Gracie the Hunter

Gracie finally put all of her training to use a few weeks back.  The guys took her with on their trip...the moment they have all been waiting for...to hunt with their very own hunting dog. 

From what I hear she did an awesome job.  She listened, retrieved, and did all that hunting stuff a dog is supposed to do. 

I could not be any more happy for Jon.  He has wanted this for a very long time.  I kept getting updates all weekend about what an awesome job Gracie has been doing. 

Grandpa Al and Uncle T with Gracie

The bummer was that when she got home on Monday night, her feet were very beat up.  I have been told that this is normal but our poor Gracie has an exceptionally bad case and therefore I took her to the vet the next day. 

We have learned that Gracie is allergic to something in the hunting fields.  We have not declared what that is exactly but her feet have not been 100% since August.  We now have it pinned down to the "field" environment and have her on the right medications but she was banned from hunting last weekend so that was a huge bummer for Jon.  Her feet did get healthy enough that she was able to go out again this weekend. 

We all love Gracie so much.  She is more than a hunting dog she is a our family pet.  Gracie is a very big part of our lives! She even comes to Sunday night dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house each week. I never would have imagined how much we would all grow to love and adore her.  She is a great dog and I just told the Vet that what surprises me is that I worry about her just as much as I worry about my kids.  The Vet smiled and agreed that they are easy to love!

I have no regrets with getting a dog.  I was warned that a family pet could not be a good hunting dog.  However, I beg to differ on that.

Jon with Gracie Mae 1st Hunting Trip

The other night Jon was getting ready for his big trip.  He got his gun and case out and once Gracie saw that she went crazy.  Fast forward to the next morning when I was awoken at 5:15 AM to Gracie standing in our bedroom whimpering because she thought that Jon was going to leave her behind as he was outside loading the car.  She does love to hunt.

So there you have it....as most of you already know, I have become a dog lover.  I am sure you all knew that would happen....I guess I was just in the dark.


So here's to our Gracie Mae and many fun years of hunting and family time ahead.   

Fun Times in the Dells

 Last week, Grandma Mary and I decided to take the kids to the Wisconsin Dells.  This is the month that the guys in our family spend all their free time Hunting.  Well if you ask them about it they will tell you that they are bringing food home for the winter but we all know it is more fun than work for those guys.

Grandma Mary and I decided it was time for us to go have some fun as well.  We won a timeshare in the dells at a Silent Auction at Grandma Mary's church and then the planning started.  None of us have ever been to the Dells so we did not know what to expect.

I am here to tell you that it was an AWESOME trip.  We all had so much fun and I am sure we will be heading back to the Dells one day and maybe we will even bring the "guys" along next time.

We spent two of our three full days at the Water Parks and boy oh boy was that thrilling.  We hit the body slides, family, slides, roller coaster water slides, and a few thrill water slides that had my heart pumping.  It was a riot.

At night we would play games and watch movies followed up by a good nights sleep.  Of course we had some awesome meals too.

The last day we played mini golf at an outdoor course, we bowled, we shopped the outlets, and then we had a great dinner.  You know its been a great vacation when you are all sad to have to pack your bags and head back home.

It was so nice to get away from the crazy busy life that we lead right now.  It was fun to sit and spend time with the kids and with Grandma Mary.  Time is going by way to fast so I really do appreciate when we can "slow" down for a few days and catch up on some good quality time together. 

I think Grandma Mary and I decided that every October we plan to take the kids on a mini vacation while the guys are all out having fun.  Not sure what next year will bring but I am sure it will be fun and exciting.

A "On Top of the World" Kind of Day

Today was one of those days that will be something I remember for a very long time.  The kids had their first Soccer Tournament EVER, this weekend.  The past few night have been filled with soccer games and this morning we spent from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM at the soccer fields while all three kiddos participated in the tournament. 

The girls did awesome but they did not get to place in this tournament.  They took this in stride though and overall as we look back they had an awesome season and a ton of fun playing soccer with their friends.  That is what it is all about and the day was a good one for them. 

K and his team went into the tournament undefeated.  He spoke a lot these past few days about winning the championship game and how awesome that would be.  Of course, my instinct as a Mother I reminded his that it was not about winning but more about having fun and that just because his team was undefeated did NOT mean that they would win the championship.  His team breezed through the tournament and we found ourselves in the championship game this afternoon.  It was a tough game and at the end of the two halves the game was tied 1 to 1.  This resulted in a 5 player shoot out.  Our boys had never experienced this before so it was interesting to see how it would all go down.  I was relaxed (well sort of) until I looked up to see my son taking the position as the goalie in the shoot out!!!

