Movie Night!

Friday night is generally movie night at our house. On this night we had the Schwartz kids over and everyone was lined up on the sofa!

Even Charisma and Annika managed to squeeze into the recliner!

Simeon just couldn't hold out for the entire movie, and he fell asleep in the strangest position on the back of the sofa!

August Summer Moments

Amelia being a "lady" at Alan and Holly Zeug's wedding! It was a PERFECT day!

Typical Saturday morning breakfast table at our house. Blueberry pancakes topped with whipped cream and homemade maple or chokecherry syrup! We had cousin Nat and his friend Luke visiting, as well as Masa for extra guests.

Bet you can't tell it's morning! HA!

Reuben is such a great brother to all his little sisters. He does like to tease them sometimes, but Erina is his special little buddy!

More Wilder Museum

The old wood cookstove.

One room schoolhouse.

Lovely old antique furniture.

Mural of the Plum Creek dugout.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum

In August we had the opportunity to host an exchange student through AFS for a few weeks until his permanent host family could have him move in. His name is Masakazu Ishihara and he is from Japan. He was a brave soul to come to a house where he had nine instant siblings when he was used to being an only child, but he was a great sport! We all became attached to him right away! We thought he could see a little local history at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum! Becca and Amelia showing their cooking skills in the hands on kitchen!

Here is Simeon being a little farmer with Masa in the background.

Erina and Charisma found some outfits perfect for playing the pump organ!

Katrina found Daniel Boone!

Berge 30's Bash

Here we all are at Reptile Gardens. It proved to be another gorgeous day to take in all the reptiles, birds and snakes! We also enjoyed the flowers and museum!

Everyone is all smiles except Simeon who couldn't wait for the show to start! Notice that David and Melanie are all smiles, enjoying their child free summer.....but not for long!

Reuben, Thomas and Simeon enthralled by the swooping birds!

Here we all are, posing for our family picture. For only having 4 children, the clan sure has multiplied! Go Grandma and Grandpa! All 25 of us stayed in a lovely cabin together and shared meals and great times together! What a memory filled vacation!

Mount Rushmore in July!

In July we took a trip out to the Black Hills with the Berge Family. We were celebrating the fact that all of us (sibling children of Ken and Becky Berge) were in our 30's at the same time! We took in so many sights!

Simeon attempting to look presidential!

We had a gorgeous day for visiting this amazing monument. It was the first time most of our kids had seen it!

Here are the 4 cousins enjoying each other's company every chance they could!

Successful Kite Flying!

Go Amelia!

Go Becca!

We all enjoyed the fresh air and exercise. Annika and I enjoying ourselves.

Sam climbed up into the top of the shed and peeked out the roof! The kids thought that was great!

Kite Flying!

After church we came home, ate a yummy lunch and then decided the day was a perfect kite flying day! So we pulled out the kites and gave them a whirl!

Reuben had a smaller version that proved to be a diver, but we still had fun with it. However, by the end of the day it was spent!

"Mom....help!" I even got in on the action of getting the "airplane" kite to go up, up and away!

Simeon enjoyed the knee high clover!

Happy Birthday Katrina!

On June 28th we celebrated Katrina turning 6! She is becoming quite the young lady and poses here with Amelia and Becca.

Here we celebrated her family birthday party! It was so much fun to see what each sibling came up with for gifts for her.

This was her friend party, and this year she had a playtime with the Hicks family!

It is a wonderful thing to take the time to cherish each child on their special day and let them know how much we love them

. I just LOVE birthdays!

Fishing in SW Minnesota!

Nate, Antonio and Sam took the boys out fishing, and look what they caught!

I have always been amazed at the good luck Sam has at fishing. It must be some inner instict he has, or maybe just the fact that he is not afraid to work hard at it.

Noe, Sammy and Reuben try their hand at holding it up! Guess it was a little too heavy!

Sahlstrom Camp II

The water sports are the big attraction at Sahlstrom Camp! Whoever wanted to try tubing, waterskiing, knee boarding, and whatever else they come up with will had the chance to give it a try! You may have to wait your turn, but it proves to be entertaining indeed!

Even Grandma Carol and Grandpa Paul get in on the action! What an amazing duo these two are! They can keep up with all the kids and grandkids like it takes no effort! We all appreciate the wonderful example they are to the rest of us. They love God and each other and they make life richer for everyone who crosses their path. They have an amazing gift of hospitality that they have passed on to each of their children. This is SUCH an important ministry to help encourage others and share God's love with them!

The Three Brothers attempt to get up all at the same time to show the younger generation "how it's done"! I am happy to report that they were successful, and everyone onshore was cheering them on! We decided it should be a yearly tradition. Nothing like a little pressure to stay in shape, huh? I think they have all reached the 40 mark, now!

Simeon just loved the water, and with his little floating swimsuit, it was so nice to know he would be able to get back up again if he wiped out!