Christmas in July: Wisconsin Edition

Getting everyone back to my dad's Wisconsin homestead for Christmas is very difficult...sometimes impossible. Anyone remember the last time we tried in 2007? The quick recap is this: a 2 hour flight with an infant turned into an 8 hour one when our destination airport of Milwaukee closed mid-flight due to too much snow. Baggage? Lost. (if only for 24 hours...still disruptive!)

So after that crazy experience our northern relatives started celebrating "Christmas in July". No gifts to buy, wrap and haul there...just a day spent on the remaining land of the family's original farm.

Four generations of pure fun. Headed up by the lady in pink, my grandma-Shirley Amelia...from whom Jade gets her middle name.



She and my grandpa raised a Brady bunch (3 boys/3 girls) who were dressed in blue (along with their spouses).







Those rowdy six gave my grandma 10 grand kids...who were not going to be the targets of any hunters that day. Yep, safety green was our color.







These grand kids (my cousins) have been slowly marrying (another engagement happened that day!) and quickly producing lots of little pumpkins...13 orange ones could be found throughout the farm. Ranging in age from 4 months to 8 years...with only two little boys in the mix!

2004 babies (above)

2007 babies

After enjoying great food, water balloons, and a pinata...the blues, yellows and oranges all took to riding on some greens. Old and new...both drew crowds...

It was a quick, but very well worth it kind of trip. Before boarding the plane to head home I introduced my pumpkins to another orange thing their mommy loves.

Cheese curds!

The rubbery, chewy, salty little bites of heaven did not last long. Ours must not have been very fresh though. I just learned from Wikipedia that if consumed within 12 hours they actually squeak when you bite into them.

For that I am thankful they were stale...squeaky cheese is a little disturbing don't you think?

My better half is in Asia

We sent Daddy off almost two weeks ago! He is helping lead a team from our church of 42 mainly highschool students as they teach English camps in Hong Kong.

I haven't exactly been blogging all the details mainly because I don't want you to break into my house or steal my children while our protector is away.

Kidding. I know that God is our protector, but I still somehow barely sleep when Jerry is away.

Lula sure has helped though. Our way cool friends/neighbors, Nick and Shanda, let us borrow one of their Rhodesian Ridgebacks to be our temporary pet/guard dog while Jerry is away.

Isn't she sweet?


Don't let those eyes fool you though...come through our door and you will be attacked. ;)

What have we been up to in Daddy's absence?

Counting the days until he returns basically. 18. Eighteen. EIGHTEEN!





No, we seriously are not homebound or depressed. We have been to the pool a few times and are just trying to stay cool. Thankful to have such good friends that have invited us over to help pass the time. And also thankful that Jerry has the opportunity to serve in such incredible ways. The team has a blog...mainly posted to by the teenagers, that I swiped this picture from earlier today!

Oh wow, I miss him.

So, why post all this now? Because we are headed out on some travels as well! The girls are heading with Jerry's parents to Atlanta for a few days while I fly up to Pennslyvania to see Rachelle and meet her twin men!

I CANNOT wait! And since Jerry has our little point & shoot camera in China...I hope to get some practice in PA with our new camera (just charging now, forgive above cell pics)...a little happy 11th anniversary present to ourselves! I know nothing about digital SLRs, but am thinking I can learn alot with Cooper and Zachary as my test subjects!

I hope to be posting from cooler weather soon...

Ahhh...vacation. I miss you so.

Summer 2010 marked a new first for our family...we finally took a true family vacation. At least in the sense that it was just the four of us, we weren't headed somewhere for an event (wedding, funeral, reunion, etc), or to a destination where we would want to pack a lot in (ie. Disney World).

We left our Lone Star State and ventured 6 hours to the northeast, to Petit Jean...Arkansas' first state park which was established in the 1930's by the CCC. It sits up in the mountains along the Arkansas river...just high enough to be cooler and free of mosquitoes. Cooler and mosquito free? When can we move?

Anyway, with no real plans other to take our time and enjoy one another, that is exactly what we did.

We took time to:

Let the girls meet their first walking stick...


go on lots of hikes...

admired small creations...

and rather large ones...

we explored-sometimes with hesitation...

and other times quite willingly...

we conquered things alone...

and sometimes with the help of daddy...

and sometimes just stood looking pretty...

sitting pretty worked too...

we even let strangers take our picture...obviously at their suggestion...sans makeup and washed hair!

we explored caves...

and saw turtles...

rock turtles at least....

we played games...

and actually enjoyed them...contrary to faces on pictures...oh how they despise mommy with the camera!

observed sunsets...

wondered where strangers were when you needed them. Thankfully the minivan made a pretty good tripod...

am I the only one that grew up having parents take pictures like this one?

we even took a boat out...

it is amazing what $20 buys at a state park...no experience necessary...

though it was pretty, the girls were not too sure about experiencing the lake that way...

so we headed to the park to hang...

and slide...

and just to look at each other...oh how I love this guy!

It's been a good 11 years of marriage. And a fun 16 years of knowing him...my best friend.

he spent time with her...

while I spent time with her...

and while I spent time with her...

he spent time with her...

and of course they spent time together:

on a bridge outside our cabin...

at the cabin's playhouse...

and in the pool...

much more comfortable in this water than that of the lake...

especially since Daddy could "touch"...

we spent some more time exploring...

and when they tired, silly girls hopped on daddy for a ride...

we stopped at a couple more vistas...

one last picture of the girls (and raccoon and beaver) before packing it up...

and within a matter of minutes we had another wonderful vista...right in our back seat...

as we approached Texas, the skies were dark...

we heard that it rained the whole time we were gone...

which means our garden, flowers and yard survived vacation as well.

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes did too.