Videos for your viewing pleasure

Timothy thinks its funny to climb in Savannah's crib. She seems to like it also. At the part where I ask Timothy who God is, his answer is "Holy, Wise, Powerful". We are talking about the attrtibutes of God during family devotions and he loves to say this one and do the motions we made up.

Here are some of Savannah on the move. She says, "Mama" and likes to wave when we say "Hi" or "Bye".

The kids love to dance and sing along with a VBS DVD from last year. Even Savannah gets in on the action. The video is little fuzzy due to the dim lights in the family room.

Powell Schulers come for a visit

Denise surprised me last week saying she had won a nursing award and the family was coming to Casper for 2 days to go to the Awards Banquet. We met them for dinner on Friday, and then we went to the park and the Aquatic Center on Saturday. It was a short trip but nice to see them again. Here are some pictures from swimming.

Catchin' Up..........

It's been awhile since I've posted some pictures of the kiddos. There haven't been any major trips or events lately, yet we stay plenty busy in the "normal-ness" of the day. Allie, Sarah and Lindsay are doing great in school. They all love their new building, their teachers and their friends. Timothy and Savannah keep me on my toes at home. And there is enough laundry and dishes to keep a fulltime housekeeper busy.

Here are some random pictures of how we spend our time.


Playing in the park in between picking up the girls from school and taking Lindsay to dance class.


Which is why Lindsay is in her ballet outfit on the monkey bars.


Allie, Timothy and Sarah playing tag


Timothy was less than cooperative for this picture after church.





Savannah's breakfast of rice cereal didn't quite hit the spot, so she grabbed Sarah's banana and tried to bite a hunk off of it.




Posing in her Sunday best. I've discovered that there are at least 10-12 dresses that Savannah isn't going to get to wear because she went from tiny 3-6 month size to 12 month size overnight!




We have had some beautiful September days and even pulled the baby pool back out. Savannah can't figure out how to get the grass off her little fingers.




She decided to just lick it off.

Timothy's Funny One Liners

What would we do without the joy and laughter this little guy brings into our lives. He is definitely from the male species and all of us girls in the house are learning a thing or 2 every day about boys! Here are a few of my favorites:

Me: I love you so much.

Timothy: I love you so muches.

And just the other day:

Timothy climbs up on the counter and gets the children's ibuprofen (with a childproof lid) and holds his belly and tells me, "My tummy hurts, have some medicine?"

Me: "That medicine isn't for your tummy, it's for your head."

Timothy moving his hand from his belly to his head says, "My head hurts too."

And yesterday:

Timothy is supposed to be on the potty trying to do his business and the next thing we see is a streak of him wearing only a t-shirt and tube socks holding a dinosaur and screaming at the top of his lungs, "Rooooaaaarrrrr!!!!" We were all laughing hysterically at the site.

And here is one we just can't post a picture of, but imagine it if you wish:

Timothy runs out of his bath tonight, totally naked, and surprises Phil in the kitchen. Standing there buck naked and dripping wet, he announces to Phil, "do the splits?" He promptly tries to do the splits right there in the kitchen and all Phil could say is, "That's just wrong! Go get dressed."

Obviously the gymnastic events in the recent Olympics have inspired him. Here is a short video of him jumping off the couch and trying to stick his landing.

Lindsay and Beautiful Feet

Lindsay has enrolled in a combination ballet/jazz dance class. It is an 1 1/2 hour class on Thursday after school. One of the teachers that had previously subbed in her class 2 years ago opened her own studio called Beautiful Feet, named from the verse in Isaiah 52:7. She has dreamed of having her own studio with a Christian world view -- where dancing and music can be beautiful, moral and uplifting-- and not conform to some of the wordly models of immodest dress or inappropriate musical lyrics. Her studio is a breath of fresh air and the scripture on the wall is inspiring. God is blessing her venture and many kids have enrolled in her classes.

We received several different personal invites from different friends and Lindsay was so excited to see that Faith and Grace from her 1st grade class are in the same class with her. Another friend of mine, Cindy, has her daughter Bianca in the class as well. They will have a Christmas and a Spring recital.

Allie and Children's Chorale

Allie was so excited for her first Children's Chorale practice. I dropped her off and came back an hour later for a parent's meeting. The kids sang 3 songs for us, and we were amazed at how quickly their conductor, Marcia Patton, worked magic with their voices. I can't imagine what they are going to sound like once they are ready to perform. It's no wonder this choir has won the many awards that it has. Allie was also excited to hear that the big trip would be to Spokane, WA in February. They will be chartering buses and singing in some other towns along the way. The trip is for the National Association for Music Education - the Northwest Division Conference. Out of 110 ensembles that submitted audition CDs, only 30 were chosen. I am hoping that I will be able to be a chaperone - any plans for February, Grammy and Grandpa??

Some other activities and performances planned are:

• Pumpkin and a song in October
• Holiday concert with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra on December 14th
• Church Tour in March
• CASA performance in April
• School Tour to 5 elementary schools in April
• Mother's Day concert in May
• Wyoming All State Children's Honor Choir in June

Listen to a few seconds of these songs only after 1 hour of meeting together and practicing. Allie is sitting in the second row in the section on the right behind a girl in orange pants.

