Patrick is 8!!!!!

Patrick is 8 years old today. HOLY COW!!! Where does the time go? He is such a fun, lovable, big hearted little man. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. Patrick is our child with the BIG heart. He will do anything for anyone and always is the first to take care of someone hurt. Unless he is the one hurting Connor ;).

Pat and I can not believe it has been 8 years since God has blessed us with him and we look forward to watching him grow and seeing the plan God has in store for our little guy.

We hope you have a wonderful birthday and we love you buddy!!!

Winter

Winter is finally here. The kids our loving it. This weekend we have some friends staying with us and the kids have been outside as much as they can tolerate the cold. They get all bundled up (including Trixie) and head outside. Then come in for hot chocolate and to get warm until the next trip out. Last night I let them go out after dark. we turned on the flood light in the back and they had a blast. They stayed out until about 8:00 when I made them come in. My kids love to be outside and play as much as possible whatever the weather. Next weekend we are going to start skiing. Pat is getting out the equipment and resetting the kids skies to fit this year. More pictures of that to come. We can't wait.

Connor's Kitchen

I just thought this was a cute picture. Connor got this kitchen set for his birthday last year and always loves cooking up great "plastic" meals for Pat and I. The kitchen was open tonight with "Thanksgiving left-overs" as Connor said. So he made us some turkey sandwiches, potatoes, and his favorite pumpkin pie. Thanks Connor, daddy and I always love your wonderful food creations.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well, we had a great Thanksgiving. We went over to my Aunt Ann & Uncle Kyle's house in Marne. Most of the Scott family was able to make it, except for the Chicago group. We had a ton of food (as usual) and played "Scene It", "Trivia Pursuit" and as always watched the Lions. It is always nice to be able to get together with family and just relax and eat. We all have so much to be thankful for and are a very blessed family. I hope everyone else had a lovely day and enjoy this wonderful holiday season.

Happy 10th Anniversary Pat!!!

Happy 10th Anniversary Pat!!! Tomorrow October 18 is our 10 year anniversary. Holy Crap!!! That means we have been together for almost 12 years now. We were barely 16 when we started dating, we were such babies. I think back to when we were engaged and everyone thought we were crazy. Many people I am sure didn't even think we would make it this long. But we knew what was right and knew how we felt and you can't put an age on love, I guess.

Now three kids later and many stressful, blessed, and wonderful moments we have shared, we are still together and still very much in love. Pat you are an amazing husband, father, and friend and I can't wait to spend many more years with you. I could live without hunting season though ;).

*by the way sorry for the picture, but the camera charger is missing and I haven't been able to get any new pictures downloaded.

First Day of School

Well it's official they are all in school full time. This is a big year of changes for our family, not only is Connor starting Kindergarten (and mom will not have any kids home :)) but the kids are going to public school. They have been at Our Lady of Consolation for the past 5 years. Pat and I needed to make the decision to transfer Mara, due to her health and learning issues so we decided to transfer the boys also. So not only are they at a public school, they don't have to wear uniforms, and they get to ride the bus. I have drove them everyday to and from school always. They were so excited, and a bit nervous, but were really looking forward to a great year.

They all got to school and after a few tears (okay, so I cried) everything was fine. Yesterday I was cleaning and trying to finish laundry and my wonderful husband asked me why I was cleaning yesterday. He said, "You have waited 10 years to be at home alone, why don't you clean tomorrow." I of course responded with, "Exactly, I have waited 10 years and I am not spending my first day cleaning." So I went and got coffee with my grandma and we went a did a little shopping. It was wonderful.

I am SO proud of my brother!!!

I am so proud of my brother. He moved to Chicago a few years ago to pursue his acting and music dreams. He never was really the guy to sit in an office and have someone tell him what to do, as many of you who know him would agree.

Since he has been in Chicago he has built his career and has now started an awesome band. I have not been able to hear them live, but look forward to that in September. I have heard many of Kevin's songs through the years and he really is a very talented kid. Keep up the great work guys and don't forget to always dream big, and great things will happen.

I wish Kevin and all the guys in Action Finger the best and can wait to meet you all and hear the great music in September.

Connor says "ROCK AND ROLL, UNCLE KEVIN!!!!!"
check them out at www.myspace.com/actionfinger

Wabasis Lake

We had another fun day filled with sun, water, and ice cream. My mom and I met The Walsh's out at Wabasis Lake and took the kids swimming, had lunch and on our way home went for ice cream. It was a blast and the kids and I always have fun with our friends. Can't wait until next time.

