Happy Anniversary to us!

We were married on August 6, 1999 in Ft. Worth, Texas. Danny was 21 and I was 20 (we were kids!!!). We were both full time college students and working full time jobs in Missouri. Some say the first year is the hardest. We both agree it was the easiest.

Here we are on the day of our 5th anniversary. We had arrived just a week earlier in Graz, Austria. Nathan was 9 weeks old. The last couple of years had been quite the ride with moving a couple of times, finishing school, new jobs, losing a baby, traveling the country raising support, and then saying good-bye to family and good friends to move to the other side of the world. Yet, we were more in love than the day we married.


Now here we are-- 10 years of marriage. Danny is 31 and I'm 30. Looking back it doesn't really feel like it's been that long. Then when you mentally think of all the things we've gone thru as a couple... yeah, 10 years sounds about right ;) As of today (Aug. 6th 2009), we have two babies in Heaven (one before Nathan and one just last Christmas '08). Nathan who is 5 years old and Micah almost 3 years old--the twinkles in our eyes. Oh the fun we've had on this ride!

Happy 10 years to us! God has blessed us more than we deserve. I'm so thankful for Danny. He's definitely the smarter one, the more patient one, the kinder one, well, I'm not that bad... he's just awesome! I know most everyone says this... but I can now say it's true. I'm more in love with Danny today than I was 10 yrs. ago. What did those 2 kids really know?!?

Ahhh... Italia!

Italy

Last summer we were invited by friends to join them for a weekend in Italy at the beach. We had a blast and so much so that they invited us to make this a yearly trip together. We were able to save up for a little bit longer of a stay this year and what fun we had-- as usual.

Jaydon & Micah being silly (Madi watching).

Brothers building stuff.Nathan & Madison-- being their typical goofy selves.
Andreas & Angela are actually very happy people, though this picture wouldn't prove it ;) LOL! Just didn't get the right timing for them. haha.

Visiting a Castle

We were invited to be guests at a Castle. What a fun day this was for us! The lady who owns and lives here wanted to meet us since she was unable to attend a funeral that Danny was the minister a couple of weeks before.

There was a jazz band, great food (really great!), and a sweet lady who took the kids all over the grounds and then to color and eat and just entertain them. Micah was not into it very much... he's been our clingier kid... especially in situations where he has never been before or with people he's never met. But he's not bad or really annoying.... just sits near us and enjoys the company. Nathan, however was more than happy to disappear and have fun with our friends kiddos. There was also a traditional marching-type of band that came at the end. The name in German escapes me at the moment, but they were fun to watch.

Isn't Micah a cutie?!? I didn't get pics with Nathan because he was more than happy to be elsewhere.
My sweet friend, Angela.

Final day

So I thought we would get up and go home... but everyone wanted to go for a hike. As I look back I didn't have the best attitude about the whole thing. Partly because this was during the midst of my sick stage of pregnancy.... foods bother me, smells bother me, movement bothered me, etc. The other reason is... I'm just not a "take a hike to no specific place for no specific reason" kind of person. But again... my guys (all 3 of them) had a great time and that is really important!

To prove that I was there here is a picture of the 3 moms getting our hiking boots on... ignore the rag on my head... but it's day 3 and I've not showered since I left our house. I have oily hair and am disgusted with myself at this point in the trip.

We stopped at a cabin that an older lady lives in and she sells homemade bread to hikers. Yes, I'm shocked that there is a nice car up there... I was really confused as to how it got there considering the road is either gravel or cut out of the mountain.

Visiting with more cows...

I think they had fun... look at those smiles :)

Camping Day 2

Day 2 of our camping trip was interesting to say the least. It was actually the highlight for me (because I like cold weather and am not a huge outdoorsy (is that a real word??) person. haha. It started raining the night before and we woke up to rain. So inside we stayed. After breakfast (Danny made an awesome breakfast of sausage, biscuits, and gravy from scratch. He pre-made most of it before we left home and then just cooked it that morning) the adults sat around talking and drinking coffee. The kids played in the "loft" and tried to entertain themselves with the few board games we brought (we didn't bring lots of indoor stuff because we weren't planning on being in doors) and that lasted for a little while.

While sitting around the table I was staring out the window and thought the rain was looking weird... seemed 'thick'. Another hour or so later we were all looking outside and you wouldn't believe it! It was SNOWING! July 18, 2009 it was snowing. It continued the rest of the day. It was fun sitting there by the wood burning oven and playing dominoes and Catan with our friends. The boys did get restless and were climbing the walls thru-out the day. But we kept snacks going for them, read books, played games, and doing whatever we could to keep everyone happy. So on day 2 of this camping trip we all stayed inside a tiny little cabin with the exception of visits to the outhouse.

