We've been blessed!

Mom & Dad at the waterpark

This is Jake, Chad, Jodi & Ethan getting dumped on

The grandkids at the playground outside the hotel & the whole fam outside some shops

Abbi & PawPaw

At one of the restaurants we ate at.
Part of the waterpark - there were 2 huge waterslides that you can see the ending of them way in the back. (red area) They were alot of fun.
They all loved going across the 'Mill Run' (below)

It was really fun watching Eric & Jake attempt to run across them without touching the rope above. Jake did make it once.

She was such a little dare devil all weekend!

Hi, everyone! Great pic's, Sarah...the room looks AWESOME! And thanks for your post and questions, Bekah! Hopefully this gets some conversation going! =) Our kiddo's are doing good. Kels is loving 2nd grade! Josiah is doing GREAT...he's 100% potty/poopy trained =) woooo hoooo! (has an occasional accident, but hey...don't they all?) And Abbi is our little F4...as in a tornado. (she destroys everything in her path) =) Actually, she's alot of fun and is doing and saying alot of hilarious things. And I think she just gets cuter & cuter everyday...but I'm not biast. We actually just got back tonight from a little 'get-away' with my family. It was great. We went to Amana Colonies, Iowa. It's where my Mom & Dad went for their honeymoon, and we actually stayed at the same hotel they did. It's been added-on to & now has an indoor waterpark. It was perfect for all of the kids, and since we stayed on a Sunday & Monday night, it wasn't busy at all! God has blessed our family so much through others, it's been overwhelming! This was a COMPLETELY free vacation. (for all of us!) First of all, a customer of Dad's who calls him occasionally to see how he's doing sent a check for $1,000 when Dad told him we were going on a weekend family trip. So Mom gave us each $200 before we left to use for when we check-in. (it was $90/night, & Mom & Dad are staying another 2 nights alone...so this covered all our rooms almost to the penny!) But when we got there to check-in she said "here's your room #'s & keys, everything's taken care of!" We were like...what do you mean? She said someone had called and taken care of our ENTIRE BILL! We were speechless! Then when we all went out to eat that night (still with $200 for each couple!) Mom & Dad insisted on paying & said they were given alot of money specifically for our meals! That too was annonymous! We have just been overwhelmed...God has blessed us so much, and He is using others to give SO freely! It is so humbling to be on 'this side.' But we had a wonderful time, and Dad felt really good! Hope you enjoyed the pic's =)

well, gotta switch laundry and all those fun post-vacation duties =) It's almost November, which means Thanksgiving! Yeah!! I love you all! Kristy

Our Project...

Hey all! Here is a little diary of what our spring/summer consisted of. Most of you already know that we made part of our garage a room. Well here it goes...

The first step was to clean out our DISGUSTING garage. It REALLY felt good to unjunk!

Klint & Clint Gerber are tearing off the old walls. It was a mess.
Good old faithful Andy. He would go work all day in Ft. Wayne, go to class, come to our house around 8pm and help us until 10:00 or 10:30. Needless to say, we could not do this with out Andy. It was great!

Taking a lunch break.

Its coming...

The drywall is finished (great job guys!) Time to add color to the ceiling & walls)

We did an olive colored ceiling to match Grandma's couch & chair. Mom told me she was going to paint the ceiling (considering I was still dealing with morining sickness & kidney stones) She came over while I was at work and painted it for me...thanks mom!
Ready for the design work...measuring!

The Middle Stage...

It took me quite a while to figure out the layout of the squares (probably several hours) Once I got everything to connect and measure out the taping only took about 2 hours. It was fun.

My 2 assistants (Mom & Liz) were great help! With 5 colors, we each took one and went with it. It would have taken me FOREVER if they didn't help out.
The FUN part. Taking off the tape.
We were pretty happy to be done.
The finished product!

Finished Product.

I sent Grandma a card with some of these pics on it. I am sure most of you have seen it, but I thought I would post them anyway. We are STILL in the process of putting the cabinet doors up above the closet (they will be pea green w/ light blue knobs), but we have been having some difficulties finding hinges strong enough and the right size. Hopefully we will get them up soon so we can start storing stuff up there.

Didn't my mom do a great job on the ceiling??!
I found this little organizer at an antique shop here in town. I was excited because it was painted almost the exact color of the coral color in my squares!
Grandma's furniture has been so much fun! We spend alot of time in this room. We also love her phone...but it is REALLY loud and we can't turn it down. I scares the cat when it rings. We have it unplugged most of the time, but still use it some!

Hope you all enjoyed. You'll have to come visit Bluffton to see it in REAl life (o: Next I will have to show you our baby room. That was quite the project b/c I didn't like the first color I painted. I think we got it perfected now. Our baby shower is Sat. so I'll have to put everything away and take some pics to show you!

Love you all, Sarah

Hello? Anyone home?

