Adopt-a-family 2010

It was another successful year for our annual Adopt-a-family project!  For those of you who don't know, in lieu of giving each other gifts, our family has opted to "adopt" a family in need and buy gifts for them instead.  This year we "adopted" a family with 8 kids who needed a little help to make Christmas a merry one in the gift department.  With everyone's GENEROUS donations and purchases, we were able to get each child several articles of clothing along with at least 2 toys/items on their wish lists.  We were also able to give a grocery gift card and a Visa gift card as well.  We have done this for a few years now and it gets better every year!  I am the "organizer" and while most people think that is a big job, I really love it!!  What better way to express the "reason for the season" than to be able to give to our brothers and sisters in Christ and share the gifts that He has richly blessed us with.  Thank you again to ALL who made this year's event a huge success, your generosity is humbling!  May God bless you and keep you this holiday season!  Merry Christmas!!!!

More words from the little man

Josiah continues to expand his vocabulary daily and keeps Seth and I in stitches with the words he tries to say and the ones that come out clear as a bell. He has been fascinated with the phone lately and always calls "Gamma" to chat...we don't know what he tells her but he sure seems to know what he's saying! A few days ago he helped me decorate the Christmas tree...we only used a sparse few non-breakable ornaments in anticipation of him wanting to undecorate/redecorate but surprisingly he doesn't touch them! He just wants the lights plugged in and he's good to go:-) He continues to enjoy watching "Signing Time" DVDs and has learned a LOT of words from them. He was watching the "Happy Birthday" one for a long time and has now moved on to "Move and Groove" He loves to "sing" Happy Birthday and he now knows how to "sway", it's pretty cute if you ask me but you can judge for yourself...take a look:

Fun-filled weekend

I just realized that it has been a month since I blogged anything but in my defense, I have tried SEVERAL times to post a video I edited of Josiah and his new words but Blogger and I are not seeing eye-to-eye on the issue since it refuses to upload the video....grrr...  November literally dissolved this year, I have no idea how it is December already but here we are.  As I have said before, I absolutely LOVE this time of the year as the snow starts falling and Christmas lights go up and the world seems like a softer, friendlier place in general.  I realize that isn't true if you venture into a mall or superstore but if you stick to quieter places, you'll find that it's true:-)  This weekend was a whirlwind of holiday preparation and fun.  Friday night was our Small Group Christmas Party (we missed you Rogers'!!), this year's event was an "Ugly Christmas Sweater" contest. We all hunted high and low to come up with our most hideous ensemble.  It was a close race....until Matt showed up and then it was all over, he won HANDS DOWN!  Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

The Friedts

The Millers

The Kelms

Aren't we festive??!

 Saturday morning found Josiah and I at the portrait studio with Erik, Vanessa and Addison.  All we wanted was a picture of the kids together in the outfits that Grammy Cindy bought them....simple, no?  Um, yeah, maybe if they were not TRIPLE booked with people!  Our appointment was at 10:00...picture taking commenced at 10:40.  The whole thing took us 2 and a half hours and was quite a circus...at one point, Josiah joined another family in their Holiday photo because I was busy picking poses and pictures and he moves like lightening.  Oh well, they had a bunch of kids in the picture already, I'm sure they won't notice one more:-)  Even though it was a work out for all of us, the results were worth it, here are a few sample photos, these are not the best ones, you'll have to wait for our Christmas card to arrive to see those:-):

"I'm outta here!"

Silly face!  Cheeeese!

"Let's look opposite directions so they can't get a good shot!"

And again...we did eventually get a good one, it will be on Cindy and Gary's Christmas card!

Saturday afternoon, Auntie Blair and Uncle Brian wanted to take the little boys sledding so we bundled them up and ventured to our old stompin' grounds at Harriet Bishop Elementary to get in on the fun!  I have no pictures yet but stay tuned for those, it was a blast!

Josiah spent Sunday at Nana and Papa's  while Seth and I headed to Marc and Jen's to help with the ongoing "settle in to the new house before baby arrives" process.  They have done an amazing job so far and the place is looking great!  They will be done just in time for baby to make the grand entrance in a few weeks:-)  Henry and Robin were there to help too, here are a couple shots of the "painting party":

Henry Bug was the project manager for the day

To paint the wall or not to paint the wall, that is the question....

