Merry Christmas

Grandma Lenz & 14 Grandkids

Only 1 child is missing....

He's in Ethiopia.

Waiting for us to bring him home.

Next year this picture will be

Grandma Lenz & 15 Grandkids!!

Noah (9), Cassie (14), & Jordan (11)

Yes, I made them get close to show how much they LOVE each other!

Noah's presents: SpyGear ATV, nightvision goggles, Brett Favre Minnesota Vikings Jersey, camera, ice fishing tip-ups, DS games, Wii game, socks, sweatshirts, pajama pants

Jordan's presents: cell phone, furry boots, lots of girly-clothes, earrings, robe, Wii game, Wega softball jacket, llama Webkins, sweatshirts

Cassie's presents: Wega softball jacket, earrings, necklaces, vests, shirts, shorts, gift card, purse, wallet, more clothes, University of Kentucky pajamas, sweatshirts

Brad's presents: wallet, ice fishing tip-ups, Menards gift card, bungees, pajama pants, money

Sue's presents: diamond earrings (WAY TO GO BRAD!), sweaters, earrings, tops, picture frame of Mom & Kris and I, money, star wall decoration, hand towels, snow plowing from neighbor, Learning Shop gift card, camera (St. Nick present), Ipod touch (early gift in November)

Brad & I at Grandma Lenz' home on Christmas Day

Girls in PINK!

I LOVE this camera!

I took this picture from across the room!

SO COOL!!

We had an awesome Christmas with our families. The weather was quite YUCKY! I honestly don't remember another Christmas where we got snow, sleet, and RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN! The roads were all ice-covered on Christmas Eve, while we drove to Kris and Steve's home. I played on my Ipod touch and tried not to watch Brad drive. Brad was happy, so I wouldn't yell at him every second about slowing down and not passing people. Great Grandma Beck wasn't able to join us on Christmas Eve either, because the roads were terrible! We did call her and sand Jingle Bells though! :)

Everyone was asking us when we're leaving for Ethiopia and I just LOVED telling them ~ January 6th! YEAH! I'm getting so excited. This weekend, we'll put all our new things away and then we'll start packing for Africa. I'm nervous, anxious, excited, and just plain giddy, about meeting our little boy for the first time. It's just so much to think about. I can't wait to meet him and tell him that I LOVE him!!

Merry Christmas to everyone! May God bless you and keep you safe!

Family Reunion

We just had our first ever, VOSS Family Reunion! (My mom's side of the family) It was awesome, tiring, fun-filled, fun, exciting, and exhausting!

We were able to see some cousins that I haven't seen in many, many years (Gretchen, Rob, Jeff, Craig). We were also able to see cousins I see about once a year (Kim, Kelly, Ryan, Phil) and the cousins that live near us (David, Dan, Mike, Katie). All of the aunts and uncles were here and putting on a great time.We were only missing 2 cousins (Nicky & Brian). Hopefully they can make the next one.

We went tubing down the Wolf River, bowling, fish fry with Vic Ferrari, dinner cruise on the Fin n' Feather showboat, pig roast with singing entertainment, swimming, blow-ups, minnow races (Noah won 1st place), scavenger hunt (Cassie caught a real frog), water skiing (YEAH Jordan!), jet skiing, & just hanging out at the lake.

It was really nice seeing everyone and their families. The cousins' kids went from 17 to 2 years old. We had activities for everyone, so it was pretty fun. I loved seeing the different personalities of the kids and how they all can manipulate their parents (my children included) :)

Yesterday was unbelievably HOT! The heat index was around 100 and the humidity just sucked the life right out of me. My headache was unbearable around 4pm, so Brad took Cassie and Jordan into town to Walmart and Kohl's. Noah and I relaxed until they got home.

I'm getting pretty excited for the new school year. I've been thinking of lesson plans and working on class supply lists. I need to send out my EC handbook this week, so I better get moving.

Another busy week. Only 3 more weeks until school starts. UGH! Where did this summer go?!?!?

Paperwork, paperwork, & MORE paperwork

It seems like that is all I work on lately. We have paperwork for Holt International and for LSS. We have paperwork for back to school registration and lesson plans. There is so much paperwork and so little time!

The kids have kept me so busy this past week and it's only going to get worse. Jordan and Noah are going to summer school from 8am - noon. Then Jordan has band lessons at 2:30pm and then they both have football/cheer practice from 5:30 - 7:45pm. Brad's also coaching the football team, so I won't see him too much either this week. Cassie also wants to ride her horse, so I need to make time to get over to the trainer's house too. We did finish up Little League last week, so that's one thing off of our to-do list. But, we still have dog project on Tuesday evening.

We are also having a Voss family reunion (my mom's side of the family). Many of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins' kids will all be converging on Lake Poygan from Wednesday through Sunday. They have a ton of things planned for everyone, but we'll see how much we'll get to be there with our schedule. Hopefully I can spend some time with everyone and catch up. I can't wait!