A really windy day!

We went out to play despite the really bad wind gusts! Megan seemed to think the wind was funny!

Wow! Megan sat still AND smiled for a picture! I also managed to avoid a wind gust for the picture!

Meeting Steven Curtis Chapman

Well those of you who listen to contemporary Christian music will understand how cool these pictures are! We had the opportunity to meet Steven Curtis Chapman this past weekend. He is one of the best in Christian music ( my opinion & 5 grammy's+ 50 dove awards) but he has also adopted 3 children from China and has a huge heart for orphans! He started a ministry to help families financially who want to adopt and now his ministry is working to fund orphanages! It was after listening to his adoption story in 2004 that Todd and I first started to think about adopting. It just broke my heart to think of how many children are in this world that need homes! It has been a huge miracle to witness Megan becoming part of our family! One I am so thankful we didn't miss out on! God definitely used Steven Curtis Champman's story to open our hearts to the miracle of adoption! Last year we decided to donate to his ministry. This past Jan. we were emailed an opportunity to meet him during his winter tour. The concerts were not in our area though! Well, Todd ended up winning tickets to a concert series here in WI that was this past Sat. and he was headlining, so we emailed Shoahannah's Hope and asked if we could meet him! Never hurts to ask, right! Well his road manager called me the next day and set it up! Needless to say, I never expected a call ! It was a great experience! He was nice enough to talk to us for about 10 minutes and sign some things for us! It was a great concert too! The boys love his music and I think they were a little lost for words when they met him(a first for Nate and Ryan!). Megan was hot and totally wound up from having no nap but it was worth it!

Check out http://shaohannahshope.org for more information on how to help orphans or to financially assist families who are adopting.

Florida vacation~misc pictures

Well I am slow, but I finally got around to posting pictures from our Florida vacation in May! We had a great time...probably over did the activities a bit, oh well! The weather was awesome! I felt bad though because I prayed for no rain and Florida was having a bad drought! A couple of the days we could smell the brush fires. Overall it went well though!! Enjoy the photos!


The morning we headed out...Megan was being cuddly with Ryan!
Pool at the hotel. Diving in....going deep! Steven Curtis Chapman fans will understand. Ryans favorite song and pastime(swimming)!

Nighttime bear and Megan ready for takeoff!
She insisted on putting her brother goggles on but quickly changed her mind!

Her new ladybug backpack...full of toys.
Kiss anyone? Megan enjoyed her free chocolate sample from downtown Disney!

Clearwater Beach

The tourist picture...wearing the Wisconsin hats! Yes my sons are slowly converting to WI fans. Mostly Ryan who has started to wear Greenbay packers stuff...which drives Todd crazy. Especially the shirt he picked out with Brett Farves(did I spell that right?) face on it.


The weather really nice for this visit to the beach! They had a great park for the kids. This was actually the last day of the trip!

Disney World

The last time I was at Disney I was in high school. It seems a little more overwhelming with 3 kids. It was a great time and Megan got to go on a lot of rides..."fun cars" she called them. No character pictures though...we did see Cinderella but the line was closed for pictures! Nathan's favorite ride was the jungle safari ride(slow and stays on the ground). Ryans was space mountain(mine too!). A really fast roller coaster in the dark. Can't say I would have gone on it at 7! Megan trying to catch the water that shoots out.

Hours of fun with a straw!

Not sure what to comment on this one:)

Cocoa Beach

Nathan took this picture...good job Nate!

This was the first Beach we went to on or trip. It was sunny and warm when we left Orlando. It is only an hour away but the weather was completely different. Apparently(unaware of this when we headed out) there was a small tropical storm off shore...which explained the strong waves. More on that below. It was definitely a bit chilly but it didn't rain. I did not take along warm clothes though, but we made the best of it.

Megan loved the ocean...she sees the water and says "funna". Not sure why she puts an "a" on the end of the word fun.

Ok - we are from MN land of 10,000 lakes...not oceans:) The above picture is of Ryan after a wave came in and as it pulled back out it pulled him down, face first, into the sand. He had sand in his ears!! He was a good sport about it! We did have to go and buy him a dry shirt though:)
enjoying the waves before his downfall!
Megan having fun in the sand! Not really enjoying it sticking to her hands though!

Universal Studios

While I was on the Spiderman ride with the boys Todd decided to take Megans pictures with some super heroes:) Leave it to Dad. I believe the above picture is Captain America and below are characters from X-men. Who needs Cinderella:)
This is the one fish two fish ride in the Dr.Seuss area. I made the mistake of going on it with Nathan and letting him control the fish. He knew how to line up the fish so we went right through the sprinklers that were shooting out water. I ended up getting soaked! Nathan thought it was hilarious:) The boys loved this ride!! This was the first amusement park we went to. We learned Ryan loves all rides and has no fear( he is afraid of everything else though...can't quite figure it out) but Nathan needed to be talked into any rides that went off the ground ( he is afraid of heights)! He really didn't like the roller coasters. It was a really fun day with a little bit cooler weather. Lines were not bad at all!!

Tampa Zoo

Nathan loved the sting rays! He loved touching them. He said they were giving him high fives:) Ryan, not so much...he is afraid of most animals! I learned on this trip how completely different the two boys are. Megan was asleep.
This ended up being a fun day, although it was the hottest day of the week and was pretty uncomfortable. Nathan really wanted to see the manatees(the "sea cow" Nathan informed me is their nickname). Unfortunately we were unable to get any good pictures of the manatees.