Sorry...

It's almost embarrassing to post on my blog after such a long hiatus! Sorry for my absence.  Life just has a way of slipping by when you are busy with 5 children plus doing foster care!  Let me see if I can do a quick re-cap of our life since the last post!

We took in a few Twins games this summer.  Their new stadium is very nice!

Rich was even featured on their giant screen as they honored foster parents across the metro area with a special pre-game event.  He was chosen to represent our county as there were all 7 metro counties at this tribute to foster care.

Each year we make our annual trek north to Rich's hometown for the small county fair.  My kids still love it and especially love getting together with cousins up there.  Peter rode his first horse/pony this summer and loved it.  He wants to be a farmer when he grows up and he LOVES animals!

My vegetable garden did well this year despite the frequent visitors right outside the fence.  This fall we expanded the size of our garden and will put new, higher fencing around it to keep out these hungry deer!

Peter has always LOVED Thomas and all things trains, so this was a dream come true for him to ride on Thomas when he came to the Duluth Train Depot this summer.  It was a fun day up north with his cousins!

Hannah turned 15 this summer and now has her driver's permit so she is enjoying practicing her driving skills!  Hard to believe we have TWO teen drivers now! This was taken on the last day with braces...after two years she finally got them off.  BEFORE...

and AFTER!

We spent a lot of time at our lake home in Wisconsin this summer....so relaxing...

Taylor turned 17 this summer.  After much thought and prayer, we decided to home school her this year.  She is now in 11th grade and is doing so well at home and at her homeschool co-op...here's her classroom!

Hannah is in 10th grade this year and is loving her second year in high school!

Hard to believe buy my twins are already in 4th grade!

The summer flew by and before we knew it, the leaves were changing colors and fall was here:

The little guy above is our friend, Andrew.  As of this past weekend, he's also my Godchild!

Spent Thanksgiving with my parents...

Now we are preparing for Christmas and the celebration of Jesus' birth!  We've been busy shopping, baking and decorating.  I am looking forward to shutting my etsy shop down for a while and just enjoying the holiday season once all the work is done and we can just relax and focus on the meaning of this season!

I've already added some Valentine's Day and St. Patricks Day items to my shop...

Whew!  That was a very quick review of the past half year from this bad blogger!  I still follow all of your blogs and enjoy keeping up with you although I have not kept up on mine!

Merry Christmas and blessings for a wonderful 2012 from my family to yours...