And...Our 2006 Christmas Letter

Well, Christmas is inching closer, and since nobody got around to writing the Christmas letter earlier, I (Heidi) got assigned the duty last night. So here it goes.
Dad is still busy at work. Even though we don’t have lots of news about him, he faithfully takes care of us all, starting the woodburner each morning so we can wake up to a cozy warm house, and a million other things. Lately, us girls have kept him busy setting mousetraps.
Mom is still home schooling the younger kids, so she stays busy with that. She very much enjoys her great nephews and nieces. Sometimes we wonder if she thinks she’s a grandma to them - she sure takes “grandma rights.”
I just finished my last semester at Illinois Central College, and am looking very forward to starting at Methodist College of Nursing in January. I quit working at the nursing home this summer, and it’s given me lots more free weekend time, which I gladly take advantage of.
Adam got a buck with his bow this year and boy, were we proud of him! He took Driver’s Ed this summer and has been making good use of having his permit. It’s scary. He worked a lot this summer baling hay, helping Uncle Tom, and mowing. He could hardly stand it when all his activity stopped after an emergency appendectomy in July. He loves fishing, hunting, and trapping. Too bad those aren’t subjects in school. Mom is a little less than thrilled about his coon skins laying in her freezer.
Wendi continues to charm our ears with her piano music, and her violin music is getting closer. She’s starting her second year teaching piano lessons to my cousin’s two girls, as well as Luke when he cooperates. She loves kids and babysitting, is a professional shopper, and enjoys talking and being with her friends.
Luke continues to be, well, his unique imaginative self. He loves helping Adam with trapping, playing outside in his forts or sandbox, or turning our living room (and most of the house) into a farm, complete with soybeans and corn all over the floor. He was excited to be able to ride with Uncle Tom during harvest, and is pretty sure he wants to be a farmer.
As usual, this summer took the family (minus me) to St. Germain, Wisconsin. I stayed home because I was taking two summer classes. I had a great time, and I heard they did too. Some of the excitement included lots of fishing, good food, playing guitars in the van on the way up, family time, and a grease fire that burned the grill to the ground (long story).
Well, that is our year in a nutshell. We love hearing from all of you and getting your cards, letters, and pictures in the mail. May God bless you with His presence in this Christmas season.

With love,
Max, Mary, Heidi, Adam, Wendi, & Luke

Christmas Picture

This is our nasty 2006 Christmas picture!

gingerbread house disaster and piano recital

Wednesday I babysat and it went CrAzy. Jamie said she bought a Gingerbread house kit, and if we wanted, we could do it. I thought it sounded like fun, so we proceeded to create a beautiful gingerbread house. First, you must know, I’ve never made a gingerbread house in my life. (Sad, I know)  I was putting the house together, when the boys broke one of the pieces.  Now what was I supposed to do? I was clueless since I had never made a gingerbread house before. They ended up breaking 2 other pieces, and it took me 2 hours just to put it together. After I put it together, it fell apart several times. There was no chimney ‘cause they ate it while I was out of the room for a moment. We started decorating it after 3 hours of trying to put it together. They went nuts on the sprinkles and they were everywhere!!
Thank goodness, Jamie thought it was darling when she came home. I have now learned my lesson. Never make a gingerbread house with two 3 year olds and a 1 year old.
     Thursday night was Amber and Holly’s piano recital here. It went really good except some of the duets didn’t go the greatest.
     Tonight is Kendra and Tess’s choir concert. Jenna’s coming with me, and then we’re going to her house. Maybe we’ll go rollerblading since it’s so warm out! :-)
     Have a great weekend!

No time for blogging..

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I last blogged, which is very unusual for me. But, I’m too busy to blog. So I’m blogging now, but I only have a few minutes cause I have to go help make hot ham n’ cheese for 4-H caroling tonight.
     My Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful.
     I love the snow. I went snowmobiling all day Saturday and for a while yesterday. I love to snowmobile. Except with the one’s the boys have, it seems like there’s more exhaust than snow.
     Yesterday I went shopping and got a boat load. :-)
     Last night I played violins at the home, and there was 4 people there counting me. Not good.
     This month is really busy, so I won’t have time to blog.
     So this is bad, I wrote it in like 2 seconds, but I’ve gotta go help with sandwiches.

