Surprise Kevin!!!!

Since we were going to be back home so close to Kevin's 30th birthday I thought it would great to surprise him with a few of his closest friends and oldest friends (that lived within a 100 mile radius of Des Moines that is).  I contacted everyone a couple weeks before we headed back to the States, but only got the final details figured out days before the event with the help of Ryan, Lindsay, Mike and Sally and our dear friends.

The first ones to show up were Weston and Lynn.  Weston was Kevin's very first friend from the age of just a few months old.  Kevin thought it was just really nice for Weston to show up since he heard we were in town.  So he really didn't have any idea yet what was going on.  

Weston gave Kevin a CD loaded with nothing but "Umm Bop" by Hanson on it.  Apparently it happened to be a song playing on the radio when Weston and Kevin were in a precarious situation with some of their other college buddies and he felt like reminiscing with Kevin.

About 20 minutes later, Todd and Laurie along with daughter Kylie, showed up.  Todd and Kevin  were in ag engineering together and worked on the mini pulling tractor.  I think Laurie and I ended up hanging out a lot together watching the boys work on that crazy machine. Once they showed up Kevin started to think that something weird was going on and started watching for other vehicles he would recognize.

About 10 minutes later my brother and his friend Stephanie showed up.  My brother is so classic.  He brought along a pineapple to contribute to the meal.  Someone made a comment that it takes a real man to bring a pineapple to a BBQ....he is so funny!  This was the first time we got to meet Stephanie and she was a real sweetheart and played with our kids all night.

Brad and Jaye, showed up soon after Casey and that's when Kevin finally started asking what was really going on.   They did such a great job the day before not letting on that this wouldn't be the only time we got to see them this trip home.  It was such a great surprise and I was so happy that everyone got to get together. After some good eats and cake and ice cream we headed down to the yard to play a friendly game of couples croquet until way past dark.  I blew our chance to win by feeling sorry for everyone being so far behind us...big mistake.  Kevin and I ended up taking 3rd place I think...sorry sweetie! 

We all had a blast and it was so good to see everyone.  Thank you again to everyone for helping pull off a great surprise for the hardest person in the world to surprise!!!!

Baby Emma's Baptism

Today we headed over to Marshalltown to be a part of our niece's baptism.  Little baby Emma has sure grown up and you can really start to see a lot of her mommy and daddy in her now.  She is just over seven months old and I couldn't believe that Harrison was just like her at that age and in just a couple of months he is now motoring around and jabbering up a storm.

Addison just loves her little cousin!!!  Harrison is also very curious about his this other little person he gets to hang around with. 

What a little crew of cousins!

Time to Go Fishin'

Addison had been looking forward to going fishing with Grandpa Jeff ever since she learned about fishing by watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Playhouse.  She pretends to fish all the time at home and now that she's in America, Grandpa Jeff got her all set up with her very own fishing pole.  Now my dad is one to splurge and he wanted to get a little princess pole but they cost just as much to buy a nice regular pole.  My brother, sister and I each got a similar pole for our birthday as we grew up but Addison takes the prize for the youngest recipient.

Dad tied on a plastic worm and we cast it out over the deck into the yard and let her reel it in.  She focused pretty hard on turning the crank but then turned it over to me to get it all the way up.  Since fishing in the yard wasn't real enough we decided to go do the real thing. 

We headed off to Cedar Rapids to return Kevin's rental car and thought we would stop at Gander Mountain to pick up a few things while Kevin and I needed to get our day fishing licenses.  As we tried to leave the store, the Expedition didn't want to start.  A kind gentleman helped give us a jump start, but as we were driving home dad noticed that all the gauges went dead and we couldn't close the electric windows we had opened because we didn't want to run the air.  Luckily we were just passing my the town my sister lived in so we stopped there for the boys to work on the truck.  They ended up having to go back into Cedar Rapids to buy a new alternator, battery, and battery connectors.  Nice thing about it all was that I got to hang out with my sister for another half day.  My mom ended up driving over so she could pick me and the boys to get us back to buy stuff for our fishing trip/picnic.  It was a good thing that it all happened today because we were meant to borrow the Expedition for our trip over to Des Moines tomorrow.  Another funny thing was that I ended up running into an high school classmate of mine, Matt Johnson, so it was nice to get to visit with him as well.  What a crazy day so far.

Well when we finally got home we packed up a picnic, the kids, and the boat and headed to Iowa Lake, a place that me and my family used to go ALL the time when I was a kid.  I figured it had been at least 10 years since I had been there last and thought how sad was that.  We found a little site to grill up some brats and hotdogs.  Kevin got the fire started "Jeff Schafbuch" style by using a blow torch (it's my dad's favorite way to start the fires since they've gotten their fireplace).

