the berge bunch

Pics to share

2012-01-10T12:51:00.002-06:00

Don't you just love it when pictures turn out really well?? I do! Here are a few great pictures that are real winners with me.

This first pic was taken out at the Snowflake Ski Hill in Westby...as in ski jumping...as in really high up there. It is crazy. Of course, I thought we should take a picture and boy am I glad we did. It's a winner!

I had to snap a pic of Mattea modeling this lovely ensemble. She looks like a little nordic dolly, right?? So cute!

Last but not least is Mattea playing up in her room with a few treasures from Christmas. Her push toy that sings nice quiet songs - way better than those obnoxious poppers. And we can't forget to mention her jewelry. Sunglasses, earrings and a bracelet all came together in a lovely Dora purse. Mattea is a big fan of earrings - we discovered this when she wanted us to put on the Mrs Potato Head earrings a while ago. Good stuff!

Christmas in Wisconsin

2011-12-28T21:44:00.006-06:00

We stayed put this year for the Christmas festivities. We spent Dec 23-26 with my parents. I'm so glad they were willing to drive out to see us. It's always more special with extra family around. We fondued on Christmas Eve - it's our Berge tradition.

Adam's parents also made the trek to Westby. They were here Dec 22-24th. We celebrated Christmas on the 22nd. The kids were very excited at that thought of opening presents EARLY!

Most of our holiday break thus far has consisted of games, legos and Wii....and cleaning up more messes than I care to count.

Hannah got her beautiful American Girl doll. Her name is Ana - pronounced Ah-na. It's a Spanish pronounciation so she can go to Mexico too. :)

It was a Merry Christmas indeed.

Sweetness

2011-12-23T08:07:00.002-06:00

Mattea has been watching the big kids!!

Pumpkins!

2011-10-16T13:19:00.003-05:00

We hit up a favorite pumpkin patch this weekend just outside of Eau Claire. It was chilly and windy but we all had a blast! Good memories

What???

2011-08-18T14:42:00.002-05:00

This child is a climber. She can get anywhere...and then we drag her down. Unfortunately the excitement over this newfound ability has not worn out.

Here Mattea is having a little snack.

I'm a SURVIVOR!!

2011-08-09T14:31:00.002-05:00

I did it! I made it through an entire week without Adam. This was definitely a challenge. I learned something really important this week- it's not smart to be alone with 5 kids and no close family at the end of the summer. Everyone is tired of everything - each other, their friends, their lack of structure, the heat...you get the picture.

Sooooo, after a few days of bickering and general fussiness we decided to go to La Crosse for the day. We started out by eating our favorite cheese bread from Jeff & Jim's by the river.

Then we walked along the boardwalk, throwing rocks whenever possible.

Then, we hit up the Children's Museum. Jackpot! The entire 2nd floor had been transformed into Clifford's town. Here are Hannah and Josiah in Cleo's yard.

After the day in La Crosse went so well, I thought we'd make it till dad came home. Wrong. Back to bickering and fussiness. So, I decided another diversion was in order. Off to Eau Claire for the day on Sunday. We churched, hung with friends, played in the river, ate out, shopped and played with our old neighbors.

Here are the kids with some friends at Owen Park. Sooo fun!

Of course, we HAD to get together with Charles and Ellen. We love eating at Red Robin when we're in Eau Claire and they are good enough to tolerate it with us. it's noisy and there are TV's to drown out our chaos - what family of 7 wouldn't love this place??

And now, the Rev is home and all is well again. Now, if I can just catch up on a little sleep...

Pool dayz

2011-07-19T09:52:00.004-05:00

There's only one place to be during all this HOT weather - THE POOL!! Wow, did we get a great couple of weeks to be at Grandma and Grandpa's! We have gone swimming almost every day since our arrival. We even had to come back yesterday because it was too hot for the little ones out at ipoint. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

Mattea and her "twin" Easton - everywhere we go together people ask if the babies are twins. SO cute!

The boys from Westby don't quite know what to do with those hockey sticks. I guess they're good oars too!

The next generation

2011-07-12T21:51:00.002-05:00

We had a rare opportunity to get together with ALL of the Seibel Great Grandkids at the lake last week. There are so many fun memories that I have of playing with my cousins (their parents) together on Pelican Lake. It was really sweet to watch the next generation playing together and doing the same things we did as kids.

A Garden Adventure

2011-06-05T09:34:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago we took on a new project. A garden. Some friends from church are letting us "sharecrop" off their land. We all piled into the van one afternoon and headed out to plant our garden.

Luke really enjoyed helping plant. He joined forces with Adam for most of the process.

Hannah and I planted some strawberry plants.

Tim lost interest pretty quickly - he was happy to take pictures.

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Of course, there was wrestling involved too.

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They played in the dirt and had long jump competitions.

Hannah was the other one who really enjoyed digging and planting. And doesn't everyone wear sparkly cowboy boots while gardening?? The girl's got an eye for fashion! :)

Easter weekend

2011-04-27T21:38:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter from our Berge bunch! We enjoyed a wonderful morning at church and spent a relaxing afternoon with friends.

We attended our town egg hunt at the park near our house.

Adam and I hosted our own hunt in the house. Can you see the candy propped in the leaves?

Mattea multi-tasking already. A mother's pride.

The Westby Berges

Just Peachy

2011-04-25T11:53:00.002-05:00

Well, we did it. After months (literally) of contemplation, research and debate we took the plunge. We bought a dog. She is adorable - 5 lbs, brown eyes, fluffy furr. She is a Shichon - also called a Teddy Bear puppy. Her name is Peaches Marie (Adam decided she needed a middle name too!). The kids are so happy and so are we. Hopefully nobody steps on her.

Mattea seems quite a bit bigger all of a sudden.

Us Lately

2011-04-21T16:20:00.002-05:00

Wow - it's almost been a month since the last post. Time is rolling right along these days. Tim turned 8 on April 2nd and had his party on the 1st. 6 boys made for a roudy bunch but it was well worth it.

Daniel brought 3 of his kids out for a weekend so he could preach at our church. We celebrated Hannah's 5th b-day on Sunday morning with muffins.

Luke lost his 2 front teeth within 1 week of each other. Big gap, huh?

We enjoyed our first meal on the deck a couple weeks ago...before the winterwonderland returned.

Miss Mattea is very busy and mobile these days. One of her joys is to race to the fridge to check out what's within her reach.

Chuck E Cheese Festivities

2011-03-28T08:11:00.003-05:00

What fun! Adam and I drove 2 cars full of kids (minus Tim and Mattea) to Chuck E Cheese for a double birthday party for Luke and Hannah. I drove the girls car (of course!) They chit chatted and giggled the whole way. It was so cute!

