Katie's Decorating Prowess 2

This is our main bathroom.  Last summer, I told Katie I wanted it repainted and redecorated, and she did a beautiful job!  She even did some original artwork for on the wall!

Katie's decorating prowess

These are photos of Katie's room.  She painted it and then totally redid the decorating.  She's constantly adding new things she creates herself.  And she LOVES to do this.  

Visit to my Grandma Tiemeyer

Gma T moved to Independence Village this past summer.  Conveniently for us, it's on the way home.  It was really nice to see her again and to be able to see where she lives now.  It's a really nice place!  She even has a walkout patio and has her dog Ginger living with her.

I didn't get very good pictures of inside the apartment, but below you can see her kitchen :)

Below are some old tin type photos.  I'm going to try to remember who the people are-- if you are someone who knows that I'm wrong, please correct me! The first one is my gma's grandparents.

The photo below is of John, Gma's brother who died in a car wreck when he was 17

The photo below is my Great Aunt Grada (gma's sister)

Below is Gma's parents, when they were young, and then when they were older, the way I remember them-- Grandpa and Grandma Cuckoo Clock to us.  (Visscher, really :)

MI Thanksmas

Some mixed up photos from our MI trip-- arrived almost midnight Wed, had Thanksgiving with the fam, Fri did a little shopping/cleaning/decorating/eating pizza/celebrating bdays, Sat was Christmas with the fam, left for home after church and lunch on Sun!

The teen girls made dessert for Thanksgiving.  Mmm!  Katie made a chocolate trifle, Natalie made a pumpkin pie, and Jenna made chocolate chip cookie bars. 

Good thing mom and dad have this super-long table! We just about fill it up now

Eric's the turkey master. :)

Logan's showing off his place card

Claire loves reading to Levi.  Is his arm around her? :)

Chad, Micah, and Claire helped Papa clean up his messy workshop

And baby Jackson was the main source of entertainment for our girls!  So cute and cuddly!

My parents with all the grandkids

Singing Christmas carols

Teamwork setting up mom and dad's Christmas gift

Eric's work buddy, Nabor, invited us all to his house for Mexican food, open house style.  Great food!  (Except this nasty lollipop, that is!! Can't see the joy in that!)

Girls were always begging for a turn with Jackson

Bingo game with goofy gifts

Caleb and Logan's bday celebration

Logan

Boden... These pics are what happen when I let Claire go around and take photos :)

Mountains

Didn't know you could see the mountains from the entrance to our development, did you?

Fort Frederick

Claire and I went to Fort Frederick for a couple hours on a Saturday morning.  We thought there were going to be Cherokee Indians, etc.  Turns out the Indians were too expensive :), so there were just talks about the Indians.  We had a great time, tho.  Then we went to lunch and did a tiny bit of shopping. 

Carving

Kids wanted to carve pumpkins this year.  Micah and I did the one (really it's two!) by him, Katie and her friend Nicole did the Harry Potter one, and Claire did the one in the middle all by herself. 

Car

Micah still enjoys this car-- and kids that come over love to ride in it, too!

Jenna's Art

Chad and I are still wondering how our girls got to be such good artists... :)

Grandma's Story Time

Anita also read her Mabel the Maple Tree story in Micah's class-- and even brought them leaf-shaped cookies!

Micah Bikah

Isn't he cute??  Gotta enjoy this while it lasts. :) 

Micah learned to ride bike this fall.  For him, this is not a happy occasion.  He doesn't enjoy it at all yet.  Maybe next summer!

Costumes

Ready for a fall party at Dorthea's!

Claire made her own taxi, with a few suggestions from Katie (hat and mustache).  Katie pretty much did Micah's costume.  Cute kids, huh?

And here's my cute husband. :)  Can you guess what he is?  Chicken cordon bleu

Thrush

A couple photos from the October Thrush reunion-- Anita read a story she wrote while Katie helped with the display

Chad's wall progress

Claire's tooth

Funny happening for us-- Claire was eating breakfast yesterday ( piece of toast with butter and cinnamon/sugar) when she said, "What's this white thing in my toast?"  She had no clue that it was her tooth!  Didn't even know that one was loose.  She has 3 others that are loose-- might be a little trouble chewing with molars for a few months. :)