Happy Holidays 1992

My Grandma and Grandpa Culp sent this Christmas greeting out in 1992. I got the card recently when my neighbors brought it over to me. In the photo my grandparents are seen in front of their house. My grandpa was so proud of his front window that he decorated in spectacular fashion each Christmas.

Evelyn passed away in 2002, shortly after Kylee and Makenna's first birthday.

The girls got a chance to know Fred before he died in 2005.

I sure miss them.

Family Trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan

Our summer calendar is filling up fast, so we decided to take a quick family get away while we had the chance. I checked hotel prices through HotWire for some area cities and went with a 3 star hotel in Grand Rapids that we got for $36 a night. This was an amazing bargain. I checked the hotel's website and the lowest price for one night was $120. The hotel ended up being an all-suites Holiday Inn Express with a nice breakfast included.

We spent one afternoon at Sagutuck Dunes State Park, on Lake Michigan.

Landen had lots of fun playing in the sand. We did not have so much fun battling the beetles and biting flies at the beach though. We also did not have so much fun getting there because we took a 25 mile wrong turn, then got in an hour long traffic jam.

Makenna swam the most at the beach. It was cold water.

The kids loved the pool at the hotel.

Landen is watching himself ride his bike on YouTube in the Apple Store.

Kylee and Makenna are sitting in a bowl of "Daddy's favorite cereal."

I liked the Grand Rapids Public Museum better than the Indianapolis Children's Museum. The exhibits were more aesthetically pleasing, it wasn't crowded and it only cost $19 for our family of five to enter - due to their summer special prices. We spent about four and a half hours touring the museum at a leisurely place. I would describe it as a science / history museum with an emphasis on history and a focus on how people lived in the early days of Grand Rapids, the late 1800s.

Kylee standing in front of a section of the Berlin Wall. In the exhibit photo just to Kylee's left, the section is photographed at Checkpoint Charlie when the wall started coming down.

There's no extra charge to ride the museum's carousel. We rode it three times.

Kylee and Makenna in Yesterdog. We all agreed, "That was a good dog."

We took one of the seats out of our van for the trip. It worked out pretty well, as this picture from our trip home shows.

What are you doing this summer?

I get the same question Robby gets. I think I sometimes even get the question with a tonal hint of "You're not just sitting around, being lazy, relaxing while you take the summer off from work are you?" I enjoy my summers, always have. And with the added knowledge of Robby's perspective, I will probably enjoy them even more from now.

So what am I doing this summer?

I'll probably run some errands on my bike, water the flowers, teach my kids, go to family camp, watch the turtles in the ditch, write some blog posts, read for information, eat some pop sickles, read some books, help at Bible School, watch some movies, sit on the porch, analyze my running data and have camp outs in the living room.

Most importantly though, what I'm doing this summer is spending time with my family.

Some Recent Pictures

Where to Find Us On Nice Spring Days. . .

in our driveway.

• Kristi and Makenna are roller blading.
• Makenna and I are coloring with sidewalk chalk.
• Landen is trying out the Razor scooter he got for his birthday.
  

The Kalahari

Kristi's parents took our family to the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio for a Christmas getaway. Even though our vacation was delayed about 4 hours due to ice, we had a great time. I'll just post a photo slide show and leave the description of the trip to Makenna, who covered the vacation here.

Back to the Hill

We went back to the sledding hill today (for about three hours.) Yesterday I described the hill as "fast, yet soft." Not anymore. The hill is now extremely fast and feels like slippery concrete. You would NOT have wanted to face plant into this surface. At the end of the run there is an upward slope, I guess to slow you down. Although, under usual conditions, sleds do not make it anywhere near the slow-down slope. Today, things were different. All of us had runs that brought us within a few feet of making it OVER the slow-down hill. It was amazing. Basically, we were sledding on top of three inches of ice. You could not even dent the "snow" by jumping up and down on it. Oh, we took six saucer sleds and the snow pack was so solid that we shattered FOUR of the saucers into pieces.

Kristi and I Together On A Saucer Sled
We slid about 400 feet in 20 seconds.

Here's a video of my last run of the day. The surface was so slippery, you could just sit in one place and spin in circles. I had the idea that it might be fun to spin and then head down the hill. My brother-in-law, Ben, thought that it was a good idea too, for ME to try. So we did it. Here's the video.

Face Plant

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if I would have had the camera on the video setting, this scene may have been worth $10,000 from America's Funniest Home Videos.

Makenna
(Click for full size.)
She popped up and said, "That was awesome!" afterwords.

Kylee, Makenna, Landen and I had a great time at the Nappanee sledding hill today. We stayed for nearly two hours. Our discovery: snow covered with sleet covered with freezing rain makes for perfect sledding conditions; fast, yet soft.

Landen made his first solo run down the hill today. He's only two, but he was in good hands. As you can see in the video, he had his sister to nearly knock him off the sled as she shoved him down the hill for his first ever run.

Makenna Look-alike Meter

Kylee Look-alike Meter

Landen Look-alike Meter

Trip to Indy

We took an after Thanksgiving family trip to Indianapolis. We spent Friday and Saturday night there and had a great time. My dad, who is traveling on business, was able to meet us for supper Friday night and go to the 2A state championship football game. He also took us to the Children's Museum on Saturday. We were so glad he was able to drive us there because the line for a valet to get our van out of the garage looked to be at least an hour long.

Here's most of what we did.

• ate at Qdoba in Kokomo
  
• walked around the Indiana State Capital
• went to Circle Center Mall
• tried to eat the the Old Spaghetti Factory
• ate at Jillian's (where my dad and I watched the end of the Purdue basketball game and the kids played games upstairs.)
• went to the 2A state championship football game at Lucas Oil Stadium
• swam
• got bagels from Einsteins for breakfast
  
• went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum
• ate at Currito
• saw The Polar Express in 3D at the IMAX theater
• got groceries on the way home
• ate at Qdoba in Kokomo again

We like the make-it-fresh burrito places.

