Abraham Lincoln

What fun we have had studying Abraham Lincoln. When our vacation came together and we learned that we would be driving through Springfield IL, I knew that we needed to make a stop to visit  Abraham Lincoln's home.

The girls have been loving it. We have read through 5 books on Lincoln's life. And they are still asking for more. Over the last couple of days we have done a few crafts and enjoyed some activities on Abraham Lincoln's life.





























We had fun making stove pipe hats and eatable log cabins. They were a little disappointed that the hats were more for show than for wearing, but that did not keep them from wearing them :-).

All there is to do now is to go and visit a few of places were we can see Lincoln's home first hand, and experience what his life was like.

Resources:

• Abraham Lincoln by Sam Wellman
• Meet Abraham Lincoln by Barbara Cary
• Abraham Lincoln by David Collins
• Just A Few Words Mr. Lincoln by Jean Fritz
• Lincoln A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
• Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
• America's Arch Hero Makes a Speech, Billy Scott Faces the Firing Squad, & The Young Abe Lincoln by Your Story Hour

Trip to California Part 2

The second part of our trip took us to central California to visit Chris' extended family. We had a wonderful visit with Chris' cousin Brenda and her family and with Chris' Grandmother. We also visited Chris' Grandfather. I am very sorry to say but we did not get any pictures of the girls with Chris' Grandmother, but, here are a few that were taken.

Playing with Great Grandpa's trains

Then we were off to Northern California to visit my sister and her family and Chris' parents and brother and family. We had a wonderful visit; many fun memories were made. You will see a lot of girls in these pictures as there are only girl grandchildren on both sides of our families.

Macaylee loved this horse

Fun with cousins.

All the granddaughters on Chris' side

The Fritz Family

Miriam with my sister's little girl Annika. All the girls loved taking care of her.

At the end of our trip we had a fun visit with the Fraser family. We worked together at our last church. Madisen and Alayna became best friends. They picked up like no time had passed. When we first met the Fraser family we were both expecting our firsts. Now 6 years later we have 6 little ones between the two families.

Madisen and Alayna ~ Friends

The Fritz and Fraser Families

Trip to California Part 1

Just this last Friday we arrived home from a two week trip to California. We had a wonderful trip! We started with a two night visit with the Sparks family. They generously let us stay with them until we left for camp. It was so much fun catching up and visiting all our friends at Christ Community Church in West Covina. It was great to see everyone!

Then on Monday we headed to youth camp in the Santa Barbara Mountains. We had a great time. I have say that it was a little stretching for me as I am not much of a dirt and bug person and there were plenty of both. The girls were constantly dirty, but we greatly enjoyed the camp food! I think the reason that I enjoyed it so much was because I did not have to cook it. Last, but not least, we had a wonderful time working with all the youth and youth leaders.

Here are a few pictures from camp. I want to thank Felicia who generously shared her pictures with me.

Our Trip To California

We are back! We arrived back home from our trip to California very early Friday morning.  We had a wonderful time seeing family and friends. It is however so nice to be home! Here are just a few of the highlights from our trip!

The girls on the airplane.

As soon as we arrived in California we had a visit with Maddie's best friend Alayna and her family! We had a wonderful visit, catching up and seeing their new home. Madisen and Alayna had such fun playing with each other. 

Our 10 Year High School Reunion

Chris and I had the pleasure of attending our 10 year high school reunion while in California. I am sorry to say that I do not have any pictures from our reunion because I forgot to bring our camera to the dinner. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone, finding out what everyone has been up to these past 10 years, and reminiscing about old times past. 

We were able to take a tour of our school campus the following day! It was fun seeing all the the class rooms were we use to spend so much of our time. We also tried to find our classes time capsule that was buried 10 years ago. Everyones efforts of much digging were to no avail. I guess it will always be buried, so if you ever come across a time capsule from the class of 98 let me know because it could be from our class.

As seniors we each got to have our very own parking space. As a project we all painted our parking spots. To our surprise you can still make out what was painted. Here are pictures of our parking spaces.

Chris' parking space

Anna's parking space

Meet "Mokey"

My sisters have two cats named Smokey and Rocky. Miriam fell in love with both of these cats. Every morning when we got up, we were greeted by Miriam asking for "Mockey, Mockey?" She always wanted to go outside to find the cats. For many of you who know our girls well, know that our girls act like they like animals until they get close, then they are afraid, even to the point of tears sometimes. As you can see from the pictures this was not the case this time. She would pet them and even let them rub up against her. She would talked to them and tell them what to do. Even using her "NO" many times with them.

Amy, Rocky, and Miriam

Miriam petting Rocky

Miriam watching one of Grandma and Grandpa's kittens

A Surprise Getaway

Chris surprised me with an early getaway for our anniversary. July 28th will mark our 7th anniversary. Chris planned a night away to Sea Ranch where we stayed for our honeymoon. We had a wonderful time just the two of us. This was the first time in 4 1/2 years that we have been without children over night. We had a wonderful time together and it was beautiful along the coast! The fog never came in, so we had clear skies for our whole visit. Here are a few pictures.

Our Room #11

The view from our room

The Sea Ranch Lodge (where we stayed)

The sunset from our room window

We also had a wonderful time seeing and spending time with both of our families! We enjoyed a Baby shower for my sister Sarah, birthday party for my sister Amy, fun at Chuckie Cheese, and a special Tea Party for all the girls that my sister in law Tracy hosted.