HIghlights from Thanksgiving

• safe travel to Iowa
• meeting my new cousin Katie adopted from China
• spending time with my grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, mom, dad, and brother
• watching my Uncle Bob with my boys! He taught them so much and is so patient.
  
• YUMMY FOOD!!!!
• Christmas shopping for our boys on Black Friday with Matt.
• playing Dominoes with Aunt, Joy, Aunt Jeri, Uncle Jim, mom, Kyle, & Matt
  
• watching all 3 boys take a ride up high in Uncle Bob's Cherry Picker!
  
• having so much fun that I didn't even have a chance to break out my camera!!!!
  

Halloween Costumes 2009

Jaden as Indiana Jones with our buddy Cody dressed as Peter Pan!

Jakob dressed as Luke Skywalker and below is our little Yoda! (yoda costume hand made with love by his Nana) We just weren't quite ready for our little guy to wear a big boy costume yet and he wasn't fitting into the baby ones anymore. Ok, Ok.... MOMMY wasn't ready for Jameson to be in a big boy costume yet so Nana made him one. The big kid Yoda just wasn't nearly as cute!

More Pictures from Dresden

Dresden, Ohio Trip

Kari tapping away to finish off.

Mom weaving away!

Our Group of 27 ladies!

My mom and I took a long over due trip back to Dresden, Ohio for some quality time together. The last time we took this trip was in November of 1998 just months after Matt and I were married. It was so much fun that we have been talking about re-visiting ever since. Finally almost 11 years later we made it back. A lot had changed with the little town of Dresden. The economy had gotten the best of this little town and lots of the shops were closed down. The shopkeepers were thrilled to see our tour bus arrive and opened up their stores at times just for us. We also visited the Longaberger Home Office which seemed much larger the first time we visited. Kind of funny how that happens. It was still as cool as ever. The Homestead was new to us and we got to shop in the Factory Store and scored some great bargins there. Mom and I also made our very own Longaberger Baskets just as we had done in 1998. This time with more selections on colors and extra features. We had a really great time!

September Pictures

Jameson using his 3-D Chalk that he got for his birthday!

The 3-D glasses that came with his sidewalk chalk.

My oh so photogenic children totally thrilled about stopping to take a group picture at Monkey Joes!!!

There we go! Jameson cheesing for the camera at Monkey Joes!

I know that I haven't posted pictures in a really long time. These pictures are from September. My camera's battery went kaput and so photo taking came to a hault. We are back in business though just in time for my shopping trip to Dresden, Ohio with my mom. I will be sure to post them when I return.

October 15th

Today is a special day to me. It is Infant Loss Awareness Day! Many women that I know, myself included have been forced to endure such a painful thing when we have lost our children. I hope that you all will remember those precious babies today. Those that we didn't get to hold and those that we only held for a moment. We had hopes and dreams for their little lives! They are safe in the arms of our Father in Heaven. Thank you Jesus!

We remember them today, but as a parent who has lost children there isn't a day or moment that goes by where I am not thinking of my precious children. Sometimes it feels like I am the only one who does remember them because they were mine and I was the one that carried them. I hope this is not the case. Please say a prayer today for all those mommies and daddies who have suffered such painful losses.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

Gratitude List

I got this idea from my friend Betsy. It is a great way to count our many blessings even when life seems so mundane sometimes.

1. I am grateful for the cooler weather, and my boys going out to play football in the yard with daddy!

2. I am grateful for a wonderful group of friends that love me just the way I am.

3. I am grateful for an afternoon tea party with those lovely ladies!!!

4. I am grateful for my church family and all the little ones that I minister to.

5. I am grateful for my Bailee and the fact that she is getting better on her medicine.

6. I am grateful for my husband who works so hard to provide for our family!

August and September Update

Well I have officially been away from my blog long enough. I really need to update this thing and get back on track. Pictures will have to come later, but at least I can let you know what has been happening with our little family.

The boys are back to school which you know from my earlier post. Jaden is doing wonderfully and seems to be doing fine with his teacher. The past 2 days he has been on yellow for behavior which is odd for him, not at home, but at school he is usually on his very best behavior. Thursday for talking during a Math Test and today for allegedly playing with soap in the bathroom which he will go to his grave denying. Nothing too major, but we don't want to make a habit of this. :) Jakob on the other hand has been struggling since day 1. Poor guy, just hasn't been able to get his feet on the ground this year. He has been having trouble staying attentive while Mrs. Mondy is teaching and his organization skills are lacking so far. His grades are really rough too and we aren't even through the first month. Matt and I will be meeting with his teacher this coming week to see what's going on. By the way, the only reason I mention this is because he will not be reading this blog! We try never to compare the academics of one child to the next because it just isn't fair. They each learn differently and are completely separate individuals. We are hoping we can get this all figured out.

The end of August our littlest member of the family turned 3! He has been such a joy to us for the past 3 years and keeps us giggling with his personality. We celebrated his birthday with many friends and family members with a fun pool party. That party was also to celebrate our oldest child Jakob too. He will be turning 9 on Monday the 14th. That is equally as hard to believe. Seem just like yesterday that we were welcoming him into the world at 6 lbs. 12 oz. What a little tiny baby he was and is now about 70 lbs and almost as tall as his Nana.

