Catching up!

These are out of order:(.....

Nick has a christmas work party for the family and its Cosmic Bowling!! Its a blast and the kids really love it. Elijah up to bowl.
Caden up to bowl. His ball barely even rolls down the lane. Its so funny, but yet when the ball gets there, it pretty much knocks down most pins. Impressive!!

Liam enjoyed dancing to the music that day.

They have free food and drinks for the family. Here the kids are enjoying their snacks.

Each year we make christmas cookies. Lately we have made the same kinds and so once again here are our attempts at white chocolate covered pretzels and buckeye's. Not pictured we also made fudge and toffee bars. Yummy.

Here are the boys busy helping. Of course they get bored pretty quickly, so this was at the start of the cookie making.

Our first REAL snow fall....the boys loved playing in it.

Elijah's a good big brother pulling Caden in the sled.

A Family of Six.......

NO More......

Alisha K. went back to Haiti today(Wednesday). Of course this makes me sad to no longer have her in our home, but I know how excited she was to go see her family. Its been a pleasure, and a huge honor to have her living with us for a month. I sadly didn't take alot of pictures, but the ones we did take do a good job of explaining what all we did.

Alisha was a huge help and an amazing 16 year old!!! She was always willing to play with the boys, babysit the boys, change liams diaper, get him ready for bed, deal with fighting kids if need be (when I was gone), and get them fed.

They even made a train track together which I found out that Liam was very much into:). We keep them in a bin and I guess my older boys don't play with them much so it really never crossed my mind that Liam would be of age to play them.

Of course I had to introduce alisha to Ticket to Ride. Now mind you, this picture was actually taken at the end of her stay....we tried to calculate how many times we played this game in a month and we came up with a rough estimate of 70 (give or take) times!!!!! Liam takes great naps, and kids are in school, house work done, not time to make dinner yet....so what did we do??? We played TTR!!! We got so fast at it we could finish a game easily in 20 minutes. I think I might just have withdraw symptoms come next week:).

It was a fun time having her in my kitchen as well. We tried a few new recipes, but also stuck with those comfort foods:). Here she is with a pot of Potato Soup. YUM!!! We made many cookies, christmas candies, meals, lunches and NO breakfast. Neither of us are breakfast eaters...so that was easy.

We also took her out to eat at a Sushi restaurant. We not only wanted her to try this stuff(cause we like it), but also a thank you for all she did with our boys while living with us. I think she enjoyed the sushi and would eat it again....next year:). Its an all you can eat; served to order place. So we all ordered several different kinds and tried everyone else's. Worked out nice, because we were able to try 10 different kinds of sushi. Eel, tempura shrimp, salmon, tuna, crab, fish eggs, and other kinds.

Here is a couple samplings:). Oh and we also had a huge plate of Crab Legs...which were delicious!

God even allowed Alisha to enjoy the snow while here. She kept saying how she loved snow and how the cold didn't bother her. Of course keep in mind most of the year she is in 80+ degree weather. So our first snow fall of the season we walked out on the porch in bare feet...(she insisted) and snapped this picture. I was freezing...she was not! I kind of think that she got a good share of snow and the cold and just might have been ready for warm weather by the time she left today:).

Alisha,

I love you dearly. Yes we are 15 years apart, but it sure is hard to tell at times. You are a mature 16 year old. And I can also be an immature 30 year old too.
We had many laughs, many times we would give each other a "hard time" and be sarcastic to each other. I loved having a GIRL upstairs to go to to ask about my clothes...if they matched, which shoes to wear. I loved trying on different make up's and playing around with our faces in the mirror. I loved having someone to talk to during the day. My house is so quiet right now, its a bit sad:(. I loved getting to know you so much better. I loved having you here to help me grocery shop(cause you would help with cranky pants in the cart:)). It was so nice to be doing something, knowing that I needed to be getting boys ready for bed and all of a sudden, down would come Liam dressed and ready for bed or even better yet...put to bed!! You were such an amazing help to me. I now know one of the reasons your mother wants you back:)....she could use your helping hands with your siblings. Did a learn anything from this visit?? ABSOLUTELY!!! I learned that I need to enjoy my kids at the ages they are NOW!! Ive always wanted them to be older and more independent, but now that Ive had you in my house for a month alisha, I have realized that VERY SOON my boys will be 16 and won't need me anymore. They will be going out at night with friends, they will be on the phone with friends, they will read books in their rooms, they will want alone time(and none of this is bad, trust me)...its just that soon and very soon I will be a lonely lady in this house. SO I NEED TO ENJOY MY KIDS AT THEIR YOUNG AGE!! and be THANKFUL THEY STILL NEED ME!!!