The boys table. They didn't sit around very long - too many games to be played. The cupcakes.

The whole gang. We had a great time. Chuck E Cheese was DEAD on a Friday afternoon so the kids had the run of the place and we were able to relax. Our only responsibilities were to dole out tokens and food. Pretty simple and stress free!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE & HANNAH!!

Luke turns 6!

2011-03-24T08:36:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to our fun, sweet, tender, silly little guy. You are awesome!!

PV 11

2011-03-19T10:39:00.002-05:00

We are back from our vacation in Puerto Vallarta feeling refreshed and ready to take on the next few months till summer. Our trip was wonderful - how could it not be??? Kids traveled well, no one got sick and everyone got to do what they wanted.

Here are just a few pictures to share.

So big

2011-02-21T21:06:00.002-06:00

Well, she can get herself up to the second step now. She's pulling up on all kinds of things - laundry baskets and couches are the favs for now.

In case you didn't believe Mattea really is getting to be a big girl, she's showing you her "SO BIG!"

The best part of this is that she always puts her hands together before raising her arms and they are so short that she can't get them over her head. :)

Valentine's happenings

2011-02-20T22:02:00.003-06:00

We had a snow day the week before Val's Day so we decorated boxes together. I just thought this picture was so funny - sweet valentine box...and a gun.

On the 14th, the little kids and I made heart headbands.

After school we took the kids to Ole & Lena's for some ice cream. Adam's Aunt Bea sent us a Valentine's card and some money and said, "Have ice cream!!" - so we did. :)

Mattea's recent antics

2011-02-12T20:18:00.003-06:00

Mattea is 6 months now. She continues to be very content and happy. We adore her - we think she feels the same about us.

Mattea LOVES Hannah's beads. Grabs for 'em whenever they come close.

Mattea loves crawling up onto people's legs. I think she'll be a mountain climber some day. :)

She's been eyeing the stairs. She can get both arms up on the bottom stair - but hopefully that's all she'll figure out for a while.

She's scooting everywhere. I often find her under this chair.

I call this her "downward dog" - a familiar pose for fitness buffs.

Oh yes, she's discovered LEGOs. Thankfully I haven't found any in her diaper yet...

Josiah's new obsession

2011-01-06T22:45:00.002-06:00

This little guy has a new favorite - it's Polar Express. He got the DVD for Christmas and basically hasn't stopped talking about it since. He sleeps with the DVD (even crying if it falls off his bed) and carries it around the house all day long.

Yesterday, he woke up from his nap (don't you just love his hair???) and begged to watch "Polaw Spres." How could I refuse after looking at this sweet, rosy cheeked, bed-headed child???

a growing girl

2010-11-20T22:22:00.002-06:00

Here's a couple shots for you to see how much Mattea has grown recently.

Here she is at about 2 weeks old.

Here she is at almost 4 months

In the bumbo around 7-8 weeks old

At almost 4 months.

I am amazed at how quickly life is happening! I sometimes just want to push pause and soak up this wonderful baby who blesses me every day.

cousins galore!

2010-11-19T21:46:00.002-06:00

The past 2 weekends we've been blessed with family visits. Daniel and Meghan came first. The cousins quickly got down to the business of playing inside and out.

Uncle Adam was in charge of the bedtime story for all the kids. It's quite a bunch!

The following weekend Emily and her boys came with my mom. Easton and Mattea are so sweet together. Mattea usually ends up trying to gnaw on easton's hand.

My cousin Gracia also came from Chicago. Here they're playing Legos before 7:45 am. She's a trooper!

At the end of their stay, we all ate at McDonald's together. Family time is just so sweet!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T22:04:00.004-05:00

Well, another year is in the books. We made it through Halloween 2010. A good time was had by all. Candy, crayons, pencils, silly bands, cookies and pretzels all made it into our orange pumpkins. I tell you, these small towns are SERIOUS about their trick-or-treating.

Josiah the Cow. Toward the end of the night Josiah asked me to carry his pumpkin cause it was too heavy from all the candy. It's a rough life!

Hannah said, "Trick or Treat, Meow Meow" at every house she hit. She did not go up to any house where the owner was wearing a scary mask. The candy was just not that important.

Luke the Spiderman stayed warm with help from those huge muscles.

Timothy is sporting some costume from Star Wars - Clone Wars. He thought it was cool that he could frown when I took his picture.

Josiah was very curious about this short skeleton man.

Little Ma-tay-tay as we call her, eventually crashed and had a nice nap in the snugli. She kept me quite warm too.

While we were in Fargo we carved pumpkins. And then hauled them all the way home. Totally worth it!

Mattea and Easton look so excited to be in their costumes, don't you think??

And we'll finish up with an adorable picture of Mattea. Such a happy little lady.

Mattea is 12 weeks today!

2010-10-19T16:12:00.003-05:00

Today marks 12 weeks since Mattea's birth. Time just keeps ticking at a rapid pace. Mattea is so content and sweet. She is quite tolerant of the kids and loves getting attention from Mommy and Daddy. She's sleeping through the night and eating every 3-4 hours. I couldn't be more pleased with this little lady.

Mattea's quite a smiley gal. And sometimes she lets you get a glimpse of these amazing curly eyelashes.

She is always playing with her hands. She's such a big shot.

She's at the mercy of Hannah and Josiah every once in a while. You know, when I have to use the bathroom or answer the phone. Hannah is quick to use Mattea as her "live doll"- as you can see here.

raking needles

2010-10-06T14:22:00.002-05:00

We are fortunate to have 2 GINORMOUS pine trees that shed about a million needles each fall. Sooooo, we get to spend some quality time together raking needles. Thankfully all we have to do is push them to the street and then a big sweeper comes by to clean 'em all up.

Eventually the pile was big enough for the kids to hide in. They had a great time playing together.

Westby Homecoming 2010

2010-10-02T12:10:00.004-05:00

Of course there's a big ol' tractor in our parade!

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Here's Tim and a buddy of his marching. The 1st through 4th graders get to march. Luke's kindergarted class all walked to the parade and watched from a different spot so that's why we don't have a picture of him.

We walked 2 blocks down from our house to the same spot we watched from before.
It was super sunny and 75! Of course we NEEDED sunglasses.

I'm pretty sure Mattea slept through the whole thing.

Mattea in action

2010-10-02T11:40:00.004-05:00

Mattea loves the camera. She just stares at it when I get it out. She even smiles at it from time to time. Mattea is 9 weeks old on this video.

Our Sweet Mattea

2010-09-16T09:45:00.002-05:00

Just thought I should put up some pictures of our growing gal. She's up to 10 lbs 5 oz now. Mostly out of newborn clothes - on to 0-3 month sizes! Our chuch held a baby shower for us last Saturday. This cute little cherry dress from Grandma Berge is what she wore.

