2009

What a year we have had. Full of joy and sorrow. The birth of our daughter the loss of Kurt’s brother. Returning to work after being off on leave with the kids for over two months was a challenge. We are thankful for my parents and Aunt Jeanne that we do not have to send the kids to a daycare. They get all the one on one attention they need and deserve.

We took our first family of four mini staycation in August to Delta. The weather was nice and Dillon loved to be able to just run. Joan, Jerry and Joey came along; we all had a good time.

It has been 5 months since our little girl has blessed our lives. She has brought so much to our family already. Dillon just loves her and she loves to laugh at his every move. Let’s hope it stays this way for many years to come.

She is growing like a little weed. Last dr. appointment she was 12lbs and 25 inches long. She is still just a little peanut, but always full of smiles. Right now she is toughing out her first cold. She is my little trooper.

Dillon in all his two year old wonder is so full of energy that he could keep a small city running on just him alone! He loves any and all animals and can tell you what every ones sound is. He loves the zoo we get there when we can but don‘t stop! We have to keep moving and see ALL the ANIMALS! Loves to play outside, and did I say run! RUN, RUN, RUN! He is in what I call as the Record and Play Back stage, where he will repeat EVERYTHING you say. He is like a little sponge soaking it all up!

There is no joy in the world like watching YOUR child learn and succeed.

Can’t for the years ahead!

Tina

Halloween

We didn't carve pumpkins this year, instead we did a Pumpkin Head. This seemed to work better for Dillon. He liked to be able to put the parts in their places, with some help.

Put the nose in the middle!

Looks good to me!

Hi, my name is Dillon, can I help you find something? Dillon was a HomeDepot worker for Halloween. We were out for about an hour and he walked the whole time and just loved being outside.

Dillon and daddy had fun Trick or Treating.

Pumpkins For Dillon

The last weekend in September we spent it with Grandma Mona, Aunt Jeanne, Aunt Valinda and Great Grandma Helen at Apple Fest in Gays Mills.




Dillon got to pick out his own pumpkins!

What a decision! Which one do I like better?

I'll take these two!

But I like this one the BEST!!!

Here we are at the Elegant Farmer! Again which one do I pick!

Pictures of our carved pumpkins to come!

Krupps come to visit

Over the weekend the Krupp family came to visit and cook out with us. Dillon and Cassidy got to play togeather, not that at age one the two of them knew what to do. But they enjoyed pushing each other up and down the drive way in the dump truck that I had bought that morning for $1.00 at a rummage.

Baker Family Vacation

Our first annual Baker Family summer vacation was very nice. We had great weather and lots of fun. We saw lots of deer and even a bear or two.

The first weekend Jake, Melissa and Dustin came to spend the Fourth of July with us. They went tubing with Chris while Dillon and I stayed safe on the beach! We did not get to see any fireworks this year, maybe next year. Jake and Melissa stayed until Sunday and then they had to head back home. Dustin on the other hand was having to much fun swimming and four wheeling that he decided to stay. A decision that he would later regret toward the end of the week.

On Monday we decided to see a water fall. We went to Amnicon State Park to see the water falls there. It was so nice, we were able to swim and walk in the water. Kurt and Dustin went into the water falls and Dustin lost his glasses. Don’t ask! Dillon loved to be able to walk and splash in the water. The water was super warm. We were only able to spend a few hours there, since Dillon was getting tired and needed a nap.

On Tuesday Kurt went Muskie fishing with Chris and Dillon, Dustin and I went to Duluth. We went to the fish aquarium which turned out to be not worth the money we spent to go. The man at the counter told us it would take an hour to an hour and a half to get through; I think it took us about 20 minutes. So then we decided to find the zoo. Which was better and cheaper than the aquarium. We spent the rest of the day walking through the zoo looking at the animals.

The rest of the week Dustin and Kurt went fishing while Dillon and I hung out. We went swimming and Dillon loved it at the beach and playing in the water. But like I said before by Thursday Dustin was ready to go. He was pretty bored of me and Kurt and with no other kids besides Dillon to hang with, who could blame him. We tried to make the best of it for him. We had fires at night and cooked fish they had caught during the day. In the mornings he would take the four wheeler to the Delta Diner and get an iced coffee, that he liked.

We headed home on Saturday what a long ride. We made a stop in a Joan’s for lunch and Mmmm, Mmmm that was good. Sat there for a about two hours and we were back on the road to head home.

Dustin has told us that he would like to come again next year, but he will have his license by then and he will drive himself. That way when he is ready to go home he will be able to go. We were happy to have him this year, I hope I he was happy to be with us.

Calhoun Road Construction

Well like I said before the road construction in front of the house has started and here are some of the pictures from the last few weeks. Here are pictures from the 10th of this month they had just started with some of the utility work this week:

This picture is looking at the front of our house:



This picture is taken from our side lot of the trees that are were taken:


These are trees that Joe our neighbor planted in his front yard:


These pictures are from the week of the 17th. They have started to take down some of the trees.

This the front of the house four trees gone:



Joe's trees are gone.

These pictures are from the 27th. They have started grating the road, WHAT A MESS! They started this on Friday the 27th at like 3:00 pm. It made it impossible to get in our drive way and then it started to rain. Like I said WHAT A MESS.

Here is the big ole hole that was left behind and not filled in where our tree and tulips used to be.

This piece of machinery had been sitting in the same place for DAYS and no one has closed the door on it since is has been parked here. I do not think the driver is going to be happy when he comes back and it all wet in side!

June Gone in a Flash

Wow, can you believe June is already over! What a crazy busy month it was.



Kurt and I celebrated out 2nd wedding anniversary on the 10th with dinner and relaxing with Dillon. Our friends Maggie and Mat along with their daughter Greta welcomed their new son Norman to the world on the 11th. We have not been able to meet him yet, but we are very excited to see this new little man. My nephew Jordan celebrated his third birthday and in true three old style, when we called to wish him a happy birthday said “I not talk to Auntie Tina right now.” What a stinker! Look at him in his new "ride"!

We had a lot of graduation parties to attend that kept us pretty busy on the weekends. Dustin from eighth grade and is now getting ready for high school at West Allis Central. Heather graduated and is now preparing for Oshkosh, we wish her the best! Heather in true Heather fashion when asked about her gold tassel said “I think I am supposed to wear it because it is prettier then the green one” well come to find out she wore the gold tassel because she was graduating with HONORS!! We are so proud of her! Only Heather would think that she was wearing the gold tassel because it was prettier then the green. My little God daughter is all grown up! Where did the time go?

The road construction has started on Calhoun, what a mess. We have lost a total of 6 trees and they say that is all they are going to take. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We have planted 8 new trees on the back of our property in hopes of making some kind of barrier between us and the neighbors. Not that we do not like them we just do not want to see them.

With all the rain that we got in the beginning of the month, we like the rest of Wisconsin had some water in the basement. Thank God for it not being sewer back up but just that the sump pump could not keep up. WHAT A MESS! Kurt started the bailing process of getting the water out and I was on the clean up duty to make sure all was dry and cleaned up. We did not end up losing anything. We are thankful, things could have been a lot worse.

This week we are getting ready for our first annual Baker summer vacation to Delta. We are going to be there from the 4th to the 12th. We are looking forward to the time away and just relaxing.

When we were kids the summers seemed to last forever and as adults they seem to just fly by, I want back the time when summers were forever!