Galena Vacation

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I have these pictures in the wrong order and I don't want to take the time to fix it!!  So from the last thing we did.....We picked up appled on the way back from Galena.....we were packed!!

On the way back, we stoppped in Moline at the John Deere Headquarters.  A favorite for Chasers.

Eating at an old fashion Ice cream palor in downtown Galena.  We all got different kinds and kept on swapping, to try eachother's flavors. :)

Chase and Jeff got to go canoeing one afternoon.

We did the alpine slide at  Chestnut Mountain.  This is the ride back up.  A bit scary with Abram on a Chair lift, who was with me in front of them.

 Jeff and Aubrey on the way down the alpine slide.  This was a highlight for all of us.

Watching hot air balloons. 

Chase, dressed up like Samson, for our Sunday School lesson and acting it out.

Doesn't he make a great Samson, too?!

What would vacation be without some swimming!

On a hike.

I love this picture.  It looks like Aubrey is out for a stroll, rather than a hike.

The truth of the hike....Abram rode like this most of the time.  Cheater! :)


Overall, it was a good vacation.  Only 3 hours away, can't beat that! And we felt like we were in a completely different state.  It's beautiful!  Thanks for the Vacation, Jeff!

Gotcha Day, Year in Review

Our First moments with Abram(above) exactly one year ago.....the layers of clothes he come in(below).

Famous "red couch" picture the day before we left China.....First day back with all 3 kid(below).

Early days with brother's hanging out!! Chase continues to be a good big brother and Abram adores him!!

Somewhere in the first few months was the turning point for Aubrey and Abram's relationship!

A harsh relality for what we went through (above).....Abram's feeling better(below) and posing with our favorite night nurse!

Abram's finally home from the hospital!

Lots of snuggle time this past year. I think Abram was catching up with us from the past 2.5 years!

LOVES his train tracks!!! He's learning to make new and creative tracks every day!!!

Last, but not least, Abram with his speech therapist, Erin. Abram is easily putting 2 words together and is working on putting 3 words together! Every day he is exploding with new words and exploding with energy!! Oh, how we love this boy!!! Happy 1st Gotcha Day,
Abram!

In honor of Titus 2nd Birthday...Enjoy a few pics

Happy Birthday Bubby!

Our Chinese New Year Dinner

To honor Abram's heritage, we celebrated the Chinese New Year....a couple weeks late, but at least we did it! We brought out the table runner, place mats, chop sticks and bowls that we purchased in China. I searched the internet and the library for a few recipes that seemed "authentic". Dad and Mom joined us. Though I never took a picture of them, they were with us that evening.

Dessert, first?!( I lined these pictures up in the wrong order!)

Moon Cakes...not traditional for this meal, but a Chinese recipe
Hot and Sour Soup...Abram wouldn't try it...but Aubrey and Chase did
great at trying it. Me, on the other hand, loved it.

Beef and Broccoli with long noodles and meat dumplings.

Abram was determined to eat with chop sticks here(or pork chops as Chase calls them)

Abram is polishing off Chase's plate(FORGET the CHOP STICKS!!)

It was a fun evening and I look forward to trying new(and hopefully authentic) Chinese recipes!

Kaufmann Christmas Pageant

These are pictures of the Kaufmann Christmas Pageant. It has always been our tradition to read the Christmas story after our Christmas meal, but this year we decided to have the grandkids surprise their parents by acting out the pageant while Dennis narrarated it. The children were so excited and took it very seriously and we thought it was precious!

Above are Mary & Joseph with the baby in the "manger". At this point we all sang "Away in a Manger".

Here are the shepherd watching their sheep (there is only 1!)

The Angel of the Lord appeared and the shepherds were frightened! (And the sheep was too!)

The Heavenly Host joins the Angel of the Lord after she told the shepherds not to be afraid.

The shepherds took their flock to worship the Baby Jesus. The angels accompanied them! Then we all sang "Silent Night".

Our three shepherds then became wise men and followed the star to the Baby Jesus. They presented their gifts (a bag of gold, a jar of perfume, and container of spices). We finished with "Joy to the World"!

We hope this becomes an annual event. In fact, the kids want to say the lines next year as well as act it out! We look forward to Garrison and Titus joining the cast next year.

One of my First Refashions

Our neighbor was cleaning out his closet. His wife invited me to come over and take what I wanted(thanks Heinolds!!). I took a few shirts and some ties with hopes of repurposing the clothes. This is the 2nd shirt that I redid. The first one, I didn't take any before pictures. So here is project #2:

BEFORE

AFTER

It was fun to do...kinda addicting. I probably should have done something better with my time, like make Christmas cookies(I haven't done ANY baking....very unlike me), But I enjoyed it!!

Long awaited pictures of our house....

Love you all!
Bekah

GRASS! And Random pictures.

After much hard work on a beautiful fall day, and 2 weeks of rain we have a front lawn! Yay!
Here is Aaron running the Chicago Marathon, though the day was hot and Aaron didn't reach his goal I still think he's amazing for going 26.2 miles!
After thinking that my boy was only into trucks and things with wheels, this week he's started playing with his stuffed animals...he loves the stairs, a perfect seat for him!
Just a fun pic of Titus..
Yes, my son LOOOOOOVES spaghetti.

Love you all!
Booxy