Good bye Summer!
I've not been doing a very good job keeping this site up to date. In fact I came to the site today and Lil asked "who's page is that??"
Anyways, summer went by very fast and my preschooler quickly turned into a 6 year old kindergarten student.
We went camping a couple of times. Enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Keith, Grandma Sue, and Aunt Sarah. Spent time with Uncle Mike and cousins from all over at the Coblentz reunion. And enjoyed the long summer days.
Now as fall approaches we look forward to more fun as a family. Lily has adjusted extremely well as a full time elementary student. She's learning more and more each day.
Celebrating our Family
8 years ago today Karl and I got married. In honor of our special day I decided to do a picture blog using my Precious Moments figurines. For those of you who have been to our house you may have noticed them on our entertainment center. But you may not have realized that each figurine has a special meaning, and when you put then all together they tell the story of our family.
This is the first PM figurine I owned. Karl bought it for me for my birthday the year we were married. It was very fitting as we had met on line and the first few years we knew each other, the computer was our only means of communication.
The next one shows the next step in our relationship. After talking online for a while we began calling each other. We would spend hours talking on the phone.
We talked on the phone for a year or so before we met in person. I flew to Minnesota and Karl and I spent time getting to know each other at the Sonshine Christian Music Festival in July 2000. That fall I decided to transfer from ONU to DSU in North Dakota to be closer to Karl. In December 2000 we were engaged and on June 10, 2001 we got married.
We lived in Killdeer, North Dakota from June until November 2001. At that time we moved to Indiana. In June 2002 we celebrated our 1 year anniversary.
On September 8, 2003 we welcomed Miss Lily Ann into our family.
And to this day we feel honored to be her parents.
And even though we feel blessed to have such a special baby girl we know she really belongs to God. In November 2003 we had Lily dedicated at church.
The next figurine brings us to October 2004, it is in rememberance of a tiny baby we lost due to an eptopic pregnancy. This baby, who would be 4 years old now, is not remembered by many, but will always be a part of our family.
Since 2003 Lily has grown so much. She loves drawing pictures and making gifts for people. This is just one of her many great characteristics.
And this one brings us to 2009. Our trip to Disney World. A family vacation we'll always remember.
There you have it.. a glimpse into our family.
So next time you stop by and notice the figurines, remember they represent stages in our life. Stages that have made us the family we are today.
Lily meet Mickey.. and a whole lot of other characters!
Here’s some info about our trip to Disney World. I’ve also added a bunch of pictures in the albums – labeled by day. Enjoy!
Monday, March 9, 2009
We start the day like every other Monday. We get dressed and leave. Lily spends the day with Grandma. Dad goes to work. Mom goes to work and school. Usually Dad picks Lil up after work, but not this particular Monday.
9:00 PM – Mom & Dad both arrive at Grandma’s & Grandpa’s house. We tell Lil we’re going on vacation. She’s VERY excited even though we haven’t told her where we’re going on vacation.
9:30 PM – After a quick stop at home to grab some stuffed animals, we hit the road. It’s around this time that Lil starts in.. “You probably should have told me we were going to be on vacation. I could have told Sam I wouldn’t be at church Sunday, I’m going to miss story time and caravans and show and tell at school.” We convince her the trip will be well worth if and encourage her to sleep.. we have a long way to drive.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
12:30 PM – After much driving and a few pit stops we stop just inside Florida for lunch. We decide we should let Lil know where are mystery vacation is taking us. We order our food, have a seat, and hand Lil the envelope Grandma & Grandpa sent along for her. Inside the envelope she finds a Mickey & Minnie mouse card and some money. You would think this would give away the surprise, but it doesn’t. So we tell her we are on our way to Disney World! After she bounces in her seat for a few minutes and calls Grandma to tell her she knows where we are going, she encourages us to eat fast so we can get there.
3:30 PM (somewhere around that time) – We arrive at our resort, Disney’s All Star Movies Resort. We check in and tote our luggage up to our rooms. Mighty Ducks was the theme of the building we were in. The stair case was surrounded by a huge goalie net. If was about this time that I completely lost track of what day it was and what time it was. That’s why the rest will be in list form.
Bus ride
Magic Kingdom
Casey’s Corner - Supper – Hot dogs, fries, brownie, drink
Cinderella’s Castle
Wishes Nighttime Spectacular
Bus ride
Resort
Swimming
Room
Sleep
Wednesday, March 11, 2008
Wake up call from Mickey Mouse
Showers
Bus ride
Hollywood Studios
Toy Story Mania!
Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian Attraction
Voyage of The Little Mermaid
Pizza for Lunch
Star Tours: The ultimate Star Wars Thrill Ride (Karl & Lily)
“Talent Agent” calling Lil the next big star – Pig Tails McGee
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Karl & Lily)
Block Party Bash – (Parade/Street Party)
Boat to Epcot
Met Belle in France
Met Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie in Morocco
Maelstrom (boat ride in the era of the Vikings)
Grand Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – Dinner with Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Aurora, and Ariel
Illuminations: Reflections of Earth (fireworks)
Bus back to resort
Sleep
Thursday, March 12, 2008
Wake up call from Mickey Mouse (got up early to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom)
Showers
Bus ride
Magic Kingdom
Lily woke up Tinkerbell
Cinderella’s Golden Carousel
Snow White’s Scary Adventure
Dumbo The Flying Elephant
Ariel’s Grotto
“It’s a Small World”
Peter Pan’s Flight
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Tom Sawyer Island
Splash Mountain (Karl & Lil)
Walt Disney World Railroad
Monorail to Epcot
Lunch
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Innoventions
“What’s your problem?” – Game show that Lil & Karl were chosen to participate in
Spaceship Earth
Spaceship Earth Pavilion
Journey into Imagination with Figment
“Honey, I shrunk the Audience”
Soarin’
The Garden Grill Restaurant – Dinner with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, & Dale
Bus back to resort
Swimming
Sleep
Friday, March 12, 2009
Wake up call from Mickey
Get ready
Bus ride
Animal Kingdom
The Tree of Life
Met Terk (from Tarzan)
Met Baloo & King Louey (From Jungle Book)
Brunch @ Tusker House – Breakfast with Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy
Kilimanjaro Sararis
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
Wildlife Express Train
Habitat Habit!
Kids Discovery Clubs (spots through out the park with activities for kids)
Conservation Station
Met Pocahontas
Met Jiminy Cricket
Met Rafiki
Met Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore
DINOSAUR
Tricera Top Spin (Karl & Lil)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade
Camp Minnie-Mickey Greeting Trails
Met Koda
Met Minnie
Met Lilo & Stitch
Bus to Magic Kingdom
Met Pinnocio
Supper
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Swiss Family Tree house
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Bus back to resort
Arcade
Swimming
Sleep
Saturday, March 13, 2009
Wake up call from Mickey
Get ready
Bus to Magic Kingdom
Met Snow White
Met Mary Poppins
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
Stitch’s Great Escape
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Astro Orbiter
Met Buzz Lightyear
Space Mountain (Karl & Lil)
Lunch
Minnie’s Country House
Toontown Hall of Fame
Met Tinkerbell and Fairies
The Barnstrormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm (Karl & Lil)
Mickey’s Country House
Donald’s Boat
Dream Along with Mickey
Mad Tea Party (Karl & Lil)
Disney Dreams Come True Parade
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
“SpectroMagic” Parade
Cinderella’s Royal Table – Dinner in the Castle, picture with Cinderella, show by The Fairy Godmother and Mice
Shopping at Gift Shops
Bus Ride to Resort
Crash
Sunday, March 14, 2009
8:30 AM Head for home
Monday, March 15, 2009
2:00 AM Arrive home
It was an exhausting but wonderful trip. A trip that none of us will forget anytime soon. We got to see and do tons of stuff, but there is a lot we didn’t have time for. It was a trip of a life time. Seeing Lily interact with the characters was so much fun!
February?
It's February already? Where did January go? It seems to have flown by.
I finally posted some new pictures. I LOVE the black and white on at the top of the page. You can't deny that my little girl is BEAUTIFUL! And she always keeps us smiling.
Tonight as supper I mentioned to Karl that we needed to sit down and pay bills, and the following conversation took place.
Lily: Do we have Wii bill?
Mommy: No, why?
Lily: Well don't we have to pay for the Wii?
Mommy: The Wii was a present, when you get a gift from someone, you don't have to pay for it.
Lily: So Uncle Mike has to pay the bill?
Mommy: Yes.
Lily: Well, you have to pay the electric bill, and the Wii is connected to the electric, so you have to pay the bill.
Oh the things that Lily comes up with.
Enjoy the pictures! And leave a message!
Gingerbread House
A picture blog to show the making of Lily's first Gingerbread House.
Assembling the house.
Letting it dry. (15 minutes if a LONG time for a 5 year old)
Decorating. Lily didn't use a lot of the candy in hopes that she could eat ALL the leftovers when the house was finished.
And the finished project.
