Northern Travels.

While Seth and Esther were headed South, Noah and I were headed North!! We took a quick trip up to Wisconsin to visit our friends the Klahns! It was a great brother/sister trip!

I had been scheming with Mrs. Klahn, and we managed to keep the visit a total secret from Ali!! Our arrival was a complete surprise!! The look on her face when we walked in was pricesless!!

We arrived Friday night, and didn't have to leave until Tuesday morning, so we enjoyed our three wonderful days of fun and fellowship!!!

Snapshot in Wisconsin.

Mr. Klahn and the boys have been to China before, so Noah brought his China souvenirs to show them.

Anja-- what a cutie!

Aleks and me.

Future dish-washer. :)

Noah and Jake (who really, really, really likes Noah!!)!!

On Saturday the boys had a basketball game. So we all went to the game to cheer them on!

Emmy, Grace and a friend cheering on the boys.

Ali and Jake.

Maybe a future basketball player?!?!?

Tip-off!!

Getting instructions from the coach.

Jake enjoyed his M&M's more than he enjoyed the game!! :)

Ali and Elsie watching the game.

It was an exciting game!! The final score was 59 to 54-- the boys team won!!

Zack getting his foul shot.

Playin' Checkers!!

Noah with Emmy and Grace!

Playing with Jake.

The view from their kitchen window!!

Lunch at Pizza-Hut!!

Noah did all the driving. He is a very safe driver! I was glad he did the driving on the way back when we hit some patches of bad weather!!

Me & Ali!!

Thanks for having us, Klahns!! We miss you guys!!

Florida!!

Seth and I (Esther) were able to start out our new year with a Awesome trip together. Having brother/sister time to talk and laugh was so much fun! We were able to travel to several states that neither of us had been through before which was exciting. The main purpose of going was to visit our Uncle, Aunt and two cousins, who live in Florida.

Traveling together.

Alabama and Louisiana terrain is gorgeous.

::Fun Tunnels::

On Friday we went with our Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dan to a beautiful park. After the Park they gave a us a royal tour of Ocala. We ended our tour in a small Italian shop and we enjoyed eating yummy canolies!!

The park was full of flowers and shrubs and cool fountains!

After site-seeing in the big City we traveled to the beach and enjoyed watching the sunset.
With the temperatures mid to high 80's, they felt chilly and were 'bundled up' in long sleeves!! Coming from Kansas where the high was around 23 degrees, we were loving every minute of the warm air!!

Aunt Sarah, Me, Uncle Dan and Jessica.

Taking in the quiet, still moments.

The beautiful Sunset.

Fun cousin time!!

Early Saturday morning Jessica, Bethany, Seth and I climbed into the car and headed to Orlando. We spent the morning and most afternoon in a fun place; the Wonder House!! So many things to see and do there!!

Seth trying the astronaut suit! Pretty serious looking :)

We all tried out the Bed of Nails!!

After a morning of fun we went to Friendlies for Root-Beer floats....Mmmmmm!!

Jess & Seth.

Bethany and Me.

On Sunday we had to head back home-- but we had a wonderful trip full of great memories!! We were so glad to see them all again!

Thanks so much for having us guys!!

Thanksgiving 2008.

Our Thanksgiving this year was spent with Dad's Uncle and Aunt in Wichita. We were so grateful for their gracious hospitality in hosting our family!

Aunt Nancy and Grandma spent the entire morning (and part of the previous week) preparing a scrumptious dinner. We all enjoyed their fine cooking!!

Dad cutting the turkey.

Gathered around the table for dinner!

One of the young men Noah spent time with in China this past summer is currently in Nebraska attending High School as a foreign exchange student. He joined our family while he was on his break from school over Thanksgiving! We enjoyed having him with us!!
Noah and John.

They are great thinkers!! :)

And then time for dessert-- an assortment of delicious pies-- including Noah's fabulous lemon meringue!!

Plenty of Back yard football games!

Many games of Sequence (and if you want to win, play on John's team!!)!

Friday morning we all decided to forgo shopping deals in order to get a little more rest. None of the sales we saw were enough to lure us out of our beds at 4am!!!

After breakfast, we went to the YMCA to go swimming with Aunt Nancy!

Silas loves wearing goggles!

Splashing Wars.

Phoebe and Silas loved playing with Dad's cousin George.

The slide was a big hit!!

Silas wasn't sure if he really liked it.......

but he enjoyed it so much he went several times with Dad and Esther!

The whole group (minus John who was already out and dried off)!!

Friday night we got a special treat; getting to see a fantastic volleyball match between the Wichita Shockers and the Missouri Bears.

Before the game.

Smiles!

It was a very intense match!! The Shockers lost both their games by a few points, but came back with two swift wins of the 3rd and 4th games. The 5th game the lead flip-flopped as they battled for the win.

The final score-board.

Saturday we traveled to our family reunion on Dad's, Dad's side of the family.

Marcus and Aunt Texye!

Table laden with food.

Papa helping Paul and Marcus with their food.

(Note; they bring their handguns to every meal, so they are always prepared for whatever may come up!!) :)

Phoebe and Mauri!

It was a perfect day to take a long walk---until it started raining!!

Esther and Aunt Texye.

Dad and Uncle Mitch.

Mauri with one of the new babies in the group!

Our family, except Noah, who had already left.