All About Nole'...

Can you believe he has been with us for almost SIX months? We love him so much and are so thankful each and every day to God for blessing us with this little treasure!



With all that has gone on this summer, my blogging has take a back seat, to be sure. So because of this, I thought I would give an update of Nole's summer in photos. Here is our handsome little man.....



Grandpa made him a train table for his birthday. He loves to play with his Thomas the Tank engine trains and get right in on the action.....





He and Bella has become the best of buds....



Nole' at his first baseball game at Brewers Stadium.....





Nole' with three of his siblings (Sam was out of town).....



Swimming with Daddy in Milwaukee.....



Nole' opening his birthday present at his party.....



Nole' shared his party with Grandma Lucille who turned 86 on July 11th & Nole' turned 4 on July 14th.....



Nole "swimming" at the lake on the Banzai Sidewinder....



Nole's Dedication at church.....



He and Jake have become friends too....



Nole' and Sam (sorry this is so blurry, Grace likes to take pictures too :)



Lovin' on Daddy....



Nole's first DreamCatchers' baseball game.....



We love him so.....

All About Nole'...

Can you believe he has been with us for almost SIX months? We love him so much and are so thankful each and every day to God for blessing us with this little treasure!

With all that has gone on this summer, my blogging has take a back seat, to be sure. So because of this, I thought I would give an update of Nole's summer in photos. Here is our handsome little man.....

Grandpa made him a train table for his birthday. He loves to play with his Thomas the Tank engine trains and get right in on the action.....


He and Bella has become the best of buds....

Nole' at his first baseball game at Brewers Stadium.....


Nole' with three of his siblings (Sam was out of town).....

Swimming with Daddy in Milwaukee.....

Nole' opening his birthday present at his party.....

Nole' shared his party with Grandma Lucille who turned 86 on July 11th & Nole' turned 4 on July 14th.....

Nole "swimming" at the lake on the Banzai Sidewinder....

Nole's Dedication at church.....

He and Jake have become friends too....

Nole' and Sam (sorry this is so blurry, Grace likes to take pictures too :)

Lovin' on Daddy....

Nole's first DreamCatchers' baseball game.....

We love him so.....

We Got To Meet the Wiggles!!!!

Last Wednesday, we headed off to Grand Forks, ND, to see the WIGGLES Live in concert.



A few days just before I noticed on their website that they only do "meet and greets" for children with special needs and contest winners. So I sent off an email requesting a "Meet and Greet" with the Wiggles....due to three children who all can agree on one thing--they LOVE the Wiggles!



A Wiggles representative named Sue from Australia emailed the next day and stated that usually it is too late to set up a session, but that she had a slot available for us to meet them! Oh, Happy Day!



Here are the three excited littles waiting for their turn to meet the Wiggles.....!

Here is our family with the Wiggles....Just may be this year's Christmas card! :)



Daddy and Nole'.....

Bella and Sissy....

Grace doing her Captain Feathersword imitation...

Can you tell Bella's favorite is Henry the Octopus?

After the concert, Bella met up with her best bud from preschool, Ella....

The Wiggles were SO nice to the children. In fact, during the concert Captain Feathersword came into the crowd and when he saw Grace, he gave her a high five and said "Hi Grace!" That was so cool that he remembered her!



Everyone had a great time--even Sam had to admit it wasn't as bad as he had expected-- Thanks, Wiggles, you made our summer!

We Got To Meet the Wiggles!!!!

Last Wednesday, we headed off to Grand Forks, ND, to see the WIGGLES Live in concert.

A few days just before I noticed on their website that they only do "meet and greets" for children with special needs and contest winners. So I sent off an email requesting a "Meet and Greet" with the Wiggles....due to three children who all can agree on one thing--they LOVE the Wiggles!

A Wiggles representative named Sue from Australia emailed the next day and stated that usually it is too late to set up a session, but that she had a slot available for us to meet them! Oh, Happy Day!

Here are the three excited littles waiting for their turn to meet the Wiggles.....!
Here is our family with the Wiggles....Just may be this year's Christmas card! :)

Daddy and Nole'.....
Bella and Sissy....
Grace doing her Captain Feathersword imitation...
Can you tell Bella's favorite is Henry the Octopus?
After the concert, Bella met up with her best bud from preschool, Ella....
The Wiggles were SO nice to the children. In fact, during the concert Captain Feathersword came into the crowd and when he saw Grace, he gave her a high five and said "Hi Grace!" That was so cool that he remembered her!

Everyone had a great time--even Sam had to admit it wasn't as bad as he had expected-- Thanks, Wiggles, you made our summer!

A Touching Anniversary Story.....

Happy 52nd Anniversary,Dad & Mom, and Happy 24th Anniversary to my husband Kevin!

We celebrated the special day yesterday out at the lake with a cake. Now, there is a special story behind the cake that Grandma shared with us while we were enjoying it.

