A little family time

Wheat harvest was early this year which left some free time in June.  In our 15 years of marriage this has NEVER happened.  We decided to take advantage of the time and took the kids to KC for a Royals game.  Sam is totally focused on baseball most of the time so we thought he might enjoy it.  When we told him we were going to a Royals game he was NOT happy.  He wanted to go to a Cardinals game.  He agreed to come anyway but was not too proud to sport his Cardinals gear.  We all had a fantastic time and the Royals won in an exciting finish in the bottom of the 9th inning.  Here they celebrate with their dad.

This was taken on Father's Day.  I think we were out checking the corn crop.  Since this post is late I can tell you the corn crop that looks so hopeful in this picture turned out to be less than impressive due to the HOT DRY summer we are having.  They have been cutting corn this past week.  Some of it is OK but not what we hoped for.

Animals and Camp

Garrett and his buddy Taylor going to 4-H camp at Rock Springs 4-H Ranch.  This was his 2nd year going to camp.  Last year he only stayed 1 night for "rookie camp" this year it was 3 nights.  He was super excited.  I attended the same camp when I was a kid and loved it.  Next year it will be Anna's turn for rookie camp.  I hope she loves it as much as her brother and I.

Anna spent much of her summer taking care of Midnight, her bucket calf.  Anna & Garrett each had a bucket calf for 4-H but they also had 3 extra calves that they took care of for Dad.  Bottle feeding 5 bucket calves can be a bit of a circus at times.

Here is another addition to the farm, Remi.  

Summer Catch up

Today, my last day of summer break before I must return to school I am making up for lost time.  We had a busy summer filled with lots of fun.  Today's post will include just a few of the things we did to start the summer off.

Our usual Dorrance tradition of Memorial Day.  On Memorial Day a rather large crowd gathers in Dorrance to remember those who have served our country.  It begins with a parade from the American Legion to the City Cemetery.  There is a rather impressive service held in the cemetery and then community members return to the Legion for a potluck meal and kids games.

Harvest was super early this year.  I don't think we were cutting on Memorial Day but it might have been the day after.  Here the kids enjoy a meal in the harvest field.

Some more fun in the harvest field.  I'm not sure what these silly kids were up to.  Hallie, Sam & Anna.

In the first few weeks of summer vacation my mom and my sister-in-law, Lori, joined us on a trip down to the Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands Education Center.  McKenzie, Brooklyn, Anna, Sam, Hallie & Garrett.

Come back to my blog tomorrow to see what other fun things we did this summer?

Christmas Letter 2011

Greetings from our house to yours.  If you are reading this blog you are aware that I gave up Christmas cards a few years ago and started blogging.  I love the excitement of getting Christmas cards and even feel a bit guilty opening them since I’m not sending any out. 

As the kids are getting older our life is getting busier which means I have not posted to our blog very much.  You can read the posts from this year to learn about the kids learning to ski, our spring break fun and our summer vacation to Kentucky.

 

GARRETT

Life in general continues to keep us busy.  Garrett is 8 years old and enjoying the 3^rd grade.  He spent his year playing basketball in the spring, baseball in the summer, and football in the fall.  He continues to enjoy the farm and helping his dad.  Most of the time I don’t want to know what he is doing or what equipment he has learned to drive.  Some things a mother just does not want to know.  He also likes to tag along when hunting birds or deer.  I have a feeling we are not too far away from having to eat some deer meat.  Can’t wait for that! (hear the sarcasm)  4-H has been an addition to his activities.  I should make a post about his first year project of entomology.  We learned lots, but mostly we learned this is a tedious project for an 8 year old.  Next year we will NOT be hunting, freezing and pinning insects.  Instead we will be feeding a bucket calf twice a day.  (Garrett’s parents might be a bit simple)

ANNA

 Anna is 6 and enjoys Kindergarten.  She has taken dance lessons the last few years but this year she moved up to twirling.  She sometimes likes to go with Dad at the farm but her favorite things at the farm are the horses.  Around the house her favorite thing to do is “create” with whatever art supplies she can dig up.  She is going to be a tag-a-long 4-Her this year and will be joining her brother with a bucket calf.  I have no doubt she will love every second of it.

 SAM

Sam is 4 and goes to pre-school one morning a week.  He was not so sure about school at first but now looks forward to playing with other kids.  He loves baseball.  He likes to take his glove with him everywhere he goes and has even been known to sleep with it on occasion.  When he can’t talk someone into paying ball with him he turns to tractors and cars.

          I’m teaching ¾ time at Wilson Elementary School.  This means I get to spend every other afternoon with Sam.  I still teach computers to the elementary students and have taken on some of the Title I job working with students struggling in areas of reading or math.

Joe is still farming with one of his brothers.  They keep busy all year with cattle and crops.  They are always looking for ways to become more efficient and their wives are always waiting for the slow time of the year, which seems to never come.

         We wish you good health and happiness in the coming year.  Keep watching my blog; maybe this will be the year I find more time to blog.

Sandlot & Secretariat

I started the summer with a post from Memorial Day so I guess I will end the summer with a post from our family vacation.