Aaron and I got talking about India tonight. How much we miss the Leman's and their kiddos. Actually it's because we were at a little store in "Little Italy" and saw Nutella, something we often munched on in India. It's a chocolaty frosting stuff that we put on graham crackers. So as we had it for desert tonight we reminisced about India...so here's a totally random picture of us in India (can you tell we had lots of time on our hands?) So, since no one else is blogging on our blog I thought I would. Life here in Chicago has turned from busy to busier to crazy. We've had plans and/or company almost every week since we've moved here. As my dear mother points out, we asked for it. We keep inviting everyone up...what I guess I didn't realize is that they would take me up on the offer! So the most resent weekends, Matt and Rebekah were up (see her blog) and then we had Tom and Kerry, a friend from Medical school and their 5month old daughter. This past weekend we had Kenton and Heidi here (from Washington). So life is busy, we have fun showing them around the town and finding great restaurants to try out. On top of that Aaron's been putting in 70-80 hour weeks. So needless, life is rather exhausting. It was fun to think back on the times in India (minus being sick) that we would have all evening every evening to just sit and read a book or play games with Tami and Kendra and the Lemans. Don't take this as though I'm not enjoying myself. As long as you ok with me not making a big todo if you visit...then still visit! Anyone else doing anything fun lately? Sarah, have you put your baby room all together yet? If anyone has any fun picks of Jack I'd love to see them. A Barb, make sure to post pics when you get back from Mexico. How was college weekend Lizzie (how'd Rebekah's talk go?). Grandma, thanks for the phone calls, sorry we haven't been able to actually talk to each other...instead of the each others answering machines. How's Clark liking his new bach pad? How's Chelby feeling? Kristy, how are the kids....Jamie, I keep up with you on your blog...hmmm...and any other thoughts or points of interest, I'd love to hear them!
Bekah

Random Post

I hope the post finds everyone well. How are you feeling Sarah? Are you showing a lot now? Lizzie, how's school? Keep posting the pics of Jack! Jamie, how's Hudson adjusting? This picture is from a wedding we went to a couple weekends ago. I started my job 3 weeks ago, and it's been....a learning experience. I actually really like it, I'm working with a Breast Cancer Specialist Tue, Wed, and Thurs and then on Mon and Fri I help out the other girls in the infusion room. So basically, I have my own office, my own pager (Aaron's jealous) and I administer chemotherapy. Ok, I don't think that came out right. I work in the infusion room all week, it's just that my patients come Tue-Thur so I treat them...and on the other days I treat whatever type of Cancer patient needs to be taken care of. The girls I work with are really nice and have a great attitude (which makes or breaks a job).
So, I'm liking my job, though the adjustment to working has been exhausting. I think Aaron's probably tired of spaghetti or chicken and noodles. I don't know how women do it that work full time and have a family?
Well, gotta get some sleep. Miss you all!
Bekah

ps GO CUBS!!!!

Jack is Growing!

Mom babysat for Jack this morning and I came over to see him. He is growing and a very happy little guy. Sorry about the sideways picture. See ya all! Love, Sarah

F A M I L Y

What a fun couch!

All packed up & ready to hit the road...after one more picture

The 3 J's

I love this one

We had such a great time this weekend. It was so good to be with EVERYONE and have great talks...games...food...memories. I feel completly blessed to be a part of this family.

Love you all! Kristy

This is a cup...a what?

This was too funny...I don't know if it was more fun to watch or 'play'!

I just love some of the expressions! (esp Denny & Barb above!)

Grandma really enjoyed it too...I love this picture of her =)

Just had to put this on here...It was such a perfect weekend. I'll try to put more on here tomorrow, but for now - my OWN bed is calling...

4 Days and Counting

Thought I'd put a few pictures on the blog of last year! Can't wait to see you all Friday!

Oh yeah, and we were discussing this weekend about how to drive there. For those of you from Illinois, remember it's Friday of a Holiday weekend. If you are going to hit Chicago anywhere between 2 and 8 I would take the back roads around Chicago. There's a highway (I believe it's 17 in Illinois) that goes through Kankakee that Aaron and I used to take to Detroit that I would recommend. It cuts over from 55 to 69 without a lot of side road hassle.
See you all soon!
Bekah

12 Days and Counting

I don't know about the rest of you but I can hardly wait for vacation this year. Maybe it's moving to a new city and all the adjustments and stresses, or maybe it's the business of my husbands schedule, or that we didn't make it to Hoffmann Christmas, or all of the above. I CAN'T WAIT FOR VACATION!!! Aaron was able to take his vacation that week, so we'll both be there the whole time...and we are both looking forward to spending good old quality time with the family. Love you all!
Bekah

ps don't forget to come visit us in Chicago....we'll even work it out with those of you who have kids that we can watch the kids so you can have a date night! (you can't pass that up). If you're thinking about it, check out Amtrak.com they have some great rates for bringing the train up and back ($11 one-way from Bloomington). Or we could have a girls shopping day...or we could do whatever you want:) (can you tell I want visiters...hee hee)