St. Louis Fam and Randoms

While in St. Louis, we were able to meet some of my mom's side of the family for dinner. It's really too bad that we don't get to see them more often or spend more time together when we do have an opportunity to get together. It's always such a good time!

Uncle Neil and Aunt Shirley

Mary Beth

Aunt Steff and Uncle Neil

Isaiah and Mallory holding hands at Incredible Pizza

When shopping in the big city, be sure to leave your firearms at home.

Vacation wipes us out!

- becky

Forgive Me?

You'll forgive me for this one day, right buddy?

Isaiah lOvEs his new Thomas jammies (thank you, Aunt Jenny!) and his new Froggy books (thank you, Aunt Joan!). I just love the smile on his face in this picture. So, even though he's sitting on the Elmo Potty, to the Internet it goes. :D

- becky

Better Late Than Never

I had really get better about this whole blogging thing. I seem to be consistently behind in posting pictures. Perhaps it has something to do with chasing two little ones and working full time... Hmmm. That could be it.

Anyway, here are some pictures of our family Christmas. We had a great one this year, with Isaiah singing lots of the Happy Birthday song to Jesus. Mallory starting walking (more than just one step) on Christmas Day. I consider that a great Christmas present. I just love that I was not at work when she started cruising around all by herself. She's getting to be such a big girl!

The kids and I attended the 3 o'clock service at church on Christmas Eve. A pretty big storm with some yucky sleet/ice/snow was coming through, so we decided to go to that service, even though I knew it would cause problems with naps. Better to be safe than happy, I guess. We sat with the Koellers (who are a great help to me in church, by the way!), and Mallory took a nice little nap while Debbie held her. :)

Mallory's Christmas dress is so adorable. My mom made it for her! (Okay, Feranec family - "She MADE it!")

This the best we could get out of her. She kept trying to escape.

Isaiah is looking so grown up!
If only he would behave a little better in church...

Annual family picture in the front of the church

Tim was working for 3, 5, 7, and 11 o'clock services on Christmas Eve, so he did not have to go in for Christmas morning. It was a good opportunity to sleep late, open presents, and stay in our jammies all day! Well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad, I suppose. Guess which one of those we didn't get to do?

Hilarious! Isaiah had better look out. Mallory constantly has her eye on his toys.

See? She won't even look away for a picture. By the way, the toy is a little snow plow. Every Wisconsin boy must have one of those.

Formula or egg nog...? Looks like she's telling a very involved story, doesn't it?

Merry Christmas!

- becky

Summer Vaca ’09 – Day 13

Today is a day in St. Louis with Tim’s family and our good friend (best man from our wedding), Aaron. We were disappointed that Aaron’s wife, Julie, could not join us, but his buddy Chris was good to see.

We met up with Tim’s younger sister, Abby, at Incredible Pizza for lunch. We got there at just the right time; Tim and I were able to get a free round of miniature golf free with our lunch. The next stop that we made was the Seminary. We picked up a couple of books there. They have these really good Bible story books for the kids. They’re called Arch books, and the stories are told through a rhyming story.

We checked in at our hotel, which was the Drury Inn - Convention Center in downtown St. Louis. After a quick walk along the Landing, we ate supper before the ballgame. (Food inside Busch Stadium is VERY expensive.) I HAD LION’S CHOICE! Yummy!

Time for baseball, yo! It was a great game! Just as Albert Pujols was going up to bat, I said to Tim that it’s been a while since we’ve seen him hit a home run in person. I must have said the magic words because he hit one! Then, he hit another one at his next at-bat!

Aunt Joan was at the game. We connected via cell phone. (Where would we be without cell phones???) She came to see us at our seats. It was great to see her again after Jeanna’s wedding. She and I didn’t have a chance to visit there, but we had such a nice visit at the game.

We entered on the other side of the stadium, so I didn't get this picture in the daylight like I had hoped.

Aunt Rachel and Isaiah

We could still see the fancy grass from the All Star Game.

Aunt Joan!

Aunt Joan is my mom's younger sister.

Aunt Rachel and Mallory - I love Mallory's face here. She was squealing happy noises!

Isaiah and Daddy

Mallory loves Aaron!

Booper fell asleep!

Rachel's husband, Terry, navigated Isaiah through the crowd after the game.

- becky

Puke Fest ’09 – Day 7

This is the craziest trip EVER. I’ve changed the name from Summer Vaca to Puke Fest. Isaiah barfed all over the breakfast table this morning. What is going on???

Today is the day of Jeanna’s wedding, so we let Isaiah rest all morning. Thankfully, the wedding did not start until 1:00. After resting and keeping down a couple of graham crackers we decided to try it, and things went very smoothly for us. Mallory met most of my mom’s side of the family for the first time, and Isaiah met a few for the first time, as well.

The wedding ceremony was very beautiful. Isaiah slept thru most of it, and Mallory was a little jumping bean.

Cousins Shelby and Mallory

Great Uncle Neil and Mallory

Bridesmaids

See what happens when I ask my sister to take pictures for me? HAHAHA

Jenny did a great job with this one! I love Jesus's shadow on the bricks!

PawPaw and Mallory

After the ceremony, we had quite a bit of time. Tim and I took the kids to lunch at a Krieger’s in Chesterfield. I enjoyed the best St. Louis style pizza. Isaiah said, “Mmmm! Pizza!” We let him try a little bit, and he did just fine. We had to pick up a few things at Target, and then it was on to the reception.

"Mmmm! Pizza!"

We had so much fun. It is very difficult to live so far away from my family. I really wish that we could ALL (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) get together more often than just for weddings and funerals. My dad and I were talking about this, and he is correct when he said that we’re running out of people to get married, and we don’t want to do this for funerals! So who’s going to start planning those annual family reunions? Let’s get to it!!!

The kids did fantastic at the reception, by the way. We lasted to the end – 10:30. Mallory smiled and smiled, and Isaiah thought the dance floor lights were pretty cool.

Um, the bride's name is Jeanna, not Jenna...

Wedding Cake

Aunt Jenny and Mallory

Mom and Dad - Tim and I thought we were pretty tan until we saw them!

Jeanna is a teacher. Doesn't it look like her class is lined up watching?

Nana and her granddaughters

- becky