still here!

We are still here, but our Internet has been taking several vacations lately. This post is all words and no pictures...sorry to disappoint. You can thank the Internet for the lack of pictures on this post.

We have been very busy since the last post and loving most of it.

Jaren continues to love 2nd grade. It's hard to believe that Jaren will be 8 on Monday...that's half way to 16 already!!! He has adjusted very well to having three sisters, but still mentions that it would be nice to have a brother...sorry bud, it's not going to happen. :) He just lost another tooth so he's proudly sporting a toothless grin. He loves reading, especially about sports & history, but better yet the history of sports facts & figures.

Bethany is still our dramatic, tender-hearted girl. She loves school days and can't wait to go every day. When she's home there is always an adventure happening depending on what costume she picks. And when she's not out on an adventure, Bethany's busy coming up with craft projects. God has truly blessed her with a great imagination. She is learning how to read and loves impressing us with what she has learned.

Erica is our silly monkey. She lives for making us laugh and says some of the silliest things. She loves playing with Bethany and having Jaren read her stories. Erica loves playing princess or with her princess castle, dancing & singing. She loves to remind us that she is almost 4 and then it will be her turn to go to preschool. For now she is really enjoying Sunday school and KidShine at church.

Kate is such a precious little girl. Her smiles will melt anyone's heart and her little coos will win you over. Kate obviously has me wrapped around her little finger. She loves playing on her playmat, taking baths, and doing "so big". She also loves it when we sing to her, especially "Jingle Bells"...probably because we do silly faces and help her dance along. :) She does have her crabby times, but her happy moments definitely outweigh them. We had Kate baptized in November and it was such a special day for all of us.

Kurtis has been putting in very long hours between harvest and now trucking. We look forward to Sundays when we are together as a family. I enjoy my times with MomShine, our mom's group at church & SONshine Preschool where I serve on the board.

God has truly blessed Kurtis and me with beautiful, healthy children and we are so thankful. Our lives are busy, but so full of blessings.

We hope you and your families have a very blessed Christmas!

Happy 3 week & 32nd Birthday

I've been trying all week to get this blog finished, but it won't let me post all the pictures for some reason. Stay tuned to another blog in the near future with more adorable pictures of Kate and Kurtis' birthday.

First of all I have to say happy birthday to my wonderful husband. He of course did not take the day off and is busy working until sometime late tonight again. I guess that's the bummer of having a fall birthday when you are a farmer. We do appreciate all the hard work he does to provide for our family.
It's so hard to believe that Kate has been with us for 3 weeks already. The time has gone very quickly and we have enjoyed every moment...yes, even when she's very crabby and won't sleep. :) Jaren, Bethany & Erica have adjusted so well and are very understanding when I can't help them with things right away. We've managed to get Jaren & Bethany to school on time even though some days are quite chaotic getting out the door.

Kate gets more kisses and hugs and there is always someone wanting to hold her. She is a very spoiled little girl who has won the hearts of many already.

Bethany looking at a book with her sisters...

...not such a baby friendly book though. :) I guess they'll all be prepared when that wild tiger comes after them. This is what I saw one morning when I came downstairs. Priceless.

Kate during one of her not so happy moments. I didn't want anyone to think that she never cries.

Our beautiful baby girl

On Wednesday, Oct. 6, we were blessed with the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Kate Joelle. She is our smallest weighing only 7 lbs. I thought she was going to be closer to 8 lbs. but I think she was just very stretched out. :) Her brother and sisters think she is the greatest and love her so much already. I hope you enjoy the pictures of our newest miracle.

Kate Joelle - a blessing from God

Proud daddy...I hope his lap is big enough for his 3 little girls. :)
Erica & Kate

Playing dress-up in the hospital

God has blessed our family so much!

Jaren & Kate

Bethany & Kate

One very proud mommy!

Our great dr. who delivered all of our children.

First picture.

We're getting closer

We're getting closer to meeting our sweet Baby Bella and the kids (meaning mostly the girls) are getting very excited. The kids are going to a siblings class tomorrow night and get to tour the OB department. I hope it's a good experience and they are more prepared to come see me and Baby Bella when the time comes.

I decided to try my hand at making spit cloths for her to use since I had gotten rid of all my old ones. They didn't turn out too bad as long as you don't look closely at the stitching. :) There are only a few things that I would love to have done before her arrival...paint the girls' room and I should probably pack for the hospital. The painting will come this week once we can all agree on a color. Bethany gave me a pile of samples that she approved and then handed me the pile of the ones she didn't care for. Let's just say we have different opinions in what shade of pink to use. She would love hot pink and black. I'm not going for it.

