Dance with Cinderella

Here's a little video of the kids and Kurtis dancing to the song "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. The kids (especially Kurtis) love this song and will stop whatever they are doing and start dancing.

Apple sauce makin'

Now that the apples are picked it was time to start making the sauce. The kids enjoyed helping and smelling the wonderful apple aroma. 45 quarts done...how many more do I feel like doing???

Cleaning apples with grandma


Erica enjoyed making a sticky mess and then tasting the newly made applesauce.

More apple pickin'

Daddy picked most of the apples.

Jaren running to bring more buckets to daddy.

Grandpa and the girls picking up the apples daddy shook off the tree.

Jaren throwing a junk apple across the road.

Apple Pickin'

Daddy and the kids surveying the tree to find the biggest apples.

Jaren picks using the ladder...

Bethany picks using daddy.

Erica loved to show off her climbing skills.

Erica and Jaren playing on the ladder.

Riding the waves

Sunday afternoon was very windy, so the waves were larger and there were many more of them. Jaren had a great time riding the waves in after Uncle Howard would pull him out a ways. He did get flipped a couple of times, but that didn't bother him at all...it just made it a little more exciting.

Whippie Dip = Banana Shake = Garbage

One tradition that is kept when camping in Michigan is a visit to the Whippie Dip. This place is similar to the Frosty Udder or Jersey Freeze. Kurtis is a big banana fan and loves banana flavored ice cream. Uncle Jim warned him though not to get the banana shake here because it is disgusting. Well, Kurtis didn't want to take Jim's word for it and decided to see for himself. Let's just say that Jim is much wiser than Kurtis gave him credit for and Kurtis will probably listen to Jim's advice in the future.

Not even half gone...but went in the garbage!

Michigan Adventures...photos

Michigan Adventures

Well, we just recently got back from a very fun family vacation in Michigan. It was 5 nights of camping at PJ Hoffmaster State Park. I think after cleaning out the camper that we brought more than our fair share of sand home with us. :) There were 4 families and tons of fun to be had. Since our kids were the youngest, that got spoiled plenty by the great aunts, uncles and cousins. We spent our mornings at The Great Harvest Bread Co. (may I highly recommend checking this place out...the bread is awesome) and then the afternoons were spent at the beach making sand castles, burying each other, climbing the sand dune and playing in the waves. We also went to Michigan Adventure for an entire day (11-9). The kids were exhausted by the time we got back to the campgrounds at 10 pm, but it was very much worth it and they didn't complain once. Bethany was our little adventurous one. She'd go on any ride when asked and was highly disappointed when she wasn't tall enough. She didn't like all the rides once they got started and we heard many times from her, "We shouldn't go on this ride...it's not very fun!" Jaren on the other hand was very cautious about what he went on and would watch the ride closely before deciding. There were a few times I tricked him into going on rides he didn't like. :)

Some highlights included...

~Playing on the beach and in the water ~ The Great Harvest Bread Company ~ Miniature Golfing ~ Whippie Dip ~ Climbing the sand dune ~ Frisbe Golf ~ Michigan Adventure~

Stay tuned for some fun pictures of our trip!

All dressed up and nowhere to go

Bethany loves to play dress up. She has a few fancy dresses, hats, jewelry & now a wig to add to the collection. We had fun the other day dressing up and Jaren was kind enough to take our picture.

(Please ignore the green paint splotch on the wall. We were getting ready to paint the living room and that is the tinted primer we were needing to use.)

Awards Ceremony

Jaren had his awards ceremony for t-ball a couple of weeks ago. He is very proud of his medal. T-ball was a wonderful experience for him and he had a great team of very encouraging coaches. It was a lot of fun watching the team grow through the season and have a really fun time.

Pool Party

A couple of weeks ago, Jaren's t-ball coach invited the kids out after the awards ceremony for an end of the year pool party. Jaren & Bethany had a blast and it was fun being able to visit with the other parents and watch the kids interact with each other outside of t-ball.

Jaren going down the waterslide with Coach Aaron spraying him.

Water Balloon Fight! Coaches vs. players

Bethany going down the water slide and the happy little girl at the bottom.

Swimming in the pool