It is safe to say that  my blood pressure went up and I was a tad bid nervous....or in better terms I totally freaked out!  I was not sure I wanted to watch but then again I could not take my eyes off as this all unfolded.  K did and extremely AWESOME job and this time the stars were in his favor and his team WON!  He had some awesome saves and the rest of his team played an awesome game.  I was one PROUD and very EXCITED Mom!  It was so intense and I am still reeling from all the action and I have a boy that has not stopped smiling since he got his trophy!  He is very proud and it feels great to see him so happy.  K was so brave today to put himself in the goal and try his heart out for his team.  WOW!  He was so nervous he said his arms were shaking but I knew he could do it.

What an awesome day this has been.  I am very proud of my kids and how they handled the wins, the loses, and being good and brave teammates.

We are ending our night with a sleep overs with friends for all of them.  Today is a Top of the World kind of day!  God Bless.  

holiday1 2012

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Triplet Teamwork

Wordless Wednesday ~ Fall Fun At The Fair

Wordless Wednesday ~ Typical Morning Waiting for the Bus

Wordless Wednesday ~ 40 Rocks

Three Second Graders....and a dog

WOW!  Summer flew by and it is obvious with this blog how busy the end of our summer truly was with no posts!  I have a lot to catch up on. 
Today, we send three 2nd graders off to school.  They were all so excited and could hardly wait to get there.  I love how the outfits are carefully picked out, how the pack backs are set to go, and we are so organized for the first day!  This morning I could not help but think about how great it would be if we could be that Organized all school year! 
Anyway, the kiddos all came home with a great report.  They all had great things to share about their day and all of them made new friends.  I could not be more thrilled for them. 

Ahhhh....all my kids!

WOW!  They look so grown up!

A Jumping High

K Jumping High

E Jumping High

Even Gracie is excited and happy for the kids!

The Bus Stop busy as ever!

So we are off to a great start and pumped up about the year ahead learning all the wonderful things that 2nd graders learn. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ VDL Vacations Rock

Wordless Wednesday ~ NTU

Wordless Wednesday ~ Summer Lemonade Stand

Wordless Wednesday ~ A Summer Evening Swim

Gracie Mae is One!

Gracie turned one this past Monday so of course we had to have a Puppy Birthday party.  Gracie had so much fun at her party that she even wore a Birthday hat for her pictures.  It was a fun night.  Gracie's best pup friend Bella was there and they both enjoyed some yummy Puppy Birthday Cake together.

It is hard to believe that she is already one year old.  I remember at this time last year Jon and I were trying to make the decision if we were going to add a puppy to our family.  We are all so glad that we decided to do so.

We are all crazy about her and she has brought so much joy to our family.  We have had our moments of frustration over the past year with her but overall we are so happy she is part of our family.
Tomorrow she has to go back for more training.  We are all going to miss her like crazy but I did speak with Dave the dog trainer and he assured me that she would be in good hands.
Happy 1st Birthday Gracie Mae!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Soccer Stars

Taxdahl North Fun

Evening Cruise

The Boys

We were graciously invited to our Friends cabin for a few days over the week of July 4th Holiday.  We were so excited for this adventure and it was a blast. 

Super Jon!

Brothers

One Full Jet Ski

The Famous Bubble Baths

D and B

Best Buds

The one and only Scooby

Tube Masters!

B the Pro Wake Border

A enjoying the sun

Awesome Friends

The Girls Spotting on the Jet Ski

Chicken Fights Anyone?

 The five of us really enjoyed our stay at what they call T North.  We had loads of fun and The T family could not have been anymore hospitable to us.  WOW what a great time we had. 

The Girls (Thx for the headbands Gramma C)

We enjoyed the lake both days we had to spend there.  We headed out on their pontoon and the kids enjoyed tubing and knee boarding behind the jet ski. We got our fill of Vitamin D and we came away a little pink! 

E and D So Sweet!

We enjoyed some awesome food and drinks, we played many games to include some competitive rounds of Apples to Apples Junior and some serious games of Whiffle Ball.  Both nights we had great bonfires and the kids enjoyed many smores. 

Watching fireworks!

On the eve of July 3rd we had a special treat to watch some spectacular fire works from the comfort of their pontoon.  So awesome and a great way to spend America's Birthday!
The only thing wrong with our stay was that it should have been longer.  We were all so sad to say goodbye when our time ended which is a good sign that a Good Time was had by all. 

The Jon's ~ Such Comedians

Thank you T family for all the fun.  The Erickson Five is still talking about it.  Yahooo!  Great Memories!