Christmas Vacation

It seems like we were just packing for our trip to PA and we're home before you know it! Check out Karis playing "boxing" on her cousin's Wii. She was amazing... knocked them out in a flash.
I spent most of the first two days in PA on my mom's sofa... tired and nauseated. It gave me the rest I needed to enjoy Christmas. This is my mom, me, Nance, Mary Ann and Shirley at Nance's house on Christmas Day.

This is Ben's cousin, Josh, his wife, Kate and their little one Lucia. This was our first chance to see her... what a cutie! Thanks guys for taking the time to see us.

This is the traditional Christmas Eve photo with cousins Caleb, Jonathan, and Erich. Grandma and Grandpa's fireplace always serves as a perfect background.

We were able to catch lunch with Adam and Carrie Hegedus Christmas Eve day. It was great to see them after two years.

Sorry we were unable to see everyone this trip. The family time with our sisters, niece, nephews, parents and extended family was much overdue. We wish everyone a wonderful New Year. More pictures to come...

Tis the Season...

This is our first Wisconsin Christmas tree! We arrive too late to put one up last year. It was quite an adventure to get since the snow was coming down rather quickly this weekend. We got another 8 inches last night into today. The cool part about snow is that it provides an opportunity to help out your neighbors. So many of them do not have snow blowers!

Pregnancy update... We heard the heartbeat last week... yes, only one! Nausea is still an issue. The Midwife pretty much told me to "suck it up" and refused to give the very much recommended Zofran. We're hoping this goes away before the long drive to Pennsylvania. I started wearing maternity clothing this week. I think it emphasizes the positive... a growing belly!

First Snowfall...

We got our first snow today. Ben is blowing the snow off the driveway as I'm typing this. Karis can't wait to make a snowman and go sledding! Baby update... we are oficially 12 weeks today. Unfortunately, the end of the first trimester did not bring relief from nausea yet.

Karis the "ROCK STAR"...

Karis was playing "ROCK STAR" this morning as I was wrapping some Christmas presents. This picture is a little fuzzy, but it just shows how much she was shakin' it! Karis decided to name her band "Christmas Town." Notice the antlers on her head.
This one's a little clearer. Pregnancy update: nausea and fatigue... I'm now on medicine. It's not eliminating the nausea, but it takes the edge off a little. I overdid it yesterday trying to Christmas shop. We are trying to get things done early since the Christmas season is so crazy with church, plus planning our trip to PA.

Our BIG news...

We are officially announcing that Karis is going to be a BIG SISTER! She tells everyone that she's going to be a big sister and her mommy has a baby in her belly. Sunday (16th) will be 10 weeks- 1/4 of the way through. This pregnancy is much defferent... nausea is all day and fatigue is even more extreme. However, we are excited to celebrate our dream of having another child. Baby Newman is expected to arrive around June 14th... the day before Karis turns 5. We don't plan on finding out the gender, unless there's more than 1. Yes, that's a strong possibility.

12 years!!!!!!

Today we are celebrating 12 years of marital bliss! This picture was taken last night. We went to the "Tiny Tim Gala" at the La Crosse Center. It is a big fund raiser for the free medical clinic, a transitional housing program and the cancer fund that I work with on a daily basis. I was honored to be a greeter. Ben joined me for the dinner and the silent auction. We were at a table with several of my co-workers and their spouses. It was fun to dress up and go out to eat grown-up food! Chocolate dipped cheesecake was the highlight of the night.
Ben and Tim watched the PSU/Iowa game yesterday. We were sad to see PSU lose, but it was nice to have a friend watch the game with Ben.

Happy Halloween!

Check out our Halloween crew! Karis went "Trick or Treating" with Autumn, Lilly, Isaac and Hannah. She got LOTS of candy and had a good time as a fairy princess.
I attended a conference in Minneapolis this past week. Ben and Karis joined me for a few days. They explored the city while I was in class. Charles Schultz was from Minnesota, so there's a lot of the Peanuts characters hanging around.

Ben in his glory!

We ate some interesting food. Check out the lobster corn dogs!

Ben and Karis also explored the aquarium at the Mall of America. Karis was petting a stingray in this picture.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY Weekend...

Ben took me away Friday night to Saturday to celebrate my birthday. Jeni came over to watch Karis while we were on our trip. What a blessing she is to Karis and us! We went to Rochester for dinner and then headed to Minneapolis. During our 24 hour get-away, we were able to do some Christmas shoppping and see a little bit of the city.
Karis's gift to me... these two cool pairs of Halloween socks. I can't wait to wear them to work! Today we went to Applebee's to get a brownie sundae. We were pretty worn out from our trip. Plus, Ben taught today at church.

WE ARE... PENN STATE!!!!

Ben had the honor to go to the Penn State/Wisconsin game Saturday night with Dr. John. He was so excited to see PSU play live! It's been over 12 years.
The Nittany Lions did not let Ben down. He said it actually would have been more fun if the score was closer.
Ben and Dr. John posed for a picture before leaving our house Saturday afternoon.

Visitors and a New Roof...

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where everything was done in reverse? This is a blog done in reverse. The finished product... our new roof.
The old roof and the delivery of the shingles. Cory and Elliott did a great job on the house.
Ron and Gerlinda Saylor, family friends from York, came to Onalaska this past week to visit some friends of theirs. They took us out for dinner and we showed them the church and our house. Karis thinks it's neat having visitors from Pennsylvania.

