St. Louis, MO

June  9th-12th 

Nick was to preach at St. Louis church on the 12th so we decided to make a long weekend getaway.  We sure did enjoy our time away.  Lots of things to do in St. Louis so we stayed busy.

Several hours of swimming.  When we weren't out and about, you could find everyone in the pool.  sadly the hot tub was broken all weekend.

 One day we went to the City Museum.  We are SOOOO glad we left an entire day for this event.  There is so much to see and so much to do.  My boys were a bit skeptical by the name and even the outside of the building looks run down and awful.  But when we got to the front entrance of the place my boys eyes lite up and they were so excited.  So much climbing around and sliding down, and getting lost:).

 This was a wooden indoor climbing place.  It was a jungle of path ways and openings in which you never knew where you would end up.  Of course we lost the kids a few times, but nothing serious.  We even lost nick once.  He went down a slide and we had no clue where the end of the slide was.

 This was an indoor Skate park....minus the skates of course....so you just ran around these ramps and funnels.  Personally this was my favorite area of the 4 story city museum.

 Ellie liked the ball pit but honestly I'm not a huge fan of these things....ewwwww.

Pretty cool chairs they had here.  You just roll around on them.

 Alright folks....this is the outdoor part that caught my boys attentions pretty quickly. What boy doesn't want to crawl all over and go to great heights to investigate planes up in the sky!!
Even Ellie did this stuff.  She was more brave than I was.  Yes, I did crawl through all that stuff but ONLY once!  The boys all did it several times.

Nick, Elijah and Caden going through the tallest wire tunnel.

Did I mention lots of slides??  This was one of the many.  A note to self and anyone wanting to go here....wear gym short material.  These slides and jean material do NOT mix.

The next day was packed full.  We went to the Gateway Arch.

 We also went up into the arch.  Something I had never done before.  A bit claustrophobic in the tiny little "cell" you ride to the top.  The view from the top was a little "dizzy" feeling for me, but the kids sure loved it.

Inside the Arch!!

We then went to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery for a "free" tour.  It wasn't anything to spectacular, but you do get a "free" beer taste at the end:)  Kids get a "free" soda.

Besides the arch and the brewery we also went to the FREE St. Louis zoo!! Sure had fun here.  Kids enjoyed the animals and got a good amount of walking in:).  (ok, so kids didn't like all the walking, but still they enjoyed the zoo).

 Kids wishing the gorilla would carry them through the park.

It had a small petting zoo for goats only.  Ellie was terrified of them.  

 We got to the park right when it opened at 8am.  From 8-9 am there are a few things that were "free" that normally cost to do.  Like the stingray encounter.  Kids loved this.  Oh and for those who plan to visit the zoo anytime soon....get there at 8am and you can get street parking which is free and then you don't have to pay the 15$ parking fee!!!

 Last but not least we saw something pretty cool at the zoo.  Something I had no idea took place.  You learn something new everyday.  This hippo plunged into the water and proceeded to open his mouth WIDE....and what do you know.....all these fish come swarming into his mouth.  They were cleaning the hippo's teeth!!!  It was amazing to watch.  So many fish swimming around and IN HIS MOUTH!

It was a great trip and we were so glad we got to go UNTIL............
...................stay tuned for what we arrived home to.......

Fair Oaks~ Nick's work picnic

Usually it is Indiana Beach each summer for Nick's work picnic, but this year Tate & Lyle chose to have their picnic at Fair Oaks instead.  It was nice to go here again, but all my kids think Indiana Beach has way more to offer and hope next year they return to Indiana Beach.

We spent ALL day here.  From the time they opened till they closed.  Work provided an "ok" lunch, but then we decided to head to the Farmhouse for dinner after wards.  I sure enjoy that place.  For those who have never gone.....and have heard its expensive....it can be, but if you are up for a burger and fries....GET THE KIDS MEAL!!!  Its half the cost, but literally its bigger than any regular sized hamburger.  Yummm!! Thanks Tate & Lyle for a fun filled day!!

June 9th

 Happy 10th Birthday Caden David!!  You are such a joy to have in our household.  You bring lots of laughter and fun antics to the family dynamics.
 Caden chose to have a "friends slumber party" for his birthday this year.  He invited some of his best friends from church.  Actually its his entire Sunday School class at church.

 Swimming....was missing one of his friends in this picture.

 I made pizza dough for the kids and then let them each make their own personal pan however they liked it.  It was fun to see what each boy wanted to put on their pizza and the quantity of each item!!!

 Time for gifts.  He got some fun gifts.  A model truck to put together, a frisbee type activity, water guns, money, etc.

 Time for cake and ice cream.  He chose a secret agent theme.  I was able to find some plates to go with this theme and then I had to just "wing" it for the cake.  Glad he wasn't to picky on the cake....it certainly wasn't anything special.

Happy Birthday Caden!!  We love you!!

May 11th

Can it be??  Do I really have a TEENAGER???

Happy 13th Birthday Elijah!!

