Happy 30th Birthday!

Daddy,
     We hope that you are having a great day today! We wish you were here with us for your birthday, but we know you are away at work. We will have your birthday presents and birthday cake waiting for you when you come back. How many more days do you have until you get to come home? Mommy says there are about 7 more days. Mommy says it will go by faster now that there are only 7 more days left. We will talk to you on the computer when you call again. We love and miss you!

Nicholas, Joshua, and Noah

To The Love of My Life,
     Happy 30th Birthday my love! I know that we are oceans apart right now, but I want you to know that even oceans can't keep me from thinking about you. On this day, I want you to know that you are the best and the boys and I are so lucky to have you in our lives. I hope that you are making the most of celebrating your birthday in a different country. I am anxiously counting the days down for your return home. Can't wait to see you birthday boy!

Liz

Our Trip To Sterling

At the beginning of this month, the boys and I headed to Sterling/Rock Falls for a family reunion on my Mom's side of the family. We don't get the chance to visit with all my family up north, so this was a trip I was really looking forward to! Nick was not able to come with us because he was (and still is) overseas on duty. I made the 4 hour drive with all three boys and Bella the dog all by myself! It actually was a very easy 4 hours. The boys and dog were great passengers.

On the first day there, we stayed with my Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Darrell (my Dad's Mom and Step Dad) My boys are their only Great Grandchildren, so you can only imagine all the spoiling that goes on when we are there visiting! Here is a picture of the boys with Grandpa Darrell.

The next day of our Sterling trip consisted of set-up/decorating the hall were the Family Reunion would take place. My Mom took on this Family Reunion pretty much all by herself. (now you know where my party planning/throwing skills come from) Of course she needed to recruit people to help decorate, so all her sisters and brothers along with their kids came to help.  It was an all day affair!  Here is my Mom and my Uncle John (my Mom's baby brother) while decorating.

After all the hard work setting up for the Reunion, we headed to my all time favorite spot to eat at when in Sterling......ANGELO'S PIZZA!!!!! The pizza there is like no other. It so DELICIOUS! Here are some pics taken at Angelos.

Noah and Great Great Aunt Pam  (my Dad's Aunt)

Joshua and his 2nd cousin Trenton. 

Man did they have FUN together!

Tia Lala (my baby sister) and Noah.

Papa Dan and Noah 

Daniel (my brother) and Cousin Phillip.

And here it is........my slice of "special"! YUMMY!

That night the boys and I stayed in a hotel. The boys had so much fun swimming in the hotel's pool and playing in hotel's arcade. I remember how fun it was to stay in a hotel as a kid! Here is a picture of the boys and I in the pool.

Go Grizzlies!

This year, Joshua's T-ball team raised the most money out of the entire Khoury League teams during the annual fundraiser! His team won tickets to a Gateway Grizzlies game as a reward. The boys and I have never been to a Grizzlies game, so this was a real treat. Daddy has been to a Grizzlies game a time or two when his brother, Doug, played for the team. We had lots of fun and plan to go back when the weather is not so HOT. Here are some pictures from the ball game!

Joshua getting in some batting practice before the game.

Shooshie!

Joshua's T-ball team got to meet some of the Grizzlies players!

Joshua had a chance to run on the field with his teammates.

Me and Joshua 

Joshua and baby brother

Here it is!
"Baseball's Best Burger" otherwise known as the Krispy Kreme Burger. 

It's a cheeseburger sandwiched between a doughnut.

And here I am eating it!

The Walters

Noah and Izzy the Gateway Grizzlies Mascot.

The Walter boys with Izzy.

What a fun family outing complete with souvenirs!

Swimming Lessons

Last month, all 3 boys went to swimming lessons to become better swimmers. This was right up their alley because my boys LOVE to go swimming and that is just what we did every morning for 2 weeks straight! This year Nicholas was in Level 2 and Joshua tested into Level 1. I could definitely see an improvement by the end of 2nd week! Nicholas looked like a miniature Micheal Phelps with his freestyle stroke while Joshua mastered floating on his back and stomach. Little Noah and I had  "Mommy and Me" swim lessons together. He had so much fun singing songs and splashing in the water. He even learned how to float on his back and blow bubbles in the water using his mouth! At the end, the boys passed their swim tests and graduated to the next level for next summer. Great job Nicholas, Joshua, and Noah!

