Merry Christmas Blizzard!

First of all, Merry Christmas Dad! This is the picture that we took Christmas Eve that I tried to email you, but never went through. So here it is. We love you!!



Now on to the blizzard...This is what we woke up to Christmas morning.

Then my dad and I went to work. I think it only took us a couple of hours to snow blow this drift.

I am 5'7" so the drift was around 5' tall.

This snow drift was around 9' tall and was quite wide. The kids and a couple of their cousins made one heck of a snow fort inside the drift. I am going to try to get a video going through the fort.

My dad's buried car. And yes, it is all my fault :-)

More drifts...

These next three pictures are of my parents court yard. The first one is from December 25th and the second is from the 26th. There is quite the build up of snow. Buried under the pile of snow is the grill, the outside bar, and all the patio furniture.

This is dad in front of his patio door out from their bedroom. No escaping there! This picture is for all his hunting friends!

Quintin had to take the tractor to break up the drifts in the roads in Glenham before the town plow could get through. Then I had to dig out my suburban...

Well, now I am off to do more snow shoveling while dad snow blows. Why do men always get the easy work??? Hope all of you had a great Christmas!

God's Blessings,

Robin

PS Now that I am all caught up on the blog, I will think about getting Christmas cards out! :-)

To Dad, From all of us in Florida!

Hi Dad,
We missed you in Florida! We took these pictures for you. Can't wait until we are all in Indonesia with you! We love and miss you!

From All of Us,

Robin, Mersades, Teddy, Gavin, and Gabrielle

Having fun in Florida

After the wedding was done and all other obligations complete, my sister-in-law, Lynette and I took our kids to the beach. The sand was absolutely beautiful! The kids wanted to do some shelling so we let them loose. They did find some good ones even though it wasn't a great beach to hunt for shells on.
This is all the kids except for Mersades. She was off wandering on her own.
This is the kids in front of Pier 60. We did take a walk down the pier and to our surprise we saw dolphins. That was really neat!

One of the best sunsets we saw. Too bad it was after the wedding pictures were taken.

This next picture was taken the next day. Uncle Ryan thought it would be fun to bury Gabrielle in the sand. Good thing she wanted to play along.

Because I couldn't upload all the pictures I wanted to for one post, I had to split up the posts. So make sure you scroll down and get the last of the Florida beach pictures.

Enjoy,

Robin

More Florida pictures

The kids and cousin Stuart, uncle Ryan is out of the picture, playing football in the sand.
Are we in TROUBLE...

We had a chance to pick up Great Grandma Zimmer and have dinner with her.

Uncle Quintin and Aunt Raquel took the kids to the beach our last night there.

There were sand snowmen made on the beach, so the kids and Raquel made one of their own.

We had a wonderful time in Florida. The only thing that would have made it better would to have had dad there with us! We miss you dad! Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Love all of us,

Robin, Mersades, Teddy, Gavin, and Gabrielle

Q1 and Rocks Wedding

On Sunday my baby brother was married...finally!! We all hopped on a plane and flew to Florida for the wedding. We left Glenham, SD and it was -5 degrees. We arrived in Florida and the temperature was a wonderful 70 degrees. Then it got cold. But all in all we had a wonderful time! The bride and groom, two beautiful people inside and out, got married and we had a blast!

The wedding party with the parents.

Well, this isn't the picture I wanted, but don't know how to get it off here. I have a way better one of the five of us (Chris is in Indonesia), but that will have to wait for another time.

Mom and Dad and their offspring and my Grandma . We were missing my sister and her husband's four boys. Someday maybe we will get a picture of all of us...Ryan's wedding?????? One can only hope....

The five of us. It has been a very long time since we have all been together. I love times like these!!

Yes, I was recruited to make the cake. I have never mixed up icing out of a casserole dish, but I guess there is a first time for everything! Other than all the obstacles I had to go through, it was an honor and a privilege to do this for Q1 and Rock.

Other than the groom, the two best looking boys at the party!

Daddy's Girls....My sister Brandei and me.

Grandma and all her granddaughters.

Yummy G and the beautiful couple.

The weather is warming up here, but a snow storm warning is waiting for us back in South Dakota. There will be more pictures from our time in Florida to come, but for now I will just say God's Blessings to the Bride and Groom. I wish you well. Enjoy each other.

Happy Marriage,

Robin

Pheasant Hunting in South Dakota

Thanksgiving weekend was spent at my parents pheasant hunting. We always have such a fun time. But this time was especially fun, because for once the hunters could make fun of the outstanding guide...aka MY FATHER. Here's the story...

Before Chris left for Indonesia, we thought we had better get a family photo taken for Christmas cards. And how could we get the boys, yes include their father (Chris), to take a decent picture for once? The answer is...Everyone dress up as hunters! So the girls and I met the boys out in the field later in the afternoon. We hopped on the "Magic Bus" and then walked a few fields with the hunters. My dad drives the hunters around in an old school bus, one that I painted green for him. His pride and joy. (He has also written a song about the "Magic Bus" that he sings for all the hunters.) So here is a picture of the Outstanding Guide:
So after the drive, the hunters, and a little girl dressed in pink, carrying a dead pheasant, walked back to the "Magic Bus". Nothing looks out of the ordinary...well that is except for the little girl in the pink jacket...Gabrielle.

The "Magic Bus" looks fine until you get a close up!

