Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day from beautiful Minnesota! Today we went canoeing down the St. Croix river from Talyors Falls. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Cameron, Julie, Baylie and Payton were in one canoe. We had Bryndie in our canoe. That was cause for alittle excitement! She thought it was great fun to rock the boat so that Grandma had to hang on for dear life! She also had fun splashing Grandma from behind.....although most of the time she laid down with her feet up, eating M&M's! We will have to get a picture of our canoe from Julie!

Payton thought it was great fun, but didn't understand why he couldn't paddle instead of Julie! He also kept asking to come in our boat......Baylie did take a turn paddling and did a great job.

Jeff, Annette and Vincent were in their own boat. At first Vincent wasn't sure about it, but after a few minutes he decided it was OK to sit behind Annette instead of on her lap.

We got out on a sandy island and those who wanted to went swimming. The little boys loved it!!
Bryndie was the first one wet.

Birch, Jeff, Julie, Cameron and Baylie decided to swim to the rocks across the river. It was pretty deep out there.

I think it was farther away than they thought, but they all made it. Most of the time the river was pretty shallow. In fact we could have walked alot of it....but it's much more fun in the canoe!

Cameron and Baylie climbed up on the rocks and jumped in. BRAVE!

Julie was down below to catch them!

We went about 7 miles and after 3 hours, we were ready to get out. We took the shuttle bus back to our cars. The boys both thought that was great fun! Getting to ride in a bus!!!!

We drove down to the state park and climbed around on the rocks for awhile, and watched the paddle boat go by, along with a few eagles......

It was a great day. We ate at our favorite car-hop, drive-in, downtown Taylors Falls. We missed our family that wasn't here. Sweet-potatoe fries Jason!!!! Cheese curds Jana!!!!! Many great memories of canoeing for many years down the St. Croix river with the kids at different ages. Ballet in the river Jolyn!!! Cameron, the beached whale! Fun times!!!

Birch came home and crashed! The perfect way to end the day. Happy Labor Day! Good-bye to summer!

A Day in Duluth

Friday we went to the Duluth Zone Conference to give the missionaries their new phones. We left around 9:30 or so. On the way up we stopped at Tobies in Hinckley for lunch. I think everyone stop at Tobies when they go up north! Of course we had to have their famous cinnamon rolls! After Zone Conference, we went out to dinner with President and Sister Howell, Lori Beth, the Rudolphs, and the Harkers. The Harkers are just finishing their 2 year mission and will be heading home to Utah this month. We went to dinner at the Scenic Cafe, right on the coast line of Lake Superior. Great food! After dinner, we decided to go on the midnight cruise....actually it left the dock at 9:30. It was a beautiful night with a full moon shimmering on the water.

Here is Sister Harker and Sister Rudolph looking down at us from the second story of the ship.

We were on the first level with the Howells. Several people asked us about our badges....one thought we were the tour guides! We said no, just missionaries!!!! (do you want a pass along card?)

Here is the lift bridge. They had to lift it for us to go through. There were several large ships that had come in that day. It was interesting to see them and hear about their travels and how much grain they were loading...Lake Superior is really an interesting place! I guess there are lots of sunken ships and scuba divers love to explore there.

We had a great time and got home about 2:30 am! Good thing we could sleep in Saturday!

Fall is just around the corner!

After Sunday dinner....fun little kids! We love having them come over

I think Payton just finished his ice cream. Baylie and Bryndie are such good little helpers. They really know how to take care of their little brother.

This was our trial mission picture...... we took about 20! and we are still not sure........

Last week we had 25 new missionaries come to Minnesota! Wow! what a busy transfer! That is the most this mission has ever had come at one time. We opened 6 new areas! I am always amazed at the amazing young men and women who come! 25 new missionaries and 25 trainers!