A visit to the Taylor's Cottage

We went to visit our friends The Taylor family at their cottage yesterday. With the 90+ degree heat it was wonderful. Connor and Grant are "best buddies" as they say so they always have a great time. They are trouble in the making trust me (look at those smiles). Landon of course is just so cute we could just eat him up. He is a blast and watches everything the big boys do.

We had so much fun and always enjoy time spent with the Taylor's. Thanks for letting us visit.

Connor at his best :)

Well I needed to post this, it is Connor at his best. We love him dearly, but he sure does test every ounce of patience that Pat and I have. He is ALWAYS one step ahead of us and is way too smart for his own good. We do love bedtime :)

A visit from the Ellison's

Pat's oldest brother Brad and his wife Carie and their kids came to the cottage to visit us this weekend. The kids had a fishing contest to see who could catch the biggest Bluegill and Patrick won. Hunter our nephew took second. Then we took the kids to get ice cream. They had a blast and we loved having them visit.

Enjoying our Summer!!!!

We have been spending every weekend at the cottage and love it. The summer has been beautiful and the kids have been turning into little fish. The are all swimming, tubing, and even skiing (Patrick is the only one to get up yet). Even Trixie learned to surf. She loves the water, and the fish :). The boys go fishing with Dad every morning and once in awhile Mara and I will join them. I usually just bring a book though, my attention span for fishing is way too short. They get so excited about their catches and I am even noticing the "fishing tales" are starting with the little guys.

We have one of the apartments ready to rent and have had eight check- ins already this summer. It is going well and we hope to have all three ready to rent next summer. Two will be ready for ice fisherman and snowmobile riders this winter. Hope every one's summer is going well and unfortunately only one month left until school starts.

Fun Weekend!!!

I am really bummed, I was not able to take any pictures of Mara's Epilepsy walk. My camera battery was dead and I think I left the charger up north (of course!). Anyway, the walk went very well. Mara raised close to $300 all by herself and the entire walk raised more than $16,000 for the epilepsy foundation. We had a lot of family join us and we thank everyone who, walked, donated, and just sent us prayers and encouragment through everything.

I on the other hand am a bit bummed, there were different raffle prizes (which I never win) but Pat and the kids usually have pretty good luck. No luck for any of us, but my niece, who is 9 won a free night at the Amway Hotel and our cousin's girlfriend won a gift certificate to Target. Which is always a plus.

We had a great time and Mara is already planning for next year.

Pictures on the Boat

Just for fun some pictures of the kids on the boat. Mara and Patrick love to go out to the sand bar, but Connor doesn't like to have to stop fishing so they can swim.

Our "Little Catcher"

I just thought this picture was too cute. This is Patrick being the catcher at his baseball game. It cracks me up that they have the kids wear all of that gear. Half the time they can't even see the ball and fall over trying to catch. It is very cute though.

The Cottage

Well it is summer again and we are THRILLED!!! We try to spend as much time as possible at our cottage on Chippewa Lake. It is so much fun and relaxing, now that all the work is done.

Connor is our little "fisherman". All he does is fish from the minute he wakes up until he goes to bed, and I am not joking at all. Patrick is the dare devil of the three and our little "fish" he loves the water and will try any water sport there is. Last summer at 6 years old he learned to ski and this year he wants to master knee boarding. Mara just likes to relax and work on her tan. She has all her sunscreens planned for different amounts of tans. They all enjoy the ice cream / candy store next door to us. we have been making them do work to earn money, but sometimes the adults just want to sneak over for a little ice cream, so we grab a kid to make ourselves feel better.

Well there will be many more posts for the summer and we can't wait. Maybe I can even get some of Pat and I skiing, but I am not sure if I trust Pat or Wade to pull me skiing yet :).

Summer Stroll for Epilepsy

So, I saw Kate had a blog and I wanted to be cool like her and start one too. I don't have our camera at home right now, so I have to use old pictures.
As many of you know Mara was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. She has had a pretty tough year with all of her health concerns, but things are going very well and we are very confident in our doctors and their staff that she will be able to live a normal and happy life.
Mara and our family decided in order to help us and many other families struggling with this illness we wanted to wok together to raise money and build a team for the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan. We would love for everyone who is able, to walk with us on June 16th in Grand Rapids to join us. If you are not able to join us for the walk and would like to donate money please feel free to let us know. We would love any donation even in the form of prayers.
Thank you to everyone who has been a support to us through out this long year.

I will get our camera home this weekend and add new pictures of all of the kids. Enjoy our new blog!!!