She and Papa stopped by the local DQ to get an ice cream cake. After she picked it out, she asked the counter girl to write "Happy Anniversary" on it. While Grandma was waiting, she watched another customer kidding around with the other employees to find the most chocolatey blizzard they could muster. He then turned to Grandma, apologized, and motioned that it was her turn to order. Grandma said, "Oh no, that is OK, I have already ordered and am waiting for our cake to be inscribed."

The man asked if it was a special event and Grandma replied, "Yes, it's our anniversary, and my daughter's and her husband's too." "We really don't need a cake, but the little ones do." He asked Grandma how many years they have been married and she told him 52 years. He exclaimed, "52 YEARS! That is just wonderful! And I bet he still doesn't learn? Ha Ha" Grandma laughed and said, "Yes, you are right. For 52 years his underwear have been in the same drawer and he still asks me where they are!"

While Grandma was visiting and joking around with the man, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt with "FEMA" embroidered on the front, so she told him how much our community appreciates what they have done to help our flooded little city.

At this time, the cake was ready....and before Grandma could lift her purse up to open it, this gentleman quickly handed the cashier the money to pay for the anniversary cake. Even the DQ workers were crying......

Grandma didn't get his name, but she was so blessed by his little act of generosity. And it helped restore a little of her faith in mankind.

Thank you FEMA man, whoever you are. You made our special day one to remember.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary.... Mom & Dad! We love you and hope to make it to 52 years one day too!

A Touching Anniversary Story.....

Happy 52nd Anniversary,Dad & Mom, and Happy 24th Anniversary to my husband Kevin!

We celebrated the special day yesterday out at the lake with a cake. Now, there is a special story behind the cake that Grandma shared with us while we were enjoying it.

She and Papa stopped by the local DQ to get an ice cream cake. After she picked it out, she asked the counter girl to write "Happy Anniversary" on it. While Grandma was waiting, she watched another customer kidding around with the other employees to find the most chocolatey blizzard they could muster. He then turned to Grandma, apologized, and motioned that it was her turn to order. Grandma said, "Oh no, that is OK, I have already ordered and am waiting for our cake to be inscribed."

The man asked if it was a special event and Grandma replied, "Yes, it's our anniversary, and my daughter's and her husband's too." "We really don't need a cake, but the little ones do." He asked Grandma how many years they have been married and she told him 52 years. He exclaimed, "52 YEARS! That is just wonderful! And I bet he still doesn't learn? Ha Ha" Grandma laughed and said, "Yes, you are right. For 52 years his underwear have been in the same drawer and he still asks me where they are!"

While Grandma was visiting and joking around with the man, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt with "FEMA" embroidered on the front, so she told him how much our community appreciates what they have done to help our flooded little city.

At this time, the cake was ready....and before Grandma could lift her purse up to open it, this gentleman quickly handed the cashier the money to pay for the anniversary cake. Even the DQ workers were crying......

Grandma didn't get his name, but she was so blessed by his little act of generosity. And it helped restore a little of her faith in mankind.

Thank you FEMA man, whoever you are. You made our special day one to remember.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary.... Mom & Dad! We love you and hope to make it to 52 years one day too!

One Month Ago.....

Wow, cannot believe my last blog post was one month ago. So much has happened in our little community since the historic flooding of the Mouse River...it is just devastating! Over 12,000 people displace, over 4,000 homes inundated--and of those homes over 800 condemned & over 2,000 severely damaged. However, the mind-boggling thing is that only a couple hundred people ended up in the shelters. Isn't that amazing? The rest of the community took in over 11,800 people into their homes. That just speaks volumes about the hearts of our people!

The devastation is beyond heart wrenching! But, the rebuilding has begun with all of those homes being gutted to the studs. The piles of peoples' belongings are stacked high on the boulevards--sometimes higher than the houses. Oh, and the smell....beyond words.

We decided as a family that we would like to share our home with a family who has a child with a disability, preferably one that uses a wheelchair, as our home is on one level. So, we offered our home to a family who was separated in two towns and has a beautiful little girl with a disability. We then moved out to our trailer (cavin, as Grace calls it) at Rice Lake. We have been so blessed to have two places that survived flooding, so we felt called to share one of them with a family in need.

For us, it has been a sweet time of making family memories. The main reason I haven't posted is that we just got internet yesterday. Until then we were in a dead zone out in the country--no phone, internet, or cable. Now, that we got internet....we will feel a bit more connected. But, we have done so much more as a family without everyone being "plugged" in to their electronics!

I will be posting a few catch-up posts next week because tomorrow we head out for our annual Milwaukee trip. We weren't going to go this year, but getting a break from our cabin sounds mighty appealing right now. :)

Thank you for your prayers! Minot will need them for many months to come...We all know it is devastating, but the community will bounce back and be stronger for it; it's just going to be a long haul.

Blessings, Paula