Our Poor Van Post Deer

We will probably never travel over Labor Day weekend again. Chris hit a deer on Highway 29 going from Eau Claire to Farm Country. Chris was not hurt. The deer was hurt. The van was damaged. Thus we turn into a one car family during the beginning of the school year. Chris meets with the adjuster on Monday. The collision center estimates one week to do the repairs.

Vacation to St. Paul

Sam at the Star Wars exhibit in the Science Center.

One of the many rides enjoyed by us all!


Sam in his new and improved catching pose.





We spent three wonderful nights in St. Paul last weekend. We visited the St. Paul Children's Museum, the Science Center, Como Town Amusement Park and the Mall of America. Very busy. The kids braved the roller coasters at Mall of America and loved it. Sam even went on the spinning roller coaster car! The favorite ride by far though were the carousel swings. Chris and I rode on many of the rides too, and Chris survived the Tornado, barely. During all the time we lived in Eau Claire, we did not take advantage of the closeness of the Twin Cities. We had a wonderful long weekend there!

In other news, over the weekend Sam mastered "catching the baseball." He is doing an awesome job catching and playing the catcher position! Kate's clothing of choice is still her ballet leotard! I guess she will be taking fall classes.

Wrapping up on the sporting events!

It's been a busy week! Sam finished his last week of soccer and baseball! Kate finished up at one of her ballet classes. The chauffeur schedule is lightening up a bit, right in time for me to start a new job! Kate loves ballet and tap dance. We are still deciding if we are going to commit to a year of dance for her. The cost is $32 per month, so it's a financial commitment. With preschool, we might just take a year off from The Dance Academy and keep her in a class through the rec department. We are looking forward to a quiet Saturday. Sunday we are going to St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Marion. www.faith-life.org We've heard good things about this church and it sounds really similar to Peace, where we worshiped in Eau Claire, so we have high hopes! Once we find a church home, we will really be settled! The Lord has been good to us and we are counting our blessings!

Sam's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Sam's 6th birthday in Eau Claire with lots of friends at Carson Park. After we went to the Express baseball game where Sam threw out the first pitch.

July 4th Weekend

Nana came to visit us from St. Louis - we had a wonderful time at Chuck E Cheese, Kernal's Stadium and visiting with her.

Five more days!

What a gorgeous weekend! A tad bit hot for my taste, but the sunshine is fabulous. On Saturday, Chris and I packed every nook and cranny of the Corolla. Then we cleaned, cleaned and cleaned the house. This house was not so clean when we moved in, but it will be clean for the new owners when we move out. Today we had our last "official" visit to Peace church, where we have met some many people and shared our love and worship of God with so many interesting and wonderful people. We will miss attending Peace regularly, but I know we will be back to visit. After church we had a fantastic barbeque with members of our small group bible study. Thanks so much Travis and Amy! It was great to see the Fuery's and spend time together before Chris left town. Our kids all play together so well. Of course, now Sam and Kate are worn out and ready for bed and it's not even 5:00 p.m.. While I am so sad to leave our friends and this great city, I am beginning to get excited about Cedar Rapids and the opportunities in store for us all as a family and as individuals. Just a few more days!

Moving to Cedar Rapids

With a heavy heart, a clouded mind and lots of tears, we are packing up our home to move to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My husband Chris, has accepted a position as the morning and noon anchor at the ABC affiliate there. This means we will have dad home at night and more time together as a family! The one thing we are looking forward to the most is family dinners each night!

The Chippewa Valley has been an awesome place to raise a family! We are leaving behind so many fantastic friends and neighbors. Thank you to the support, love and guidance everyone has shown to us over the past three years. There are so many people we want to thank and acknowledge. Working at RCU Investment & Insurance Services with Bill McCullough and Karla Fiedler has been one of the best experiences of my life. You won't find two better people and we have made a fantastic team! Chris leaves an awesome staff at WEAU TV-13. Thank you to the staff there and to all of the viewers who watched each and every night and sent notes or made phone calls wishing us the best of luck.

As a mom, I have made fantastic friends through two groups, MOPS and Mom's Club West - wonderful, caring, supportive people! As a family, we have spent plenty of time at the beautiful city parks and pools, including the parks and rec programs, the Eau Claire Children's Musuem, the Family Resource Center, the YMCA Gymnastics Center, the Indoor Sports Center, ECCT events at the arts center, Saturday mornings at the Farmer's Market and Library and much more. The staff at each of these places is top knotch and we feel blessed to have been able to visit them with our children. I want to give special acknowledgement to Pastor Mark and Pastor James and the members at Peace Lutheran Church! What an awesome place to worship with some amazing people. Lastly, I want to acknowledge Principal Joe Sanfelippo, Ms. Nett , Mrs. Becker and the staff at Roosevelt School who provides our son, Sam (and the other students) with a fabulous learning environment that has established a superior foundation for them to continue to excel in education.

As you can see, from all of the above, the Chippewa Valley is an awesome place to raise a family. We feel blessed to have been here for the past three years. Thank you so much for everything.