John Ireland Marathon

While others were preparing for the crazy 26.2 mile Twin Cities Marathon, we opted for a different marathon, the marathon for non-public education. A nice 3 mile walk from the school, around St. Peter and back. We had a beautiful fall day this year. Crisp cool breeze and warm sunshine. The kids were excited, eager and energetic. The school kids raised around $9500 for their school. Good job!

Apple Orchard

A couple weekends ago, we went to a cute, quiet little apple orchard by Montgomery. They have live music in the afternoon, a giant corn maze, delicious caramel apples, pick your own apples and demonstrations to watch. All without the craziness of a million other people like other orchards. The corn maze was so much fun. Pretty sure I would've gotten lost if it wasn't for Brian's keen sense of direction! This years theme was the 150 Anniversary of the Civil war and Abrahan Lincoln. When we were walking to the corn maze this man, dressed as Abe himself, came out of the field and it was so wierd and totally took us aback! He looked exactly like Abe Lincoln!!!! Throughout the maze there were 20 trivia questions to answer and if you got 10 right you'd get a special patch at the end. We got 15 out of 20 questions right so not too bad! It was a very fun afternoon with the kids. We all really enjoyed it.

Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated Rachel's b-day as a family the night of her actual b-day and had her favorite meal, tacos and a birthday cake. She got to open up a few presents and b-day cards she had received prior to her birthday.


On Sunday we celebrated again but this time with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Elaine, Godparents Randy & Sheila and our neighbors (surrogate grandparents) Mike and Irene. It was a beautiful day, sun was shining and the trees were vibrant with their beautiful fall colors. The kids were happy, the meal was yummy, the house was clean and the company was great! Rachel had a fun time trying to blow out her candles. (the relighting kind) Everyone got a kick out of watching her. :) She was a good sport and even giggled at herself. She received lots of nice gifts and is very thankful for all of them even though she doesn't do a good job expressing that. We'll work on that for next time! :)

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Happy 6th Birthday to Rachel, our spunky, cute, energetic little girl! We hope you have a great day and that Jesus blesses you this year and always.

Here's a little ditty from Natalie to Rachel: Enjoy!

Rachel's New Look

For Rachel's b-day, which is tomorrow, she wanted to get her ears pierced. BUT, she didn't want to do it alone. So she asked her friend Katie, who wanted to get her ears pierced too but hadn't yet, to go with her. The kids had last Friday off of school so we loaded up the van and headed to Mankato to Exclusively Diamonds. I love this place! The ladies there are so professional and fun and super with kids. ALL the girls got to wear tiara's and they got to try on a $28,000 ring!! Thats right, $28,000!!!!! Who buys this stuff???!!! Katie went first and did fantastic-she just grinned from ear to ear and no tears! Rachel on the other hand was a bit caught off guard and nervously smiled after the piercing and then the flood gates opened! Oh boy....not quite the memory I thought we'd be making. Oh well....she was still a trooper and once she settled down and looked at her pretty ears she was happy and glad that it was done. After that we went to Dino's pizzeria for Rachel's b-day meal. It was fabulous! It's one of our favorite restaurants to go to. They are super family-friendly, the kids get to draw on the tables and get to play with their own plate of pizza dough. The waitress surprised Rachel with a huge ice cream sundae that had a firecracker lit on top of it. It was pretty spectacular as she brought it out to Rachel! When we got home Brian finished off the night by taking the kids to the football game. It was quite the day!

Bubbles

This is what happens when you let your kids be in charge of giving themselves a bubble bath. Rachel ran outside and yells "Mom, you gotta come in quick!!" So I run in and this is what I see. Not too much water on the floor...at least the girls were having fun and no one got lost in the bubbles or drowned.

A Stroll In the Park

This past weekend was beautiful! I don't think the weather could get much nicer! The girls and I headed to the cities on Friday to get our printer repaired and visit with Laura, Mya & Ally. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins and it was fun to hang out with Laura. On Saturday, Brian and I worked on the roof and the girls just played in the backyard. On Sunday we went to Redwood Falls to see my Gma who is recovering in the nursing home before moving to assisted living toward the end of the month. Grandma Schueller is a tough lady and seems to always be in good spirits. It was nice visiting with her and I think she enjoyed watching the kids. Hopefully the time spent in the nursing home goes quick for her. Its not the most uplifting place to be. I just assume Grandma will be here forever and never think twice to her someday being gone. I'm so glad that we had the time we did with her.







After the visit, my parents joined us in the park to look at the animals and walk some trails. It was so much fun! It was nice that my dad was home and that this was something we could all enjoy together.