Blessed Advent!

Wow, can you believe it's the first Sunday of Advent?! Holy cow! I hope all of you who check in here on occasion had a very nice Thanksgiving. We had both of our parents here, my sister, Mike's two brothers and a bunch of cousins. It was a lot of fun. We missed Tim and Suzy, Aileen and Joe!

It's been musical backgrounds again on our blog. Moira put this new Christmas template on today. Thanks Moira! I hope you like it and hopefully we'll be able to keep up with posting more than we have been. Have a very blessed Advent! Kris

Check out Scythian!

I put some widgets on the bottom of the page. Be sure to click on the images to check out Scythian on ReverbNation. :)

Scythian is a Irish, rock, folk, Ukrainian and more band that we've grown to like. They play a lot of Irish tunes that my sisters and I have have a quick-love for because we do Irish dancing.

Introducing...

...our newest little blessing!!!



It looks like the Party of Nine will become the Party of Ten in early June. As expected, the girls are squealing with excitement and Aidan is praying for a brother :)

Stolen Picture...

When your camera is broke you resort to stealing others' pictures! (Thank you Jennie from A Little Something Extra) This was taken by Micah's mom at our local Buddy Walk a few weeks ago. We had a great time meeting up with Jennie, Mark and their two adorable kids. It's so rare that our whole family is all in the same picture that I thought I'd put it on our blog too.

Power of Life Event

Wow, it's been a long time since we've updated the blog! I think we have been extra busy with school and events! It doesn't help that my camera broke. There's less motivation to get something on the blog without new pictures.

Last weekend we attended the first annual Power of Life event in our local area. It was a lot of fun meeting up with friends and listening to speakers and performers.

We were able to meet up in person with some friends of ours who we have spoken with on the phone. Here's Erin with their youngest child, little John Paul, who is a month younger than Erin.




We were also able to attend the drama production The Princess and the Kiss. Here's Moira with her good friend Andi, one of the lead actors in the play


We were all thrilled to meet up with Righteous b, good friend of Mike's brother Tim, who is a talented musician. His specialty is Rap. He performed for the event, and we were able to host Bob and his DJ, Dave, at our house for the weekend.Here's Righteous b, Dave, Kelly and a friend of ours having fun!

Happy Heart Day Erin!!!

Today is a day we will always celebrate! One year ago today we were at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin for Erin's open heart surgery to repair her ventricular septal defect (VSD), a hole between the lower chambers of the heart. Dr. Tweddell, Erin's surgeon, did a fabulous job and we will always be thankful for his skill as a top notch surgeon.

For memory's sake, here are some pictures from a year ago....

Here's Erin right before surgery


And right after...


And here she is now watching her siblings out the window, wishing she could be out joining in their fun! What a difference a year (and a healthy heart) makes. Thank you God!

Our Michigan Trip

Last weekend we took a trip to Michigan to visit my parents. As always, it was great to see them even though it literally rained the whole time we were there. I believe they got almost 8 inches of rain from Friday night to Monday morning!

On Friday, we met in Muskegan, MI for an Irish festival. One of our favorite bands, Scythian, was playing. We were so close to the festival that we decided we didn't want to miss their performance. Mike and the older kids had seen them in Milwaukee in August. The band members went to school with Mike's brother, Tim. So, I guess you can say we're sort of Scythian groupies! They really are a great group of guys who have an incredible talent.

Here are Mike and Erin waiting for the show
Molly Grace with Grandma
Band member, Dan, meeting Erin for the first time
The kids enjoying the sounds

Well, as you can see, we have some brave members in the family. I am not one of them. While it rained and rained I sat inside the cottage taking pictures from the window. You'll notice the screens in the pictures....sorry about that. Rain or shine, the kids were not going to go to Grandma and Grandpa's lake cottage without going swimming in the lake!

Buddy Walk!!!

Today was our annual Buddy Walk. If you are unfamiliar with Buddy Walks, they are sponsored events that take place all around the country that support and advocate for all those with Down syndrome. They are primary fundraisers and a lot of fun! This was our first year attending and we were pleased to see such a nice turnout. The mayor and other community leaders were there as well as children's entertainers. The Knights of Columbus were major sponsors this year and they provided horse rides for the kids. We were thrilled to finally meet up with Micah's family, some friends we have met since Erin and Micah's birth (Micah's mom, Jennie, and I went to college together. It had been a loooong time since we had seen each other!)



Erin and Mike Our little friend, Micah
Erin and Micah (I love this picture!)
Teresa
Aidan
MG

A little face painting makes a little girl smile

Erin snoozing with Mom
And last but not least, next year's cover girl for the local Buddy Walk!

Oh No! Someone Left Their Mark

Oh dear. These pictures really don't need much explanation if you first read the Joker post, below. It looks like Aidan strikes again.



***Edited to add.....it was not Aidan after all. The blame goes to one of his big sisters LOL. Aidan felt very strongly that the truth be heard!

The Joker

I'm not sure if this is funny or just scary! One thing is for certain, however, and that is when Aidan comes up missing we're never sure exactly which character is will reappear as. You have to admit, he did a pretty good job with his attempt at transforming himself into the Joker! I think this will be a back-up plan for Halloween in case his Sully costume (from Monster's Inc.)doesn't fit!