brothers

Now this is the definition of brotherly love! 

Camping!!!

Being the mother of three boys I have decided that camping WILL be in my future, and for the most part I am just fine with that! So we decided to embark on our first camping trip this past Labor Day. The best part? We had a great friends that helped make the trip and entire experience WONDERFUL!!!

Thanks to the pros we went with, it was really pretty simple to prepare for and a very relaxing weekend!

For the most part it was an uneventful weekend, which is always a good thing when you are camping. Oh, minus the severe weather that loomed North of us, but never quit made it down...thank you God for that Grace gift and Jack getting his fingers shut in the van door, but again walking away with just minor indentations (that did disappear rather quickly ;)  )  We did have some rain, but as my friend (who refuses to camp) says, that is an almost guarantee when you are camping! :)

So here are some pictures from the weekend in a very random order...sorry! But like camping you go with the flow and do as the day leads you...

 First picture, very random, but the only picture I have of our home...the tent in the background.

Minus me hustling the entire family into our mini van at the first sight of lighting at 5 in morning because I was scared of being in a metal framed tent in a thunderstorm, it was a great home for the three days we were "roughing" it!

Playing at the lake!

Someone is enjoying his first camping experience!

The crew (minus the 2 baby boys)!  The kids all had so much fun together!

Okay, you got me, I not only opened my eyes while we were praying I took a picture! But isn't this ADORABLE??
It melts my heart!

Gabi is always willing to help with the babies!

Jack, like any good brother, steps in to make sure that everything is done correctly.

 The men of the group!

 Off for a walk!

  Camping is fun but it does wear you out!

 The kids loved playing at the beach and building in the sand.

 There is that Gabi helping out again...can you tell she is a big sister?

 The ladies!

If you look closely you can see our yummy food cooking!

One night while waiting for supper Eric took all the kids for a "hike." They all came back with walking sticks. and big smiles!

Superman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Sam and his buddy Malachi

 Ready to go for a hike!

Which way to go...

There is a dinosaur in the woods!

All in all it was a GREAT weekend!!  We can't wait to do it again!!

Random Pics

Ready for the season.  This was Josiah in late August. He would take Eric's football magazine flip through the pages until he was satisfied with the football player and then proceed to act out football scenarios with his football guys! Let the football begin!

Getting ready for Halloween! Can you tell which one is Josiah and which one is Jack?

With mask still on building a "dog house" out of Styrofoam and golf Tees with Josiah's friend Addison.

I can't wait to tell Josiah the many things he did to cause his mother to smile! :) One of them is playing his socks on. Almost every day for the past month Josiah insists on wearing socks on his hands. I BELIEVE they are suppose to be gloves! :) 

P.S. See the castle in this picture? We got it from a friend and it is by far the most loved toy of my boys. Josiah plays with it every day!  Thanks Diane!

Oh yes, and in case you care at all, the first Storm Trooper is Jack and the second one is Josiah. Now to decide who gets to wear it for Halloween.

Grandma Lenz comes to visit

 Grandma Lenz came down for a visit to see her boys! 

Playing with stickers that Grandma actually gave them awhile ago. They came up with the idea to put them on thier dogs to make them have different faces!

Grandma patiently helped Josiah build his legos!

 

One last story!

Brotherly Love

 Yee-Haw!!!! We are in Iowa!!

This past August the boys and I took a road trip to Iowa to visit the grandparents, see friends, our Aunt and a good ol' County Fair!

My good friend Brandi lives in a town near by so Sam and I stopped in for a visit!  Macy and Sam are literally days apart (I believe 2 to be exact).  It was fun for them to finally meet!

 Look closely and you'll see an extra body...my Aunt Donna!  She came down to visit while we were there! It was great to see her and my boys really enjoyed getting to know thier Great Aunt Donna!  (and she is great!)

 There's that Aunt Donna again!

While there we got to attend a horse show. The boys were thrilled to see the horses up close!

Thanks Aunt Donna for coming to visit us!

and

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a great visit!