December Highlights

Here is a picture from our trip to St. Louis that I didn't get in. Finally we found something that would wear our crazy boys out. They had a really great time playing inside this hamster wheel and went back to it several times throughout the day. Like I said before, the science museum was a lot of fun.

We also at the beginning of this month had our first snow. There was just enough on the gound that the boys could sled outside. They also tried out their little snow boards as well. Even little Christopher got into the snowboarding frenzy. I would have gone outside with them but I have been experiencing a lot of illness

these days with a succession of sinus infections. We have been getting a load of winter weather so hopefully I will be getting out and enjoying the winter weather sometime soon.

Of course December wouldn't be complete without the annual school Christmas program. Ethan and Stephen were in it this year together. It was fun watching the program. The picture quality is poor because we were so far away in the bleachers.

December is also the month of Ethan's birthday. He desired a Christmas tree

cake so I tried to make one for him. We also did chocolate cupcakes for those who didn't want the white tree cake. Now I know why cake decorators get the big bucks. We had a great time with family and friends as we celebrated Ethan turning seven years old. He was so excited and happy for his special day.

Fall Break

For fall break we went to St. Louis and took the children to see loads of things. On Thursday, we went to the zoo, where we all viewed the wonderful collection of animals there. Then on Friday we saw and went up into the Arch. The children all loved going up, although Ethan did express his fear of elevators just a bit. They enjoyed the museum there as well. After that we went to the science museum and had a great time viewing all the exhibits. The children by the end of the day were exhausted! The next day on Saturday we went to Cahokia and Bob and I introduced the children to Native American history. We walked on the great mound and hiked all around the grounds. We also went inside the interpretive center to view the exhibits on early Native American life. I am always very moved whenever we go there. While we were there at Cahokia, a large group was touring the center at the same time. It turned out they were a group from Utah seeing church sites and had just been to Nauvoo. So we talked with them a little about history and the Book of Mormon. It is so funny to meet up with other members of the church in unexpected places. After Cahokia we drove home. It is always fun to go other places and do other things every so often. Bob and I love introducing the boys to new and interesting things as they grow up. Here are some pictures of our travels and one of Christopher cutting up a pumpkin for Halloween. The children collected quite a bit of candy on Halloween and had a great time.

Christopher Joins His Brothers in the School Experience

Since school has started, Christopher has begged to go to school. Because his birthday falls just past the 2009 August beginning for regular school, I figured I would put him in pre-K school next year. However, since he has shown his ability to be ready for Kindergarten next year, we decided to put him in pre-school this year. He had his first day yesterday and did very well. Mrs. Ryan expressed she would like to nickname him smiley, because he smiled the whole time he was there. He is so excited about being a big school boy now. In talking with the Kindergarten teacher, she felt confident Christopher would be ready for her class, even though he won't be quite five yet when he starts school. We shall see how everything goes.

Ethan had his first test of the year and received a 100%. We are so pleased with how well he is doing. Unfortunately, first grade is quite the adjustment for him. Getting up in the morning is proving to be very difficult for him. He is very grouchy when he gets up. Hopefully as the year progresses things will get easier in the "waking up department" for him.

Stephen has been doing well too. He has gotten 100% + bonus on his spelling tests. He is also working very hard to be a good example and live up to the standards in his Faith in God book. He is growing up and is taking more and more responsibility in the house and at school. He is getting close to completing his Wolf rank and will be moving up to work on his Bear rank in October.

Thus our family is very busy keeping up with school, activities, and family fun. We are very blessed to have everyone healthy and happy and expect this new school year to be full of growth and fun.