Matt will also be celebrating a birthday on Sunday the 13th. I am sure his celebration will consist of a weekend full of FOOTBALL!!!! We love this time of year. In other Matthew news...he recently started a part time job with a contract on base, General Dynamics. He is working an extra 20 hours a week some weeks it is 4-midnight a couple nights a week. The off weeks he works from 3:30-7:30am all 5 days. He is still trying to get his sleep schedule all worked out, but seems to be doing really well with it. Just a few more classes left toward his degree and about 6 more months left in the Air Force and our lives will be changing again.

and the momma of this busy crew :

• Homework duty with the older boys in the evenings.
• Playing with the youngest member during the day!
• working at church a couple days a week
  
• trying to keep my house in order and meals prepared in the evenings.
• volunteering at school with whatever needs to be done.

So that is life in the season that we are in!

First Day of School

August 20th, 2009 Jakob started 3rd grade and Jaden entered into the world of 2nd grade. It has been quite an adjustment already and they haven't even made it through a full week yet. Jakob has more subjects this year and also stays an extra hour at school. That has been weird seeing Jaden show up at home without Jakob. Not sure I really like it, but next year they will both be doing that.

The Game & Open House

Jaden in his 2nd grade classroom for Open House

Jameson trying out Jaden's desk!

Kira & Jameson at The Game!

Jaden at the top

Jakob stopping for a picture!

On Tuesday the 18th we went with a big group of friends to Glen Carbon, IL to The Game. It is a fantastic place to spend the afternoon. Lots of climbing, sliding, and swinging takes place here. I got a great workout climbing through with Jameson. He let me take a break to go climbing with Kira. It was a great way to spend one of the last days of summer vacation. Thank you to Ora for setting it all up. We had a blast!!!! Tuesday night we went to Jaden's Open House to meet his teacher Mrs. Porter. Jaden is going to have a wonderful year and he is looking forward to 2nd grade!!!

Science Center

Daddy took Monday the 17th off so that we could spend one last family day together before the big boys started back to school. We went to the Science Center and had so much fun! The boys are making the train go, playing the laser harp, and standing in the dinosaur footprint. We wish daddy could have every Monday off!

Grayson, waiting on the parade to start!

Mommy & Jameson enjoying the Homecoming Parade. Jakob and Jaden marched in the parade with their Cub Scout Dens, but my camera battery went dead before they got to us. These are the only pictures I got. After the parade we went over to the park and the kids got to go to ride on the rides with their friend Grayson who stayed the week with us.

Summer Fun @ the Pool

We have spent a lot of time this summer swimming at the pool on base. We meet up with our friends there and everyone has a very fun time.

Our 11th Anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on July 25th, 2009. We had a fabulous dinner with Matt's parents (who also celebrate their anniversary on the same day) and Charlie and Vicki McGee at Charlie Gittos on The Hill. The food was wonderful and the company was great too. It was a good day!

Grandma Great

This letter came from my Great Uncle Pete and was written about my Great Grandma Fagen. What an inspiring woman she is!

Family,

Today we are in Hoonah, at Icy Strait Point. It is a very cute Alaskan village. This port is limited to one ship a day and today it was Radiance of the Seas day. It is home to the Zip Rider, the world's longest zip line. It is over a mile long, drops over 1300 feet in elevation and you reach a speed of 60 miles per hour. As expected, I rode the Zip and had a great time. However, the real news is that a record was set today for the oldest woman to ever ride the Zip.Charlotte Fagen (91 years old) rode the Zip and broke the previous record set by an 88 year old woman. They took pictures of her and made an announcement on the bus ride to the top where she received a rousing ovation from the other thrill seekers on board.Word had spread all over the island like wild fire about the 91 year old lady that was going to ride the Zip Rider.At the launch pad they were expecting her and treated her like royalty. It was an exciting and exhilarating ride. When we got to the landing zone there were people all over cheering and clapping. It looked like press row with all the cameras clicking. From then on, everywhere we went on the island, people would stop us and say how great it was or how inspiring it was, or that when they grew up they wanted to be just like mom. We both got Zip Rider tee shirts and the bartender at the Landing Zone restaurant offered her a free shot of whiskey which she refused. So instead they provided a round of sodas for our whole group and a bottle of water for mom.This attention continued when we got back on board the ship with people congratulating her and telling her that she was the talk of the entire island. (Which she was). People we met on the plane to Vancouver told us that they proudly told others that they had met her when overhearing conversations about mom.Going back in time, yesterday when I told mom I was going to ride the Zip Rider and explained to her what it is, her eyes lit up and she said it sounded like fun. So I told her if it was accessible for her I would go with her. Some others were not so sure it was a good idea and expressed as much to mom. She finally put that discussion to bed when she declared that she should be allowed to have some fun in her life too.While the discussion was over, that didn't stop the hand wringing and worrying that was going on behind the scenes by the thrill seeking, record breaker's daughters. Worries about snapped necks, pulled out shoulders and all sorts of possible injuries. Thankfully, like most things we worry about, none of those worries came true.Finally, it was truly a beautiful, fun, memorable day in a fabulous location and we were all glad to have been part of it.More later.Love,Peter, Sarah and Andrew

4th of July in Lake St. Louis

4th of July rain

Jakob hit the firework jackpot at Grammie & Grandpa's!

Zoo Fun

Jakob holding elephant poop! (btw, it was varnished so that it was safe to hold if that makes it any better) :)

Aunt Kari & Jackson's favorite ELEPHANT!!!!! (look at the back legs-so cute)

My Big Boys!

Cousins-Jackson Jacoby, Jakob, Jameson, & Jaden waiting to see the penquins.

Mommy & Jamey Lukas

4th of July Weekend

outside the zoo

Aunt Jenn, Uncle Jason, Jackson & Jacoby

Us in front of the All Star Arch!!!

Cousins!!!

On our way to the zoo. July 3rd, 2009