Here's a couple pictures of the spit cloths I made. I really like the fabric and how girly they look. :)

Last of summer fun

Well, I think it's safe to say that summer is officially over. We took down the pool yesterday, had our final camping trip and the weather is perfectly fall-like. I'm trying to gear myself up for Kurtis' long hours of work, but they will still sneak up on me just like they do every year. Lots of patience is what I'm going to need this fall (sad that I know that already). :) The pregnancy is moving right along and it's hard to believe that in less than a month our precious little girl will be here. I think we are all ready for the most part and the kids are getting excited. Only time will tell when she decides to make her appearance.
Labor Day weekend was our annual VM campout. I think we had 47 family members there and only a few missing. It was such a great weekend and many thanks to anyone involved in helping organize it. We're already looking forward to going again next year! I don't have a lot of pictures because my camera batteries ran out, but I'll share what I have. Between all the great food & fellowship there was plenty of other activities to keep us busy...2 mile fun run/walk along with a kid fun run, crafts, 2 base whiffle ball, playground, geo-caching, minute to win it games and our own special church service. The kids had no problems falling asleep each night, but Jaren was also eager to get up early the next morning so as not to miss anything.

Grandma showing the kids how to play their minute-to-win-it game.

I got to be the score keeper. :)

Enjoying the wonderful food...this was our large brunch.

Always a game of football going on with the boys.

Great-grandpa requested that the younger kids sing a few songs. They did a really good job.

Jaren's turn at bat during 2-base whiffle ball.

Bethany up at bat...don't you just love her baseball hat that she stole from daddy. She is such a daddy's girl! :)

The girls loved hanging out in their special tent.

Jaren & Luke had a great time playing cards.

The younger ones finishing up their fun run.

On your mark...get set...GO!

Yes, even Baby Bella and Baby VM had to participate in the kids fun run/walk. Then it was the mommies turn to do the adult fun run/walk. All the kids got prizes for finishing so the kids are enjoying my bag of candy since I can't eat it. :)

End of summer...beginning of school

OK...I had very good intentions of getting this blog updated with all the pictures from August, but I guess blogger had other ideas. I cannot get any pictures to load up except 4 right now so those will have to do until I have some time next week to finish. :(

Well, summer has ended and the kids just got done with their first week of school. The week went much better than expected, but today we have some attitude issues that go along with being tired. I'm sure that will get better over time. :) I thought I should quickly update my blog with some end of summer pictures and first day of school pictures.

August kept us busy with cousin Sara & Brian's wedding. The girls were asked to be bubble attendants and they had so much fun...and they looked adorable also. :)

The week after the wedding found us on a family vacation to the Ozarks with Kurtis' whole family to celebrate Keith & Gloria's 40th wedding anniversary. It was extremely hot there but thankfully we had two pools and the boat to use to cool us down. There was also the traditional mini golf game, go-karts and Dog Patch arcade.

We had one short week to get ready for the start of school, and I believe everyone was more than ready for a little routine around here. Bethany is thrilled to be in kindergarten. She goes three days a week to start and will eventually go everyday. She seems so old to me now until I see her in the school with all the older kids...then she looks so little. :) Jaren is now a 2nd grader. He was not looking as forward to starting school, but has adjusted very well. We are so blessed to have such wonderful teachers at our school and I am really excited to see what God has in store for the students, teachers and parents again this year.

Erica is going to really miss Bethany during the day

Erica and Jaren...the two trouble makers.

Erica helped make and decorate a cake to celebrate the first day of school.

1st day was a success!!!

Fun in MI

Last week, we had the priveledge to go camping in MI with some of my aunts, uncles & cousins. The kids had an absolute blast playing in the lake, all the sand, frisbee golf and all the other fun activies we crammed in. There was a lot of laughing...in fact I think I laughed hard enough each day that I started crying. Great memories were definitely made by all. Here are just a few pictures since blogger doesn't seem to want me to add any more tonight. :) I will try to show some more after we get back from our next vacation. Jaren had a great time climbing up the dune and absolutely loved running down.
A beautiful picture of Bethany.

Our adorable little Erica.

Bethany & Kenzie had fun playing with sidewalk chalk.

Erica and her two alarm clocks. :)