Schaurer Christmas 2008

Julie and Koby helping the children play "Farmer in the Dell."

Mom and Dad in their typical position for reading the Christmas story and handing out gifts.

Brett and Drew waiting on gifts. Brett thinks Drew is AWESOME!!

We had our Schaurer Christmas on Saturday. From the noise level, it seemed like a good time was had by all. We did find room for everyone to eat even though some of the kids had to eat second table. Thanks Mom and Dad for once again making Christmas work at your house. Your family sure has grown.  

Bri is "5"

I guess better late than never, but I am late getting Bri's birthday pictures uploaded. I figure I should update several times in the next few days as we have several family events taking place so I best get some of the older stuff posted. We enjoyed celebrating her birthday the first saturday of December with the Doug Koble clan and the Brent Rogers family. There were 3 little five year old girls here and I do believe they enjoyed the "Fancy Nancy" party. She is a character in a children's book that I read to the kids and they enjoy her "fancy" words. So even though the "fanciness" was not exactly my cup of tea, the kids enjoyed it! The pictures are a little backwards. You would think I would remember by now that they upload a little funny! Oh, well!! I can hardly believe that we now have two five year olds in our house. It is getting interesting around here and, yes, I know, it only gets better. Since it is the monday before Christmas, here's hoping that you are all ready!!! We are almost and I am definitely ready to quit getting ready and just celebrate the Birth of Our Lord!!

This is actually Sunday evening at Jason & Heather's. We spent the evening with U. Jon's while he was recuperating from surgery!
Bri in her fancy "gear."
I attempted a "fancy" cake and Bri really did not want her picture taken. Someday she will wish that she had cooperated a little better.
Brett and Bri before anyone arrived.
The "fancy" table!

I hate it that I did such a bad job at getting pictures of the evening especially of our company. We did really enjoy you guys being here that evening even if you can't tell that from the pictures.

October VA trip

Mom Riffey, Mel & Cole, Brett, Briana and I traveled to Virginia in late October to spend the weekend helping care for Grandma. We enjoyed the trip so much. The children did well traveling although there were definitely some rough moments. Because of the ages of our children, we did not get spend all day with grandma, but we did enjoy several hours there throughout the weekend. I think it left an impression on my children. I am guessing that we should visit the nursing home more often. Thank you, Grandma, for showing us around. You know, we all enjoyed AJ! Mel & I enjoyed our time "hanging out" at Grandma's. It brought back wonderful memories to be there watching our children play with Eric. I have so many great memories of being at Grandma's and playing with my cousins. God is so Good!! I pray this finds you all well. Ken is finishing up field work and we are looking forward to getting back to normal family life (after harvest). Christmas and Thanksgiving will be upon us soon and so we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour! Blessings to you all!!

Washington Trip 2008

Okay, so I am really bombing on the Washington Trip posts. I can't seem to get it done so I am just loading pics and putting captions. They are in a very random order. We had a wonderful time. Thank you everyone who helped make our trip a success!


Landon with one of Marlene's new cocker spaniel puppies. Thanks Marlene for letting them play with the puppies. The Dallas Flory and Ken Schaurer clan with Zach & Zoe.
Our first Sunday evening was spent at Ken's nephews, Martin & Rachel Holsinger's. It was fun to see their home and the kids had a great time playing.
Brett, Bri, Dinah, & Titus.

So.. we spent several hours in the white, 12 passenger van. All in all it went absolutely great. There were a few tense moments, but what did we expect. Briana and Chloe having fun making silly faces.

We wore Lincoln out a few days or he just wanted peace from all of the van "goings on!"
The men and children toured a yacht while we were on Friday Harbor Island. It was way out of our league, but fun to look at!
Conner getting his turn holding one of the puppies! Boy, do Dallas's children love dogs! I wish it would rub off on ours a little.
Bri wanted to hold them so bad, but then it just got a little scary!
This was on our way home from Seattle after a long day of riding! I think Chloe and Bri were getting rid of a little stress!

We visited Pike's Market in Seattle on Wed. afternoon. The infamous fish market where they throw the fish and this lovely monkhead (??) that would move at just the right moments!
The children had fun looking at all the sights.
Conner and Landon relieving a little stress from the backseat!

I really don't feel like the pics did our trip justice, but I guess this is it! Hope this finds everyone well! We are headed into harvest. Ken says we should have beans ready to cut by the end of the week. I guess we are ready! God Bless You All!!

Jay & Joelle's Wedding

Just a few pictures of the wedding. Joelle was our first babysitter after I went back to work. We are thankful for the time she gave us. Now, 3 years later they helped in her wedding. She could not even drive when she started working for us. Boy, how time flies! We were reminded once again what a blessing family is. Thanks for letting us share in your day, Joelle!

Creation Museum

Dennis.Sherri.Craig.Nathan.and Bethany Schaurer came to visit from CA. (Dennis is Ken's brother (next older) for those of you who don't know.) We have had the privilege of them staying with us. It has been so fun as the kids have gotten to know the family. Last Thursday, Ken and I went with them to the creation museum in Kentucky. We had a wonderful day! Wow!! I would recommend going. It was a faith building experience. Here are some pics from the day!

Cole Visits

Cole relaxing in the pool!
The tubes were a source of contention, but it is always good to learn to share.
Bri with an orange face and Cole having a great time.
Cole loves the 4-wheeler and always wants to ride. Sure wish it worked a little better for him.
Brett and Bri love to swim. Jesse and Joshua Wall were gracious enough to share the pool that they had outgrown with us. We are so thankful! I am not sure who enjoys it more. The kids with swimming or mom because the kids are so well entertained!

Mel and Cole spent a little time with us a couple of weeks ago when they came out to visit Travis and Shanda. We were so glad that they spent a little time with us. Thanks for making the effort guys!

Swimming Lessons

Sorry about the very lousy pictures. I guess I should have gotten off of my lawn chair. We have enjoyed the "fruits" of swimming lessons the last two weeks. They have both done very well. Their mom and dad are pleased, but we do have more to learn. Bri can atleast keep herself afloat and get places with her head in the water. It has been thrilling to watch her enjoy the water and learn so much. As always, Brett is quite a bit more cautious. He has learned a lot too, but has a little further to go before he is actually swimming. Crazy me signed them up for two more weeks today so I am really hoping that they will both be doing very well till those weeks are up. Just maybe I might get some better pictures the next two weeks. We are enjoying summer!!

Brett turns 5!!

We celebrated Brett turning 5 in several different ways. His birthday was Friday, July 18th, and Auntie Bev fixed a nice lunch with all the birthday amenities which was enjoyed by all. The kids also enjoyed the swimming and playing with their cousins. Friday evening we had a birthday supper at our house with Grandma Riffey, Aunt Stephie, Holly, Megan, Aunt Amy, Ty, Cameron, Auntie B, and Andre. He opened his long-awaited for gifts and enjoyed each one. Thank you everyone! We then trucked off to enjoy the skits at Youth Camp where Travis was enjoying the weekend. It was quite a day! We were all tired, but happy!

Then on Tuesday, July 22nd, Grandma and Grandpa Schaurer came to share his cake and bring his present. He was very pleased with his shovel and rake. Mom is a little worried about losing vegetable and flower plants. Just maybe he might be a big help in the garden someday. They did help me pick green beans last week and I am not sure the plants will produce much more. LOL!