End of the Summer random shots

This dress use to be my shirt, that I sized down and added the green and pink flower off to the side.  It was a fun, quick project and Aubrey has worn it quite a bit.  Some of my other projects, she hasn't liked as much!

Summer fun at the pool.  We were thankful to go a lot this summer!!

Random, afternoon...decided to do a picnic in the basement and pretended it was Abram's birthday(just a couple of weeks early!).  What else do you do with a rainy afternoon!

Yup, they both get to go to school this year!  Aubrey will go to a local preschool in a couple of weeks.

And Abram's FAVORITE part of school....The BUS!!!  He's been talking about the "bus" ALL summer long!

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.