Allie has also decided to play the flute in the 5th and 6th grade band at her school. She goes to school early 3 mornings per week for practice. So far, she is loving it as well. The jury is still out if she is going to be able to participate in Fall volleyball. We will see how well she did on her tests last week and then make a decision.......

We are very proud of her, and it is great to see her so excited about music!

Labor Day Camping Trip at Tie Hack

We spent Labor Day weekend in the Big Horn Mountains at Tie Hack Campground with friends, the Huber and Szymczak families. Between us there were 6 adults, 11 kids, 2 dogs, 2 campers, 1 tent, 1 boat and a ton of fun!! We ate, hiked, climbed, rode horses and had a very fun and relaxing trip.

Pete had his boat and on the first outing he was quite the efficient fisherman. He hooked a fish, tried to bring it in, lost the fish but hooked Sarah AND Melissa. Thankfully they lived to tell the story and had only minor injuries on their arms. Pete, Phil and Kevin even snuck away one evening for some night fishing. This time Kevin came back with a minor injury to his lip. You gotta watch out for that Pete!!




During a brief pit stop in Buffalo, Lauren, Zoe, Tim and Allie were hanging out in the back of Pete's boat that we were pulling with our vehicle.


Savannah sports a patriotic bib so that her yummy squash doesn't get on her clothes.


Not sure who took this photo, but they captured a very exciting moment in a game of hide and seek.


Cameron and Blake sitting by the fire


Pete, Brenda and one very tired, little Jessi! That's Jackie hanging out in the background keeping warm next to the fire.


Timothy and his favorite mommy :)


I just love this photo of Timothy racing back to the campsite.


Cowboy hat and strawberry roasted marshmellow - a delightful combination!


A spirited game of cards. I think Lindsay and Jessi whooped the boys.....


Brenda and I sitting around the campfire.


Savannah enjoyed her morning bottle in the tent. She slept straight through both nights in her portacrib. Timothy also slept well, snuggled deep into a heavy sleeping bag.


Allie and Aly entertaining Savannah early in the morning.


Cowboy hat, bear jammies, and a butterfly catcher -- does it get any better than this?

Rock Climbing and Hiking at Tie Hack

While we were setting up camp, the kids wanted to walk over to some rocks and climb on them. Brenda and I had never been to Tie Hack before, so I think we were imagining some small rocks - no biggie - sure, they could go. Jackie was a bit more hesitant (for good reason that we found out later) but she didn't want to be the fun spoiler, so she let her kids go as well, cautioning them to be careful. Later, when I walked over to check out their adventures, I was shocked at how big and high some of these rocks, or rather cliffs, were. I couldn't believe the kids had been over climbing with no supervision. We told them that any more climbing, at least one adult had to be present!!



Timothy gets in on the fun and hikes and climbs a little with Phil.


This is THE ROCK that I freaked out when I saw the girls climb up. It dropped straight off the back and the images of one of the kids falling was almost more than I could bear.



For the 2 minutes that I was up on top with them, I must admit that the view was spectacular. Here is a shot of Melissa and Sarah looking out over the mountain. They kept saying, "Look we are above the tops of the trees." Yep - and that's why this was the last time we made the climb!



Another friend that we met up with in the Big Horns was Taylor Baldacci and her family. Danette and I discovered about a week before that we had plans to go to the same place for Labor Day. Our campsite - #10, theirs #11. Here is Lindsay, Taylor and Jessi enjoying a much safer climb.




Brenda and Jackie saying, "Thanks, but no thanks," to the offer to go to the top!


This is about 1 1/2 miles from the campground at the dam at the reservoir. Phil only freaked out a little when Melissa then Lindsay jumped up off their feet to hang and look over the wall. This is what the view below looked like. There was a section of bridge right over the part where the water ran through made of a see-through metal grate. That's the definition of trust - actually walking out on it, believing that the bridge would hold our weight!


The view looking up from below.


Here is a video of Kevin throwing a big rock over the side to see if the kids would get splashed. Watch for yourself to see if he was successful.

Horseback Rides at Tie Hack

Another nice surprise at Tie Hack was meeting up with Jose and France and their family. Their daughter, Abigail, is in the same 5th grade class with Aly and Allie at Fort Caspar. They were camping down the road at Tie Hack. They had brought 4 of their horses with them (and I thought I had a lot of things to pack!). Their older kids put up a temporary corral in the field at the entrance of the campground and offered rides for the kids. Boy-oh-boy did they take them up on that offer - on both Saturday and Sunday! To say Timothy was thrilled was an understatement. He is still talking about Jose (who rode with him) and Tonka - his new name for his pretend horse at home.

Brenda, Jackie and I also took them for a little walkabout. Riding was easy - it was the getting on and off that was a bit more difficult!

Sarah, our animal lover, smiling big on top of her horse.




Allie shares the same feeling....


Lindsay gets ready to ride alone.


Group riding


Blake and Timothy, with Jose leading the way.


This horse in the pen was actually a race horse from Iowa. He had gotten hurt, and Jose saved him from euthanasia. He then bred him - a real life Dreamer story! He was a little fiesty for riding, but enjoyed taking hay from Timothy.


Jose, Jackie and Kevin sharing in the excitement of the day.

Here is a video of Timothy on the horse with Blake. He lets his excitement slip out a little bit.