I told him not to do it!!!! The driver (my dad and the guide) is one of the smartest men in the world. But when male ego/hormones get in the way, this is what you get. He saw his cousin go through the mess of a road with a big 4x4 truck, so he just figured he could. This is after all, the smartest man in the world!!!!

So not to let this wonderful chance go by, the guide, my father, the smartest man in the world, gets to have his two son-in-law's point out the fact that it was him, not them who did this... that they aren't the only two that are ALL SCREWED UP!!!

Thank goodness for large farming equipment! My cousin had the "Magic Bus" pulled out faster than a hot knife through butter, and we went on to have our family picture taken.

What a day!! We did get the picture taken, but that is for another day, and it only took five shots!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. There is nothing like spending quality time with family!

God's Blessings,

Robin

A Poem

So my dad has a little hobby. He writes poem whenever he feels the need. So I finally got my poem. Here it is:

Meathead said, "Let's go dear Bugs

Grab the kids, the dog, and rugs

We're off to Indonesia!"

Tell me why dear Lover Chris

When all our friends that we will miss

Wonder what's in Indonesia.

Mining for copper, silver, and gold

And adventures new, many untold

You'll love our Indonesia.

So loyal Robin grabbed the kids

Sold the house and shipped their threads

She has tickets to Indonesia.

Sometime in December Chris will leave

A wife and kids for up to three weeks

He'll be alone in Indonesia.

But too soon January will come

And five more lovelies will leave home

They'll be off to Indonesia.

Edith and Archie will anyway try

to keep a straight face and a dry eye

When they leave for Indonesia.

After a while when we miss them enough

Soft sandy beach and boiling white surf

We'll be together someplace in...

Australia!

He is so talented! :-) Thank You dad! I will read it often.

Love You,

Bugsy

Random Pictures

Here are just a few things our family has been doing in the past few weeks. I wanted to get them on to the site before things really get busy!


Chris took the three youngest kids and a friend out turkey hunting this last weekend. Teddy has now shot his fifth turkey. What a lucky kid! Gavin and Gabrielle went along for the ride as I was gone to a wedding shower for my sister-in-law to be.
Gabrielle and Gavin got to hold the guns. How cute! :-) I guess Gabrielle enjoyed the outing so much... Chris said she really liked playing with the gut piles. GROSS!

We found out a couple of weeks ago that Gavin needed glasses. How cute does he look?

One of the things a friend of mine and I wanted to do before the big move was teach each other how to make our specialties. So Shelby taught me how to make bread/cinnamon rolls. And I taught Shelby how to decorate cakes. I think they both turned out!

Only two weeks to go before the packers come. Our house had not sold yet, so prayers are welcome!

Gods Blessings to All,

Robin

So Much To Do... So Little Time!

Well, let's just start with... I have been a bit busy. Gavin's birthday was the 11th of this month and I am now just posting pictures. So... HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!!
It was quite a simple party. All Gavin wanted was steak and chocolate ice cream on the day of his birthday and a sleepover with a couple of friends on the weekend. I must say Chris and I felt a little bad and a little low end that the poor kid didn't have a cake. But he wanted ice cream, so that's what he got. (And just for all you Grandparents out there, Gavin did get his hair cut a couple days ago...he really isn't turning into a hippie! I will post that picture maybe tomorrow, if I have time and the energy.)

So then Friday came and only one friend showed up. The other friend had a family obligation. Anyway, I asked Gavin if he wanted me to make him a cake for his sleep over. He finally agreed. What did he want? Not some fancy 3-D cake with all the bells and whistles, but a cupcake...NO icing...only sprinkles. Boy oh boy were my cake decorating skills put to the test with this kid! ;) So here Gavin is holding his cake...

The next day we had the great honor of watching Mersades play a little volleyball. Let's just say we sat on those nice comfortable bleachers for close to eight hours!!! But it was worth it as her team won FIRST PLACE!!! Good job Mersades. You sure do take after your mom!!!

The winning team.

This is Mersades and one of her good friends, Haley.

I was going to finish this post with an update on what is going on at the house, but am too tired and I am going to bed. I will update everyone hopefully in the next day or two.

God's Blessings to Everyone,

Robin

Halloween Costume Pictures

So, Halloween is not my favorite thing to do. I hate spending $40 on a premade costume that gets used once and then gets thrown on the floor in the closet. (At least now it does. When the kids were younger, you would get your money out of them wearing the costume day after day.) Anyway, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the costumes this year. This is what we came up with for under $25 total for all kids!

Mersades wearing a bridesmaids dress from Grandma Schlomer's wedding = $0
Borrowed jeans for Teddy from a girl in 3rd grade = $0
Polyester from the "Budget Shop" = $5
Sunglasses for Gavin = $5
Wigs for both boys = $12
Mom almost peeing her pants from laughing while watching Gavin squeeze into Gabriell's jeans = PRICELESS


Three hippies and one cheerleader. (Chris' kids!)

No joke!! The brides maids wore this dress in my parents wedding!!!! And my mother made them. It wasn't like she saw them on the store shelf and said, "Sweet... dresses for $5. We will take them!"

Teddy, probably the most unrecognizable kid at the Halloween carnival last night!

Way too cute!!!

Go Team Go! (The first thing I had ever sewed other than a blanket.)

It was a very fun night at the DI carnival. Tonight we get to brave the cold and go Trick or Treating. "Hey kids, I will take you to to store and buy all the candy you want if I don't have to walk around in the cold!" I say that every year, but they don't bite. I guess I will be dressed up in my snow pants and boots! What a way to Trick or Treat!

Have a fun night tonight!

Robin