To Grandmother's House We Go!

In July, we took the kids and headed up to Decorah, Iowa to visit my Grandmother.  She will be 97 this November!  She looks amazing, and I look forward to spending more time with her soon.  Both of my brothers and their families went too, so it ended up being a family reunion while we were there.  

There are lots of pics, so I'll keep my rambling to a minimum ;)

Anniston with her cousin, Osa who lives in Minneapolis

Silly girls!

The group met at Mabe's pizza for dinner--dad's favorite pizza place.  We go there every time we go to Decorah.

Even the littlest cousins approved of Mabe's !  (Caleb (l) and Calvin (r) )

Treyson took a pic of Dadoo

The kids went over to my Uncle's house to play in the little pool while the ladies went shopping in town....it was actually a pretty chilly morning

The little great grandkids with Grandma

Then we got the twins in....these are 7 out of 14 great grandkids!!

Cousin Michael, Osa, and Anniston

Again, Treyson took this

Dad with all of his cousins

Can you see how strong the genes are on my dad's side of the family??  This is dad with Uncle Ron (who helped officiate our wedding) and Uncle Lee in the middle.

Then we headed out to the trout farm on Sunday morning

CJ was SO EXCITED to be at the trout farm (this was actually after he spilled a ziploc with a gazillion quarters all over the place--ha)

Throwing out some food

This face on Tay is priceless....when you throw food in, the once calm trout flop around like CRAZY !

Stocking up on fish food (I love the disgusted look on Mel's face--Todd was filling his hat with food to avoid multiple trips to the food machine )

Dadoo thought the fish were hungry for T-Man!

There was a HUGE eagle nest, and this eagle was truly a few steps away from us.  He has a sensor on his back.  You can actually go online and watch these eagles--it's pretty neat to see up close.

MaMa and PaPa with 5 out of 7 grandkiddos!

After feeding the trout, we headed out to Grandma's farm.  She owns 360 acres of land that she leases to a gentleman who grows corn and soybeans.  We got to walk around and learn all about the corn/soybean process from PaPa.

Then we drove the perimeter of the acreage...........with Treyson as our driver!!

Isn't this barn amazing!  It is about to be redone, so I can't wait to see how much it will change!

Jerry was "the cow" as PaPa was explaining how the cows were brought in to be milked

Scott had to clean up Jerry's, er, the cow's mess !

Sweet boy !

Upstairs in the barn (where the hay was once stored)

Anniston then took a turn behind the wheel

Treyson forced encouraged everybody in the car to pretend we were on a roller coaster by throwing our hands in the air and screaming !

Here's a view of the farm that my dad grew up on

This is the best shot I could get of the house he was raised in....so many trees that were blocking the view :(

Madison Lutheran church and cemetary. . . . . more Fretheim's here than one can count !

PaPa showing the kids where Great Grandpa is buried

What a wonderful trip to Iowa we had.  I love having dad show us the farm and give us history.  I seem to pick up on more and more each time we're here.  Can't wait to go back!

Kindergarten Open House

Tonight was Anniston's open house for Kindergarten.  I was super excited all day and was doing fine until....I watched other parents (from sitting in our car waiting on Dadoo) look on the posted signs for their kids' teacher.  That's when it hit me.  Like. A. Ton. Of. Bricks.  

I had to do some deep breathing and compose myself.  The eyes welled up, but nothing ran down the cheek.  Whew!  Crisis averted--I only want Anniston to view this as nothing short of amazing and exciting!  And boy was she!!

 She found her spot right away!

 Checking out the white board with Dadoo.

 Looking at what all helper jobs there will be in Kindergarten this year.

 Then she and Treyson went straight to the book center.  They are both definite book worms!

 She and Ella playing with Math manipulatives.  She and Ella went to pre-k together.

 Anniston and Kennedy Claire.  Kennedy Claire lives in our neighborhood.

 Anniston and Mrs. Hulsey.  She seems super sweet, and we are really looking forward to having her this year.  I heard from a few friends that she is kind and soft hearted.  With Anniston's pleasing personality, she will do very well with Mrs. Hulsey.  My biggest fear was her getting somebody really loud and a overpowering personality.  I think we hit the jackpot here :)

 Hanging out eating ice cream in the cafeteria.  We even found Baylor and sat by him and his family!

 Finally, we checked out the gym.  This is important since this is where her skills for her future volleyball or basketball scholarship will develop ! HA!

 Dribbling contest with Dadoo.

Anniston Leah,
We are so incredibly excited for you as you venture into this new chapter in your life.  You are beyond ready to learn everything that Mrs. Hulsey is ready to teach you.  We pray that you keep your positive spirit, sweet personality, and that you enjoy making memories with new friends....some of whom will be your friends for life!

We love you the mosty wosty!!
Love, Mommy and Dadoo

Digging for Diamonds

Anniston and I were talking about diamonds and where you can find them.  I explained to Anniston that lots of people have found diamonds and other beautiful stones in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.  She asked how far away Murfreesboro is from us.  I told her it was several hours away, but still in Arkansas.  

This chick decided that Arkansas means Arkansas and there is a very good chance we could have diamonds in our backyard.  She went to go get her Hello Kitty hand shovel and proclaimed that she was going to go dig me a diamond!

 She kept coming inside and rinsing her "potential diamonds" off.  She would walk past me (I was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher) and say, "Well, it was just a rock.  I'm going to try again!"  This went on for a good 15 minutes.  She came in one time with a HUGE rock and said, "Mommy, if this is a diamond it's going to be your lucky day!" (it was, however, a rock....I'd still say it's my lucky day getting to watch my sweet daughter be so creative and precious all at the same time!!)

 Love this girl so much!  She is so sweet and kind to everybody she meets.  She loves mothering her little brother, and always comes up with the funniest little things to say!  Earlier today she was watching me get dressed.  She went over to Treyson and pulled the collar of her shirt down and said "See these here Treyson.  We have these just like Mommy, but ours stay up. That's why we don't need a bra."

You know....I never have considered plastic surgery......until today :) 

Hope everybody has a great day!!