Werth Family Online
For a work conference, I had the enjoyment of traveling to Las Vegas and was able to get in a full day of sight seeing. After seeing the strip (Fountains at the Bellagio) and the Stratosphere, I rented a car and drove to Hoover Dam followed by Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The sites were amazing and despite the heat it was a peaceful and awe-inspiring day.
Merry Christmas from the Werth’s!
Greetings young and old
The year has flown away
O’er the months we go
Regaling it today
Jacob he turned 5
Minions on his cake
Swimming lessons and bowling lanes
To Deep Portage we shakeOh, Jon’s car got run over by a driver
Coming home from work in the cities
Bluebird house building, Easter egg hunting
Lots of bicycling in the springWe kept on landscaping
To build a small prairie
And soon William turned one!
The cake gave him no glee.
The backyard pool came out
Tee-ball and running hard
We raised another butterfly
And tented in our yardOh, Elise and Jon flew to the nation’s capital
Seeing D.C’s sites and visiting friends
Road trip with the family to Fox River
A final vaca ‘fore the summer endsThe fall did come
With school to start
With Jacob in Kindergarten
Elise went to Deep Portage
And Henry’s fourth birthday upon usThis, this is Halloween,
Spider, turtles, and cowboys
Haste, Haste to finish up
The road construction a’fore usWe took a trip up to Duluth Harbor
Pumpkin trains, big ships, and waterfalls
Nature walks
Papa Hunting deer
Indoor soccer practice til the end of the yearWe have our Christmas tree dec’ed and ready
Gifts have started showing ‘neath the boughs
Soon the year will end
Next year starts anew
We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a new year to…To All our friends and family
Have a happy holiday
Best wishes for the coming year
Peace and joy to you we pray.
On Saturday morning, we headed to the local bowling alley for two games of fun. Both sets of grandparents and aunts met us there, and we had lots of fun rolling balls down the lane. Afterward, we headed home to enjoy some delicious pizza and Henry’s choice birthday cake: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!
After a morning visit to the Walker Art Center, the family traveled to Hudson. Normally, we would be cheering on one of the aunts in a race, but today was a bit different. Instead, today we would cheer on Jacob in his first triathlon!
After a picnic lunch, Jacob got his gear checked in to the transition area with guidance from TT. After some instructions, the kids were off! A 40 foot swim was followed by a 1 mile bike and a 1/2 mile run. The entire time, there was a nice, big perma-grin on his face. He had a blast!
After heading up north to the wedding of Caitlin Kennedy (now Royce), Elise and I swung through Eden Prairie to pick up the boys and start off on the road trip of the summer. While the boys did great, we hit some pretty awful traffic and didn’t arrive at our destination until late at night. The destination? Holiday Inn Fox River Resort.
Over the next 6 days, we enjoyed hanging out, golfing, and lots of swimming. The boys also had a great time hunting down the 10 foxes hidden throughout the resort, finding them near the horse stables, pools, or while using a paddle-boat.
During our down-time, we also enjoyed watching the summer Olympics, with Jacob and Henry’s favorite swimmer: La-Ducky. After a great week, we hit the road to head back home, making a scenic detour and pit-stop in our old haunt: Iowa City.
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!
