Overdue Post from August

To celebrate the last week of summer and before school and fall activities start - we took a trip up to the cabin last week. It was a shortened week; only being there between Friday and Wednesday morning, but as always - we had lots of great family times. Our helper Kelsey was there with us too. A few of the highlights captured in pictures.

A trip to the Taconite plant in Two Harbors for a factory tour; we got to see how they make taconite pellets from the iron ore mined in Babbitt. Very interesting. Also, Anne seemed to have put away all her fears of vehicles, she rode on the 3 wheeler, 4 wheeler and was a huge sport to ride in the canoe as well. Sam took his first kayak solo trip on Delay Lake and did great. A morning spent at the beach in Beaver Bay, lots of campfires and s'mores and a great time was had by all.

Little Girls

We had the privilege of being with family and attending the 2012 Albert City Threshermens show this past weekend. One of the highlights was seeing family and visiting Karens' mom - who is a resident of the Pleasant View Nursing Home. We brought a musical extravaganza. The little kids sang songs and danced; Daniel played piano, Andrew juggled to fiddle music and the multi-talented Brown boys dazzled with their guitar, mandolin and fiddle playing. A few fun photos to remember the day.

Katie's 9th Birthday

Katie turned nine on July 19th. Here are a few photos from the day. We waited to celebrate until Andrew, Daniel and Sam came home from Sioux Falls. She had a great day; lots of presents and lots of fun.

Summer Vacation 2012 - the cabin

Some fun shots from our week at the cabin - lots of great times -

8 Years Old

It is hard to believe that eight years have gone by since Anne was born. She is a very bright light and it has been so much fun to be her dad. She has the most remarkable points of view and it has been so fun to see her grow and develop her mind. She is learning to read now - and doing really well at that. She loves life and we love her. A few photos to remember the day by; it started with breakfast in bed, pancakes and then we opened presents, had a cookie cake and just had a great day at the cabin. Anne talked to her nana on the phone today and despite being a gray and misty day - it was still fun to be out and about.

Happy Mothers Day

This post goes out to Katies' two moms! Katies mom in Ukraine reads our blog and we are very happy and proud to share pictures so she can stay in touch with Katie.

Katie has started playing in a baseball league on Monday nights. She loves to play ball. Last week she played third base and stopped 3 balls from going through. She was able to hit the ball two times and also took her turn playing really well. She is in a baseball league called Miracle League and all of the kids who play love to come and play ball. Katie is very good at ball. She can catch, through and and hit the balls. Katie is always happy when it is time to go play ball.

Rainy Saturday #2

Katie and I drove over to Blaine on Saturday afternoon; we have signed Katie up for Miracle League Baseball. Katie is such a sports nut. She loves any sport where a ball is involved; and she is pretty good and handling. We play catch and basketball and she is learning. Katie has a lot of energy and we thought that Miracle League ball would be a good fit for her. I will be her coach and we will be playing our season starting next Monday night in Blaine at the Miracle League field.

I bought Katie a glove yesterday too - we are still trying to figure out if she is right or left handed - right now she can throw equally well with either.