Adalai's First birthday party!

We had such a blast on Adalai's first birthday party (we celebrated with my parents a little while early because of scheduling stuff)... We had cupcakes, and played "Apples to Apples" with the family. And then Kira and I went shopping while Mom watched the kids and Ben went fishing. We had a great time and I was so excited to celebrate with the family. I put the one of Adalai standing by her high chair, because she seriously just sprouted up! She is soooo tall now! Anyhow, have a blessed day! I am off to read my Bible, shower and then clean, and this afternoon we are off to Grams to hang out!

Yay!

Yay! We finally got the tickets for Adam and Kel's visit and I am so "Stoaked"! I can't wait for them to come I am so thrilled. The kids have grown up a lot since their last visit and it will be so much fun to see them reconnect! We have been busy lately with the kids and other things that are going on. Michael and Elizabeth sold us their furniture from their living room, a couch and love seat, and it is starting to look really nice in the apartment. It still doesn't seem as cozy in here since we got this carpet, which I don't really like, but it is still quite a bit better with the new couches. Nothing too much else going on. Two pretty important birthdays in the next couple weeks that I am really looking forward to! My daughter turns one on the 14th, and my husbands b-day is on the 16th!
We are having a dinner party with my family on Sunday which I am really excited for. Anyhow, I have to run errands while Ben is still home...
Peace to you!

Just stuff for this week...

We have had a busy week so far... Today we are taking our Jeep to get fixed and spending a little time with my mother in law... I am looking forward to that, and so is Wyatt because he gets to see the kitty! We have a Lia Sophia party coming up this weekend, and I am excited to see my sister for that, along with anyone else that comes ;) I had dinner with a friend last night at Texas Roadhouse, my favorite restaurant ever! So that was really nice and we got to stop by her house and meet her boyfriends brother and family. That apartment is slowly coming together, I was really disappointed yesterday though because the Salvation Army was supposed to come and pick up our furniture and never showed up, so I still have a HUGE dresser in the kitchen and a bunch of furniture outside our door which isn't really supposed to be there, ooops! Anyhow, we are going to have to move it by ourselves I guess because we need to get it outta here! I will be happy once that stuff is gone. I am working also on buying a booster seat for Adalai for the table instead of her huge high chair, the more space the better in our apartment, is our tactic! It just seems like we have wall to wall stuff, and I really want to downsize. I am thinking of getting one of those seats that hooks onto the table so it takes up even less space in the kitchen. We are also going to get Wy a new car seat I think... Anyhow, off to take a shower and get ready to take the Jeep in.
Peace to you

The Waters of Minoqua

It was my brother in laws 10 year anniversary this last weekend. He thought it would be cool to have a hotel party of sorts, so we went upnorth to Minoqua with my Dad in law and Mom in law and had a blast. This place was a huge log cabin-like hotel. I am not absolutely sure why the called it "The Waters" because it had a normal type hotel pool and stuff. I mean the hottub was inside and outside, and it had a toddler pool which was super awesome! Adalai didn't like it at all, Wy wasn't too sure at first, but had a blast, and I actually was suprised because my husband got in his trunks and took our son in the pool. We stayed there two nights which was nice to be away from our place for that long... and we got some extra rest while the kids played with their cousins. We got to eat out a lot, which I LOVE to do... and spend quality time with the fam... It was super cool. The last part of our weekend kind of stunk though because we drove through places yesterday that got about 10 inches of snow. So, we got to test out our new 4X4 on our Jeep. It was really nice to feel safe in our vehicle. We faced Adalai forward for the first time because I couldn't fit well in my seat, so that was a whole new experiance for her riding in the car. Anyhow, super weekend and now onto a busy week. We are going to see my Gram tomorrow and have plans with a friend the next day...

Anyhow, have a blessed week!

...well maybe success... not sure yet...

Here I sit with the kids, and Ben is off, already, to an autobody place, trying to get our "new" Jeep fixed. It is very discouraging at this point for us to have troubles already with this vehicle. We were so excited and Stoaked about it, but now, a little apprehensive. We smell burning plastic (and as Wy says it "melll firrrre (Smell fire!))" when we get out after driving on the freeway, which as you know if you read the previous two posts is VERY scary for us since our Buicks wires started on fire! (ooh that rhymed ;)) So, we need to get that checked out, also the sun roof- busted, and also our lights (all of them the dash and the outside lights) tend to do a little dance, like we are driving a police car... So, we aren't sure if there is a short somewhere or something. OH MY GOSH it is so annoying, so Ben and I have come to the conclusion that if they won't fix it and help us out with the cost or something, we are going to return it. Oh man, could be back to square one by this afternoon. On the other hand though, if they can fix it for us, and the cost is to our liking, we will be back to happy happy happy about our new little Jeep! So, we'll see.. Also, we are supposed to go upnorth and stay at a hotel/waterpark with my bro-I-L, for their 10th wedding anniversary/F-I-L birthday... so if the Jeep is all better by this afternoon, we are HOPING to go there. I am really praying that we can. I need some fun right now. With the apartment in utter shambles and the car situation that has approached us this last week, we are in need of some good family time, and to see the in laws... I really hope it works out. Well off to clean and keep myself busy while the husband deals with the car situation...
Have a good weekend ;)

Success!!!

We bought a car yesterday! I am so excited. I love driving it, totally felt safe in the snow last night... it is a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee... exactly what Benjamin had in mind and it fits the kids really well. It is wonderful! I am so excited I can't hardly believe it. I actually have only gotten to buy one car before and that was our Camaro. We also got to get our new carpetting put in the other day so that is nice. We are working to get together the living room again which is quite a project! It does look pretty nice though so I am super thankful! We are so blessed!

Our Smokin Car

We have had troubles lately with our poor Buick. Our friends graciously gave us the car, and over the year that we have had it, it has come to have some issues with growing old in age, and having 209,000 miles on it. We had been smelling something funky over the last few days, smelled smokey like burning rubber or something. So Ben thought maybe something like ice was stuck by the tire or something. Well, he took a look under the hood and didn't see anything fishy... so we did our normal weekend shopping (this time we decided to go to Target-I love that place, it is one of my faves, but we always end up spending too much $ there!) and on our way home, we got into Hartland, and REALLY smelled the smokin... So Ben turned on the vent and smoke started billowing out. We were luckily at the corner where there is a gas station (not super great to pull into a gas station when your car is on fire I suppose) and shut off the ignition and whipped the kids out of their seats. Anyhow something w/ turning the ignition off stopped the fire, but unfortunately that was when she breathed her last......
My sisters best friend came and picked us up, and he worked to get it started again to get it (and our bunches of groceries and everything else!) home... to no avail... Anyhow, his dad wanted to try and find the source of the problem so maybe we could fix the problem, but we ultimately ended up having it towed away to the salvage yard! :(
So, Ben spent the rest of the weekend fixing our Camaro, which needed to be done anyhow, so that is now back on the road... only problem is, that it doesn't fit our family of four, and our dog... actually it doesn't even fit our family of four. Only one adult and both kids... ugh... So, luckily, I talked to my mother in law, and she is so helpful and offered to watch the kids this morning until the afternoon so Ben and I can go car shopping! So, hopefully that is successful! In the midst of the car trouble, we had the carpet replaced in the living room which was a total project. I feel like this place will never be in order, but it is really nice looking in here with the new blue carpeting.
I am also very tired of the snow, and can't wait for spring!
So, in the end, I hate car trouble... this has been pretty hard on us... so we are going to go out and look for something that is practical for our family... hopefully since we are expecting like three moe inches of snow this morning, that that doesn't get in our way too much!