New Year Visitors

Grace and Maria


The week between Christmas and New Year's went by really fast. We finished up Christmases, and Michelle came up on Tuesday. Grace likes it when 'Chelle' comes. We went shopping all day Wednesday. I'm pretty sure Grace was sick of shopping by the end of the day. Thursday I had to work all day so Michelle went to visit cousin Amber. We went to New Year's service in the evening and stayed up till 2:30 talking. We had a few people over, but they left at 1:30. I don't know what I was thinking because going to bed at 2:30 and waking up at 8 don't go well for me. Tom, Dale, Meg, and Maria arrived at 12:30. Grace immediately took a liking to 'Ria' and was very aware of where she was at all times. Over the course of the day we played many games of Euchre and Monopoly Deal. I realized if we are ever a family of 8 a dish-washer will be a must. As you can see in the video we put together our little jumper thing. Grace likes it better now than at 6 mos. While Maria was in it was the only time Grace was fussing around.

We went to the store and to Rustin's truck on Saturday morning. The guys decided it was a good thing they didn't go ice-fishing this weekend since it was -teens the entire time. They'll have to come up some warm winter:) They left Saturday after lunch to head back to the Cities, and the rest of us crashed for the afternoon. We ate Pizza Hut that night and watched the annual classic 'Christmas Vacation.' Michelle left Sunday morning to pick the Koch's up in the Cities and we are now visitorless for a week. We hardly know what to do with ourselves. I guess laundry keeps calling my name! We are looking forward to Susan coming up next week.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This Christmas was different than any one I have experienced ever in my life. First of all Rustin's sister hasn't made it up from IL due to the weather. Secondly church was cancelled due to the weather. Third, Rustin's Mom was a little under the weather, so we didn't go to their house. But this is all okay because there will be another day to get together with family and friends. It was a good time to reflect on the True Meaning of the Season of Jesus and his birth and sacrifice for all of us. Merry Christmas to you all!

How can it be December already?

We arrived back in cold, somewhat wintery Minnesota on Sunday night. (I saw a few snowflakes today!) It was such a relaxing week in Illinois. We had the perfect amount of visit time and 'home' time. Grace travelled her best on the way home. Strange, since this was the longest she was in the vehicle. Monday she had her 2 year checkup and everything checked well. The shot nurse is one of our friends so I think Grace was a little shocked that she poked her. She didn't cry too long, but I'm sure next time won't be so easy. Last night she was up all night wheezing and coughing. She had a temp. this morning so I decided I better take her in. You never know with all the H1N1 going around. We were waiting for the doctor and she decided to empty her belly all over herself, me, and the floor. I tried to get her to use the wastebasket but she wasn't interested in that. Thankfully they moved us to another room. They swabbed her throat and nose to test for strep and influenza and sent us home with tamiflu. Thankfully both of those tests came back negative. I guess Grace has the good old-fashioned flu. I can tell she's not acting normal because all she wants to do is sleep and snuggle. This too shall pass!

Here are a few px from the week. I put them on backwards chronologically by accident:(



Susan and Grace fed the Baer's cat, Smoky.



The kabob grillers.



We decided to do kabobs for our Christmas dinner.




Grace's favorite toy.

Grace always wanted to feed Jessie a bone. It was quite comical.

Grace playing with Abbi and Avery-a boy ReKeeta watches.

I have proof that ReKeeta does work in the kitchen once in a while!

Now I just have to get motivated to put up Christmas decor. If only there was snow on the ground!!!

The Birthday Girl

Our little peanut turned 2 on Saturday. If you ask her how old she is, she proudly holds up either 1 finger or all five and says "TWO". We celebrated her birthday with Tiffany last weekend, so on her actual day we went shopping in St. Cloud. One of our neighbors made her two of the cookies she's holding. I have to admit they were scrumptious. She is becoming more talkative as the days go by. Her new phrase is "I funny." Although, usually she is doing something she knows she shouldn't be doing. I get my stern face on and die laughing inside. It is interesting in how different boys and girls are. Before going to daycare, Grace didn't have a clue what guns were. Now anything she can get her hands on is a gun. Of course she only shoots 'aminals.' I just have to laugh and hope she is a little more girly than I was.
Two weeks from now I hope to be in Illinois for a week. I am so excited!!!

October Happenings

Grace is sporting the colors!

Grandma and Grandpa Koch came to visit in the middle of October. Unfortunately it snowed while they were here so we were house bound most of the time. We of course ate at one of the family favorites, Ranch House. Grace always enjoys it when Grandma is here because she gets held more often than normal.

Last week Rustin made a pig run out to Pennsylvania. The trip lasted four days and was the longest one yet. Thankfully he doesn't have to do that often. Grace and I spent our evenings with friends and family. Saturday we left for Sioux Falls, SD to do a little shopping and then we went to Lester for our friend Taylor's wedding. We stayed Saturday night with Rustin's cousin Karla and Monte Gerber. They have four kids who loved Grace and she loved them back. Grace is definitely a social bug. She, however, did not sleep very well. This was the first night away from home since she is NUK free. She slept a few hours after we went to bed. Let's just say Sunday was interesting with a crabby Grace and a crabby Sharon.

So far this week has been brisk and sunny. We'll just hope that winter is staying away a little longer:)

Already causing a stir!

