Smoothest pond ice ever!

Who says Illinois can't have good ice! I have never seen smoother pond ice in my life. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Time of reflection

Reflecting on the events in CT, I am reminded to ponder the following:

1. Do I treasure each moment that God gives me with my family?
2. How much do I set my affections on things of this earth where sin and satan abound, and where unrighteousness keeps getting worse and worse. 
3. Do I pray for others enough?
4. Do I trust God with my whole heart or am I holding something back?
5. Do bad events strengthen my faith or cause me to doubt?

May God be with everyone involved with this terrible tragedy. May our nation return to its roots and put God back in the public arena, and may we all be brought closer to Him.

Mike

Allergic!

Today on the way home from a family reunion that had lots of "adult food", Andrew blurted out "dad, I think I am allergic to everything I don't like!"

Well said, Buzz.  Well said.

Buzz MN trip comment

We had a fun trip to visit the Joos family in MN. On the way, Buzz was asking every 30 minutes how much longer it will be until we get there. Finally I had enough and said "Andrew don't ask again until it is dark outside. We won't get there until night, so quit asking until you see that it is dark."

20 minutes later he blurts out "dad, when will it get dark outside??

Hilarious.

Andrew's 6th Birthday!

Andrew was super excited for his birthday!  He would tell anyone who would listen that his birthday was coming up, and it was his GOLDEN birthday!  Wow!  So fun for him!  :)

We started the day with a candle in his pancake

 Sharing birthday treats at school

 Andrew's cake:  I wanted to do something for his golden birthday, so it became pirate themed with a treasure chest cake.  Notice the gold coins?

 And here are the troops!  We invited the boys from Andrew's kindergarten class for a party in the evening.  Here they are ready for pizza.

 Playing a balloon popping game

 Tug of war

 Snowman game - aren't they cute?

 It soon turned into this though!  It's snowing!

 Andrew with his presents

 Time for cake!

 Look at those pirate boys!  What dandies!

Chicago trip with GM Managers

 2 weekends ago, we attended a GM manager outing in Chicago.  Overnight downtown, with a great 3 hour dinner cruise on Lake Michigan.  It was a wonderful getaway and made for great memories.

Our dinner cruise ship, the Odyssey docked at Navy Pier.

Simply amazing views of downtown.

Enjoying a relaxing dinner.

Great memories!  Thanks mom and dad Grimm for keeping the kids overnight!

Buzz and space

While tucking the boys in to bed, Buzz told me that after we go to Emmy's house this weekend, he wants to take a spaceship ride to Mars.

Wow, Mr Random strikes again!

September with the Grimms

The zoo with aunt Jenni.

Back to school swimming party!

Coloring and learning!  Notice the girls picked out all of the pink crayons.....

Great times with the Zimmerman cousins.  Board games, swimming, food, and lots of laughs.

Traveling potluck girlfriends!

Just a normal meal at the Grimm household!

Happy fall everyone!  Glory be to our great God!

Andrew is in school!

My big kindergarten boy!  Lunchbox and backpack ready! :)

Andrew:  Kindergarten & Jayden:  2nd grade

It was easier sending my 2nd child to school rather than 1st!  Andrew followed Jayden all over the playground when they first got there.  It's great having older siblings!  He told us the other day that the kids at school keep calling him "mini Jayden".  He's not so sure he likes it:)

He was so excited to ride the bus home on his 1st day!  I was a proud mama waiting for him with open arms!  He ran to to me, gave me a huge hug, and said "this was the best day of my life!!!"  Music to my ears!  :)

His enthusiasm didn't last for long:)  The 2nd day of school he came home, trudged up the driveway, and said "school is boring!".  Oh dear, dear!  Then the 3rd day about a 1/2 hour after being home looked like this. . .

Sound asleep!  He was exhausted!  Don't worry.  He loves school and has said so since then!  I think its so cute his different reactions:)  Typical Buzz:)

Buzz and cardinal scouts

For some reason buzz has always wanted to be a cardinal fan. He talks about the cardinals all the time and how he doesn't like the cubs.

Today we were talking about jayden signing up for cub scouts. We talked about all the fun outdoor activities that are done in the group. I could see buzz's wheels turning as he listened. Soon he blurts out "I want to sign up for cardinal scouts dad ".

Endure until the end!!

Have to share some very timely words from a song we sang at our church choir practice last night that hits home to me: 

"Has He called thee to the plough?
Onward go! onward go!
Night is coming, serve Him now;
Onward go!
Faith and love in service blend;
On His mighty arm depend;
Standing fast until the end,
Onward go!"

In Christ
Mike

Curlers!

