This past weekend the weather was finally warm enough to spend time outdoors with getting frostbite with 30 minutes. As a result, we used the opportunity to go on a nighttime hike to hear the trumpeter swans at Lake Rebecca and hit the sledding hill at Baker Park. In addition to our outdoor fun, we held a birthday party for Jacob on Saturday to celebrate with family. Minions were in fashion, appearing on shirts, cakes, and as a piñata! Tonight (Monday) we celebrated Jacob’s true birthday by spending the evening bowling and eating pizza. It was a great weekend!
In keeping with our tradition of creating an audio Christmas greeting, we’ve put together the following rendition of a favorite holiday carol. We hope you enjoy it!
Hark! The Fam’ly Members Sing
When the year became ‘15
Jacob now has 4 years seen.
Winter’s cold and there’s no snow,
Sledding, skiing we can’t go.
Up to Deep Portage again,
Climbing, hiking, sleeping in.
Easter’s coming, col’ring eggs,
Mommy’s tummy getting big
Hark the Werth Family Sings
Winter’s gone, and now it’s Spring!
With warm weather fin’lly here,
End of school is drawing near.
Late one night behold him come
offspring of Elise’s womb.
The third brother he is here,
William Michael hath appeared.
Off to home with us to dwell,
Brothers think he’s pretty swell.
Hark the herald angels sing,
Summer’s come, end of spring.
Glorious weather hath arrived
Gardens, plants have greatly thrived,
Off to Taylors Falls we go,
Fam’ly chilling, swimming whoa!
P’rades, baseball, and stitches too,
Off to Florida Jon hath flew.
Hail the fun of camping out,
Town festivals were all about.
Hark the weather’s drawing cool,
Soon we’ll be heading back to school.
Fall has come and bapt’sm too,
Jacob’s off to join preschool.
Pet Bella has flown today,
Henry had his third birthday.
Up to Saint Johns, MEA,
Pumpkins costumes Hall’ween fray.
With the end of year soon here,
We give thanks for this past year.
With blessings to you we sing,
Glory to the newborn king!
Our awesome realtors once again invited our family out to Coldwell Banker’s Trees for Toys event held at Camp Tanadoona. Unfortunately Grandma Cathy was sick, but we had lots of fun hanging out with Grandpa Fred. The event is a drive for toys, while you get a Christmas tree to take home! Other activities included talking with Santa, a pancake breakfast, and a horse-drawn hay ride. The weather was quite nice and the tree made it home safely! Now… where to put it?
With sickness overcome and swimming lessons complete, we were looking forward to a four day weekend relaxing with family. Mary and Larry were hosting the Kelly’s and we enjoyed spending the night in Eden Prairie. Teresa even stopped by bringing tasty turkeys! On Friday the gingerbread came out as everyone enjoyed decorating cookies.
On Sunday, we spent some time in Glencoe, experiencing Grandma and Grandpa Fred’s new house! The surprise of the day was seeing Aron and Sam at church, as they were down from the far north for the weekend. It was an enjoyable holiday weekend.
Halloween arrived and we decided to drive to Saint Paul and cheer on TT as she ran in the Monster Dash. It wasn’t the best weather, but she did well. The highlight of this race is always observing the wide variety of costumes, including bananas, minions, and superheroes.
After the race and a nap, it was time to carve the pumpkins! We spent the afternoon giving our pumpkins faces, before donning costumes and visiting our neighbors. Even Grandma and Grandpa Fred were able to join us! The boys had a lot of fun trick-or-treating and the weather cooperated nicely!
With Halloween just a week away, we decided it was time to find some pumpkins and start getting the costumes prepped. On Saturday, we drove out to a nearby pumpkin patch in search of the perfect pumpkin. Jacob, Henry, and Mama each found one they liked and we brought them home with us.
After naptime today, the sun was shining, offering good weather for a walk around town. We walked along the river, first stopping to see the progress being made on a floodwall (or rather, the foundations for one) being constructed on Bridge Ave. The boys both enjoyed seeing the large backhoe, along with finding and making use of walking sticks alongside the river.
The weather has turned cooler recently but this past weekend was a glorious few days. To take advantage of the weather, we hopped in the van and drove to Lake Rebecca where we went for a nature walk. The sun was shining and the boys had a great time.
August was a good month. Overall, the weather was nice allowing for much time outdoors, and we were able to see family a lot. There was a baby shower, high school friend get together, baptism, random visits, and Nanny and Jack’s anniversary.
On August 16th, we officially welcomed William into the faith, celebrating his baptism with godparents Dave and Caitlin. It was a bit warm, but everyone survived and enjoyed mimosas with brunch afterward. The boys were looking especially handsome for the event:
Dapper dudes!
During this time, Jacob and Henry were eagerly tracking the progress of their new pet Bella, as she progressed from caterpillar to Monarch butterfly.
With the start of school right around the corner, both Mama and Jacob are getting excited. Jacob is beginning all day preschool and is eager for the opportunity.
With William being only two months old, we thought it might be a little early to take the whole family camping. Instead, we opted for the backyard campground and the older boys (Papa included) had a fun night in the outdoors.
The evening started off with a good splash in the pool, complete with water squirters. After dinner, we settled in to the tent and after much giggling, enjoyed our peaceful night amongst the sounds of nature.
This past week we had the opportunity to relax and spend some time with the Werth’s (Fred, Cathy, Teresa, and T’s boyfriend Brian). We all arrived in Taylors Falls on Sunday afternoon to get settled in to our vacation rental where we would stay for the next three nights.
On Monday we traveled down the Saint Croix in our canoes and kayaks, while taking in the scenic cliffs and soaring eagles. Later that day, we hiked through Interstate State Park, while marveling at the potholes that were carved by the water and rocks of the glaciers. Tuesday morning brought a trip to the Franconian Sculpture Garden, where we meandered around acres of sculptures. That night we finished up with a short fishing trip. After packing up our things on Wednesday morning, we drove a few miles up the road to Wild Mountain. We spent several hours soaking in the sun and getting drenched in the water park. At that point we said our goodbyes and started our trip back home, with all three boys napping within minutes of getting buckled!
All in all, we were blessed to have some great family time with good weather to boot!
