the stroms

Saturday, July 25, 2009

A busy Saturday...

We started that day at my parents block party. Things have changed a lot since we were kids...except for the water games! Here is Jackson filling up the buckets for Poppa (my dad has done the water games for as long as I can remember...still the best part!)

We bought these cupcakes at Tammy and Dave's auction and Gramma froze them for us. They mostly enjoyed the frosting.

Caleb and the holey can. He wasn't going to play but saw how much fun Jackson was having and decided to join in.

Jackson with the holey can. He was hilarious...so little and so cute. There are videos of both boys at the bottom. (How can I make the video be in the right spot?)

Gairette

Balloon Toss

Cup on the head. So willing to try everything, Caleb sat this one out.

Then we headed to Aunt Louise and Uncle Dave's for "summer birthdays". The boys got to play with this when they first arrived.

A bunch of Cars stuff, toys for the sandbox and two happy boys! Thanks everyone for the great gifts.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

SANDBOX!

This morning Papa came over bright and early to build the boys a sandbox for their birthdays. Everyone was excited to help out!

The sandbox is in place. After this the boys and I went to the Zoo and came home to the finished product...

Do you think they like it?

Many thanks! Come on over and play!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

smoothies

Good till the last drop.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

4th of July Parade

Caleb and Jackson rode in the kids bike parade before the real parade. I had Jackson's bike all decorated and he started crying and ripping it all off saying "I don't like it!" He is one stubborn little guy. I also told him to give me a good smile for this picture and this is what I got. We rode down the parade route and stopped at our seats, which was about a block!

I am my father's daughter...I woke up at 7am to drive down and set up our spots for the parade! They were perfect, every band or group stopped right in front of us and performed for us, even the Jessie White Tumblers.

Jackson waving at the firetrucks, Caleb covering his ears because the sirens were too loud.

Jackson got these few pieces of candy right away and just sat there holding onto them.

Surprise! My parents, Brooke, Olivia and Leslie were in the parade! They were on the float for the 2016 Olympic bid. At the 'Taste of Chicago' they signed up to be volunteers and chose the Glenview parade as their first assignment! The boys loved when they came by us.

"I'm proud to be an American"

So there was this red line painted on the ground and the kids were supposed to stay behind it. We told Caleb that and he was such a good listener. When we would see someone coming by with candy or something we would tell him to go stand by the line. He would put both his feet right at the line and wait for them to come by him.

Here they are watching the Jessie White Tumblers. It was a great parade and a great day!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Fireworks...

Caleb has told us over and over again that he doesn't like fireworks...but we still try! This year my dad let him borrow these so the fireworks wouldn't be so noisy.

As it turns out, neither of the boys enjoyed the fireworks. This is how we watched them! Caleb was very proud of himself for "taking little peeks" every once in a while, Jackson would not look at them. Next year?

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Erik's Ordination

Here we are sitting at one of our many meetings.

This is at the morning meeting where the delegates agreed to accepting Erik for ordination.

For lunch we were able to get together with some good seminary friends.
Jason, Ethan, Trish, Maren, Courtney, Joel, Erik, Alia, Greg and Jen

We haven't seen eachother in almost two years. Jen made this comment..."you look the same as you did last time we saw you." I was pregnant then too!

Dinner with more good friends. Benj, Erik and Jared

Marit, Courtney and Chrissy

The Ordination service was such a special time. It felt like one big worship service celebrating all these men and women that God has called to ministry. I know they all felt very affirmed in their call to serve around the country. I was so proud of Erik, he has put in so much time with papers and interviews, it feels great to be on this side of the whole process.