Amber curled the twins hair the other night. Didn't last long though as they took them out soon after going to bed..

Praying

Just wanted to make a call to prayer for all of or dear elder brothers during this important AC church conference week. May satan be cast out and exposed as the thief, cheat, and liar that he is! Glory be to our great God!

Andrew Great Quotes.....Wisconsin Edition!

Buzz has been cracking us up on our Wisconsin vacation.  Below are 2 great "Buzz Moments".

1.  Yesterday, as we were loading onto the boat to go skiing/tubing, Buzz innocently blurts out "why is it taking grandma so long?".  We told him he better get used to waiting on women, that is just how life is!

2.  Today the boys were playing ladder golf with grandpa Grimm.  When it was time to break for lunch, Andrew says "OK guys, let's pause".  Do you think he has been playing too many computer/video games??

Awesome weekend with the Stollers

Had an awesome weekend with Corbin and Katie Stoller from Latty, OH.  It was great to rekindle old friendships and create lots of memories.  Fellowship in Christ is an amazing blessing!

The kids had a blast swimming, playing, and having fun together.  Buzz in his innocent 5 year old way told Jayden after they left "Jayden, I think when I grow up, I will marry Cameren.......  Too funny.

Snapping turtle found!

Now we know why no one wanted to swim at the Jeff Grimm pond the last few weeks!! LOL...

Good thing for Jayden and his eagle eye!

Reflection on the heat and liberty!

When it is this hot around the 4th of July, I always think about the battle of Gettysburg, PA, on July 1,2,3, 1863.  Can you imagine it being 100 degrees and humid, fighting in horrible battles for 3 straight days, and then dealing with 20,000 stinking, rotting, dead bodies every night (men and horses)?

God has surly blessed our nation, and I often wonder why I complain as much as I do!  Imagine what our forefathers have gone through so we can have the freedoms that we have.  Happy 4th of July everyone!

Mike

Jayden turns 7!

Jayden's birthday started out with green waffles!  I made green waffles, cut them into triangles and formed them into trees for Christmas.  He thought it was fun so requested green waffles for his birthday breakfast!

 His gift from us was this bow and arrows/darts.  We'll see how long this one lasts!  :)

 Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to give him his gifts before Wednesday night church.  

 Another birthday. . . . another cake. . . . 

This time it was an airplane:)

 This cake shows Jayden's very detailed personality.  We formed it together and when it was time to frost I called him up to help.  He told me where to put each line, the windows, the words, and that he wanted 1 blue "A" and 1 red "A".  Once I caught on that we were making an American Airlines plane we pulled an image up online and of course he decides he wants the emblem on there.  Can you tell what that sign is between the "A"'s?  :)

 Friday night he got to have 3 friends overnight to camp out with.  They did great and had lots of fun eating out at Tobins, playing boy games (guns and indians), swimming, and playing with gifts they gave Jayden.  

 Jayden finished up his weekend staying overnight at Grandma Sharon's.  He finally got his bike!  He had been asking for a bike since last summer and we kept putting it off.  He didn't get one from us or Grandma/pa Grimm so was hoping Grandma Sharon and aunts had gotten him one!  They did!  

Amber gets her hot air balloon ride!!

Ever since I have known Amber, she has wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride.  Last summer I found a place in Mackinaw that give rides.  We signed up and got put on a wait list.  Last Tuesday afternoon, they called us and it was our time!  Wow what an experience.  My knuckles were white for the first 10 minutes, but once I got used to it, what a beautiful sight!  Being up in the air with absolutely no sound!  So peaceful and relaxing (as long as I didn't look 1000 ft straight down!).

The entire balloon kit fits on a small trailer.  Not much to it!

All paying passengers get to "help" set up and tear down.  Here we are holding the balloon opening while air is blown into it.

Getting harder and harder to hold it open.

Our guide, Jim House, making sure everything inside the balloon was ready.

 Amber snapped this photo of the balloon completely inflated.

Do you think she is having fun?

We drifted from Mackinaw, southeast toward Miner.  We were bummed we weren't able to go north east toward Goodfield, but this was still great!  Found out on this trip that there is absolutely no way to steer one of these things.  You drift right along with the wind!  The only way to regulate it is to increase or decrease your altitude to try to catch different breezes.  This night it was so calm we only went 2 miles in 1 hour.

The propane blowtorch sending hot air into the balloon.

After landing, all got to help deflate the balloon and put everything away.

This is a great video that shows how the balloon is inflated in preparation for takeoff.

Awesome views from 300 ft up in the air.  The landings are pretty hard.  From what I hear, similar to parachute landings.  You have to be ready!

All in all, it was a blast and I would recommend it to anyone.  An all around awesome experience!