Meet Crazy Maisie!

Hey gals-
Thought I would give you an update on our cat situation. I did end up going to Ohio last Monday and picked up another Selkirk Rex. She is so cute and hilarious. We just love her! However, our POOR Christmas tree does not have the same feelings towards her. She can climb to the 3rd layer of the tree, chews on the lights, tears the ribbon off, and can jump atleast a couple of feet to knock the bulbs off. Needless to say, our tree looks hideous. I actually thought about taking it down, but thought that would not be spreading Chirstmas cheer! Maisie has brought me so much joy, she is the perfect Christmas present. Leah said she looks like an owl. Its kind of true, but I told her she better not say stuff like that when we have kids(o: Pictures our compliments of our friend Jenna Stoller who has a good camera and came over to do a photo shoot of Maisie. (We left our camera in Illinois at Thanksgiving!) Looking forward to seeing all of you this weekend. Love ya Sarah

Cute Pic's!

Rebekah, those pictures are too cute. Looks like they wore their daddy out. :) Can you guys believe in just 1 week we'll all be together for Christmas?!? It's so exciting, but hard to believe! Not too much excitment around here lately...just the same old routine. Hope everyone's doing well & healthy! Well, I thought I'd post a picture from our "Christmas picture takings'. Josiah found something pretty funny... I don't remember what it was. Kelsey looks like she has chicken pox in our picture. They're actually scabs...from mosquito bites she scratched over & over. Well, see you all on Saturday!!! Love you, Kristy

Fun in the Snow!!!

Hi Girls! I haven't posted in awhile. I thought you might enjoy some new pictures. On Friday I.S.U. cancelled classes for the day because of the snow. So, Matt and I took the kids outside and we pulled them around in a sled. They LOVED it! It was so fun! Afterwards, Josh's cheeks were so red I was afraid maybe he had gotten frostbitten. Darci and Matt enjoyed cuddling on the couch together.

Things have been pretty good here. Matt is finishing up classes...which is stressing him about a bit. He's got a very tough class that's been a headache this semester.

The kids both threwup this week and we don't know if each time they were choking on something or if it was a mild case of the flu. Who knows...I'm just glad it's over. WEll, It was so fun to be with you guys over Thanksgiving. WE are looking forward to Christmas!
Love, Rebekah


 

Davis...

Hi all-
At Thanksgiving, I am sure most of you heard me boasting about our new 10month cat, Davis. Anyway, this past Wednesday, we took him to the vet b/c we noticed he was breathing hard. We thought he had a cold or something. The vet ran tests and told me he'd call me back later with an update. Well, after a loooonnnngggg afternoon, Dr. Honegger called me back and said he wasn't doing well and would have to keep Davis for 1 or 2 nights to get tests back from the lab. 6pm Wednesday Doc called back again to tell us he had really gotten bad and suggests we put him "down". We really didn't have a choice b/c we knew it wouldn't be a smart finiancial move to keep him alive- and -it wasn't fair to Davis. We were really sad! Doc told us later that Davis had a heart condition. Totally a freak thing! He said Davis would have died any time at our house. We are so thankful he was at the vet. I had a REALLY rough Wed. and Thurs., but I am doing better. We really fell in love with the Selkirk Rex Breed, so I am driving to Ohio tomorrow to look for a new Selkirk cat or kitten. We'll see! Sorry to bore you all, but I know the animal lovers can relate! Hope you all have a great week! Loveya, Sarah

Newest Picture of Hudson

Here he is 1 month old! The others he was 5 days old! I love him so much!

guest entry!

Whoops! I think I just published a blank blog. It has been a long time since I've joined in on the fun so I decided I'm more of a guest than a part. Hopefully that will change! :) Things are going good here. We just got our updated photo of Hudson yesterday, which definately brightened up my day!! Right now we are discussing changing his name to Hudson Fernando as opposed to Hudson David. Fernando is his given name (by his birth mother). But David is after Clint. I like both but don't know which Hudson would appreciate more. I'm not big on naming him 2 middle names either. I need to talk more with Clint. We still have time - hopefully not to much time though! :) Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?? Right now my biggest prayer request is that the DNA testing will go good. This week they are scheduling it. We just want the DNA to match the birthmother otherwise all will be up in the air. This is unlikely that the DNA would not match - we just heard of a situation a couple months back where this happened and found out the baby was a stolen baby! They lost the referral and the attorneys started looking for the real birthmother. They are actually now going to get her again because the birth mother was either never found or relinquished her rights - regardless it is a messy situation. Again, I don't expect this yet it could happen. ALL this to say - please pray that all goes smoothly, that the Margarita (his birth mother) will feel God's peace and comfort, and that she will do all she can to keep the process moving swiftly. She will sign off several times during this process. I feel very vulnerable during this process yet feel so blessed that God has called us to this and has given us our most precious Hudson! God is SO GOOD! I love you all.