A New Pet For The Pace Family

We are now the proud owners of a new little kitten we have named Midnight. He is a stray that has been hanging around the neighborhood. I felt sorry for it, so I fed him and he of course stayed. He will be an outside cat, for the most part, but right now he is spending the next seven days cooped up in a cat carrier, because we had him fixed today. After that back outside he goes. He is a really sweet cat and although I think most cats are the spawn of Satan, I really like Midnight. He is a very affectionate cat and really likes people. He of course, is black and he is between four and six month old. I figure he will hunt the mice and moles in the yard and for the most part he just hangs around the property. At night, we may put him in his cat carrier to keep him safe from the coyotes.

I would post a picture, but recently our digital camera bit the dust, so until we can afford a new one we won't have pictures. Sorry Marthea, pictures of the new deck will have to wait. Maybe if Jeff can get out here while he is visiting, he can get a picture for you so you can see it.

The children are really glad to have Midnight and spend many hours petting and chasing him down. He is so good natured about it all. We are very happy to have such a super cat.

It Has Finally Happened!

After five long years of waiting and saving, the deck project has finally been accomplished! We get to use it this weekend for Christopher's birthday party. So pictures will come later. Dustin, Mike, and their helper Phil did an awesome job. We are very pleased with the result. Now we are able to go out our sliding glass door and get even more of a cross breeze in the living and kitchen space. There are other jobs that need doing but now we can at least scratch this one off the list.

40 is finally here!!!

I am so excited that 40 has finally arrived. I decided this year to spend it in the temple and my two wonderful sisters-in-law graciously came with me to Louisville. They took me to lunch at Qdoba, which was a lot of fun. The ride down and back was full of talking and laughing. We missed the turn off coming back, but with Stephanie and Bethany to get me back on track, there was no worries.

Bob gave me a super kiss and hug when I got home, plus Ethan and Chris greeted me with special homemade presents. Thanks to my wonderful in-laws for watching children and my sweet husband for picking them up and making the day possible. The first 40 years have been full of laughter, tears, excitement, hard times, surprises and tons of growth. I look forward to the future to be more of the same wonderful experiences.

I have heard it said more than once that every day above ground is a fantastic day. I agree with that philosophy whole heartedly. I thank all those who have made my life special. So a great big happy birthday kiss and hug to everyone!!!

I love you all.

Wisconsin 2008

Our annual Wisconsin trip for this year was definately enjoyed by all. We spent a lot of time around the cottage enjoying the sun, the non-humid weather, boating, walking, fishing, biking, swimming and playing in the sand. We were able to have Grandma and Grandpa Pace come be with us for a few days, as well as Bob's eldest brother Jeff and his son Nathan.

We also went to the Rib Lake Public library a couple of times, for books to read while we were there as well. Why bring books when there is a wealth of them at the library? In front of the library is this cute little dog made from scrap metal and the children really enjoyed playing with it. The bench next to it is a memorial bench of the Tlusty family. After perusing the phone book, there were a few listings, which I brought back to our very own resident geneologist Grandpa Tlustek.

We were also fortunate this year to take a canoe trip down the Flambeau River, which is located one hour north of the cottage. The highlight of the trip was seeing a bald eagle flying overhead and Stephen catching a large mouth bass.

The difficult thing about the trip, was the wind. I often had difficulty steering the canoe, because the wind would hit the front of the canoe and cause us to spin round and go backward. This resulted in us taking too long, thus we ended up having to get out early so we would be able to meet the pick up guy. I look forward to doing it again, maybe when the boys are older. That way we can do a several day excursion with camping along the river. Another big event, was seeing a bald eagle sitting on the shoulder of the highway just a few feet from the car. They are such an impressive raptor and what a treat it was to see it so close in the wild.

On the way home, we stopped overnight in Rockford, IL. While we were there, we went to the Burpee Museum of Natural History and the Children's Museum. The Burpee Museum was interesting but not very big. The Children's Museum had loads of hands on activities and tons to see. This museum is the fourth best in the country and had an outstanding play park on the backside of the building. We all had a blast playing back there in the mazes. All and all, we had a wonderful time and it seemed the vacation ended too soon. Maybe one year we will have more time to spend than just nine days.