Kevin, Dad, and Harrison hanging out together on our picnic blanket ...love that tiger print!!!

Bo even got to join us for this trip.  I tell you it's a handful for four adults to take care of three kids....how did my parents do it alone???

Look at my boys...how cute!!!!  After our picnic mom packed up the little boys and brought them home to clean them up and put them to bed.  Dad, Kevin, Addison and I were going to hit the water to see what we could catch.

Addison cast out her line a couple of times but she mostly like seeing the fish and playing around in the boat.  She did really well and stayed very safe which was a big concern of mommy's.  I was the self-proclaimed "game hog" as I got about 7-8 blue gills.  They weren't very big and I wasn't looking to catch anything else but it was fun reeling them in.  

My dad caught a nice little bass, so he caught the biggest fish while I caught the most.  Poor Kevin spent most of the time trying to sort out a huge mess his brand new rod and reel made after he made is second cast.  He got frustrated enough that he started clipping away at the line and this about mortifies my dad to see someone do that.  It was pretty amusing to watch and listen to the two of them.

One other truly amazing thing that I almost forgot about was the sunsets over the water.  Iowa is so beautiful in the summer time and it has been great being back when we could get out and enjoy the outdoors.  It was also great to get our daughter out on the water because it's one of the big things we miss most about our living overseas right now is not getting to go out on our boat with the kids.  It was a great time fishing and it was the first time I had ever been out until dark which was about 10PM.

We ended up with yet more drama before the day was over though.  Dad's motor had just had some repair work done to it but for some reason it still wasn't working right so we had to use the trolling motor to get us back to the dock.  Well, when they when to pull the trolling motor up to trailer the boat the string broke and dad and Kevin had to work on manually unhooking it to pull it up.  In the meantime as we are at the dock, some crazy people were trying to get their boat trailered and this guy has having a really tough time getting his motor into gear.  At one point he had the boat pointing perpendicular to the dock and the motor caught in a gear and he headed straight towards Addison and I sitting in Dad's boat.  Their boat ramped up over the dock and was literally 4 feet from my head.  I was so tired that all I could do was yell, "Hey, what the heck?" and then I saw Kevin dive over to push the guys boat off the dock and he exchanged a few words with the guy.  Then his boat was still acting up and Kevin yanked Addie and I out of the boat.  There were about 15 people around the dock and no one even flinched at what was going on which seemed really weird.  After a bit they finally got their boat out and then dad got his out and as we were ready to leave Kevin told the other people to have a "safe" and enjoyable rest of their evening.  The guy piped up and Kevin reminded him that a little common sense goes a long ways.  Most times I don't like Kevin to get to wordy with people but I was glad he did this time.  The guy hadn't said he was sorry or anything during the whole incident or asked if we were okay...I thought he at least owed us that for scaring us half to death.  The last words I heard the guys say as we drove off were "put yourself in my shoes."  Are you kidding me???  Who were the ones that almost got hit by a boat????  Anyway, it was still a great day of family, fishing and fun and lots of stories to tell.

Chia Obama....I'm serious!!!

I saw this advert on TV and thought it was a joke at first but they were really serious in saying that you could show your patriotism by buying the "Chia" Obama!!!!  Never have I seen such a thing in my lifetime and they started commercializing Obama like this even before he was president.  I checked out the website and you can order the "happy" or "determined" busts of the 44th President of the United States and on the side of it reads "Yes, we can."  Right now you can buy two Obama Chias for a bargain price of $19.99 + shipping and handling and celebrate the CHANGE in your own house they claim.  I tell you America....soon enough it's going to cost you a lot more than 20 bucks and you'll be able to "celebrate" CHANGE in your household courtesy of your President Obama and you won't get a nice little clay head that grows goofy sprouts on it.

Having Fun with Mama and Papa

A few pictures of my parents with their grand kids....

Time for a story

Addison gives Grandpa Jeff blue frosting kisses from those wonderful sugar cookies that are half cookie half frosting...

Bo and Harrison looking cute...

Helping Grandma load the dishwasher...

Addison found the life jackets that my dad got for the kids so they could ride in the boat.  She just wanted to wear it around the yard.  She was so excited to find a little frog friend in mom's garden.

Addie's First Dentist Visit

As I was getting to have my "6 month" check up with the dentist on this trip home (I got to go in at Christmas time so this was a treat), I had mom schedule an appointment for Addison as well.  I wasn't sure how soon you are really supposed to get them in but our health visitor in the UK recommended to do it soon so Addison would get used to going.

Since it was a bit scary for the first time, Addison got to sit on my lap as Dr. Demro looked at her teeth to see which ones had come in so far.  He said she has really good spacing in her teeth, a little tight in front, but should work out fine later on.
She sat at the little kid's table while I got my exam done waiting for Grandma to show up and hang out with her.  She wouldn't color at all though...she just stared at me in total wonder of what the hygienist was doing to me.