I just love her pretty face in this picture.

She is starting to study her toys now.

Go Vikings!!

A SMILE!!! So fun - I finally caught one on camera!

Fall Snapshots

2010-09-09T18:57:00.002-05:00

First Day of school pics
Mattea's first cold

Labor Day cookout on the deck

First Vikings game of the season

Just the two of us

2010-08-19T11:58:00.005-05:00

For the past 2 weeks Hannah has been in Fargo with Grandma and Grandpa. Meanwhile, the big boys have had Jump Start (summer school) each morning. This leaves Josiah, Mom and Mattea. Quite different for this family.

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With the absence of all his playmates (distractions) Josiah has been VERY attentive to Mattea. She gets about 100 kisses on the head per day. I usually have to cut Josiah off at some point to protect the babe.

He is never far away when I'm taking a picture.

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Ever present - even in the activity gym. Gotta love big brother!

Mattea and the boyz

2010-08-16T15:46:00.002-05:00

Miss Mattea is enjoying (read tolerating) her role as sole sister in the house for a while. Big sis Hannah is taking her turn with Grandma and Grandpa until we go up for a visit next week.

Mattea and Tim having a lively discussion

Mattea gets lots (read: a bit too much at times) of attention from Josiah. He probably gives her 100 kisses a day.

(Not quite sure how this pic got turned...)

Luke continues to be the baby lover of our family. He loves to snuggle up to Mattea when given the chance.

Mattea's baptism highlights

2010-08-03T07:58:00.003-05:00

Miss Mattea had her baptism this weekend. She got to meet some very important people too.

Grandma and Grandpa Berge saying hello to their 10th grandchild.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Russum also made the LONG trek to our house. They live 9 hours away from us. What a treat to have them join us for the weekend! "Great" as we call her, LOVES babies and spent a lot of time hovering over Mattea. :)
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It was so unique and special to have Daddy baptize baby Mattea.

Mattea wore the dress that Grandma Seibel wore for her baptism. The bonnet was made from a hanky that belonged to a relative of Grandma Berge.

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No lady's attire would be complete without a little finery. Mattea is showing off her beautiful bracelet made by Grandma Berge and a cross necklace from Grandma and Grandpa Seibel.

After Mattea was baptized the kids sang Jesus Loves Me for special music.

Welcome Mattea Kate!

2010-07-28T12:25:00.002-05:00

Introducing....

Mattea Kate Berge

7.27.10

1:54 am

6 lbs 12 oz

20 inches

Dad does a little light reading while snuggling Mattea

Hannah and Josiah were thrilled to meet baby sis

A nurse made Mattea this cute sign for her bassinet.

Praise God for the miracle of Mattea Kate!!

T Ball

2010-07-21T09:04:00.006-05:00

Luke and Hannah had their first taste of T Ball this summer. Luke did quite well and enjoyed running around with his buddies. Hannah on the other hand, well, let's just say she got through it.

They practiced fielding - Hannah struggled to figure out which hand went in her glove. - I only have one left-handed glove and it goes to Luke, who really knows that he's a lefty!

The kids practiced running the bases. Hannah's coach decided it would be best if she just followed him.

A classic T Ball picture. Someone paying attention and someone playing in the dirt.

As usual batting is the favorite activity. Our Luke is a switch hitter at this point - it's pretty cool!

As for Hannah, she didn't mind the hitting...as long as she got to use the pink bat.

a sweet Saturday

2010-07-12T10:46:00.002-05:00

Saturday was a perfect day. The sun was shining, the temps were up, and the water activities in full swing.

Even the juice of the watermelon is delicious.

Our neighbors provide a variety of weaponry - super soakers were on tap this day.

Meanwhile, Hannah got all gussied up and took out some toys to entertain herself.

soaking up some sun and fun

2010-07-10T08:01:00.002-05:00

Last weekend when we were in Eau Claire it was quite warm - hot to be accurate. We decided to hit up Fairfax Pool with our friends. Boy, do I miss this pool. It is fabulous!

Here are Brady and Josiah in their matching rings during a lifeguard break.

The next day we set up Brady's sprinkler. The kids had a blast!

Here's Tim doing some sort of karate move.

Hannah enjoyed just running through.

Here are all my water babies. I'm so glad they like to swim and play in the water...so that I can too!

Grandma time

2010-06-30T07:51:00.002-05:00

One of the (many) reasons that we love going to Fargo during the summer is that we get to spend lots of time with Grandma. She runs a busy schedule during the school year and we often don't see her much if we go during the school season. The past 2 weeks we've gotten to have Grandma all to ourselves - such a treat! Grandma is quick to make breakfast, take kids on outings, get up early with them, play with them, work with them, clean up after them...you get the idea. She basically saved me and let me rest for the past 2 weeks. It was a wonderful, well-needed break for me.

Here's Grandma helping Luke do a puzzle

All the kids got in on the action.

Grandma and Hannah doing some planting and watering.

We had a pizza picnic in the park and got to eat in peace while the kids played on the playground.

cousin chaos

2010-06-29T14:29:00.004-05:00

We always love when we get to spend time with the cousins. We know to expect chaos and noise and occasional fighting but it is SOOO worth it. The memories and relationships that they are creating are priceless!

These 3 boys are going to have so much fun growing up together. From Josiah down to Tobias there is only a 10 month age span. Pretty cool!

Here's Hannah with her cousin, Preston. They are 2 months apart in age

Josiah and Sean make quite the pair. They both have lots of spunk and keep things interesting wherever they go. They are 3 1/2 months apart.

The annual pic by the pool of the Seibel cousins. Olivia won't be coming to Fargo till later this summer so we didn't get to include her in any of the pics. She and Josiah are about 9 months apart.

Josiah and Emmerich got along pretty well. That is to say that josiah was pretty nice to Emmerich and didn't torture him. They are a little over 2 years apart.

Timothy and Brooklyn are such good friends. They love to play together...especially without all the little kids around. These 2nd graders are 2 1/2 months apart.

We are so thankful for cousins! God has so richly blessed our families with all of these kids so close together in age.

another update

2010-06-19T11:20:00.003-05:00

Tim and Hannah enjoyed some pool time all to themselves the other day while Luke was in Fergus and Josiah was napping.

Hannah also likes helping take pictures!

Playing with Emmers at the park

Tim is quite the little diver - I'm just so proud!!