It's the last weekend of August but it feels like October! I love this cool weather, but sad to see summer go. We have been busy around the house. Tony and Jana left a few weeks ago for Florida and now Tony is coming tonight to drive their belongings to their new home. We miss having them here. They are enjoying their time with Jolyn and Daniel. I'm so glad they will only be 10 minutes from each other. We can't wait until October to go see everyone! Especially Baby Girl Stevens!

Everything is going along pretty good. Jasper is still in PICU. He is stable and hopefully will start to grow soon! He will probably be there at least a couple more months. We love him!

Life at the mission office is great. We have made friendships there that will last forever. It's kind of sad to see our time there winding down. They are still looking for our replacements....any takers????? Our mission papers are submitted................just waiting for interviews and then we should know where we will be for the next two years.......scary!

We'll keep posting!

Summertime

Summer is here although the last two days it's only been in the 60's! Jason arrived a week ago so the whole family is here except Daniel (in Florida) and Jasper (still in the hospital...) we miss them both! It's been a fun week. Birch and I took two days off from the mission.....we have had fun playing with the little and big kids! Check out Jana's blog for pictures! She's doing a better job updating than I am! Jason left yesterday for Iowa. He's riding his bike across Iowa with a big group of bikers. They ride 70 miles a day, sleep in tents in the fields every night, Sunday-Friday! He was pretty excited about it....hopefully he survives!!! (that's a mom speaking).

Jasper is doing good again. Hopefully they can take the ventilator out again tomorrow. Check out caringbridge.org (jasperbirchholt) for updates. We sure will be happy when he can come home. He is two months old tomorrow.

Little Jasper

Jasper is still in PICU. He is now over 6 weeks old. He's starting to look older and today he is pretty stable. He had a few set backs this week but it looks like he is back on the road to recovery. We are patiently waiting until he can go home and we can give him lots of loves. He sure is a sweet little baby, and is enduring this earthly trial as well as he can! His mom and dad are pretty special too. One nurse said he is almost ready to wear a little outfit....Grandma is going shopping!!!!!

Summer is here!

Summer is here! We saw our first fireworks of the season sitting on the Delong's lawn, during Father Hennepin Days. They have a beautiful home on the Mississippi River. We had a perfect view of the fireworks display.
Part of the fun is watching all the boats on the river. By the time it's dark, the river is covered with lights from the boats.

We had a great time with good friends. Last week, Grandma and Grandpa Holt came for a short visit. They were on their way home from Kentucky, where they were visiting friends. We enjoyed their visit. One night we all went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the Mall of America.

The girls thought it was fun but the little boys were alittle afraid of the loud thunder noise and the animals. Kade was afraid of the steam flowing over the back of the seat, but he finally calmed down when they brought him a light-up cup!

Kade stayed pretty close to mom and he hated the big alligator at the front of the store. I guess that's a good thing since they are moving to Florida!

Here's a four generation picture! We wish our little Jasper Birch could have been there!

We love to be with our family! It's so fun when everyone is here.

We also went to Elm Creek Park Reserve while they were here. It was a beautiful day to be at the lake. Everyone enjoyed the sun, sand and water. It was actually our 34th anniversary, and Grandma and Grandpa Holt's anniversary the same day. We went out to dinner that night to celebrate.

Kade loves the water! He stayed in the water the whole time we were there!

Vincent likes the water and the sand.

Happy Anniversary!

Baylie and Bryndie had fun with Grandpa out in the deep part of the lake.

This week Grandma and Grandpa Holt left and Jolyn and Dylan came! Today we went to the lake again. More fun!

Swimming Lessons

One day, on our day off from the mission, we went to watch the girls swimming lessons. We had Vincent that day, while his mom and dad were at the hospital with Jasper. Baylie did a great job jumping off the diving board.

The boys had fun playing on the bleachers with Grandpa and after had a great time running in the basketball gym!

Both Bryndie and Baylie are good little swimmers! It's a good thing since alot of summertime is spent at the lake!

Once again, I am reminded of swimming lessons as a child (I loved the lessons, but hated to dive...), as a mom (watching Jeff take B1 over and over again), and now as a grandma! (I think this is the most fun!)