Let the Christmas Festivities Begin
Last night was the Annual Christmas Dinner at the Boys & Girls Club. We enjoyed the kids Christmas program, a delicious meal, and then got a picture with Santa.
This (according to Lily) is the real Santa Clause, at least she's pretty sure. She said she'll ask him a question next year that ONLY the real Santa would know... "Is Rudolf really real?"
Today we went to the Annual Christmas party at the Library. They have a party every year for the kids who go to story time. They sang songs, read books, had a snack, played a game, made a craft, and saw another Santa (this one, according to Lily, is one of the real Santa's elves, because Santa has so many appreances to make during the Christmas season, he has look a likes).
We'll continue to enjoy the Christmas season, and look forward to family arriving in the next week or so. Stay tuned for more Hoiliday Pictures!
Time to put up the lights!
I love Christmas and I love decorating for Christmas. I was so excited when Karl agreed to put the lights up BEFORE Thanksgiving! Lily even helped put lights up this year. I'm very glad to have 2 wonderful helpers!!
School Picture Time
Lily - Preschool (Bears) 2008-2009
Random Pictures from Past Novembers
Here are some pictures of Lily from past Novembers.. she has changed soo much!
November 2003
November 2004
November 2005
November 2006
November 2007
Wordless Wednesday #3
Wordless Wednesday #2
Wordless Wednesday #1
Welcome to Wordless Wednesday. I'm not sure where the idea started, I certainly can not take credit for it. But someone came up with the idea that on Wednesdays, bloggers would post a pictures with out a description. Thus the name Wordless Wednesdays. So although this particular one isn't so "wordless" here is the first edition of Wordless Wednesday on Pictures Presented by Heidi. I'll post a picture and you respond with your first thoughts, funny captions, comments, anything you want really. Have fun and comment away!!!
The making of the cake
Ok.. so I mentioned earlier that I'd share in my adventure of making the cake. Well here ya go.
For past Birthday's we have either ordered Lily's Birthday cake from Scotts or Wal Mart, or made a simple cake in a pan, threw some frosting on it and we were done.
Well this year we decided to go all out, well not really, we just didn't have many options when it came to having a Scooby Doo cake.
A friend of mine told us we could borrow her cake pans (she makes awesome looking cakes). So we got the pans and Saturday morning using 7 cake mixes I made these two sheet cakes.
Simple enough right? Sure.
Well next came the part I was worried about, taking the cakes out of the pans and frosting them. I mean.. what if they break?? What if they dont' frost right? Well I'm very greatful I have a wonderful husband who was a VERY good helper Saturday night and we got the cakes frosted without much trouble.
After frosting the 2 individual cakes, it was time to put them together. This made me a little nervous. I had spent time baking the cakes, we had both worked on frosting them. But I shouldn't have worried because it worked out fine. We even found cookies to use for the wheels.
Ok so the mystery machine is built and the wheels are on. Just a few more touches and we were done for the night. Time to go to bed and get some sleep! Well yes.. that IS Lily driving the Mystery Machine!
The next morning we got up (I checked the cake.. still there and all in tact) and went to church. When we got home it was time to put the finishing touches on the cake. Adding Scooby and The Gang.
And we did it! We successfully made a Scooby Doo Cake! I was very glad it came out ok!
Not by any means a professional cake. In fact I told Karl that I DID NOT want to go into the cake decorating business! But Lily loved it and that's what mattered!
P.S. Please stop by our house and have a piece of cake.. remembered I mentioned using 7 cake mixes? Well that makes A LOT of cake! :)
5 years old!
On Monday my baby girl will turn 5. 5! I can't believe she's five. She's growing so quickly. We're having her birthday party on Sunday. (I'll post later about my adventure in making the cake after we see how it turns out!).
Here's a few picture of Lil the past 5 years. (wait a few seconds and the picture changes)
Last Thursday she started her second year of preschool. Lily is now a Bear! She was very excited to go. She LOVES school. We'll for now I need to get back to getting the house ready for the party tomorrow.
Our Vacation Part 2
Friday morning we got up and headed for quite possibly my favorite place on earth, The Precious Moments Chapel. The place is truly amazing. We happened upon this place about 16 years ago on our way to Arizona. Since that then we’ve visited a few times. As you get a few miles away you start seeing billboards with Precious Moments figures advertising the Precious Moments Chapel and Park. As you exit the interstate you take a few turns that seems to lead you no where. And then there it is.. The place is something you really can’t describe in words. I took my time walking and looking (thank you Mike and Dad who patiently waited while I took my time). I had seen most of it before, but it still amazes me when I look around. I could spend hours, well days, there. The chapel is the focus of the park, with paintings everywhere by Sam Butcher (the creator of Precious Moments). As you can tell, I could go on and on about the place. After looking around and browsing the gift shop, where I informed Karl that I’d take one of EVERYTHING there, we left and drove back to Kansas City.