Handstand contests with Grandpa

Trying to convince Hannah to "jump" (get dragged) off the board.

our biker chic

2010-06-18T07:58:00.002-05:00

Hannah is getting pretty good at riding on 2 wheels. It really helps to have a great place to learn - like a cul-de-sak! She also hasn't had a nasty fall yet to deter her....here's hoping that trend continues!

a fun summer day

2010-06-17T10:16:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was finally warm enough for the kids to hit the pool. Josiah really enjoys floating in his little tube.

We finally convinced Hannah that she was tall enough to touch in the shallow end. She isn't a waterbug by nature, so we're hoping for nurture!!

Later in the day we headed to Fergus to help Preston celebrate his 4th birthday. Luke and Preston are great buddies and Luke was so excited because he got to stay behind for a sleepover and the friends party later today.

The kids got to play outside in the yard together - summer birthday parties are always fun!

our trip thus far

2010-06-17T09:40:00.002-05:00

We've been having a great vacation back in MN and ND. Some of our highlights include:

The SummerFest Parade in Fergus with all the Berge cousins.

Motorcycle rides with Grandpa

Playin' at the park

Playing Phase Ten

Having a backyard fire and eating orange julius

Seventy and smashing

2010-06-14T14:14:00.003-05:00

We were in Fergus this weekend to help Grandpa celebrate a big birthday. Our kids just love Grandpa - particularly Josiah as of late. We watched a parade together on Saturday and Josiah kept wanting to sit with Grandpa and share his candy. Grandpa was very instrumental in the construction of our swingset so he's especially high on our list too! :)

Happy Birthday!!

a taste of summer

2010-05-31T09:44:00.002-05:00

I don't know about all you readers out there, but WE are loving all these warm days! Last week we got to splash in the pool and play outside for hours. It was wonderful!

You''ll notice that most of my pics lately are of just the 3 - because Tim's at school. We'll last Monday after the big kids came home we set up our slip-n-slide thingy. Timothy had a blast!

After the heat of Monday, we got rain on Tuesday. The kids thought it was pretty cool to stand outside in all the rain gear.

training 'em young

2010-05-21T11:50:00.002-05:00

Check out these superstar runners! As part of the Fargo Marathon Timothy ran the mile and the other 3 kids did the 1/2 mile. Lots of parents, grandparents, strollers and general chaos could be found and heard for miles. It was a beautiful night and everyone had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa ran with the 3 little kids and I was in charge of all the "stuff."

Grandma and Grandpa are here!!

2010-05-15T07:28:00.003-05:00

It's Syttende Mai weekend here in Norskey-ville. We're so excited that Grandma and Grandpa Berge are here with us. The first event of the weekend was Timothy 1st grade parade at school. The day was really windy so Tim opted to carry his little float.

After the parade Grandma and I hit the jackpot at a pre-garage sale sale on American girl dolls and clothes. Here's Hannah with Grandma - changing the clothes over and over on her new doll, Olivia and her bitty baby, Meghan. - She's into family names. :)

On tap for the men this weekend is the construction of a swingset. Of course, we don't do anything small in this house...

While Grandpa is busy making the walkway, the boys are all planning how they're gonna use the forts for wars and other destruction....I think our whole neighborhood is happy about this situation!

Guess who doesn't like loud noises???

The Rev turns 32

2010-05-01T23:04:00.002-05:00

Thursday marked Adam's 32nd birthday. Since he's a guy, he doesn't need much fanfare for his special day. He worked, landscaped and played with the kids. We did take time for a Mexican dinner at Chilito Lindo. Adam LOVES Mexican food!

2 wheels

2010-04-26T08:35:00.002-05:00

We got to have Grandpa here with us for the weekend. Abotu 5 minutes after he arrived he had Hannah training wheels off and was pushing her around the yard.

Hannah's not really known for her bravery - notice the stress written all over her face.

She had to pause to call Grandma and tell about her accomplishment.

gallavanting with goats

2010-04-19T15:40:00.002-05:00

On Saturday we went with our neighbor's out to the country to visit some goats. It was really fun and much better than just being able to stick your hand through some fencing to feed the animals. We were all right there amidst all the action.

Here's Hannah with an 18 hour old little goat.

Too stinkin' cute!

The older goats were just wandering around letting the kids feed them hay and chase them around.

For some reason the goats did not take too kindly to Luke. Poor thing. They kept ramming him trying to push him away. Here's one trying to eat the string off Luke's pants. Needless to say, Luke hung pretty close to me for most of the time.

Isn't this shot just sweet? This little goat is 1 year old and apparently wanted to check Timothy out. I wonder what the goat was thinking.

Easter Extravaganza

2010-04-06T22:20:00.003-05:00

Wow! What a weekend. We celebrated 2 birthdays, attended an egg hunt, hosted my parents, Adam preached 4 times in 5 days and most of all enjoyed a wonderful Easter sunday.

Here is Timothy with his best buddy Luke after cleaning up in the Easter egg hunt. These boys were intense in their mission. Their candy-laden baskets were evidence of their determination.

The other kids also enjoyed gathering eggs and candy.

We dyed eggs on Saturday night. It was chaotic and loud...like most events in our house.

The timer pic before we feasted on our Easter meal.

It was so much fun having Grandma and Grandpa here for the long weekend. We had a great time together. Thanks for coming and celebrating all the fun of the weekend with us.

Hannah is FOUR

2010-04-05T21:47:00.002-05:00

Saturday was Hannah's big day. She started things off right with fried eggs and sausage a la Grandpa.

She got to attend an Easter Egg hunt but kept a safe distance from the bunny. No way was she getting close to that thing!

We had a Princess party. I made wands out of rice krispie bars colored and sprinkled pink. We also had rainbow cupcakes on princess plates.

Hannah got a tu-tu made by Auntie Meghan. Very cool!

A princess party wouldn't be complete without a new princess costume. Hannah also got some LOVELY make-up and clothes that she was thrilled to get.

Happy Birthday Hannah! You're such a fun and crazy little lady.

We love you!!

Timothy turns SEVEN

2010-04-05T21:28:00.002-05:00

Timothy turned 7 last Friday. Grandpa went out and got some donuts so we could start the celebration properly.

Timothy requested Chuck E Cheese for his birthday instead of a party. I was more than willing to oblige. :)

Sporting some new duds from Steph and Olivia.

Grandpa and Grandma also got to enjoy the mayhem....er, I mean excitement at Chuck E Cheese.

Happy Birthday Tim! Can't believe how much you're growing and changing every day.

Love you tons!!

the Dino party

2010-04-05T21:14:00.002-05:00

Luke's dino party was a hit! We ate, played dinosaur games and ate dinosaur cupcakes. It was a good day.

I made mini cupcakes because I found some dinosaur cupcake papers to use.

Adam encouraged the boys to make a silly face for the camera. I think they've done this before.