This year our family vacation was inspired by our 2 favorite movies: The Sandlot and Secretariat.  My kids have watched both movies over and over and over again.  Their favorite line from The Sandlot, "YOU PLAY BALL LIKE A GIRL."  It is so funny when they watch Secretariat, they yell and cheer for him in every race and they can repeat several line from that movie as well.  Since they are so into horses and base ball what better place to go than Louisville, Kentucky; home of the Kentucky Derby and Louisville Slugger bat factory.  Hope you enjoy the photos.

We stopped in St. Louis to visit a cousin and see a few sites.
Here I am with Anna & Garrett near the Gateway Arch.
Sam was the photographer.

Not the best picture of my kids, but made me giggle.


Anna & Sam looking out of the windows at the top of the Arch.


Gateway Arch

Family photo at the Arch


We spent part of a day at City Museum.  My kids thought they were going to die when we told them we were going to City Museum.  Much to their surprise, City Museum was a really cool place for kids to play and have a grand time.





Garrett in skateless park


Sam in skateless park


This 10 story building was full of slides, ladders and tunnels for kids to climb in and around.  It was all made out of recycled and found items.  Amazing!!!!  I quit following them when I thought I was going to get stuck in a hole I was crawling through.


Joey with our kids plus one extra.  That sweet little girl is Leah and she belongs to Joey's cousin, Jody and husband Tim.  They live in Columbia, Illinois, just outside St. Louis.

We spent part of a day touring horse farms around Lexington.  We started at this racetrack where we got to see some race horses working out.  Maybe the next Derby winner???  Several scenes from Secretariat were filmed at this racetrack.

This is one of Secretariat's grandsons, Perfect Soul.  He had a pretty successful racing career and is now making lots of babies.  His stud fee is $15,000 and expected to rise. 

Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum.

This is the tunnel that the horses walk through on their way to the racetrack.

The kids got to dress up like jockey's at the Kentucky Derby Museum.  Here they are standing on the jockey scale.  Each Jockey and his saddle has to weigh exactly 126 pounds. 

Here I am with the kids outside Churchill Downs.

We could not leave without having some Derby Pie.

Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and Museum

Memorial Day 2011

Memorial Day is my favorite holiday. It was not until I met my husband that I realized what Memorial Day was truly about. The small town in central Kansas where he was born and raised and we now live has an amazing tradition for Memorial Day. Here are a few pictures I took.

The Thielen cousins: Brooklyn, Garrett, Avery (standing on the ground), Hallie, Anna & Sam.



Sam

Anna



Garrett

Our featured speaker Major Russ Allen, US Air National Guard, US Air Force



American Legion Rifle Squad
My dad is the one on the far right, Joe is the third one from the right.



Major Russ Allen addressing those gathered at the cemetery.



Colleen Allen (Russ's Mom) and her grand kids Maggie and Austin. You can't see Emma, she is sitting on Colleen's lap.



Garrett, Anna and Hallie (my niece) listening during the ceremony.



Anna taking a break to read the program.



After the festivities at the cemetery and Legion we usually gather at the farm for a BBQ. The kids were hiding under Grandma's desk. Hallie and Anna are in the back. Brooklyn and Sam are in the front.

Faith Filled Fun

On the eve of Easter my parents joined the Catholic church. I am thrilled. I joined the Catholic church 12 years ago after I married Joe so it was great news when my parents made the decision to join the catholic church. They spent 18 months learning about the catholic faith before they joined the church during a fantastic Easter Vigil service. Below is a picture my Mom and Dad with their priest, Father Bill. I knew Father Bill when he was our priest in Frankfort.


The weekend after Easter we celebrated Garrett's 1st Communion. I am so proud of how he as grown in his own faith. He certainly makes his parents proud. It was another great service. Our priest, Father Hoover and nun, Sister Marilyn do a really nice service that is ALL ABOUT the kids. He really makes it special and memorable for the kids.
Garrett with his teacher, Mrs. Berger, Sister Marilyn, and Father Hoover.


Garrett doing some of his reading during Mass.



My parents have had a special guest staying with them for a few weeks. This is a picture of Garrett with Father McGovern from Ireland. My parents traveled to Ireland last fall and met Father while attending a Mass in Ireland. He later wrote to them and came for a visit. It just so happened he was here for both celebrations.



Easter at my parents. Sam (3), Garrett (8), McKenzie (8), Anna (5)




So, this is the best family picture we got for Easter.



A picture of Sam playing in Mimma & Papa's yard.


I had to throw this picture in b/c it is the 3rd time Garrett wore his tie in 9 days. We had to have a tie for 1st communion and we got some miles out of that tie. He wore it for 2 Sundays in a row (Easter & 1st Communion). He wanted to wear the tie to his Spring music program at school. I was a bit apprehensive, thinking he would be the only kid in a tie. But as you can see there are 3 of them wearing ties. Guess what? They all had first communion the day before and the boys had decided at school that day that they were all going to wear their ties to the program. Don't they look sharp?