Jami

guest entry! :)

To Denver and Back

Thanks for putting all those pics on ladies...they're so fun to see...and I feel like our blog is back to the good old days....of something atleast every couple days.
Aaron and I made is safely back home after many adventures on the road...yes my picture here is not in Colorado (can you tell?) It's actually at the old Kaufmann farmstead in Cissna.
Aaron and I had a wonderful time spending time with his family in Kansas and visiting his alma mater K-State. Denver was beautiful, sunny, and in the 50-60s. The hospital is very impressive and we had a fun time with the residents when we went out to eat....but as we so thoroughly realized in our drive...it's a LOOOOOONG way from home. We then visited Cissna Park with the Detroit choir and I showed Aaron all my old haunts, drove him by the Hoffmann place and around good ol' CP. We're heading to interview this weekend in Chicago (one on Friday and one on Monday). We keep praying that one school will stand above the rest. Thanks for all your prayers.
Booxy
ps check out Aarons blog for some entertaining stories about our trip.

Little Chasers....

Hey all,
Last weekend we had the pleasure of having the Jeff Sauder's in Bluffton! Jeff came out to attend Finding Freedom w/ Klint & Dad and Chelby and little Chase came along and hung out with Leah, Mom & me. We had alot of fun! Chase is getting soo big and loved playing "chef" with mom's kitchen toys. Don't you think that he looks so cute in that apron? Can you believe I used to wear that? Anyway, thanks Sauder's for coming out! Hope you all have a great weekend!
Love, Sarah

More pics...

Costume Party 2

Hey all!
As promised, here is our Halloween Party pictures. Once again, Michael & Jane (aka Amos & Emma Schwartz) put their creative minds together and had a great party!
Here are the pics:
Michael & Jane: Amish, Klint & Sarah: Dorothy & the Scarecrow (I was wearing Mom's "going away" dress---isn't that great?), Clint & Amy (Napoleon Dynamite & Deb), Mark & Angie: Lot and his wife, Jeremy & Kristi (Schliff) Reinhard: "Peace & Quiet", Nick & Jessica: Danny & Sandy from Grease. It was alot of fun!!! I will try to post more pics....
Loveya all! Sarah

My Lion

Hey everyone! This is my first time posting anything on the blog, since I don't have internet access at home. Mom was wanting me to show Chase's costume......because we all think he's so cute. He never learned to "roar" like a lion, so he's a pretty passive cat. :)

Jeff couldn't justisify me buying a costume for Chase, so we comprimised by me making it for less than $6!! I had a blast doing it, though if I hadn't enjoyed doing it, it wouldn't have be worth it. Jeff and I loved the results and our neighbors and family have gotten a kick out of the little guy.
Just thought some of you might want to see.

Chelby

3 more halloweening grandchildren!!

Hi everybody. As you can see we had some precious little visitors for Halloween. I'm anxious to see some other little gobblins. Chelby, I would like to see that darling little lion. Hope you have some pictures of Chase. Kristy, did your kids dress up. Pictures please. And Sarah, we can't wait to see what you guys dressed as this year. I don't think you will be able to top last years costume. You make such a great Lucy. If I can figure out how to post some pictures I will show 3 other trick or treaters who came to our door--A Cub baseball player, a blonde Mexican dancer and a very adorable cowboy. Here goes...

My Trick-Or-Treaters!

Well, the chicken suit came out again! Except Darci preferred showing her own legs rather than wearing the orange bird legs that come with the suit. I think it was a little easier for her to manuever without the chicken legs slowing her down. All day I was trying to figure out what to have Josh dress up as. He loves this whistle he wears around his neck so I thought about dressing him up as a train conductor. But when I put on his "church" hat, he reminded me of Dad. So, we decided that Josh would be "Grandpa going to church". So we dressed him in a little suit, tie, hat, and glasses. He loved wearing the glasses. He got a little shy when wbe got to Grandpa and Grandma's house but when we got Grandpa's hat out he decided he'd get his picture taken with him. It was fun. Nothing like a free costume that gets a good laugh!

