Summer 2011

Wow!! I am becoming such a slacker on updating this blog. I have gotten so used to posting everything on facebook and then forget to come and update this site. Oh well, at least I have gotten to it now I guess! It has been almost a year and things are still going very well for us. We love living in Saint Joseph and all of the fun things there are to do around the area. The kids have really taken to the area well also. Coby finished his first year of pre school and loved it. He will start four year old pre school three days a week starting in september and brady will start three year old pre school at the same school two days a week at the same time. We have had a pretty calm summer going to the beach, swimming in our friends pool and just hanging out. We did make a trip to the zoo near Chicago which was a lot of fun for the boys despite the rain ( we have the hardest time dodging rain when it comes to going to the zoo). Also, the four of us took a day trip to Chicago taking the train and then visiting Rainforest Cafe, Navy Pier and the Chicago children's museum. This was a lot of fun but also very exhausting for us being our first day trip there. We are planning a little over a week long trip home to Ohio mid August which we are very much looking forward to also. Next up is the boys and I's baptism on August 14th which we are very excited for also.

We do have some exciting news that we are expecting a fifth member of our family in January!!! I am 15 weeks pregnant and we will find out the sex of the baby in about five more weeks. We are very excited and have been looking forward to having another baby added to our family for a while now!

I am posting some pjdgictures from the summer and hopefully will update again soon!

One very busy summer!!

Wow!! I can not believe it is the end of August already!! So much has gone on with our family since my last post! Ryan recieved two job offers in March. One was in Charlotte NC and the other in St. Joseph MI. We decided to take the job offer at Whirlpool Corp. in St. Joseph Michigan and put our house on the market right away in the beginning of March. Ryan commuted on the weekends and I stayed in Vandalia with the kids to finish the school year at my job. Our house sold the last week of April and we put a bid on a house in St. Joseph and it was accepted. We moved our family up north on Memorial Day and were moved in to the new house completely by June 2nd.

As if that is not a lot in itself, we have been traveling and having visitors all summer long. It has been so much fun showing our family our new city and new house. It is absolutely beautiful here in St. Joseph. The beaches are amazing the downtown area is very inviting and there is so much to do for children here all of the time. We live approximately twelve minutes from the beach and an amtrak train that takes you to Michigan Ave. in Chicago in an hour and a half. I love watching all of the boats drive by when sitting down by the pier.

The first week of August we took our annual Seagrove Beach, Florida trip with my mom and dad. It was very nice as usual and the kids enjoyed the ocean more than the pool this year. The highlight of their trip was getting to go to Build a Bear. It was so fun to get to watch them and how in to building their bears that they got.

This move has been a major change and adjustment for our whole family, but I think that we are handling it well and just taking in our new surroundings the best that we can. Ryan really enjoys his new job and I am now blessed enough to be home with my children full time. The kids and I have become very involved with the YMCA here and absolutely love it and go daily. Coby starts soccer and pre school all in the month of September and Brady will start a tumbling tots class also. I am very happy with the pre school that I have chosen for Coby which is at a Luthern Church here in St. Joseph and I have no doubt that he is going to love it.

I included many pictures from our lives here in St. Joseph so far. Hope everyone had as great as a summer as we did!

Playing in the snow

The boys had a blast playing in the snow this year. Brady loved helping daddy shovel and Coby just dove right in. They really liked to watch KaCey run around and play in it. After playing on the swing set and in the play house for a while, they were not very happy that it was time to come in and thaw out. I assured them they will have more opportunities to play in the snow soon:)!!

Coby's Third Birthday

Coby had a wonderful birthday! He talked about it for a whole month before it was even here. He had to have a Thomas The Train party and cake.. because he loves Thomas!!! We had his party on Saturday the 9th and his birthday was Monday the 11th. For his brithday Ryan and I took him to pick out a toy at Wal Mart then we met up with family at skyline (coby's favorite) and then we came back to the house for cake. It was a great couple of days and Coby had a ton of fun. I can not believe he is three already.. time has definetly flown the last three years.

Christmas 2009

What a busy we December we had!! The boys were healthy and happy and it was wonderful watching them and seeing the joy that they had with each and every thing we did to celebrate the holiday season. We made a gingerbread house and cookies. We also went to visit Santa at The Greene on the morning of the first snow accumulation this winter. Coby was timid at first, but after seeing his brother go up to Santa and give him a high five, he quickly warmed up to the idea and it wasn't long until he was on his lap asking him for all of the different Thomas the Trains! Brady's visit with Santa was short and sweet. He was excited to get the sucker that Santa offered him, but once he realized that he was sitting on a big man in a red suit's lap, he quickly started to freak out!!:) After our visit we had lunch and then the boys played in the snow by the big tree.
We has Christmas Eve morning with Grandma and Grandpa Nardini and then Christmas Eve night with The Reckner's. On Christmas morning Coby and Brady opened their presents from Santa and then Nana, Papa, uncle Kyle, Cooper, Great Grandma Coby, Nannie, Papa Mitch and Aunt Brittany all came over. Our whole family room was filled with gifts and the kids opened and played with all of their gifts for a couple of hours until they were out for their naps. We also had Christmas with the Coby's and then with Aunts and Uncles from Ryans side to top it all off. The kids have so many new toys they will just play for hours with barely a peep.
Ryan goes back to work tomorrow and things will semi go back to normal due to the planning for Coby's big Thomas The Train Third Birthday party on Saturday. I can not believe he is going to be three years old!!
I am posting a few of the many pictures from the last three weeks or so. I hope that everyone had as wonderful times as we did over the holidays. Happy New Year!!

Fall 2009

We have had a very eventful fall. The boys have had a lot of fun with all of the things to do. We went to the Homecoming parade, Fulton Farms, made cookies and brownies, played in the leaves, painted pumpkins and of course went trick or treating. Fall is my favorite season so I must admit I have had just as much if not more fun than they have had. Neither of the boys were in to carving pumpkins this year... but oh well maybe next year.

Caught in the act!!

Soo the boys new obsession is getting in the refridgerator. I must admit I am not crazy about it at all. Despite the fact that they are wasting energy, I would be soo embarassed if they were at someone else's house and got in to their fridge. It was very cute when I caught them on this day though, they were actually doing something together and not fighting...lol. Oh the joys of having two boys so close together.