Polar Express is not one of my favorite movies, but it was pretty cool in IMAX 3D. I would recommend it. Landen especially liked the movie (although he would NOT leave the 3D glasses on.) When it ended he asked if we could watch it again, then refused to leave until the last of the credits were rolled.

We stayed at the Westin and we very pleased with out stay. We stayed there for $55 a night - which was the bid I placed on Priceline when I made the reservations a few months ago. It was a great trip. The kids were very appreciative and well behaved, which makes the trip for me. Here are pictures from the trip.

Pumpkin Stew

My mom has an annual fall tradition of making Pumpkin Stew for the whole family. This year we enjoyed this special treat on Election Day. Awesome stuff! Thanks mom!

Two Short Stories

Landen, our two year old, usually spends Wednesday, Wednesday night and Thursday at his Grandma and Grandpa's. During our evening without "the Buddy." Kristi and I make it a point to spend some time focusing on our seven year old twin daughters, Kylee and Makenna. We usually head to LaFogata or Mancino's for supper. I love these evenings.

During the past few weeks we've had a couple of good family laughs during these meals. You probably "had to be there" for these, but here goes anyway.

At Mancino's the four of us share two of the daily specials; a turkey grinder and a pop. A few weeks ago Kylee and Makenna were sitting across from us sharing their pop, each sucking through their own straw at the same time. Kristi said, "Take it easy girls. . . you're starting to look like conjoined twins." After a few seconds, I added, "Yeah, joined at the cup." This tickled both of the girls, and soon, Kylee's pop was dripping out of her nose, which made the event even funnier.

Last Wednesday we were back at Mancio's. Kristi noticed they had a "Now Hiring" sign posted. I said, "That's something you don't see very often in Nappanee right now." Makenna then added, "Yeah, it's usually 'Now Firing." Not bad for a seven year old.

New Family Picture on the Side

We took this ourselves, putting the camera on timer and setting it on the Hacienda Frisbee holder.

Nappanee Apple Festival

We took full advantage of the Apple Festival happenings over the weekend. Some of the events we either attended or participated in included the parade, pedal pull, circus show, baby Olympics, church service, pet parade of fashion, and the 5k run.

Landen won all three events for his age group in the Baby Olympics and both of the girls held their own in the pedal pull.

Kylee ended up running in the 5K race. She won her age division (girls under 10.) She decided to enter when we got there and we didn't have our bikes, so Kristi couldn't ride along with her. We were a little concerned that she would get scared running the 3.1 miles by herslef, so we were so thankful that Dick Pletcher rode his bike along with her. This made it a lot of fun for her. Dick even put a call in to Kylee's grandpa in Las Vegas to let him know her progress during the race. She ran the 5k in 44 minutes, 30 seconds. Dick said she ran at least 80% of the time. Thanks Dick! And great job Kylee!

My goal for the race was to beat my previous best time. Trying to beat 26 minutes was in the back of my mind as well. I ended up finishing the 5K in 24:40. My previous best time was 26:49, so I guess the "race" aspect of the run inspired me.

Thirteen Nappanee Apple Festival Pictures

An Open Love Letter to My Wife

September 16, 2008

My Dearest Kristi,

Over the years our love has blossomed like a poinsettia at Christmas. A day without you is like a day without a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats. My love for you grows and grows - like a kudzu vine in Georgia. You are such a wonderful mother. Your work ethic puts even the busiest beaver to shame. I don't see how you do it all. The least I could do is give you some extra help.

I know shopping is not your favorite activity, so I decided to do a little early Christmas shopping to assist you. So, I ordered a Fit Bit for my Christmas present from you. That's right, you can cross me off of your list already! I know you are spending a little more money on me than usual. It's okay though. I approve. The way I see it, this Fit Bit will keep me healthier and is actually an investment in my future good health, which I'm sure will someday more than cover the $100 price tag.

Also, this order will work out perfect because the Fit Bits won't actually start shipping until December, right at Christmastime. When I discovered this, I knew that my "Christmas shopping" idea was simply meant to be.

One more thing, my love, if, after reading about the Fit Bit, you decide you would like one for Christmas too, go ahead and order another one. Then on Christmas day we can simply trade Fit Bits.

I think this is going to be the most romantic Christmas ever!

All my love,

Steve

Busy, Busy

The beginning of the school year is a notoriously busy time for elementary school teachers. I'm always excited to get the new school year started though, and enjoy this busy time. I haven't had much blogging time recently, so I thought I would post a few pictures from the past week.

Foster Parents

My sister Meagan and her husband Chris have two children and just became foster parents to two more. Meagan has a post that will tug at your heart here, regarding their foster parent experience and interaction with the birth mother.

Life Action Family Camp

We had a blast at Life Action Family Camp last week. I would recommend this vacation to any family that enjoys:

• growing in their relationship with Christ
• growing closer as a family
• eating great food
• having some help with the kids
• being able to participate in lots of fun activities
• participating in outdoor recreation
• spending time together "away from it all"
• learning how to further grow your family once you return home

They are probably close to being booked for 2009, so if Family Camp is something you are considering, you'll want to check into it soon. Also, here is a link to a sample schedule from this year's camp.

Zoo Day

We went to Potawatomi Zoo today. Landen had fun naming the animals. He was really cute. We bought a family zoo pass. The family pass is $55. It not only gets us in for free at Potawatomi, it also includes free admission to over 150 reciprocal zoos across the country. It's a good deal and will encourage family outings this summer.