Thanks again alisha for staying with us!!! We love you!!!

Forget the Spoon!!

This is a pretty silly video of Liam at the dinner table the other night. I'm not real sure why he has recently decided a spoon is just "no good":). Of course this new eating habit will need to be broken soon, as its not polite manners, nor is it fun to clean up.

Christmas Season is Here!!

CAN IT BE???? TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY???? :)

I had the joy of my cousin Alisha to help me this year. It was alot of fun getting the house all
decorated for christmas. We got this 9 ft christmas tree from some friends of ours who couldn't use it in their house due to the tallness of it, so they passed it on to us. It fits amazingly well(minus having to rearrange furniture for the season), but I love the tree!! Alisha decorated the mantle above the fireplace for me. She did a good job!

Nick hung the lights on the loft railing. This is pretty much all he did this year inside the house since I had alisha's help. You will notice lights also on the banister going up the stairs.

Alisha and I put lights above the cabinets and then we put bows on my kitchen cupboards as well. I want to invest in some red bows because this gold doesn't show very well. (this ribbon is left over from our house in TN where I had dark cherry cabinets and the gold went well with those).

This is the boys loft area. They have their own tree this year(our "old" tree...really its only 2 years old) but they think its pretty cool to have a tree up on the loft.

Nick hung all these lights on the house. He was a trooper and he did a great job. Thanks hon for your hard work. He did tell me "its a good thing I love you" as he was hanging them:).

Alisha's 16th Birthday!!

So on November 16th my sweet cousin Alisha came to live with us. She is so wonderful to have around. I have VERY MUCH enjoyed her stay and will be sad when she leaves in 2 more weeks on December 13th. I love having a girl around the house to talk to during the day, she has been great help with Liam(changing diapers and putting him down for a nap). AND NO...she does this on her own....I don't have to ask her!!! She has helped me make dinners, she has helped me clean the house, the dishes, she has helped grocery shop and we have even had a day of fun shopping for ourselves with my mother watching liam one day. She has babysat our boys too. I mean, really....can it get any better than this??

Well, on November 26th was her 16th birthday. We had the honor of hosting her sleepover birthday party here at our house. I was so excited that I set to work thinking of invitations and cake ideas, and birthday party ideas. I did get this idea off of the internet, but I did create them myself and I loved how they turned out. To bad boys don't like frills and fun invitations:).
Of course then I was super excited about the cake. I thought some sort of peacock feathers would look really cool and some ribbon to match from the invitations. I knew two of her favorite colors were brown and teal and I wanted the cake to have those colors to all extremes. I even was about 95% sure I could make it myself, but then I thought maybe Danielle from Five Loaves would do a great job too(if she didn't mind me being so picky and telling her exaclty how I wanted the cake to look). She didn't seem to mind, so I let Danielle make the cake and she did a great job and my "vision" was mastered.

Top of cake:)

Side of cake with peacock feathers, and the ribbon:). I loved it. Oh and to top it off...I asked danielle to make it a chocolate cake with two layers and the frosting in between the layers I wanted teal. Alisha loved the inside of the cake(I had told her there was a surprise inside:))

Alisha picked out the paper supplies and I thought it turned out really cute. She didn't want many decorations so we didn't go all out on that.

Happy 16th Birthday Alisha!! We love you and feel blessed and honored that you chose to stay with us for the month you are here in the states.

The girls she had over for her birthday party. They also went to lafayette to go ice skating and it sounds like they had fun!!!

One of the best parts about this whole thing was the fact that I could sit upstairs and listen to the giggles of all these girls in the basement. Its something I will most likely never hear again(since I have all boys) and it really was music to my ears.

Zoo Day!!

So 19 months ago we told Elijah and Caden that we would go to the zoo. In fact it was March 20th and the boys could harldy wait. We told them once we came back from the doctor's office that we would head to the Knoxville Zoo. (I had a OBGYN appt that day). Needless to say I went into the office and then straight over to the hospital because I was in labor. Elijah and Caden have been patiently waiting since then to visit the zoo!! Such bad parents I know!!

Well, last Saturday we finally got the kids to the Indianapolis Zoo and they had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the day.
It was feed the giraffe time, so they were UP CLOSE and PERSONAL and the boys loved it.