As you can see it was another fun-filled weekend for the Friedt's, hope your weekend was a blessing to you also!

Sleep easy Grandpa

On Saturday morning, our family lost one of it's most patient, gentle, generous and respected members when Grandpa Greseth went home to meet his creator and take his place in Heaven among the angels and others who have gone before.  Words cannot express our sadness at no longer being able to hold his hand or give him a hug but we are grateful that he is in a better place and isn't suffering anymore.  Sleep easy Grandpa, until we meet again may God bless you and keep you!

Bring on the costumes!

As most of you know, the Beckers L-O-V-E to dress up for Halloween:-)  We have an annual party that started years ago at Grandma Sissy's and has moved to my parent's house as the crowd grew.  Every year we STRONGLY encourage guests to don their most creative costume and come over to "compete" with everyone.  Josiah was dressed as a cow and Seth and I were farmers because Josiah is OB-sessed with E-I-E-I (Old McDonald) lately:-)  Usually all costumes are top secret until we show up at the party so it's always fun to see what everyone comes up with.  A little change at this year's party was the addition of the "Best Costume" contest complete with a non-biased judge.  My mom's good friend Carol came over and carefully reviewed everyone's costumes as they came in.  She recruited Grandma Sissy to help her and the two of them announced the following winners:

2nd Runner's Up: Burt (Brian) and Mary Poppins (Blair)

1st Runners up: Fall (Jeannie) and Winter (Steve)
 If you're wondering about the blood, take note of the half "tongue" stuck to the metal rod he's carrying:-)

WINNERS!  Biker Dude (Todd) with his Biker Babe (Mary)

Congrats to our winners!!  Not to discredit any of the other fabulous costumes that were worn, here are a few others that were pretty darn good too:

Two Farmers and their Cow...notice how thrilled Mr. Cow is to be stuffed into the costume:-)

My favorite part of the costume was the tail:-)

Olivia as "Fell from Heaven" (what you can't see in the picture is her casted foot and crutches) and Sara as a Vampiress

Shrek (Dad) and Fiona (Mom)

Two parents and their little monkeys (Jocelyn, Kristin, Karl and Sophia)

Past (Grandma in her authentic 1949 cheerleader sweater) and Present (Grandpa)

Goldilocks (Katie) and her 3 bears (Rijn)

Super Why (Miles), George Banks (Kyle), Dragon (Henry), and Winifred Banks (Robin)

Gold Digger (Pam)

Candy Corn princess (Cambelle) and the Good Witch (Terry)

The Greseth girls

Henry with Auntie Nykki

The Mary Poppins gang

Josiah had enough of the Cow outfit, on to PJs and hangin' with Fiona and Shrek

Smartie Pants (Nykki) "chatting" with Katie and Rijn

Party girls

A good time was had by all and we can't wait for next year!  Start planning those costumes now...:-)

Paradise

We are back from our trip to Arizona and we had a great time!  Despite having an emotional goodbye with Josiah on Friday morning, I was able to pull it together by the time we reached the airport.  We definitely missed our little man but knew that he was in very capable hands and would be having a fun filled weekend with Grammy, Papa, Uncle Josh and Uncle Noah!  Seth and I discussed on the plane how in the world we would have kept Josiah sitting in our laps for 3-1/2 hours and both decided that it would have been impossible.  Major kudos to you parents out there that have done it and survived (Jan-extra kudos for surviving with TWINS)!  The trip there was pretty uneventful with the exception of the landing...let's just say that it might have been the pilot's first landing and we almost lost the landing gear since we slammed into the ground so hard...and then almost slid off the end of the runway because the brakes weren't working so well in the rain.  Yikes!  But we survived and on we went.  We stayed at Cibola Vista Resort and it was absolutely gorgeous!!  The Shevik family were all there to greet us and were wonderful hosts the whole weekend.  Laurie and Brian's wedding was held at Blackstone Country Club and it was the most picturesque venue I have ever seen, seriously movie worthy!  The ceremony was gorgeous as was the bride...and the groom and wedding party didn't look too shabby either:-)  The reception and dance were an absolute blast and as usual, the Beckers and Sheviks lit up the dance floor until the last dance...something about a wedding dance that gets even the most uncoordinated of us shakin' our groove thing!  Sunday found us all recovering by the pool and acting like 12 year olds with multiple rides down the water slide and several rounds of "whirlpool" all the while sipping froo-froo drinks that were delivered poolside...now THAT is vacation!!  It was the first time in quite awhile that all 20 of the Becker/Shevik clan has been together, don't worry, my mom took plenty of pictures:-)  Despite having my camera with the whole time, I only managed to get a few shots of the view from our balcony...I will steal some other good ones from Mom and Robin's blogs when they post:-)  Monday we headed home and went from 82 and sunny to 45 and windy...but hey, it's MN, what did we expect:-)  We were sad to leave AZ but excited to get home to Josiah!  It was a great get-away...a big CONGRATS to Mr. and Mrs. Brian Arnold!!  Thanks for including us in your big day!!  And now, without further ado, here are the few pictures I managed to take:

