Jakob's Baptism

 

It is hard to believe that this little guy is 8! Jakob was baptized on October 11th and we are so proud of  his decision to follow his Savior! He had such a special day with so many loved ones!

 

Grandma Nehring and Emerson both gave wonderful talks.

Aunt Jasmyn and Jakob's piano teacher, Sister Christensen, were a tremendous help with music.

Jakob asked his cousins, Adam and Mary, to say the prayers.

And Dad was blessed to be able to baptize and confirm Jakob.

Grandpa Nehring and Uncle Marc were the witnesses and also stood in the circle with Dad, Uncle Rodney, and Uncle Rich.

 

We were grateful to have my family and our dear friends to join in this special occasion!

 

Unfortunately, Mom is horrible at remembering to take pictures and loves to live in the moment. So...we didn't get any pictures at the church. I was bummed! I need to just hire a professional photographer to follow us around!:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columbus Pathfinders

 

We love these boys so much! They have joined the Columbus Running Club and have been competing in Cross Country meets. They have done great! Emerson hurt his knee a couple weeks ago and didn't finish as well as he would have liked, but got back out there this weekend and finished strong! Jakob continues to work hard and have a strong finish consistently. It is hard not to be a proud parent when your children are working hard and giving it their all!

 

As we have participated in sports, it has been interesting to see which sports the boys enjoy. Jakob loves Cross Country and Tennis and wants to try Basketball. Emerson loves Soccer, Basketball, Tennis, and wants to try Football. We love that they feel like they can be their own person and not feel pushed into a sport just because Mom and Dad played it or wants them to play it. We have had many conversations with the boys about finding what they enjoy doing. Emerson expressed to us that he doesn't really enjoy Cross Country. We told him that is okay, but we finish out the season and give it our all! Parenting is always an adventure and a constant balancing act. We wouldn't have it any other way though. These kids are such a blessing to us and we are grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given us to be their Mom and Dad.

 

 

Indianapolis Temple

 

 

The Angel Moroni was placed on the Indianapolis Indiana Temple yesterday! We are so excited to see the temple closer and closer to being finished. We look forward to taking our friends and family to the Open House so they can see the temple and feel the spirit that abides there. How blessed we are to have a temple so close and in our state! It makes me want to move to Indy, so we can be just a little closer...maybe one day!:)

 

 

Summer 2014

Just a few summer events...

Memorial Weekend Camping with our good friends, the Blackmore's

Young Women's Camp with 3rd Years...fun to be there with my sister-in-law, and dear friend Jasmyn and my dear friends Robyn and Janae (It makes it a little easier to be away from Mike and the kids when you have these three women around! Love them!)

Mike and I went to Michigan for a Business Trip without the kids - injured my hamstring while running which has lead to lots of fun therapy!:)

Mike Tamed the Terrain with Mark Blackmore

Nehring Family Reunion at Jellystone

Camping with our good friends, the Adlen's

July 4th Celebration with the Nehring's

July 4th Celebration with the Berlin's and Blackmore's

Jellystone with the Blackmore's

We celebrated Germany winning the World Cup and ate brats, homemade Spaetzle, and German Chocolate!!!

Sold our first business, goodbye Columbus Complete Lawn Care!!

Mike's 33rd Birthday - homemade breakfast, swimming, lunch date, Nehring's, Texas Roadhouse, and homemade carrot cupcakes...he will receive his birthday gift in a couple weeks as he will be going to a Michigan Football Game at the Big House with a couple of his brothers, Emerson, Jakob and one of our nephews

Celebrated the first day of school with our homeschooling buddies, the Ericksen's, by swimming at the pool while all the other kids were in school!:)

Fall 2014 Soccer Started - Last season that the three amigos will be together (Hailey, Hannah, and Nathaniel) :(

Lindsay's 32nd Birthday - Unfortunately that was the start of everyone having head colds and throwing up...Mike said we will do a birthday take 2 after everyone feels better...I did manage to get in a nice birthday lunch with Robyn and Janae!! And received lots of lovely gifts from dear friends and loved ones!! Thanks for making my birthday special regardless of all the illness!!

And lots and lots of swimming and spending time with loved ones and friends!!! It was a great summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A day of many posts!