Here's our outhouse and "cooler". You can see a bit of the rain turning to slush.

It's looking like white rain :)

Dominoes!

Taking a breather from being stuck in the cabin... but we didn't pack really warm clothing.

The big boys in the loft ready for bed. Nathan had so much fun doing this. He attended Kindergarten last year with these 3 boys. His really close friend is Fabian the one on the far left. He's such a good kid.

Here we are playing Catan by candle light because after being in the cabin all day the very small solar panel went out. The couple of light bulbs we had ate up all the energy. It was an experience getting ready for bed in the dark... funny too, no one really packed flashlights, candles, etc. Our family just wasn't prepared because we did not know what to expect. There were some dishes and a lantern. My cell phone however puts out a lot of light come to find out ;) You can tell in this pic though that we're all tired from just sitting for the day. But didn't want to go to bed so early that we would wake up before the sun. haha.

So day 2 ends....

-krista-

Camping Day 1

We were supposed to go in June, but a major rain storm canceled our trip. So we rescheduled for a weekend in July. We went with 2 other families that we've become friends with thru Nathan's Kindergarten. Both families have 2 boys each within the same age groups of Nathan & Micah. It's a really good fit when we hang out with these families.

On our way to the mountain where the cabin was located we had to stop off at the home of an Aunt to one of the families to get the key (which was a HUGE iron key the size of my fist!). The Uncle said a calf was born just 5 hrs. earlier. The boys were excited to see it.

Here is our cabin that housed 12 people. 6 adults and 6 kids ages 5 and under. No bathroom unless you count the outhouse to the left of the picture. A wood burning stove. A hole under the floor boards as our 'fridge'. A sink the size of a Football helmet that we had to hook an outside hose to. Notice I'm not mentioning anything about a shower. Also, you will pick up on the idea that I do not like camping and this weekend--though I was thankful for the chance to get better acquainted with these families, not to mention see my guys loving it all--was no change in my opinion. I am not a roughing it type of person. Yes, I grew up in a 3rd world country and have some stories I could tell that would make this weekend seem glorious, but it's been a good 12 yrs. since I've lived in the Philippines and let's say I've adapted to life in it's current form ;)
But these boys loved it all.... and I'm glad.
Nathan has a very good reason for keeping an eye on that piece of meat-- I mean, cow. He was nearly trampled over by some very territorial cows shortly after arriving on this mountain. He was on his way down a little hill with the other kids and I noticed a cow behind him with it's head bent down a bit and breaking into a RUN toward my son! Danny couldn't get to him in time so he chunked a decent sized stick at the cow and it stopped just in time. If I had my way we would've split that cow between the 3 families and had a nice full freezer this fall/winter. The cows were so obnoxious as it was the whole weekend. This is their summer grazing place and were not shy about just coming up to you and relieving themselves as we ate by our campfire. Danny the country boy was not bothered by anything of course and yes, if you were wondering I am a city girl :)
We taught our friends about S'mores the first night. Then it got cold and rained so we called it a night in the small cabin.

Champions

On the 4th of July weekend the Styrian Bears finished their first year as an official team. They played in the lower level championship game and won!! They had t-shirts made that said "First Year. First Bowl. First Title." It's been a wonderful experience for Danny and fun too.

Nathan & Micah have really enjoyed watching their Daddy play Football. Micah has taken to it so much that he wakes up with football in arm (bec. it slept with him) and wanting to play in the living room, or watch a game on tv INSTEAD of cartoons! No joke.

Opening ceremonies. Austrian Flag. Styrian Bears in white/blue.

Sometimes players get hurt, but thankfully it's never been overly serious. Danny has injured his shoulder a few times, but nothing some rest and shoulder exercises can't fix. His sister, Bekah is a Physical Therapist so a phone call here and there and he's good to go :)
There's Danny, #73.. arms in the air and excited that they won!
Danny receiving his medal with Nathan (Micah is there somewhere too).
This is he best shot I could get :) Both boys wanted to 'have' the trophy.... had to explain it's the TEAM'S.... not Daddy's. haha.

Passing the time...

During the summer the boys would have moments of "I'm borrrrred." So one day I got out the finger paint and let the boys go to town! They had such fun. Micah was concerned that he would get in trouble because he was so messy/dirty... I explained that this time it's ok :) haha.

We spent our summer riding bikes, swimming, play dates with friends, going to parks, among other things. On rainy days we played inside and colored, used play dough, watched movies, had living room picnics, read books, wrestled, and visited indoor playgrounds.

Hope your summer was fun and exciting!