Luke is 5

2010-03-27T07:39:00.002-05:00

Luke turned 5 on Wednesday. It was a day jam packed with activity. It started with gymnastics where Luke got to do a sommersault on the high beam (with help). Then he got to be the leader at preschool and brought cookies and Mexico seashells to share with his friends. After school we walked down to Ole and Lena's (the candy store) for some treats. He ended his day at Awana where he also shared cookies with his friends.

Now, we just gotta get through the birthday party this afternoon!

Happy Birthday Luke! You are a great kid!!

Ahhhh March!

2010-03-04T14:02:00.002-06:00

Yippee!!! March is here! The weather is gradually getting warmer and our Mexico trip is only a week away. Our house is brimming with excitement to say the least.

The other day the kids got to ride their bikes and scooters around on our DRY sidewalks.

Timothy's reading skills are rapidly improving. I was so proud to find him like this the other night - completely unprompted. Sometimes he even reads bedtime stories to the other kids.

Hannah is showing off her 1st leotard. She is just thrilled to have it. She's also sporting some "baby legs" - the new term for leg warmers. :)

FYI - She is showing her lunge position.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-02-09T12:29:00.002-06:00

We celebrated the big 33 last night. We were expecting a storm today so we didn't want to get snowed in and miss out on the excitement of a birthday dinner. So, where does a family who lives far from the big city go?? Yup, Pizza Hut - very high class I must say. We also made a trip to WalMart so I can pretty much say this has been the most exciting birthday to date. ;)

Thanks to Tim for taking a pic of me and the Rev. I think I still look pretty thin-ish here so naturally I'll post this one.

I didn't realize Hannah was making funny faces - otherwise I would have joined in.

We just can't stop Josiah from doing headstands whenever he gets a chance.

My big 6 year old. I can squeeze into his shoes now.

The timer pic works wonders for this motley crew.

Here's what happens when Mom orders Mountain Dew for her birthday celebration. Bunch-a mooches!!

A little silly

2010-02-08T16:05:00.003-06:00

Who doesn't love making faces for a camera??

practice makes perfect

2010-01-22T21:47:00.002-06:00

Hannah loves babies! Here she is holding her littlest cousin Emersyn.

It's a really good thing that she likes babies so much cause she's gonna be a big sister again this summer. Hopefully she'll get lots of practice helping with her little cousins so that she's ready for her baby brother or sister. Stay tuned!!

Christmas Eve gift extravaganza

2009-12-25T08:15:00.003-06:00

The kids were soooo excited to open presents. They kept asking if it was time to open as we cleaned up supper. Kinda reminded me of the torturous times as kids when we had to wait for ALL of the dishes to be washed and put away...

Check out the new Hello Kitty slippers!

Luke loves dinosaurs these days.

Tim got a where's waldo-type book - snowman style.

The big hits of the night were legos and matchbox car tracks and cars. Daddy set up a really cool ramp that spanned a better part of our main floor.

Our Christmas Eve meal

2009-12-25T07:38:00.003-06:00

We decided to fondue with the kids for Christmas Eve. They all did very well and it kept their attention for a whole 1/2 hour! Then, they got crazy and we sent them to the Wii room to watch a show while we finished up in peace. It was totally win-win for all. :)

Josiah even managed to poke the fritos with his fondue poker.

snow what fun

2009-12-24T13:01:00.002-06:00

We are in the midst of some interesting winter weather here in WI. We got about 6 inches of snow last night and then woke up to rain. If it gets colder things will definitely be interesting tomorrow.

Luke took some snowblowing lessons from Adam. This SHOULD pay off in about 10 years...right??

Josiah loves helping with the shovel too.

Timothy preferred to play with our neighbor Hudson.

Hannah decided she'd mow some snow.

And we can't forget Mom - a little washed out from the flash but still worth it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

their tree

2009-12-10T12:57:00.002-06:00

We set up the kids' tree in the Wii room. I set up the lights and let the kids do the rest. It was tough for me but I just let 'em go for it. :)

And thanks to Timothy, I get to be in an occasional picture. Always willing to help!

2009-12-10T12:32:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago we ventured out to get the Christmas tree. We were so excited to find a place close to our house so we could continue our family tradition. We bundled up, got out the wagon and walked to the tree place.

we found a beautiful fraser fir...and quite cheap too!! Gotta love small town prices.

And we're off! Here's Luke taking his turn pulling the tree home.

The owner of the tree place thought we were just the cutest when we showed up with a wagon. He said we looked like the Walton's and then took our picture for his website.

Hannah took a turn as well. She actually pulled the tree most of the way this year.

And of course, Josiah can't be left out! He always wants to be like the big kids.

Once we got home the boys helped Dad do a little work on the bottom of the stump. Who would pass up swinging a hammer around???

We got the tree into the house, set it up and then put everyone to bed. We decorated our tree in peace...just the grown-ups. That's one tradition that I really like too! :)

a trip to Madison...mostly

2009-11-17T23:48:00.003-06:00

I couldn't get the pics in order so please try to keep up. :)

We went to Madison last Saturday for the State diving meet and to check out the Henry Vilas (aka free) zoo. A timer pic - always a must. A little fuzzy but I figured it was good enough.

Checking out the giraffe's. Josiah has a giraffe named Tip Top so these fellas were a BIG hit with him. You probably figured out that Hannah is jumping in this picture - see the beads??

This would be the random pic that I just threw in the bunch. It was taken in early November. The girl likes to dress herself....in many layers usually topped off with a costume/dress. Oh, she knows fashion!!

Back to our trip to Madison - here's Dani with her fan club. She got 7th place - her best finish at State. Way to go, Dani!!

More zoo fun. This place was just so great!

Josiah was the only one brave enough to pet this critter. Don't remember its name. Thankfully he was a very mild fella - Josiah poked his eye, pulled his ear and examined the nose and snout.

In addition to the wonderful animals, the zoo also had some great playground equipment including a giant tree house. Loads of fun was had by all.

We didn't even go shopping and I STILL had a great time. ;)

Emmer-time

2009-11-06T14:26:00.002-06:00

One of the things we love about being in Fargo is that we get to play with baby Emmerich. One afternoon I picked him up from daycare and we watched him before Emily came home from work. Hannah quickly took on the "caregiver" role. She covered him up with a blankie and gave him toys to play with. She was so proud of herself.

Thankfully, Josiah was pretty nice to Emmerich. We think he's coming out of his "challenging phase" - praise God!!

This boy is soooo stinkin' cute. I just want to (and do) squeeze him all the time. Now if we could just get the little guy to snuggle a bit...

cousins

2009-10-27T13:53:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a great weekend we had in Fergus. We got to see all our Berge cousins. It is so fun to watch the kids together as they grow up. They really play well and enjoy each other.

