Christmas morning 2015

This was the first year the boys knew about Santa. I will definitely do things differently next year. They wanted to shop for their own presents. So there weren't very many surprises under the tree. Now they understand how much fun it is to be surprised. Next year we will go back to a Christmas list so that they can be surprised. We did start a new tradition this year. Last year I bought the boys each their own nut cracker. This year I bought another nutcracker to add to their collection. Their nutcrackers this year are on music boxes. A couple of highlights from Christmas this year were new Nerf guns, rip sticks and remote control cars.

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve is always spent at the Felsheims house. We arrived at 1:00 and ate potato soup for lunch. We enjoyed hanging out with the immediate family. We exchanged gifts around four. I made a wreath for Debbie.  Then the extended family arrived at 6:00. We love getting to visit with everyone. Reuben was Santa's helper again this year. He did such a great job that I think he might be the permanent "helper". 

Beau

Inservice day

The boys got to spend the day at the farm with grandma and grandpa. 

Halloween 2015

Tuesday we carved our pumpkins.  The boys had their ideas ready and carved their pumpkins all by themselves. Evan opted for a white gord. 

This year West el let the staff and students wear costumes to school. Logan was a cowboy. Beck, Sara, Kelly and I dressed up at fish. We were One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. 

We invited all of the family over for dinner and trick-or-treating. We had three different soups and tones of great food. The kids all enjoyed trick-or-treating and came back to the house ready to start trading. It's always fun when we all get together. 

Big Buck 2015

Reuben and I were kidless a couple of weekends ago. The boys went camping with Aaron and Dawn. So Reuben asked me if I would go hunting with him. It was a beautiful weekend and I decided it would be fun to see what he does when he goes hunting. 

We started off the day going to brunch. Then we went to Cabelas to buy some camo for me. We headed to the farm around 3:30. The weather was amazing. The farm was beautiful with the leaves just starting to turn. 

We changed our clothes and headed into the woods. When we got to the tree stand we prepared to climb the tree. Reuben went first. Then I started to climb the ladder sticks. Once I got to the top I could feel the tree swaying in the wind. I stood there with my arms around the tree not wanting to turn around. I finally settled into position and enjoyed watching the squirrels playing on the forest floor. 

About an hour and a half into the evening a small eight point buck appeared right before my eyes. He grazed for a few minutes and left. The sun began to set. The view was picturesque. We noticed two young bucks. They were across the fence line about 200 yards away. They were digging, eating and sparing. The sun finally dropped and the Bucks headed our way. They walked down a gully and back up the hill toward us. Once the two bucks came up the hill we noticed a third buck. He was a big boy. Reuben wasn't sure if he would be able to see through his peep in the low light. He drew back on his bow and dropped the pin. 

Hunting season 2015

Saturday evening Reuben took Evan hunting for the first time this season. They bought another tree stand so that Evan could be up in the tree with Reuben. They also had to buy new camo because Evan had grown out of his camo from last year. Reuben borrowed uncle Chad's gun for Evan to use. This is Evan's second year as an apprentice. He gets one more year as an apprentice and then he'll have to get his own hunting license. They didn't see anything that night. 

Logan's first day of school

August 20, 2015 

First day of fourth grade. 

Mrs. Fisher and Mrs. Elash

George Felsheim

Reuben's grandpa George passed away on (  ). So we went back to Wisconsin for his funeral. We stayed with aunt Mary and Dave Sweeny. We love staying with them. We love to stay up late and talk and laugh. 

The visitation was on Friday, September 4, 2015. We got to visit with family and say our goodbyes to grandpa. We got to see David's uncle David who is Helen felsheim's brother. David was named after his uncle. Reuben was also given the name David for a middle name. We also gave Logan the middle name David. We took a picture of all the Davids. 

The funeral service was at secret heart Catholic Church in Dodge, Wisconsin on Saturday morning. There was a full mass then we walked up the hillside to the burial plot. Grandpa was laid next to grandma Helen. 

After the funeral we had lunch at the church. Then aunt Laura and Uncle Tom invited us over to visit with all the immediate family. We took some fun pictures with all the cousins. We were only missing Tommy Loken. 

Then we went back up to Dodge to visit great-aunt Jean on the farm and her son Randy's log cabin house. I love the beautiful scenery. 

Coney Island August 2015

David's work had a picnic at Coney Island. We all went except for Chad who had to work. We got there before lunch so the kids could enjoy riding the rides. After lunch we went to the pool. It was hot that day but had been cool the whole week before. The water in Sun Light pool felt like ice water. Around 5 pm it started raining. We left the park and went out to dinner. We had a fun filled day. 

Giants vs. Bengals

Tonight Reuben and I are downtown at the Bengals game for date night. Reuben got tickets from a co-worker. The boys are having fun with mema and papa. They went to steak and shake for dinner. 

Evan's first day of school

Evan started fifth grade on Thursday at Herratige elementary. He was attending school at West el. where I teach. Both boys have been at my school for the past three years. We made that change due to Lakota not having bus service. But West only has k-4th grade. So it was a natural transition for Evan to change school districts. Lakota now has busing for Evan to be transported to school. 

On Wednesday we went to the open house. Evan got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Willicut. He got to see the classroom and meet a few of his classmates. We wondered around the school and checked everything out. Evan was most excited about the playground.  He noticed how everything was so nice a new looking. 

He started feeling more at ease with going to a new school. 

The next morning he was up and ready for the day. He has to start getting ready on his own because Reuben and I leave for work before Evan has to get on the bus. Luckily I don't start school until next week. So I have been walking Evan to the bus stop. 

When I saw Evan get off the bus on the first day he was smiling from ear to ear. He said he had a great day. He told me all about his awesome gym teacher. He played with josh from his class who we met at open house. Later that evening Josh called and wanted to talk to Evan. They talked on the phone for nearly 30 minutes. It was so cute to hear their conversation about what they like and playing video games. 

I was so surprised to see how many kids were at the bus stop I decided to take a picture today. 

Beau boy

We had friends of ours dog sit while we were in Indianapolis for the weekend. Bill is a wonderful photographer. He took this beautiful picture of Beau while he had him. 

We absolutely love our Beau boy.