Fashionista in the making

When Seth said "It's a boy!" in the delivery room 15 months ago, part of me was sad that I wouldn't get to shop for all the frilly pink dresses and fabulous matching accessories but a bigger part of me was relieved that I wouldn't have to shop for those things:-)  I have never been into high fashion (sorry Jan) and prefer jeans to any other attire!  Just ask Robin about the rolled up sweatpants and puffy headbands that I sported for WAY too long.  And let's not even get started on the HUGE Sally Jesse Rafael style red glasses that I wore around proudly for a few years!  So who would have guessed that I would be posting about how my toddler son has developed a love for hats, shoes and fancy hair styles??  However, his idea of fashion is a smidge outside the "norm" just like his Mommy.  Here are a few pictures and a video that describe it better than I could with words.  Enjoy:-)

Apparently he feels that the shoes need not match...and anything goes with shark PJ pants

Whenever Josiah is eating and I hear "Hat", I already know what I'm going to see when I look over.  Case in point.

And this is what the newest hair style looks like.  Who needs product when you have syrup at your disposal??

A dinnertime conversation with Josiah

Josiah's first trip Up North

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent MANY happy days and weeks "up north" when I was growing up.  I know that to some the term "up north" is not a specific location but to me it has always meant Minocqua WI.  Last weekend Josiah and I had the opportunity to venture Up North with Grandma Sissy and spend a few days at my aunt Jan's house.  Along with Jan, we got to spend time with cousin Courtney and her daughter Carly, and cousin Bill and his 2 kids Madison and Cooper.  It was definitely a crowded house with 5 adults and 4 kids under the age of 5 but we had a blast and made it all work as usual!  It took us 6 hours or so to get there but Josiah was an angel and we stopped once to eat and let him stretch his legs.  On Saturday, we headed to the casino to use their pool, it was a really nice zero entry so the kids went in and out by themselves and loved it!  Sunday, Courtney and I headed into Minocqua proper to hit up a few shops downtown, it is always a walk down memory lane for me when I go downtown and it was fun to share with Josiah.  We also visited Torpy park which we used to frequent when we were younger.  The kids loved being outside and swinging and running.  Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we had to head home on Monday.  We were happy to get to stop in Thorpe WI at the "famous" Thorepdo restaurant and catch up with Grandma's good friend Jackie while enjoying the good food.  The trip was so fun and we are excited to go again someday, hopefully soon!  I want to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to our hostess with the mostest, Jan!  Not only did she open her house to us, she cooked for us too and the food was DEEE-licious as usual!  Another thank you to Courtney who added her homemade mac-n-cheese to the menu, it is to die for!  Here are a few pictures from the trip:

All the kids with Grandma Sissy
(Carly 2, Cooper 9 mo, Maddie 4, and Josiah 15 mo)

Our best attempt at a group PJ shot

We headed downtown to visit a few shops I remember fondly including the Fudge shop where you can watch them make fudge

Carly and Josiah waiting to go into the "five and dime" store...a store FILLED with plastic toys and other things that parents loathe but kids adore!  I bought my first bottle of Disappearing Ink there, remember trying to get that out of my clothes mom...guess it didn't disappear quite as completely as the bottle said it would?!

Swinging at Torpy Park

The weather was gorgeous and the trees were turning so the view was stunning

I can't tell you how many games of Yahtzee these two have played, they are the Yahtzee QUEENS!

Carly pointing the fishing boat out to Josiah

Family:-)
(Sissy, Courtney, Carly, me, Josiah)