A "sickly" week...

It's been over a week since I've done an entry. We've been busy trying to get germs out of our house. Karis started throwing up early Saturday morning. She stopped by about 10am, but was worn out the rest of the day. Eric and Rob came over Sunday night to watch the game. Ben started throwing up around 9pm, and not because the Eagles lost to the Bears. He finally stopped throwing up around 5am Monday morning. He slept much of the day away.
Monday night, Cris and Cheryl, Ben's uncle and aunt, arrived. The had been planning to visit since we found out that we were moving to Wisconsin because they wanted to attend Oktoberfest. They never got there because they both got sick. Since it start within 12 hours of their arrival, we think they brought it with them. Cheryl was sick most of the day Tuesday, and Cris had a sore throat and a fever Wednesday. They left early this morning. I'm sad to say that this is my only picture of them. I'm happy to say that they are both feeling better.

One not-so-sick moment from the week... Karis is enjoying her swimming lessons. She is putting her head under water and looks forward to going every Wednesday. Amazingly, I have managed to stay healthy this week. I hope this is not my famous last words.

Our WHIRLWIND weekend!

We had an amazing 4 day weekend in PA. We drove 2000 miles round trip for Ben to perform his cousin, Amanda's wedding. The wedding was just a part of the fun! I had the chance Friday to eat lunch at the Olive Garden with Mary Ann, Shirley, Mom and Nance. It was great catching up and eating great food.
Friday night, after rehearsal, we stopped to visit our friends Ken and Jamie.

Ben had "grill envy" as Chef Ken showed off his new backyard toy.

Saturday morning, Ashley showed off her soccer talents. Her team won 3-0. She's the cutie with the pig tails.
The wedding was at 4:30pm Saturday afternoon. The bride was beautiful, the groom was beaming, and the pastor was both handsome and well spoken.
This is a picture of Ben's cousins, minus Melissa, along with their spouses, Grandpa Les, and Dave, Amanda's dad.

My new hobby...

Here I am showing off my new bowling shoes. Yes, I have joined a bowling team! My co-workers and I thought it would be fun. The hospital is sponsoring us, and our shirts should arrive within a few weeks. My score tonight was BAD, but I had a lot of fun. We're also meeting some really nice people.

Friday Night Football

We're becoming Logan High School football fans. My co-worker's son, David, plays on the team. He's number 44. This was the second game we've attended this season.
They lost to Aquinas High School 20-0. Aquinas was the state champ last year.
This is Sue and Sue after the game. Sue is wearing her son's "Logan Powerlifting" sweatshirt. Maybe Penn State will have better luck than Logan tomorrow.

"Corn Maze"

Today we ventured to a corn maze in West Salem. The Burkhalter family joined us. Autumn, Lilly, Karis, Hannah, and Isaac stopped to pose for a picture.
There were several "check points" where you stamped a card. This was one of those stops. The kids really got into this part of the "maze."
After completing the "maze" we played around on the farm. We ate hot dogs, fed the goats and played in the yard. Karis and Hannah pretended that they were animals in this picture. We even got home in time to watch the Penn State game!

First day of school! First day of school!

This was Karis's first day of preschool. She is now going to the same daycare but in Onalaska. Check out the new outfit! Karis picked it out with a little help from Mommy. She likes the cool spin around toy outside, the BIG tv, and the food. Her teachers names are Ms. Ellen and Ms. Tina.

Our productive weekend...

We've had a busy and productive weekend. It started with going to a high school football game Friday night as we cheered on #44. The son of my co-worker, Sue, had his varsity debut and THEY WON! Saturday was the Onalaska pool's "Doggie Dip." Even though we don't have a dog anymore, it was a lot of fun to watch.
A shout out to Tim, Kelly and Micah Black... these dogs remind us of theirs!

We also managed to paint our bedroom! Gone is the Easter egg purple on the left. We now have "Eeyore" on the right... more of a blue color. It fits us better. Notice the bed has also been moved to another wall.We still have some things to finish up. Ben is putting on new closet doors and we hope to add a flat screen above the closet in the future.

Niagara Cave...

We ventured to Harmony, MN today to tour Niagara Cave. It was discovered in 1912 when three pigs fell into the cave. This is a picture of the 60 foot waterfall.
The temperature was 48 degrees and we were about 200 feet underground.
There's a mini wedding chapel. Karis said that she didn't want to get married there because she wants to get married in a "real" church. It was very narrow at some parts... quite an adventure!

Sesame Street Live!

Sesame Street Live kicked off their new tour,"Elmo's Green Thumb," in La Crosse last night. We had a great time... and so did Karis. Ben was excited to see his favorite, Ernie.
The storyline was about Elmo trying to find a place to plant his flower. Big Bird had a nice garden and the whole gang was trying to pick the perfect spot.
Abby Cadabby, my favorite, worked a little magic to make the flower grow, but it backfired and made everyone small instead. It was kind like "Honey, I shrunk the kids."
At the end, the perfect spot was found, and Abby managed to work her magic to get everyone back to their regular size.
This is Karis watching the show... she never looked away!