     P.S. Kate, I’m so sorry!!!! :-( You have my sympathy. Call me!! :-)

I have a new friend...

His name is Belly Buddy. He was with me 24/7, but since my back is a little better today, he hasn’t been with me as much. Mom made me a doctor’s appointment, but I can’t get in until Monday, and I have a feeling my back’s going to be completely better by then!!
     Last night and tonight Luke and I went “hunting.” When he asked me to go out with him it’s just too cute to say no. :-) Cause all day he comes in all serious and says what he shot, missed or whatever else happened on his adventure. We went in the field behind us and actually did see a buck and a doe.
     Well, time to finish my Blueberry Muffins!!
      Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

mad house

It’s a mad house here this week....

I had a fun weekend...

And now I have to go clean my room cause it’s a disaster.

Oh, and I love comments!!! :-)

Randomness

     I’m going to tell you about my week, but I’m not going to be very specific cause I don’t have time to write that much. We’ll start on Tuesday....
Tuesday morning the Traveling Zoo (the Fritz kids) came. We all went in the field behind our house and walked to see these beautiful horses Luke had discovered. We also discovered huge buck tracks in the field. So all day I was just having fun with Wes until I had to go to piano. *sigh*  These almost 2 hour piano lessons are getting really old.
     Wednesday...was good until our neighbor dogs ran away. Again. I think I’m going to quit that job real soon. Luke and I spent over two hours looking for them. We actually weren’t looking for them for 2 hours, just one. But the other hour we just sat in these people’s ditch we didn’t know, hoping the dogs would come out of the woods. We decided we looked like hitch hikers. Everybody that passed us just stared. We were so bored and tired. Then on our way home we made a band with a plastic sack filled with dog bones, my flip-flops, two dog leashes, a cell phone, and Luke’s tennis shoes. If you really thought about it, it sounded cool, but Luke said it just sounded like we were making a lot of noise. :) Yeah, so we couldn’t get a hold of the owners of the dogs, and we had to leave, so we left. They called us and said they were in there cages when they got home. Our neighbor lady must’ve put them in there.
Wednesday night was ACYF practice. There was hardly anyone there. 2 sopranos, 2 altos, 5 tenors, and 1 bass. We actually didn’t sound too bad for how few people were there.
     Thursday I had no violin cause Kalsey is getting married this weekend. Instead, I went to Gramma’s and I got to go to Wal-Mart!!! Very exciting, since I’ve been trying for a month for someone to take me there. *sigh* I can’t wait till I can drive!!
Thursday night I talked to Kendra for the first time in 4 days. We never go that long without talking to each other. :)
     Today I did my Bio test that I kept putting off. I may have failed it, but it’s finally done! :)
     So here’s a few more random things-

-I loved the weather until today
-Never give your cell phone to Jessica to borrow; she may never give it back!
-Don’t take a shower after Heidi; you will have no hot or warm water whatsoever
-I stepped on a snake Thursday. *shudder* Every time I think of it, it sends shivers down my spine. It was the first snake I’ve seen all year
-I broke my toe on Thursday too
-I was going to post a picture of Adam and his deer, but he doesn’t want me to, so I’m being nice and not posting it.
-I love tootsie rolls

Have a great weekend!

YAY 4 ADAM!

     So it’s Saturday night, and I’m doing much but talking to my dear cousin Katie, who I miss dearly.
     We just got back from going out to the farm because we had to go take a picture of Adam and his buck!! He shot a 6 pointer tonight and it’s a really good size. The past two deer he’s shot at, he could never find.... so this is really exciting!! I’ll post pictures later...
So we were going to go out to eat tonight or do something, but everything kinda got dropped when Adam shot this deer...
     This morning we had a shower here for Jared and Sarah. I hardly had to clean anything. It was great. Wedding showers are really boring.... especially Pampered Chef Showers. :P
     Then this afternoon, Hyde, Nenna, and I went shopping for a little bit. I didn’t get anything. Oh yeah, I got a pretzel. :)

Love ya’ll....

-wenders-