstands on the beam. Rachel was very good sitting back and watching the older two. Natalie was all over the place not wanting to sit still. Go figure! Rachel will have her turn at gymnastics in July. We played at the park and went swimming too. On Friday Caitlin got 3 teeth pulled and did a super job being brave. It took more time numbing the teeth than actually pulling them. All the girls rested in the afternoon and then Emily went to her friend Mia's for a sleep over and Brian and the rest of the crew came with me to Mankato. While I was getting my hair cut he took the girls to Rapidan to check out the river for a possible canoe trip during the weekend. We met at Pagliai's Pizza for supper and then headed to Gilbertson's for a fire. It was a beautiful evening to be outside under the stars! We slept in until 9:15 on Saturday to be woken up by Mia's mom dropping off Emily. I think we could've slept until noon! Brian, Rachel, Natalie and I walked to the store and grabbed donuts and coffee for breakfast. Brian mowed the lawn, the girls played, and I got some housework done. That night I went to a Mankato Moondogs game with my friends Jessica, Sharon and Amy. We had a great time visiting! Came home and Brian was up with Natalie. She had a 102.7 fever. Great! Happy Father's day Brian!

Father's Day: So the plan was to head to the Salfer cabin on lake Elizabeth for the annual Father's day get together. Since Natalie still had a temp I stayed home with her while the rest headed out. They left at 9:30am and didn't get home until 10:45pm. Apparantly they had a fabulous time playing with their cousins, fishing and tubing. Natalie and I had ALOT of bonding time... I think we were both equally happy to see everyone in the morning!

This week: A couple camps for the girls and that's about it! Yeah! Caitlin's next teeth pulling is on Monday. I'll post a picture when she's the toothless wonder!

2nd Week of Summer Vacation

We are officially done with the 2nd week of summer vacation already. Rachel, Emily and Caitlin participated in Vacation Bible School this past week and had a blast! It was Rachel's first year and she couldn't have been more excited! I love that the girls can ease into all the other summer activities by first doing VBS. Trinity Lutheran puts on an excellent VBS! During the week the kids learn a whole bunch of fun contemporary christian songs and the last day they perform them for their parents. Along with the songs there is a theme to the week and this years theme was the High Seas Expedition and on this journey they learn that Gods word is true, comforting, surprising, life changing and for EVERYONE! It's wonderful to see all the kids of various faith backgrounds come together to learn about God and his love for everyone. Its MY favorite summer vacation activity the kids participate in.

This past week we also had a chilly picnic with the Yost, Frey and Gilbertson clans, celebrated Jen's b-day at Panera, cleaned, and met Grandma Elaine at Panera.

This next week should be another exciting one with the girls doing gymnastics and Caitlin getting some teeth pulled.

Stay tuned!

Oh, since summer vacation started we moved Natalie to her crib up in the girl's bedrooms and so far it's been going pretty good. Still getting up to help her find her nuk in the wee hours but she likes the crib and thats the most important thing at this point. She did sleep in until 5am today so her stretches are getting longer! Yeah!

Happy Birthday Jen

Happy Birthday to our friend Jen! May you have a year filled with blessings and happiness!

Happy Belated Birthday Alisa

Hey Alisa! We are sooooooo sorry that we didn't wish you a happy birthday on your birthday last week. We hope you had a great day and we can't wait for you to be in Mankato so we can see you more often! Love, Caitlin, Emily Rachel and Natalie (Brian and Mandy too)

Far Go

We sure did have far to go to get to Fargo this past weekend to see Annie, Matt and Owen. I do not miss that drive! It seemed to go so much more quicker when I was by myself driving up there to see Brian for a weekend! The girls were pretty good travelers. For about 2 hrs it was quiet and then of course there was "are we almost there yet?" "how many more blocks til Annie's house" (we were in Fergus Falls at that point) "how many more minutes?", etc.. You get the point. :) Once we finally arrived all was well and the girls' fruit snack high kicked in. Owen didn't know what hit him!! Neither did Annie! :) On Friday night we ate pizza and hung out and the kids played and us girls had a wonderful margarita. On Saturday we took the kids to Scheels to ride the ferris wheel and wait for Matt to get back from Grand Rapids. Natalie and Owen napped and Annie, Caitlin and I window shopped downtown and escaped a very foolish last minute run to miss the train while Brian, Rachel, Emily and Matt played and waited for the little ones to wake. Then we all met up at Island Park and competed in an obstacle course. Brian was the winner! The big show off! Then it started raining and we made a beeline to the car and headed back. The Salfer van took a detour and drove around campus reminising. Annie made awesome lasagna with Buffalo meat-the girls didn't even notice! When the rain stopped we headed out to walk around their neighborhood and let the kids run off some steam before bed. We enjoyed another margarita, (my new favorite drink) watched the Twins game and called it a night. Sunday we went to church at the Newman Center on campus and then back to Annie and Matts for brunch. It was a great weekend to catch up with the Lindbo's. If we could just get them to move a little closer!!!!! :) Thanks for the wonderful hospitality Annie!

Memorial Day Weekend Happenings

Starting off the weekend was the last day of school so we took the girls to the WOW zone in Mankato to bowl and eat pizza and celebrate their year. It was so much fun! I only beat the girls by a few pins and Brian blew us all out of the water! On Saturday we hung out around home and did some house stuff. In the evening we went to our friends the Lundquists for dinner and visiting. Sunday after mass we were invited out to our friends, the Gleisners, for more food and fun. They live between nicollet and St. Peter on a farm and the girls just love going there. On Monday, Caitlin and I went shopping in the morning and then all of us loaded the van once again for another party, this time it was a going away party for our friends the Fetters who are moving to Madison, WI on Thursday. They have two kids who also attend John Ireland school. The party was at our friends the Schillings. So much food and fellowship with so many friends-it was a wonderful relaxing weekend!

Thanks Dad and all the vets out there who fought for our freedom and safety. Love you!