Nicholas A.K.A Mr. Phelps

Nicholas doing the back stroke for his instructor.

Nicholas taking a breather after swimming out to his instructor.

Joshua waiting for his turn to swim.

Joshua learned how to go under water without having to plug his nose.

Here is Joshua floating on his belly!

Noah's class didn't start till after Nicholas and Joshua's class was over. 

Here is Noah sitting by the pool watching and cheering on his big brothers.

Joshua with his swimming instructor!

Nicholas with his swimming instructor!

Noah with his swimming instructor!

Bikini Boot Camp

One of the things on my "2010 To Do List" was to add some kind of organized exercise routine to my life. As you may or may not have noticed, I have been able to successfully remove it from my list! I guess it's the "30" (as in my age) thing that got me thinking that I am not getting any younger and that I need to do my body some good. I used to think that people who said that they enjoyed/loved working out were absolutely insane. I now (thanks to Nick, my brother-in-law Doug, and the fabulous ladies in the above picture) have a different attitude. I wouldn't go as far as saying that I love working out, but I can say that I love getting together with the girls! The workout is just a bonus! Who knows......maybe we can all go to Mexico when we are bikini ready.

T-ball 2010

This year, T-ball season was a little (what's the word I want to use) um HECTIC! Why hectic you ask? Let me break it down for you. This year Nicholas AND Joshua played T-ball. They are both different ages, so of course they play on different teams, at different times, and practice on different days. Nick still coached for Nicholas's team this season and picked up the title of Assistant Coach for Joshua's team. On top of that, he was appointed to be the Mascoutah Khoury League's equipment manager (as if he doesn't have enough on his plate right!?!) May I remind you that Nick was gone on TDY (out of the country) for the majority of the T-ball season, so I was in charge of getting the boys to and from practices while Bob and Connie were in charge of getting them to their games on Sundays. By the way, THANK YOU GRANDPA BOB AND GRANDMA CONNIE! I work every weekend, so I was not able to see my boys play ball. However, thanks to all the rain at the beginning of the season, I was able to catch one of Nicholas's makeup games! See....I told ya.....HECTIC! Hopefully, next year will not be so crazy. Oh wait, we still have Noah yet to play. Sheesh!

Backyard + Bubbles + Brothers = FUN!

Hello from Texas! The boys and I took a road trip to Texas to spend some time with my side of the family while Daddy is out of the country for work. So far, we have been having lots of fun here with Grandpa Dan, Grandma Violet, Great Grandma Ana, Tia Lala, Uncle Andrew, and Uncle Daniel. I will be attempting to catch you up on our summer fun/adventures. I will start with these few pictures that I took of the boys at the beginning of this summer in our backyard.

Teamwork!

Evidence that little boys live here.

Oh to be young and carefree.

Bubble time!

Noah couldn't quite get the hang of how to blow bubbles......

Thank goodness for big brothers that can help teach you how!

Good Bye Training Wheels

That's right! Joshua has learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels! With the help from Uncle Doug and lots of determination (having a big brother to look up to helped with this), Joshua was able to hit this milestone earlier this summer. I am so proud of him! I forsee lots of bike rides happening this summer and fall. Way to go Joshua!

Check out this video of Joshua on 2 wheels!

Keepin' It Cool

I remember running through a sprinkler in our backyard as a little girl and having SO much fun doing it! It seems like Summer isn't summer if you can't run through a sprinkler to cool off! Thank goodness Great Grandma Ganz gave Noah this silly willy wiggly sprinkler for his birthday. It has come in handy for the boys, especially since our weather has been HOT here. The boys had so much fun getting wet while running back and forth through the water! As a bonus, it helped water Daddy's grass! Here are some pictures of  them having some good ol' sprinkler fun.