I wanted to share this recipe for Pumpkin Bread! I am not a pumpkin fan usually, but my Visiting Teacher brought me this yummy bread about a month ago and I have made several loaves since. It is great for breakfast or just for a snack, with chocolate chips or without! You have to try it!! And...for all you health nuts...there is a healthier version as well! Enjoy!!!

Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Dry mix
2 cups all purpose white flour
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour**
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger

Wet mix
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups pumpkin (or about 1 15 oz can, 1/2 of large 29 ounce can)
1 3/4 cups sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350, grease 2 loaf pans.
1. Mix all dry ingreidents in a large bowl. Stir well with a metal whisk, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl beat eggs, oil and sugar together. Add buttermilk and pumpkin and mix well.
3. Fold wet mixture into dry and stir just until blended, making sure there are no dry clumps but being careful not to overmix.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans, bake for 1 hour, check at 55 minutes with toothpick or thin knife, which should come out clean with a few moist crumbs.
5. Let bread sit for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan.
* Bread will keep wrapped in the refrigerator for 1 week or in freezer for up to 1 month.

** To make this "dangerously delicious", replace wheat flour with white and add 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips. A lot of the time I keep the wheat flour and just add the chocolate chips. This recipe is very versatile, add more or less of the spices to your preference or use all wheat flour for an even healthier version.

Emerson turned 8 last month. I cannot believe that we have an 8 year old. Time just goes by too fast. Emerson and his cousin, Adam, were baptized last Saturday and it was such a special day. We are grateful for those in our family and our friends that came to support Emerson. What a wonderful, young man Emerson has become and we are very proud of his decision. We know that this is just the start of his journey and that he will be blessed for his righteous decisions. We love you so much Emerson!!!

Our Samuel

Samuel is such a sweetheart and so happy! He loves everyone and loves life!! He is scooting all over the place and can get very chatty. He loves to say, "Dadadadadada". We are so grateful to have him in our family!

First Day of School, Birthdays, General Conference

It is hard to believe we have 2 in school now! I am glad they have each other!!

Happy 8th Birthday Emerson!

Happy 4th Birthday Hailey!

Happy 6th Birthday Jakob!

We are all ready for Conference! What a wonderful weekend we had. We did our baskets a little different this year and had a General Conference Store! This was our best year by far and we got a lot out of the talks! It was cute to hear the kids talk about what they learned during conference. Emerson would talk about the new temples that were announced, Jakob would talk about President Monson's stories and Hailey loved to show off her knowledge of who is who. One time she corrected Emerson and said, "That isn't Elder Holland...that is Elder Bednar." And she was right! Such a woman, correcting the boys!=)

General Conference is Coming!

I had someone ask about my Conference preparations. Let me just say I love the internet and Pinterest. You can find lots of fun activities out there! Here is a website that has several fun ideas http://sassysites.blogspot.com/2011/09/tons-of-ideas-for-general-conference.html. And we also put up our tent and have an FHE about King Benjamin and turning our tents toward the prophet. Hope this helps you! We love Conference time! We have SEVERAL birthdays coming up, a baptism, oral surgery, Fall Break and other things the next few weeks. So, I wanted to get this on before Conference!=)Enjoy!

Summer Break

We have been VERY busy! My goal is to update the blog after everyone goes back to school! We have been filling our time with family, friends, swimming, camping (yes with a 3 month old), Zoo trips, laser tag, the Fair, projects around the house, trips to Louisville, a trip to Lake Michigan, movies, a Book of Mormon summer reading program, a lemonade stand, the library, bike riding, and many other things! I need a nap just thinking about everything we have done! The boys are excited to go to school! Jakob will be starting Kindergarten and Emerson will be in TEAM again (a class of 1st-3rd graders), but will have a new teacher (as his teacher retired). Samuel is growing so fast. He is rolling over a little, cooing, smiling, and raising up his head now! Oh how I wish he would slow down! I love this age!!! Hailey is full of excitement, emotion and loudness! I foresee her getting many warnings over her voice level in school!!=) She is excited to spend one on one time with Mommy (and Samuel) in the Fall and looks forward to painting her nails and going on walks (her own words)! She is such a sweetheart! July starts our Birthday Marathon! We have 5 birthdays in the next 4 months and 1 Baptism!!!! Yay for parties and celebrations!!