Adina is 8!!

Well we had a very busy birthday weekend (October 24th! Better late than never, right??) and Adina is now 8! I cannot believe it. We had friends come in from Princeton to celebrate. We had a busy weekend with swimming at the hotel, Madison's soccer tournament and Adina's High School Musical 3 birthday party at the movie theater! We had her party at the local movie theater and got to see the movie! Oooh aaah! The girls in the theater all sighed unanimously when Troy entered the screen! I think that was more entertaining then the movie itself!!

Adina, Gen and Madison playing on the frog slide

Adina under the Waterfall!

Madison enjoying the kiddie pool

Genevieve thinks there's nothing better than stairs -- no matter where they are!!

Adina and Gen jumping while holding hands

Daniel's seeing if he really can get his hand through, I guess...

Donovan having a serious conversation with Michael and Daniel in the hot tub of course!

Adina's oreo pies on her actual birthday night

This was hilarious! You can't tell because the flash on the camera made it seem light, but it was pitch black in the room after Adina blew out the candles! The kids all squealed and you can tell they were quite surprised!!

Movie Theater Birthday Party

Madison, Gen, Adina, Michael, and Daniel (our other 2 friends hadn't made it yet)

Don't forget the silly pose

Can't see HSM3 without the HSM cake

Our 8 year old!

Aunt Becky with one of her loves -- Genevieve

Daniel -- of course I'm having fun

Boy is this frosting TASTEEEEE!!

Madison's Soccer Tournament

Uncle Tony trying to keep warm with the rest of us! He was sure wishing he bought a new hat the night before at Bass Pro!

Adina and her monkey bars! She has made it her second grade mission to cross all the monkey bars and she is one determined little girl!! You should see her poor hands!

Here she is evaluating whether her blisters hurt to much to continue...She did until one tore off and that was the end of it for the day.

This picture cracks me up -- long lost relative of Elvis Presley!

Michael William Kramer! One of our very favority 7 year old boys

Thank you all for making this Birthday weekend the best! We are so thankful for friends like you guys Becky, Tony, Karen and kids! Thanks for making the trip! P.S. Sorry there's no pictures of you Karen, blame it on Becky she was the photographer :)

Thank you Michael William Kramer!

For all of those who do not know, our very good friend Michael was the one who was helpful when the girls learned how to ride two wheels. We asked him if he had any helpful hints and he suggested that they ride fast and turn slowly. Madison and Adina even commented that his idea worked when they first learned how. So, thank you very much for helping teach our girls something awesome!!!

Remembering Kim

October 2008

The "Spoon"

Ok, so take a close look at the size of this spoon. This is a baby spoon. A very tiny baby spoon. On one of my visits back to Princeton (when Donovan was still there) he asked if I would bring him some silverware to use. I had already packed up the kitchen. He said all he had was some kid's silverware. I suggested maybe he just go over to the church and borrow some from the church kitchen, to which he replied "Oh, I didn't think of that." So, when I got to Princeton I was cleaning up the kitchen and I found an empty half gallon of ice cream in the sink. When I poured out the water in it out fell this spoon! Donovan had been using this spoon to eat cereal and the ice cream! For three weeks! It was a FULL half gallon. I asked him how long it took him to eat and he said "Well, a while! It took a long time to get full."

Madison got the opportunity to be a part of a cheer leading camp at the local high school here! She loved it. She really picked up on the cheers really quickly and had a ton of fun cheering at the football game!

Of course the best part of fall is the first leaves the girls are able to scrounge up into a pile! They have NO idea what the 1 acre yard is going to produce in the next couple of weeks, but I am sure they will enjoy it! This was a perfect day for this!
Genevieve loves being outside with her sisters!

Adina attempting a cart wheel! Poor thing has her mother's grace.

Adina has been trying to master the monkey bars at school and she practices for hours at home on our swing frame. Her poor hands have blisters!

Sisterly love, Ahhhh! If only it was always like this.
Madison's Picture day
I love that she still lets me dress her up!

September 2008

September started with a Labor day birthday party for Madison. We had family and friends over. Becky, Michael, Karin and Gen surprised us all the way from Princeton! Madison said that was her biggest surprise! After I was done making the fruit dip (see Madison and Genevieve enjoying it below...) my camera went on the fritz. So, to see better pictures of the party and of when we first moved see: http://kramerconnection.blogspot.com/

Madison had her first day at Hope Lutheran Junior Kindergarten!

We are really happy with this program as it giving her a more academic setting preparing her for Kindergarten! She likes the challenge too! She is very proud of herself when she comes home with her papers.

After 5 minutes Gabby the girls across from her asked her if she would be her friend!
Unfortunately our camera is not working as well as I would like so this is it for the month! Donovan had a birthday too! Happy Birthday!

On September 7th they had a farewell to our family at the church in Princeton! It was very emotional and quite touching. One of Donovan's students put together an awesome DVD for him. If I can figure out how to upload/download or whatever I will get it on here.

August 2008

I got a lot of help from my friend Megan when we got started with the packing!Her son Caleb helped too! And boy does he LOVE shoes!

Adina is not so sure if she is so crazy about this getting rid of stuff! In the end she did AWESOME!

Gen was here to help this day too! You can tell how taxing this was for her and Madison!

Where's Waldo...I mean Gen and Madison?? They even tried on all their fall clothes (in the middle of 90 degree August - with no air conditioning) to see what to keep!

My mom was able to come for over a week and we really got a ton of stuff done. I don't think I would have gotten things gone through if she wasn't there to help. She even got up before 8:00 am almost every day! And for her that was huge! Thanks mom.

We of course got to enjoy delicious sweet corn and Genevieve got right on the band wagon!

We moved to Indiana on a Sunday night and Adina started school the following Wednesday! Second grade here she comes.

She was threatening me not to take any more pictures!
guess it didn't work...here she is waiting for the bus! This is her very first time ever riding the bus except for field trips.

Genevieve is feeling left out....so
We changed her clothes and let her join us.
We thought our shadows looked cool at the bus stop.
Here comes bus #48. Her driver Theresa is an Angel! Thank you Lord for small favors.
My grown up 2nd grader off to a BIG school. She did it like she had been doing it all these years!
Once I got Adina and Madison settled I had to go back to Princeton to get ready for the moving sale! With a bit of guilt I snuck off to the Bureau County fair with our Friends Becky, Tony, Michael, Karin, Gen, Bill and Daniel. Genevieve and I had a nice time.
"Uncle Tony" is in love with Genevieve!