Luke continues to be our baby lover. He had a good time interacting with Tobias - who is such a honey.

Luke and Preston are starting to spend more time together. They HAD to sit by each other at lunch on Sunday.

The biggest answer to my prayer for the weekend was that Josiah and Seany P got along!! They played, ate and giggled together throughout the days.

Seany always squints for his pictures so Josiah thinks this is cute now too.

Ahhh, the beautiful girl cousins! They play quietly, cooperate for pictures and are just lovely all around. Little Emersyn will get lots of attention from Brooklyn and Hannah as they both enjoy little babies.

And the boys - all 6 of 'em. Aren't they a sharp looking bunch?

Grandma is amazing!

2009-10-06T16:09:00.002-05:00

We met up in Minneapolis last weekend to cheer for Grandma as she ran the Marathon. The weather was cool but no rain! Here we are at mile 1 - just a block from our hotel.

Luke was waiting for high 5's from anyone willing - he got quite a few!

She's off to a great start!

WOW!!!! She can still smile (and stand up) after running 26.2 miles.

Way to go Mom! We're so proud of you!

a day in La Crosse

2009-10-01T21:39:00.002-05:00

As proper parents, we started our adventure out at McDonald's....with a playland.

we found this awesome park along the Mississippi with lots of green space, a beautiful fountain, flower garden and cool climbing trees.

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Timer pics work wonders for our family!
Very pleased with the outcome for this picture with the river in the background.

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Lots of Native American influence around our area.
Couldn't resist a fun picture in front of this statue.

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Adam work on his acrobatic skills...

At the end of the day we hit up The Pearl for ice cream treats. It was a wonderful day!

the Amish auction

2009-10-01T21:09:00.002-05:00

It appears that Westby is smack dab in the center of Amish country. On Labor Day we went to this growers auction...and Amish growers auction.

Note the parking for non-vehicles.

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There were hundreds of mums to buy. Aren't they beautiful?

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and quite a few pumpkins

and of course plenty of Amish baked goods. We ate donuts that had FROSTING on the inside. Delish!!
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and notice the sweet Amish girl in the background. She just stood around quietly watching all the commotion. And all of the kids, like this little lady, were barefoot.

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Josiah is really into horses. Our friend took him over to have a closer look at this horse. Whenever we're driving Josiah calls out, "Horsie" - "Cow" - or "Buggy!" when we pass farms or Amish travelers on the road. It's funny!

confused

2009-09-14T21:50:00.004-05:00

Apparently the seasons have gotten a bit confused. We had a cool July and now after the kids started school and the days are shorter, summer shows its face.

I think this pic is so ironic - kids in a swimming pool, leaves on the driveway and a beautiful orange tint to the tree across the street. I can't say that our kiddie pool usually sees much action in Sept.

Getting caught up in a whole 'nother type of confusion is poor Josiah. You see, we live in Packerland. Packer games are piped in through the speakers of grocery stores. People wear dressy packer clothes to church each Sunday. The neighbor kids sport everything green and gold... I could go on, but I digress. Anywho, like most boys, when Josiah sees a helmet laying on the ground, he tries it on. Poor thing. Wearing this hideous helmet must have seriously affected Josiah's judgement because he promptly tried on some sassy hot pink heels.

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I think we'll get him a Viking's helmet for Christmas.

big boy stuff

2009-09-05T15:02:00.001-05:00

Guess what 2 things Josiah is working on today

My child is Al Bundy...

2009-09-02T13:19:00.002-05:00

I know this is a phase, but PLEASE stop child!!! While watching TV....

and taking pictures. HELP ME!!! :)

two!

2009-08-27T09:02:00.002-05:00

Josiah is just racin' by to tell you he's turnin' 2!!

Starting the morning off right: gettin' on the cycle and goin' for a ride with Grandpa. I think they're off to get some birthday donuts. :)

Happy Birthday El Destructo!! We love ya!

la cocina

2009-08-23T15:30:00.002-05:00

We had dinner guests last Thursday so I had some extra incentive to set up my decorations in the kitchen...and clean it! Here's the view from the door coming in from the garage. Painting (if it happens) will be sometime this fall/winter. Suggestions welcome. :)

The brand new fridge is off to the right of this picture. The old one broke just before we got here. Sweet timing, eh?? The kids couldn't even be blamed for it!!

This area is just to the left of the door to the garage. We tucked a computer desk back there and added this round table on casters. It is PERFECT for quick meals, crafts and food prep. The sides all flip up to go from a 3 ft square surface to a 4 ft surface. The door you see is a 1/2 bath that was added when the kitchen was redone. Very handy. Wallpaper removal in that room is also on the to-do list for fall/winter.

The kitchen opens into the dining room. The other door is a pantry. There's lots of good storage in this kitchen which helps a ton!

I found these great letters above the stove at Hobby Lobby. I attached them to the wall with that gummy stuff used to hang pictures. Works like a dream.

There you have it. Hope you liked your little tour. Did it make sense to you?? Seriously, if you have paint color suggestions, I'm all ears...er, um eyes since I'll be you know, reading them. :)

the other bedrooms

2009-08-23T15:18:00.002-05:00

Tim and Luke continue to share a room. Only this time it's not the size of a 2 car garage...boy was that a sweet deal. We decided to keep the bunk concept but go with a twin bed on the bottom instead of the queen they used to have.

We're keeping out books and a basket of cars, all other toys are boxed up in closets and can be taken out (and PUT BACK) with supervision. For those of you who have small houses you get why this is so critical for survival for Mommy. :)

The master room got new carpet and paint. We just used the same color scheme we had in our old house so it all looks good together.

We picked up a second MALM dresser from IKEA to aid in the clothes storage. Apparently I have a lot of clothes...

Hannah's room

2009-08-17T08:02:00.003-05:00

Hannah didn't get any color on her walls cause of the blue carpet. Maybe someday down the road when the carpet is replaced. Anyway, the blue works pretty well with her bedding and decor.

Josiah was the only kid around when I was taking all the pics...

We have really maximized closet space in the house. Each room got an additional pole for more hanging things. We're gonna make a curtain for Hannah's little closet when I'm back in Fargo next week.

Josiah's room

2009-08-17T07:51:00.002-05:00

Heeeeere's Josiah's new room! We decided to just go straight to a bed, even after all the suggestions on facebook not to do so. It has gone really well. He can't get out of his room when the door is shut so he just waits for us to open it when it's time. Works like a dream. The 2 walls you see here were re-sheetrocked after Adam spent about 8 hours getting wallpaper off. Parts of the wall were coming off with the paper - old walls are interesting things...

