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Archive for September, 2008

It has been awhile since I posted and we have had lots of visitors since then. Last weekend, Brad & Sarah Buffington came from St Louis to spend the weekend with us, hang out and meet Josiah. It was a lot of fun having them here….we tailgated before the Iowa game, played some bocce ball (with Sarah & I winning….go girls!!) and just spent a lot of time catching up. We are looking forward to seeing them again in a couple weeks in Iowa City for the Wisconsin game.

Our second round of company started Wednesday night when Grandma Barb came to town. She had a meeting Thursday morning in Ankeny for work and then stayed with us until late this morning. We had a lot of fun with her and got alot accomplished also. Thursday, after her meeting we ran some errands, walked around Copper Creek lake, played at the playground and then came home and grilled out. Friday she watched the kids while I ran and did some shopping and then when I got home her and Anya mowed the lawn. Then last night she watched the kids while Jason & I went out to eat. Usually when Jason & I go out to eat, we go to 1 of our 3 favorite places in town. So, we decided to be adventurous and try something new…so we went to The Hessen Haus downtown. Unfortunately, neither one of us were too impressed with the food although we did enjoy eating outside. Oh well….lesson learned and we can cross that place off our list of places to try!

Our last set of visitors was at our house when we got home from the resturant Friday night….it was Jason, Zachary and Noah. They were staying at our house to have a head start to the Iowa game today. So, all the boys got up bright and early to hit the road to Iowa City. Too bad the Hawks lost again…the season isn’t turning out the way we had hoped!! Good thing there is always next year…..

So, now it is back to just the 4 of us here and it seems pretty quiet again. Tomorrow we plan to go to church in the morning and small group in the evening, so it will be another busy Sunday.

Here are a few pictures from our busy week.

I have been meaning to write about Anya’s newest thing lately..Bible Buddies. It is the 3-4 year old program of AWANAs at our church. In case you are not familiar with the AWANA program, it is a club that is “helping churches and parents worldwide raise children and youth to know, love and serve Christ”. She goes every Wednesday night and has really enjoyed it thus far. They have a weekly lesson at the club on Wednesday nights and then there is a small activity we work on at home during the week and also a small verse that she is to memorize every week that corresponds to the lesson. She is doing very well at the memorizing and has been able to remember the verse every week….good girl!

Anyways, it is a really neat program. We will keep you up to date on her progress!

Oh, and here are a few fun pictures of the kids!

This weekend was a busy one for all of us. The weekend started on Thursday for the kids and I as we took off after lunch and headed north to stay with Papa Jim & G’ma Barb. We left daddy home so that he could go to the Iowa game on Saturday–it was the big UofI vs ISU game and the Hawks came out victorious, so that made everyone happy (well, everyone who is a Hawk fan anyway!)

We had a fun time in Ringsted for our long weekend despite the weather being less than desirable. Anya kept very busy helping G’ma Barb pick up the apples everyday that fell from the apple trees and thought it was so much fun picking plums right off the bushes and eating them. She also got to drive the golf cart (look out!) and even got brave enough to finally pet Dixie. Josiah pretty much just hung out and enjoyed being spoiled by Papa & G’ma.

On Sunday we had a 90th birthday party for my Gramps Arnold in Armstrong. He had a very good turn out and it was good to see some relatives that I hadn’t seen in many years. The food was delicious and I think Gramps had a good day and enjoyed the celebration.

Here are some pictures of our fun up north.

Today my anniversary present from Jason arrived via FedEx. It is my very own high definition DVR receiver for our upstairs TV (because right now it only has a regular DVR receiver)! I wasn’t aware of how much I NEEDED one until Jason gave me a 15 minute spheel on how much better TV looks in high def and how I am really being cheated watching TV on a regular tuner. What a sweet husband to be so concerned about me and my TV watching happiness!!

Little does he know that HIS anniversary present from me is a new pair of workout shoes and the new clothes I bought for myself over the weekend. Isn’t it funny how the universe has a way of balancing things out!

Men……..

Today Jason & I are celebrating our five year wedding anniversary–our first official milestone anniversary! What a fabulous and fun five years it has been! Thanks to all our friends and family who remembered us today.

What a fun, long weekend we had….it is amazing how fast 3 days can go when you are busy busy busy! Friday we headed down to Winfield to spend the weekend with Papa & G’ma McArtor. We met in at the Winfield football field to watch the high school football team and grill out with Brooke & Kenny. It was a beautiful night and the kids had a blast–Anya ran around with Allie and her friends and Josiah was content hanging out and even taking a nap!

Saturday we left the kids with G’ma Jeryl and Aunt Joni and headed to the Hawkeye football game with Papa Ronnie and Jason’s cousin, Tanner. The game was a blow-out, but it is always fun to be in Kinnick Stadium and it was a beautiful (albeit hot) day for a game! Sunday we just hung out before heading back to Des Moines in the afternoon to try and regroup from the weekend and get ready for our Labor Day plans.

On Monday we met some friends to eat downtown and then headed over to the I-Cubs game. Jason & Chad had a “McArtor Design” skybox for the game and it was so nice to have a place for the kids to hangout and watch the game without bothering anyone else. Cubbie (the I-Cub’s mascot) even made an appearance at our skybox for the kids–but as soon as Anya saw him at the door, so headed in the complete opposite direction and took cover. We did manage to get a picture with Josiah, so at least one child cooperated!

After the game, we came home and Jason grilled us a steak supper and then we made homemade ice cream for dessert—everything was delicious. Then to get one last burst on energy out of Anya we took a stroll around the neighborhood and enjoyed the beautiful evening. It was a perfect way to end our busy, yet fun Labor Day weekend.

Here are some pictures of all our activites!!