They also had "watch the elephants get a bath", so we made our way over to watch that. We got to touch the elephants and that was fun. The skin is so tough, wrinkly and hairy. Kind of gross.

The animals were very active. The cheetah's were up and walking around and the bear in this picture was playing with a big bone(the blurry object near his paws), and the zebra's were roaming around too. Makes the zoo more fun when the animals are active.

Liam sure enjoyed those Rhino's!!

We also got to pet the sharks. How cool is that!! I had to help Caden as his arms were just to short to reach them. He did finally get to touch one and thought it was pretty cool. I think this was probably my favorite part.

Here are the boys with the sea lions.

We also watched the dolphin show which was good, but REALLY short. No pictures though.

We are glad we had super weather and a fun time at the zoo. Sure hope we get the boys back there soon. They had fun.

Work=Good End Results

The end of the summer brought some amazing sales on fruits we love. So I tried my hand at freezing a few different kinds. First I did blueberries which obviously aren't to hard:). We got several bags of those. Then I did 7 bags of bing cherries. Wash and remove stem and bag them up. Another pretty easy task.
Then I decided to try peaches. Peaches are my favorite fruit and I wanted to have some this winter, because man, they were so good this past season. So I googled freezing peaches and away to work I went.
Removing skins after a 4 minutes bath in boiling water.

Slicing those delicious peaches. I had to eat several along the way of course:).

And now my freezer has several bags of fruit. The peaches I eat plain, the blueberries go in smoothies(yes I like smoothies in the cold months:), and the bing cherries I just eat out of the bag too(they still have the seeds in them). Sadly winter hasn't even started and I only have 4 bags of cherries left. The blueberries and peaches are still plenty.

Now if only I could just get up the energy to do applesauce one of these days. Probably won't happen until next year, but I really would love to do it.

A Visit to Turkey Run

A family gathering to celebrate Dad Waibel's and Grandpa Leon's birthdays. It was good to see all the family again. Thanks to mom and dad for a wonderful picnic lunch before our hike.
Caden, our cousin's ReVae and her daughter Ariyana.

A sweet picture of Austin and his girlfriend Karis. Austin really did NOT want to get his picture taken:).

I thought this was so neat how the water reflected the bridges. I never take pictures as I just can't capture things very well. Its not my talent!! However I did take this picture believe it or not:).

A rest stop for Grandpa Leon. I think perhaps it was a tough trail for him. He did a good job though and he completed it.

We hiked trail 4 which lead us to the covered bridge.

These boys have alot of fun together.

Such great fun cousins we have. Bound to be best friends for life!

Caden in form. Getting ready to throw the football.

Liam thought he was big stuff holding that ball. Its nearly his size too:)

60th Anniversary Celebration

Here is the BEAUTIFUL reason that we got to go to the smokey mountains this past weekend. Thank you Gramps and Grams for your devotion and love for each other and for Christ. You truly are an example for us to follow. (if we have to vote on doing this yearly....the waibel family is in:))

Here is our 12 bedroom/12 bathroom cabin. It was 3 stories. Lower level had 4 bedrooms and bumper pool table and flat screen tv. Middle floor had kitchen, eating area, living area and 3 bedrooms, and top floor had pool table, air hockey, small living area and 5 bedrooms.

The resort had this nice pool area(and beautiful scenery) and a hot tub (that was cold). A work out center and sauna and steam room. Very nice. We came just in time for pool weather, because the day we left was the day they closed down the pool for the season.

The cabin had these two long tables that fit us quite well. There was also this small round table (beside where this picture was taken) that seated the older 4 kids.

This is the beautiful view we had from our cabin. It was breath taking.

A 12x12 scrapbook was made for Gramps and Grams for their 60th. We all did several pages of memories. It turned out really nice.

On Saturday morning we went for a hike in the smokeys. We did the trail that leads to Laurel Falls. Nick and I had done this trail before, but we knew it was a trail that was paved and easy going.

One morning in the kitchen. Getting ourselves breakfast. We were all on our own for breakfast then each family(Jerry Family, Jan Family and Joan and Gma) took a day for lunch and dinners. Worked really nice. The kitchen wasn't terribly big so less bodies in the kitchen at once is ideal:).

Tricia and our kids sitting out on the steps one morning. All still in their pj's.

Of course there are hundreds of pictures to post, but I don't feel like posting them all:)...so this was just a quick sampling of our wonderful fun filled weekend with the entire Harold Gutwein family!!! So glad we could all make it.