I LOVE the accent orange wall. When I picked these colors I totally forgot about the fact that I had this perfectly coordinating dresser and various accessories. What a blessing!

The infamous bookshelf that crashed into my face. We had extra orange so we spiffed it all up.

a new adventure

2009-08-12T12:12:00.002-05:00

Sunday marked Adam's first sermon here in Westby. It went great and people are so happy to have us here. We feel very welcome!

As for the house (seen in the background) all that can be said is

the unpacking continues....

'Nuff Said

2009-08-04T22:23:00.000-05:00

Street Fair Extravaganza

2009-07-18T07:35:00.003-05:00

On Thursday we loaded up the fam and headed to the street fair. It was the COLDEST day but we braved the elements like the true and faithful shoppers we are. :) We bought a yo-yo ball for each kid - best $4 spent to entertain the kids while we wandered Broadway.

Adam had to try out the bleacher chair thingy.

The 1st purchase made at every street fair is a large bag of kettle corn. We won't say who ate the most...

Emily was so happy to have a baby to shop for. We actually went back after lunch with Emmerich and Josiah and shopped for another 3 hours. The kids were troopers!!

A little cat-nap at the end of the morning. I am so thankful that Josiah loves the stroller. He did a great job ALL DAY!!

Miss Olivia comes to town

2009-07-15T11:52:00.002-05:00

Steph and Olivia came to Fargo this past week. Olivia did SO well adjusting to a crazy, busy house full of cousins and grownups. She and Josiah did quite well together. They took turns (sort of) on the horsie in the basement.

They also enjoyed a ride in the bike cart together.

Olivia likes being outside. It wasn't super warm but we still got plenty of time running around the driveway.

The annual cousin pic by the pool. Turned out great!

Happy girl after a messy dinner on Tuesday night.

A Fabulous 4th Weekend

2009-07-06T07:38:00.007-05:00

After a marathon week of packing up our house, packing up 2 trucks, driving to Westby and then unloading the trucks and finally driving to Fargo, we started our summer vacation. Whew! We drove out to the lake on Friday morning for some boating, tubing and excessive eating of snack foods. The boys took a few swings around the lake on the tube. So did Hannah, but she was terrified and cried for most of it - no pics necessary. :)

On Saturday morning Grandma ran a 10K. The kids were there to cheer her on before they had their own race. Tim got 4th place in the 6-8 year old group. Luke got to run with Daddy for his race. I use the word 'run' loosely because over half of Luke's race was galloped/skipped. Adam sort of dragged him along.

While at the lake we got to join Dan and Meg and the kids at Zorbaz for some chaos and eating. It's a great place cause it's noisy and already dirty.
We fit RIGHT in!!

Naturally we spent quite a bit of time in the pool as well. Water temp is 83 so everyone is willing to take the plunge.

In the evening of the 4th MSUM hosted a kids bike parade. We were busy in the driveway getting the bikes all spiffed up for the event.

The bikes weren't the only decorated vehicles in the parade. Check out Josiah's ride!! He made it the whole way around a block. I went along to help him resist the urge to stop every time he saw a dog. This is a very tough task for Josiah. :)

The boys are poised and ready to ride.

No 4th would be complete without some illegal fireworks in the driveway. Josiah is deathly afraid of them so he was sent to bed. Meanwhile, Hannah gradually got over her fear of sparklers. what a miracle...

The big kids all took late naps so that they could stay up for the fireworks late at night. We went with Eric and Emily and found a great spot. Hannah eventually did fall asleep on my lap. It was a great day!

Hope yours was too!

Friends in Eau Claire

2009-07-03T09:12:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday there was a going away party for our family. It was really encouraging to us as many people shared how we had impacted their lives through our ministry. Lots of students (and grownups) even thanked Adam for teaching LAW & GOSPEL - he was soooooo pleased! :)

The top pic includes a little guy named Brady. He and Josiah are a couple months apart and are good buddies.

The pic below is Hannah with her closest little friend Kietra. Check out those squeezable, yummy cheeks!! She's a doll!

Hannah and her godfather Charles. She TOTALLY has him wrapped around her finger and he loves it!! Charles is also one of Adam's closest friends - he's a carpenter and volunteer with the youth group - what's not to love???? :)

Sara is one of our babysitters. The kids love her and Hannah doesn't even cry when we leave the house. Sara also helped a TON with the cleaning of our house when we put it on the market. She rocks!!!

At one point in the evening a student requested Adam do his "pastor rap." It is awesome- ask him to do it sometime. :)

Beedee's

2009-06-23T21:48:00.003-05:00

Did you figure out what Beedee's means?? Yup, freezies. Josiah can't get enough of 'em. He gets SOOO excited when we hand them out. He comes running saying, "BEEDEE, BEEDEE!!!"

Josiah has figured out just how to get the chunks up to the top now too.

Here's what happens when Mommy cuts Josiah off.

It's so hard to be addicted to beedee's...

summer in Fargo

2009-06-23T08:13:00.004-05:00

We've already enjoyed some great weather here in Fargo. We try to be outside as much as possible so as to not destroy my parents' house.

Here's Tim playing some trackball with Auntie.

Timothy has a really good friend down the street named Andrew. They love swimming and playing together. They're also playing on the same baseball team while we're here.

Haircuts were in order for the boys. Tim is showing off his special design. Luke has a lightning bolt but he's a little wiggly for the cut so it didn't come out really obvious.

Hannah playing with some cups and watering cans by the pool.

Two cool dudes in their shades.

cousins

2009-06-18T22:32:00.001-05:00

We couldn't resist a picture of these 2 little guys in their baseball outfits.

a summer cut

2009-06-18T22:17:00.002-05:00

We decided it was time for a haircut.

Josiah is all ready for the cut - pudding pop in hand...and on face.

Sort of a faux hawk. Real short on the sides with a little spike on top.

I'm sure it's a little uneven. He was giggling and wiggling around cause the razor kept tickling his neck and head.

time in Fergus

2009-06-18T22:00:00.003-05:00

well, our summer away from home began last Saturday. These pics are a bit out of order so I'll try to be clear. This top pic is a favorite of mine because we think it's so funny how we spend our evenings once the kids are in bed. The men are in the other room talking theology and watching sports while the ladies are surfing facebook, blogs and other sites while watching HGTV. :)

I love this next pic that shows off my lovely sisters-in-law. I'm so happy that we're all friends and enjoy spending time together.

Josiah getting a lift from Grandpa

The little boys enjoyed playing trucks together.

We celebrated Preston's 3rd birthday on Sunday. I"m pretty sure Hannah ate half of a watermelon all by herself.