She was pretty excited afterwards though that she got a brand new toothbrush and a sticker that she could show off to Grandpa.

Catching Up with Amity and Cousins Rumble

Since this was a pretty short trip back to the States, the kids and I weren't planning to be back in Illinois which is kind of tough when we want to see all of our friends along with family in Iowa. But this morning I got the best of both worlds,  I picked up my sister and Bo and we all drove to Iowa City where I got to meet up with my dear friend Amity.  I unfortunately forgot my camera so I could take a pic of me and my buddy, but she did happen to capture a merry-go-round picture of me and Addison.  We got to visit for about 3 hours or so while we walked about the mall and had to cut things short since we had three tired and cranky kiddos.  It was so great to catch up with her even if it was for a short time.  It's great to have someone you can just pick right back up with even after not seeing each other for a long time.

The kids were pretty tired and when we got back to Crystal's this was the scene we had.  We let the sleeping beauties rest while Crystal packed a bag for Bo.  You see it was her and Heath's 2 year wedding anniversary and my gift to them was to babysit the little one while they got to go out.  Last year they didn't get to do anything for their one year anniversary because Bo was still in the hospital. 

That night at mom and dad's a huge thunderstorm came through and it was blowin', and rainin' like there was no tomorrow.  Right after Addie took this picture out on the back porch the wind REALLY picked up and the rain was coming down sideways.  In England, we get a lot of rain but in little amounts over a long period of time.  In Iowa, it seems that we get loads of rain in a short amount of time.  In this rain along I think we got about 1 1/2 inches in about an hour.

The weather wasn't the only thing that was rumbling in the house.  The counsins were having a ball again and at these ages you really can't get them to sit still.  They were much more interested in motoring around than sitting on Grandma and Grandpa's laps.

Play Date at Crystal Jo's

It was a nice hot July day in Iowa and we went to my sister's house for a little pool party play date. Crystal and Heath live in this amazing house in your typical American, mid-western suburb which gave me the itch to have that all back again. I think it was mostly the fact that I was getting to hang out with my mom and sister on a weekday and the cousins all got to play with each other and we got to just have fun together.

Addison loves to swim in any type of pool and I brought her little Fifi Flowertot arm bands all the way from the UK which of course you don't need in 5 inches of water but it got her so excited. She also got to float in Bo's little boat (again in only 5 inches of water) but it was great!

These two little boys are two peas in a pod and are so cute together. They seemed to do really well with each other today. I think Bo was feeling more confident being on his home turf.

Okay, I knew we were in America once I took a look in my sister's fridge and saw the quadruple sized Hershey's syrup bottle, the quadruple sized Miracle Whip container and the huge thing of lemon juice. I wish I could have shown you all the things in her pantry because they love to shop at Sam's!!!

Addison is in high heaven getting to play with new toys and explore a new house. I think her and Harrison are just beyond themselves with all the room they have and how open all the houses are that they keep getting to visit.

One challenge we keep running into with two little boys wanting to eat at the same time is high chair space. For lunch today we attempted to get Harrison to sit in the Bumbo with a tray and that worked pretty good until some of Harry's lunch fell on the ground and when he would go lean for it he about tipped himself over. I remember when I would go pick Addie up from daycare and they would have her sitting it one of these...she was so cute! I always wanted to buy one but couldn't swallow the $40 price tag on them for such a short amount of time they use them when a Boppy works just as well.

Harrison seemed to like Bo's toys as well. He climbed right on top of this bad boy and started squealing. We had a total blast and Crystal's house.

Celebrations....of all sorts!

We celebrated lots of things while being back home in the States.  One thing Kevin and I always get excited about is good old Midwestern American BEEF!!!  I'm not a huge beef eater but when I do have it, it is great to have the corn-fed good stuff and that's what Grandma served up for the "day after the 4th" meal!!!  So of course I had to take a picture.

Like I've said before...food is a huge center piece for our Schafbuch family get togethers so I captured a picture of our "leftovers" from the 4th of July meal that we snacked on the day after as well.

We celebrated a lot the fact that we got to spend time with my nephew.  Harry and Bo, both having a little more rest, were really having fun playing with each other.  Harrison had this crazy obsession with pulling out Bo's pacifier all day which Bo didn't really like much and Harrison doesn't like pacifiers, but it was something new I guess.  There is about 2 1/2 months difference in age between the two of them but you can't quite tell by there size since Harry is quite a chunk. But little Bo is walking circles around his younger cousin.

Bo had just turned one a few weeks before we arrived so of course we wanted to celebrate this joyous day.  We brought back a few fun gifts like a pair of cute green snake wellies, a jungle puzzle and a little British Mini-Cooper car.  Addison of course helped him open his gifts and claimed it was her birthday party.