Saturday after lunch we went to the World War I Museum and tower. We bought our tickets and up we went. One elevator ride and 45 stairs later we were at the top looking over the city. I must admit it was cool seeing the city from up there even though I’m a bit afraid of heights. Saturday evening Julene, a friend of Mike’s took our family pictures in and around NTS. She did a wonderful job! We got some good pictures.
Sunday we attended Trinity Nazarene Church. It was a very nice service. They have a great worship team that lead the music and we enjoyed a good sermon on holiness. We ate lunch at Baja 600, a Mexican restaurant on the Plaza. Delicious food! After lunch we went back to Mike's for our Nazarene naps. That afternoon Karl, Lily, and I went to Loose Park. This park is HUGE. Lily loved playing in their water park. After supper we treated ourselves to cheesecake from none other than The Cheesecake Factory.
Monday we packed up and headed home. We stopped at Denny's for breakfast. Drove past the arch. Ate lunch at A & W. 7 days and 6 states later and we're back home!
Vacation are always nice, but it's always nice to be back home too!
States visited this year: Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota
Next vacation: To be determined!
Our Vacation Part 1
Well, hello everyone. I'll post some pictures once I get home and upload them to the computer.
We started out at 6 AM Tuesday morning after picking up my mom and dad. We drove for about an hour then stoped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We drove for a while and stoped at KFC/Taco Bell for lunch. Lily had asked several times by now "are we close to Uncle Mike's yet" but she was being a pretty good traveler. We arrived at Mike's around 5 PM. We unloaded the van and rested for a few minutes. Then we went to Jack Stack Barbecue for supper. One of Mike's roommates was our waiter. After a very yummy meal we went to do some grocery shopping. We got back to Mike's unloaded the groceries and crashed for the night.
Wednesday morning after showers and breakfast we went to the Kansas City Zoo. It's a pretty big zoo, and very nice. After traveling through Africa, riding a camel, and watching the Sea Lion show, we decided it was hot and headed back to Mike's. We spent the evening playing games, watching tv, and resting.
This morning (Thursday) Karl, Lily, and I loaded into the van and made our way through Iowa to Grace University in Omaha to visit Karl's sister, Sarah. We picked her up and took a short tour of the campus. We took her to Applebee's for lunch. After lunch we browsed Toy's R' Us then took Sarah back to her dorm. Then we drove back to Kansas City.
Tomorrow we're headed to the The Precious Moments Chapel. I'll post more in a few days. It's been a nice trip so far and I'm sure the rest of the week will be nice.
Again, I'll get some pictures posted of all this stuff when we get back home.
And the count down begins.
In 6 days we'll pack up the van, pick up Grandma and Grandpa and head to Uncle Mike's house. The last time Karl, Lily, and I were there was in May 2006. Lily LOVES her Uncle Mike (I know that has nothing to do with the fact that he spoils her).
I joke with people that my brother and I get along much better when we're in different states. See Mike is a typical big brother. He does stuff, stuff just to annoy me. That's how he is. And me, well it's never my fault, he ALWAYS starts it! :) I guess we're just typical siblings.
I must say I am looking forward to a break from worrk. Now days I am very greatful that Karl and I both have jobs. But it's good to have break now and then.
Last time we went to visit Mike we headed south (I think it was south, my directions get messed up once I leave Adams County) to the Precious Moments Chapel. It is one of my favorite places I've ever been. We also spent a day at the KC zoo. On the way home from Kansas City we stoped at the St. Louis Arch and looked around. It was a fun trip.
I'm sure this trip will be fun and full of many memories. I'll be sure and post some pictures when we return. Until then, take a look at my pictures, enjoy Lil's video's, and leave some comments!
New Feature!
Alright so every Christmas we order some calendars and other gifts (magnets, cookies, notepads, mousepads, and whatnot) with Lily's pictures on them. And every year I get the same comments like this from people..
"That is so neat!"
"Did you make that?"
"How did you do that?"
"Where do you get something like that?"
Well.. the answer is here, places like shutterfly. They have Wonderful Picture Gifts! And now they have come out with a cool new FREE feature - webpages! So I decided I'd throw some stuff on here and try it out!
So here it is, just a start. I hope to add more as time passes.