Back at Grandma's the little boys playing more trucks in the sandbox. Grandma has an AWESOME set-up for the grandkids. We love staying and playing there.

"BBS"

2009-06-12T14:00:00.002-05:00

Here's Luke's class. He had a great week at VBS. His teacher is one of our babysitters so he was very happy. There were something like 40 4 year olds this year. WOW!

Luke can jump rope!!!

Timothy in action on the kickball field.

The littlest ones were in the nursery but they got to participate in many of the activites...like singing.

By the end of day 4, Hannah was shot. She fell asleep during the closing songs.
The title of this post is called BBS because that's what she calls VBS. I thought it was pretty cute.

pics from the day

2009-06-04T18:59:00.003-05:00

So we had a school's out party today for the high school students in our church. There was lots of pizza and snacky foods. Josiah knew that cheetos would be just the ticket. He got himself a plate and went to town. Ahh the joy of being the 4th kid - fending for yourself at 21 months. :)
By the way, the scrape on his nose is not a payback from me (remember this little lamb pulled the shelf over on my face) but rather from going down the TALLEST slide in the park...face first....twice.

And then we have little Miss Hannah. She was in great spirits today with all the big kids around- probably because she ate all the brownies she could get her hands on. You'll notice she's even holding one in the picture. She willingly gave me a big, toothy grin for the camera.

And there's a view of the new beads from the back. I really like having beads in her hair as I think it helps it grow much faster and keeps snarls away.

Get your Hannah fix

2009-06-02T22:38:00.003-05:00

I just had to snap a picture of Hannah in this little outfit. I bought it last fall on clearance and have been waiting for Hannah to get big enough to wear it. She also has matching flip flops but they don't stay on....and a hat....and a tank top....and shorts. Ok, so I went a little overboard with this. As long as it's on clearance it's legit....right??? Can I get an amen??

Timothy's graduation

2009-05-30T07:29:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Timothy had his last day of Kindergarten. Grandpa decided to join us for the festivities. The kids were all eager to have motorcycle rides around the neighborhood.

How many kids get to ride a Harley to the last day of school?? Pretty fun!

Tim's class did a bunch of their favorite songs from the year.

During the closing chapel service each kid got a diploma from the principal.

Tim and his teacher, Mrs Carter. She was awesome!!

OK, we'll we're ready for 1st Grade. I can't believe it...

someone else wants to play

2009-05-20T07:12:00.001-05:00

Time for a new post

2009-05-15T23:02:00.003-05:00

Guess who came last weekend for Mother's Day?? Gma and Gpa Berge! The kids were so excited...and hyper....and crazy. It made me wonder what happened to my normal, somewhat well-behaved children. They were also thrilled to give Grandma this lovely mug they each wrote on.

Grandma also came to watch Timothy in his Kids Choir musical. You'll easily spot Timothy - he's the one sporting the lovely patterned Easter sweater. I apparently DIDN'T get the memo about solid colored t-shirts and jeans.

A little fuzzy but priceless nonetheless.

Tobias also joined the party on Sunday; he even brought along his parents. He and Josiah were actually hanging out together. Here they are checking out the big world called the front yard. Give 'em another year and they'll be running around together.

Uncle John took on Timothy in chess. Timothy has been learning from Adam over the past few weeks.

We had such an awesome weekend and Mother's Day. Thanks guys for making the trip out to visit us. We are so thankful for our awesome family!

Good times...

2009-05-01T23:02:00.002-05:00

I thought this was so stinkin' cute. There's just something about a little face in oversized sunglasses. Hmmmm, maybe that's what the designers were thinking??

I just cracked up when I saw this. Hannah hauled this chair over to a corner and sat there stewing and muttering to herself pouting about who knows what.

Ahhh, girls!!

The Rev's #31

2009-05-01T22:49:00.002-05:00

Check those digits, Rev. Ya just turned 31...not 13! :) We celebrated Adam's big day at El Patio - his favorite Mexican restaurant.

And we all got to enjoy some fried ice cream for dessert. And brownies at home. It was a high cal day.

this past week

2009-04-25T21:52:00.004-05:00

Another adventurous week in the Berge household.

Starting off with the loss of tooth #3 for Timothy. He said (his words not mine) "Mom, you can yank it out."

On Thursday, Hannah had surgery to repair her umbilical hernia. She came home pretty woozy from the drugs and was insistent that she continue to wear the hospital cap. Baby Meghan also sported one through the whole morning.

Last on the list of exciting things from our week was a big package from Gma & Gpa Berge with Hannah's name on it! Hannah was so excited to get a pack-n-play for her babies.

Josiah was a bit confused.
"Oh what??? I'm too big for this???"

Mexico

2009-04-22T20:17:00.002-05:00

Lots has happened in our life since we were getting ready for Mexico. I never took time to show you some of our amazing, relaxing trip. Yes, we WILL travel without children again someday.

Here's our group from Vallarta 09.

Ahhhh, I never get tired of looking out into the ocean. We even saw groups of dolphins diving around a couple of mornings.

Just what do parents do with hours and hours to themselves??

READ!

And of course, EAT!

and try out all the fun, free drinks. Our new favorite of the trip was a "mono sucio" - dirty monkey. sort of like a chocolate smoothie. No, those weren't all for us. Just for the pic. :)

Ahhh, I feel so relaxed just looking over the pics. I'm sure I'll be checking back on this post when I need a little pick-me-up!

a shout out to me!

2009-04-18T13:38:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm giving myself a shout-out. Why, you ask??? Well, last night I went to our monthly craft night at church for some acrylic painting. Ok, I've NEVER done this before and don't consider myself particularly artsy when it comes to this kind of thing. Well anway, I found a simple, classy picture in a magazine and recreated my own version. I am shocked at how well it turned out...seriously. I thought FOR SURE that I would come home with a 4th grade version of a painting - usually how things turned out in art class for me. I think it must be a fluke but I'm SOOOO proud of my own little masterpiece.

I keep looking at it going, "Did I really do that???" It's so cool!!

OK, enough about me. I'll make sure to find some pics of my adorable children for the next post. :)

making progress

2009-04-18T13:27:00.003-05:00

Here's a little update on my gruesome face. As you can see I still look a bit banged up. These first 2 pictures were from last Tuesday. I developed quite a nice shiner!

These last 2 pictures were taken this morning. The black eye is diminishing while the bruising down my cheek increased. It is still SUPER tender but I can tell it is improving. Our pediatrition (sp??) check it out yesterday and he thought it was OK.

Ahhhh, the battle wounds of motherhood....

A family pic.

2009-04-14T13:59:00.002-05:00

I'm just tickled with how well these pictures turned out. With a TIMER! We only took 4 pics and they were all great. What a difference from those painful Christmas attempts...