 

Announcing...the marathon finalists!!

These 1st 2 pictures are the 1st time we found them...around mile 9
They were all running together here -
Aaron ahead just a little (above)
and Christa and Chad just behind (below)































Here's Chad with only 1 mile to go!















The finalists after the run!! (Tiger's stadium in background)

They all did GREAT!! Chad's very sore today, but doing ok.
I know Christa's hurting pretty bad, too. Aaron...how are you feeling today??
We had so much fun cheering them on and racing around downtown to catch them again!
It was an awesome experience! Aaron made awesome time...3 hrs 57 min!! Way to go! Chad did his half in 2:06 and Christa's final time was (i think) 4:38. I can't imaging how you guys truly feel...I feel like I ran a marathon just running around all day trying to catch you! =) Shows how pathetically out of shape I am! Sarah, your trip to Florida looks like a great time! Sounds wonderful!! Time to get supper on! Have a great night, Kristy

Florida...

Klint & I spent the past week in Marco Island,Florida w/ the Mueller's. We have had this planned almost 2 years (before we knew they were moving to Gateway and before Rachel was pregnant with Kaine) Fortunately, Gateway let them come!! (they have only been there about a month) We had a WONDERFUL, relaxing week and where even able to spend our 3 year anniversary there!
And I am even more in love with Kaine (I didnt think that was possible!!) He is almost 10 months and an absolute joy. I took WAY too many pictures of him. Thought youd all enjoy some pictures. Tomorrow is our 2nd annual Halloween Costume party, so I will try to post more pictures later. Love you all! Sarah

YUCK!

OK, ladies...I don't know about you, but I needed to get that image off of the beginning of our blog and out of my head! Thanks, Rebekah! :) It was a good laugh, though.

So, how have you all been lately?? We're heading up to Detroit tomorrow!! Can't wait to see Aaron and Bekah and Tim and Christa!! The big marathon is Sunday morning, so maybe if you think of it you could lift up Aaron, Christa and Chad in prayer. Chad's kinda worried about his knees, they've been giving him trouble throughout his training, and Christa has a bad cold. I just talked to her this morning, and she didn't sound so good.

Josiah's been sick all week, but is doing better, finally! Still has a bad cold, but that's all now, and that's even improving.

OK, what do we think about the Hoffmann Cousins weekend again this spring?? I know we talked about doing it in September of next year, but that's the family vacation, so should we just do it again in May? I was looking at available dates for the Queen's cottage and the pea princess, and was wondering... should we just set a date soon so we for sure get 'our' place?? I was looking at May 4-6. I know it's way in advance, but just thought I'd bring it up. The next weekend's mother's day, then the next is close to the end of school, and a busy time. Then the rates jump big time after that! I emailed them about if there is any discount for renting both of them. Even if there isn't, the TOTAL with taxes and all is $1707. (which, if you divide that by 18, that's 94/person for both nights) SO...let's hear some feedback! It got me so excited, and brought back great memories seeing all the pictures.

Well, I hope this did the trick....that image should be long gone! =) Love you all, Kristy

Advice For Selling on Ebay

I hope this isn't too inapropriate! I found this picture on a website and it made me laugh. I thought since Sarah is an ebay buyer and some of us may try the selling something in the future, it would be good to remember that whenever you are taking pictures of your item to sell...please wear some clothes!!! I guess the fatso in the picture didn't notice his lovely reflection in the tea pot! I think people's thoughts would be "hope the fat guy doesn't come with the teapot!!!!!!!"Love,Rebekah

Prayers

This picture is from a "party" with a couple of med school friends when we had to show up with "interesting toppings" for our own pizza. I won't go into detail since most of you probably have read Aaron's Blog. Well, we had a great time (even though the Tigers lost....but don't worry they'll come back!)
Our crazy schedule of residency interviews is about to begin. Basically, starting next Friday Aaron will have 6 interviews in about 4 weeks, not to mention Thanksgiving weekend with family...so we're going to be traveling a ton. Just thought I'd ask for you prayers not only in safety traveling but also in making the decision of where Aaron will go for residency and where we will spend the next three years of our life. God only knows...and we just have to wait patiently until he tells us. Love you all and pray all is going well!
Booxy