Time flies

We have been reminiscing about the fact that 3 years ago (just a few days after coming home from 6 weeks in Ukraine) - I went down to the Twin Cities to begin a new role; leaving Karen at home with 7 kids - two of which were adopted and really knew nothing about life in a family. They would cry when it was time for supper; 'til they got their food, they would get into things, they wouldn't sleep, they would act up . . . lots of adjustments for their little minds and bodies. It did not take too long to realize that they needed some good solid structure and we got them into a pre-school. Now - Katie and Emie - along with Annie headed off to first grade this year! They have their own desks, Katie and Emie have the same teacher; Annie is in a different class. They left in their yellow school bus this morning and came home 9 hours later, a little tired, very hungry and all indications are the girls had a great first day.

At the fair

Rumor has it . . .

After an extended vacation - rumor has it the blog is going to fire up again. Lets get past Labor Day and then we have to share highlights from:

Davids Birthday
Emies Birthday
Annies Birthday
Katies Birthday
Summer at the cabin
Canoe trip to the wilderness
MN State Fair
Pergoooollllllllaaaaa!
First Day of School

Yep - that should about catch us up. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Emelia Anastasia Shervheim

Here is one of our first pictures of Anastasia (aka Nastia).


Emie (4) & Karen - Ukraine - July 2008


Here is Emie - celebrating her 7th birthday with us!! Emie has had a big week - she helped her little brother David celebrate his 4th birthday, has had Nana & Poppa here all week and they were able to attend a birthday party at her school this week and today has been - breakfast in bed, presents, a puppy cake from Kasey, chicken nuggets & french fries for lunch, Cinderalla in the afternoon and now pizza for supper (and of course - more presents).

Karen and Emie - 5 March 2011.

Emie has added so much to our lives - happy birthday Emie - and many more . . .

Love,
your forever dad

I’m 4 years old Daddy!

 

Papa helped me eat my Penguin cake, but we saved you a piece!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love breakfast in bed!

 

 

- David

Nearing the end of two handfuls

This is what Sam informed us of - as he was turning 6. He was now two handfuls. In his mind - ages 1-5 can be handled by just using one hand - so the magic of turning six was that now two handfuls were needed.

Despite what he says - the last 5 years have been a great joy. Sam is a wonderful son and has a mind that never stops. He is always thinking about a new invention, or how something works or a question that no one has ever thought of before. He keeps mom and dad on our toes.

Sam celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday. He had some friends from school over for a sledding party, Wii tournament and pizza and root beer floats; it was a fun day.

Sam - Jan 29, 2001 (hard to believe - this was before we had a digital camera).


and fun on the sledding hill;



and afterwards a cup of hot chocolate tastes sooooo goooood. . .



and playing Wii with friends is fun. Sam won his own Mario Kart tournament; but that is no surprise - because he usually beats all of us too.


and ending it all with pizza and root beer floats.

Happy 10th Birthday - Sam - we love you.

dad

Boy Genius . . . .

OK - when you are the 7th kid - sometimes the photos are not as frequent and the notoriety not as great - we are determined NOT to let that happen to David.

Here are a few photos from recent days of our little genius.

First - he has a shirt that he wears around that has a picture of Elroy Jetson and says, "Boy Genius"



But the past few weeks - he has been to the science center to climb on stuff.


Been to the Mall of America - to look at the latest Apple iTouches




and today used his brothers electricity set to build his own creation; (not smoke or fire).

He was a little frustrated when the lights, siren and motors did not come on - just a few basic rules of circuitry were broken in the process.

We love our Davey!

- Lee