My sister's birthday was also a few weeks ago and I was so excited to give her the cookbooks.  She as you can tell was also very excited to receive them.  I had gone through the books and put little post-it notes next to all the recipes that I have tried before or thought would taste good as English and American taste buds are a bit different.  I also had to put together a conversion sheet to help her figure grams into cups and tablespoons since it's not common practice to have a food scale in an American kitchen.  Also I picked up a set of the same conversion magnets I bought when I first moved to the UK that converts the Celcius to Fahrenheit.

One of the biggest celebrations we were back for was my cousin Whitney's wedding and since we were all back for the 4th we had a little family bridal shower for her.  She has grown up so much and I really felt old because I remember when she was a baby.  I also brought Whitney the Delia Smith "How to Cook" book and conversion goodies because I thought it would be cool to give her a little taste of Britian to bring into her new marriage.  Nothing brings a smile to a new grooms face like a good meal in his tummy!!!

Fourth of July Fun

We made our way back to the grand old United States of America to celebrate her birthday this year.  Our flights home went really well and since their weren't any hitches at all along the way, we did a lot of waiting.  But the wait was all worth it when we finally got off the plane in Cedar Rapids to see my mom and dad waiting for us.  We made it back to Marengo as the 3rd of July parade started but with signs of rain coming and us being totally exhausted we headed home.

  

The next morning my sister and brother were both at the house to see us and Addie got all cuddled up with them and Grandpa Jeff.

My nephew, Bo, has grown up sooooo much and is walking all over the place.  Harry and Addison loved getting to play with Bo in person versus just seeing him on Skype.  I don't think he was quite ready for all the attention from my two youngsters, but he got warmed up to them later that day.  

We went over to my Grandma Lynn's house for a big cookout and family get together so it felt like Christmas in July without the presents and we had rain instead of snow.  We are usually lounging around in lawn chairs but this year the cousins hung out in Grandma's living room.

I brought a little bit of British to our US celebration by making my favorite Eton Mess with a red, white, and blue flair.  Funny thing was that our local grocery store didn't sell merangie nests so I had to make them from scratch and they got done with seconds to spare before dinner.  Now in England all desserts get set out and eaten after dinner and this is something I had gotten accustomed to, but I forgot I was back in America and especially in "Schafbuchland" at our family gathers that all foods sweet and savory got put out at the same time.

Harrison loved getting to play with his Uncle Casey and it is amazing on how much these too look like each other...we hope they turn out a lot like eat other personality wise as well.  What a bunch of sweet hearts!

Addison was really digging all the sweeties and goodies at Grandma's house.  Grandpa Jeff didn't mind at all having her get her grubbly little fingers all over him either.

Here are my two boys...so serious looking!  I think they could both use a nap.

Addison was full of smiles all day!

One family tradition on the 4th is playing the bean bag game.  Since it rained they moved the tournament inside.  Kevin set up brackets and had teams broke out in the matter of minutes...my dad was so impressed.  Addison and Aubrey were showing the boys some new techniques.

The competition drew quite a crowd of spectators' in Grandpa's shed and his old Farmall M was a great seat for the show.

Bo cuddled up with my mom a lot.  She and my dad help watch Bo on the weekends when my sister and brother-in-law both work weekend packages at the hospital.  They have such a great bond with him and I'm glad they get to spend so much time with him.  He is such a cutie-patutie!!!

I so remember when Aubrey was Addie's age.  She was the youngest cousin and still is in my generation, but now we've got three little ones that seem to grab everyone's attention.  Addison loved following Aubrey around and I think Aubrey liked being the older one for once.  Bubbles have been a big entertainer for Addison and the two of them had a blast playing together.

First I want to thank my dad for letting me take this picture to illustrate to my British friends the meaning of "Farmer tan".  My dad is outside a lot and as you can see he wears ankle socks and developed a very distinctive tan line.  What is even funnier that is that he as another line from wearing these shoes and the base of his feet are even whiter than his ankles.  Love ya dad!!!

I love this picture of Addison with my Grandma Lynn.  I am blessed to part of such an amazing family and have my own family to pass on traditions, stories, and songs.

With us still being a bit jet lagged, my mom and I brought the kids back to the house before the fireworks show and we sat out on their deck to watch since they live just across the ravine from grandma.  My Uncle Kris lives in Wisconsin where fireworks are legal to buy and he brings them to Iowa where you can't buy them.  A few years ago they got a permit from the county so that we could shoot them off at Grandma's house and his been doing it ever since.  He and my dad have even built a rocket shooting platform for them.  I unfortunately kept dosing off during the spectacular light show so I had to  head off to bed.