 Elijah chose to have one last family birthday celebration.  I told him this was his final year of making a huge ordeal out of his birthday.  Yes, we will still celebrate his birthday yearly, but will just do it a more simple style.  Maybe a friend or two, going out to eat, etc.

We had his party in the garage as we had 24 people and I don't have enough table seats indoors.  Jayla and Jackie were able to join us as well since my parents were babysitting them the weekend of the party.

 And THEN we had a huge interruption....a very large snake was slithering right outside of our garage door!!!  WHAT???  OH. MY. WORD.....I have seen a snake here and there in my yard when mowing but I have NEVER seen one this size!!!  I was in utter disgust.  Needless to say I still watch where I walk when walking in the grass.  You just never know........

 The kids had a water balloon fight, rode the zip line and enjoyed the go kart.  Then it was time for gifts....

Elijah wanted a gun cleaning set.  So this was his gift from Aunt Karis and Uncle Austin...money folded into a gun.

Elijah went shopping beforehand with Grandpa and Grandma Waibel so this was the gift of what he had picked out.

 Elijah didn't have a theme for his party except for the fact that his napkins had a 13th on them.  So he picked 2- 4 layered cakes for me to make and wanted Coffee ice cream and Vanilla ice cream to go with it:).

Pumpkin Pecan Cake with a Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.

Chocolate Raspberry Torte

Kids Birthday/Christmas Gifts

This year for Christmas we got out kids something they have been asking for since we moved to this house nearly 6 years ago!!  Needless to say they were thrilled and were fine with the fact that when they opened it up for Christmas this year that we told them this was their birthday gift for this year as well:). 

 A Zip Line!!

This was at the beginning stage when the zip line was up but the proper zip line platform was incomplete.  Nick giving it a go and trying it out.  The zip line is 180 ft long.

 Notice the ladder that was just propped up against the tree house so we could stand on the roof.

Elijah took his turn

Caden took a turn

Even Ellie took a turn

And then the platform was complete by Elijah's family birthday party and this allowed anyone who wanted to to feel somewhat "safe" and have a ride.  

This is my Grandpa Gutwein doing it. 

 You will notice my grandpa isn't wearing a safety harness.  We didn't make the adults wear one if they didn't want to, however it is MANDATORY that any child who rides this zip line MUST wear a harness!!

My dad even did the zip line.

And to top it off my mother did it as well.  She didn't climb the ladder but rather we pulled her up by a rope to the top and then let her "go".

Thanks to Nick for building such a nice platform.  Anyone who wants a ride.....give us a call. :)

Rhubarb Jam

A new adventure for me......making my own rhubarb jam.  

Did it turn out???  Not exactly.  Oh don't get me wrong it taste amazing and I could eat it by the spoon full, but sadly it didn't set or thicken enough to be worthy of toast.  SOOOO....instead we popped open a jar tonight and dished up ourselves some vanilla ice cream and emptied one pint of rhubarb "jam" onto our ice cream.  Delish!!!  I'm thinking it won't take us long to gobble the remaining 7 pints I have. I'm thinking even pouring this scrumptious stuff on top of pancakes!!!  Guess I'll wait for my rhubarb to grow some more and give it ONE more try.  Perhaps someone who reads this blog can give me a tip or has a recipe they know is tried and true:)!!!

Garden 2015

 One of the things I truly enjoy is gardening.  This year I was so excited to have nick help me make my garden 3 times the size it was last year!!!  I crammed so much produce into it last year and I knew if I wanted to do more canning this fall that the garden had to increase in size.  In picture below the original garden is the left side of the garden where the black tiles are sticking up.  We use railroad ties to outline our garden and keep it as a raised garden.  So the lines dividing my garden into three sections are the railroad ties. The front right corner is the only thing that got planted after this picture was taken and that corner contains my watermelon and cantaloupe. This year we also made a new fence around the garden to keep wild animals at bay.  Those crazy deer, squirrel, rabbits, wild turkeys and such that roam our yard!!!

In my garden this year I have planted
4 big boy tomatoes
6 roma tomatoes
2 green pepper plants
2 mini sweet colored pepper plants
1 banana pepper plant
1 habenaro pepper plant
1 salsa garden pepper plant
1 orange pepper plant
1 eggplant
2 rows of  detroit beets
2 rows of bush green beans
1 row of green onions
3 plants of english cucumbers
2 rows of lettuce
2 rows of sugar snap peas
2 zuchinni plants
1 yellow squash plant
5 bush pickler plants
3 hills of cantaloupe
2 hills of watermelon
rhubarb plant
and in the back right corner I have 3 plots of herbs (cilantro, parsley and basil)
and on the left edge of the picture you see a dark soil spot...this is dill.

The white dot in the center of the garden is the water source.  Nick dug a trench and put pvc pipe underground from our house out to the garden so that there is no water hose strung across the yard.  This allows for a wonderful sprinkler to sit amidst the garden and water it with ease. (hence the turquoise sprinkler sitting in mid air).

I use cut grass as my soil cover to keep weeds at bay and soil moist.  It works awesome and then its great for compost come fall.  Looks like I'll be busy this fall when all that produce is ready.

Actually......I started a bit of canning today already.....