I got a call at work from Grace's Daycare saying she had a bite mark from another kid. I laughed thinking it would just look like a tooth mark on her cheek. Come to find out Grace was dragging some kid down on her and got chomped in the process. We don't know if it's accidental or on purpose. Either way I still think it's hilarious that Grace has met her match. She started at this place when school started, and the two year olds are having territory issues. After this incident they are more or less avoiding each other. Grace likes it when the preschoolers are there so she can play with the big kids. There is also a baby girl whom she dotes on. The girl's mom told me that Grace is gentle with her which shocks me. The last time Grace was around babies she was treating them like she treats her dolls. There's a reason for the term ragdoll.

I was a little nervous with going to an actual daycare, but this one was run by my friend's friend. The lady built her basement as the daycare, so there is a huge 'playground' in it. Grace is always talking about the slides and going to Julie's house. I am thankful that she loves it so much, and seems to get along with most of the kids quite well.

I have to tell another Grace story that I thought was cute. One of our neighbors are Frank and Gertie. A few weeks ago Grace started calling Frank, Hank. I guess the Fr sound is too difficult. Anyways, every time we are outside she is wondering where Hank is. She gets really excited when she sees he's out. The other morning we were getting in the car to go somewhere and she said, "Hank, Mom?" I told her I didn't know, he was probably sleeping. She replied, "No, Mom... Eat." I busted out laughing because she must have thought it was too late in the day to be sleeping. She's heard me say that Frank is either eating or sleeping a little too often!

Hope you have a great week! It's sunny and fall-like here!

The Smokies

We are finally back from our week long trip to the Smokies and Gatlinburg TN. It was a much needed relaxing vacation. The ONLY downside to the trip was that it rained almost every day. Oh well, more sleep time, right? You can look in the photo gallery for more px if you are interested.

Friday 4: We left Hancock at 4am to head to Champaign. We met Susan around 3 and she showed us around campus. I forgot the camera. Dad Mom Matt and Michelle met us at O'Charley's for supper. That is my absolute favorite restaurant and of course there are none in MN.

Saturday 5: We drove to Clarksville Tn to have lunch at my friend Tammy and husband Dave's house. He is an army lawyer at Ft. Campbell. They showed us around the fort, which was neat since I've never been to one. It basically was like a little town that was gated. We arrived in Gatlinburg at 11:00pm.

Sunday 6: We had a late church and then went to the Flea Market. We found a few bargains we couldn't pass up, and then went back to go swimming. Grace loved it as usual. She is always asking where her 'hwim huit' is.

Monday 7: We slept in today and went to Ripley's Aquarium in the afternoon. It was pouring buckets so this was a good place to go. Afterwards we walked a little of downtown Gatlinburg.

Tuesday 8: Rustin won us a ticket to Cirque de Chine at our resort's 'Get to Know You', so we went there in the afternoon. The morning was spent at another resort convincing a salesman we didn't want to buy a timeshare with him. Let's just say 'only 90 minutes' lasts 4 hours and free cash and restaurant gift certificates isn't always worth the time you have to spend warding off vultures. We learned our lesson in timeshares! The Cirque de Chine was very entertaining with the Chinese acrobats, drummers, and motorcyclists in a cage. Even Grace sat bug-eyed the entire time. Later that evening we were out walking around the resort when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bear walking by rooms. I freaked out and gave Rustin the camera. I took Grace back to the room all the while hearing "Where's the puppy Mom?" Nice puppy! We had been warned that bears like to stroll through the resort around dusk, and I'm kind of glad I safely witnessed it.

Wednesday 9: We devoted this day to the actual Great Smoky Mt. Nat'l Park. When my family came along time ago I remember it being very curvy and stomach unsettling. Unfortunately this hadn't changed. We hiked to Laurel Falls and very much enjoyed the views. We headed to Cherokee NC to the Indian reservation since it was raining. Grace enjoyed the Bear Zoo and we did a little window shopping. We headed back anticipating climbing to the top of Clingman's Dome. The turnoff to the dome is halfway between Cherokee and Gatlinburg and then you still have 7 miles of up-mountain driving. It was pouring so we debated going but decided to anyways. I decided it would've been a neat place to hike on a sunny day. Oh well.



In the evening we ate at a pizza joint with an arcade. Grace loved it. Rustin liked playing Deal or No Deal. After we played one round of golf.

Thursday 10: We went to play our other round of golf this morning. Here is Grace in her attire. She loves George as long as his leash is loose!

We walked the streets of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg one last time.

Friday 11: We left Gatlinburg at 4am again to head to Tremont. The trip was pretty uneventful and we picked up Susan in Champaign because her car was broke down. Bob and Jenny came out for supper and Eric and ReKeeta and Abbi came after work for the evening. We had a nice time visiting.

Saturday 12: We girls did a little shopping during the day, and then we visited the Grandparents in the afternoon and evening. Grace loves all of them but kind of gets confused when we say Grandma and Grandpa and my parents aren't there. We got to see Brett and Laura's new home that evening.

Sunday 13: Church was packed for a wedding in the morning. We said our goodbyes and left after lunch. We made it home in a record 10.5 hours since Grace was born at 10:30.

I was so excited because today I didn't have to get up and go to work. My summer, city job is through so I am now working 2.5 days a week. Hopefully I will be able to catch up on house work, or maybe a book or two!

It was good to get away. I came back refreshed and ready for fall to come. This is always an exciting time of year!