Lots of good things to post about as September is already a third over! August ended up being a nice month and the Iowa fall started a little early. We wished well one niece and two nephews to college, as Austin goes to Iowa State, Casey goes to Iowa, and Samantha goes to Clarke. It is making us feel a bit old, we see our nieces and nephews grow so fast! We can only imagine what their parents feel like! ;)
We got to re-live our 'college days' as we enrolled in 'classes' at Covenant. We passed our two classes- 4 weeks of Lamaze and 2 weeks of Baby Basics. We learned a lot, but the biggest lesson we learned was we have A LOT more to learn! We are getting excited, but also a little nervous as Junior grows and gets closer to arrival!
Unfortunately, August brought some growing pains as well! Carlos is starting his senior year, and it wouldn't be a story about Carlos if there was not some drama involved! He is currently a senior at West, but is taking some challenging courses and wanting to try new things (i.e. Wrestling). He is currently negotiating his curfew for Homecoming tomorrow.
Melissa also had some growing pains, and we found ourselves at Covenant Hospital. Melissa had some horrible abdominal pains, so we went and saw the doctor. The good news is the baby is fine. The bad news is Melissa has to endure some pretty severe pain without much medicinal support. We are currently looking for natural/safe alternatives to drugs! Other than not getting a lot of sleep, having a sore back, and being uncomfortable, Melissa is doing fairly well!
Paul got to enjoy the first annual Thunder In the Valley Air Show with Karen and Clare. Due to the pain, Melissa did not go, which was unfortunate. Carlos was there, but he was enjoying the company of his Homecoming date, and I don't know if he saw more than two airplanes! I enjoyed seeing the B-2 Stealth Bomber, and the Air Force Thunderbirds were the headline act. Seeing a jet-powered school bus and some parachuters also top the list of neat things. Overall, it was a hot, sunny, gorgeous day for an air show.
September has already brought a wedding and birthday party! Congratulations to Kim and Dusty as they enjoy life as husband and wife! The reception was enjoyed by a few members of Advising- thanks Tony, Joan, Dave, Deb, and Karen for helping celebrate (and entertain). The day was nice (after it dried up), and it appears as if all guests enjoyed themselves!
Another nephew has reached the age of adulthood, and welcome Matt into the 18 and older club! We celebrated with him, and lots of family on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend! We certainly enjoy our family and friends time, although we don't get near enough time for all those we love and adore! We hope all is well across the world, and keep us updated on how things are going for all of you!
PMWCDC
Friday, September 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
A Weekend of Celebration!
Another weekend has come and gone, and there are a lot of things to celebrate. The annual Iowa Irishfest kicked off Friday afternoon, and we took the chance to browse some Irish goods, eat some really great food (not so much Irish, but delicious), listen to a couple Celtic bands, and watch the world-famous Trinity Irish Dancers. Thanks to Jane and Dwight for inviting us to go!
Saturday brought some sweet memories and more celebration. The day started by heading to Manchester and enjoying some homemade ice cream with Mom and Dad. The folks are stripping and re-sealing their deck, and I wanted to help Dad get some of the old stuff off the deck. We worked for a few hours, then enjoyed grilled burgers, grilled potatoes and onions, sweet corn, cucumbers and onions, potato salad, zucchini cake, and more homemade ice cream. After a tour of gardens and some potato digging it was back to the deck. Knowing that we had a wedding to get to, my work ended early, and I showered and we headed to First Lutheran to see the group that just arrived back from West Virginia (Carlos included). We celebrated and prayed with the group, returned the van to Dubuque, and headed to Bellevue to celebrate the marriage of Kyle and Alisha. The drive was scenic, the weather beautiful, and the outdoor service was a nice touch for the bride and groom. We enjoyed catching up with old friends, eating some delicious roast pork, sweet corn, and a variety of salads and pies, and learning more about how the pig's head ended up in the roaster! It was a great day, and would have been better without the 2 hour and 1 minute drive back to Waterloo!
Sunday, we worshipped and celebrated the visit of our friend Greg! He was on leave for the weekend and it was nice to see him and hear stories from his last few months away! With any luck, he will be back permanently in the next week! After church was mowing and dinner. After dinner was our big interview for childcare. Our friend Karen operates a daycare out of her home, and she has an opening in January! We ended up spending 3 hours at her house, catching up with the family and talking more about expectations and the logistics of daycare. My eyes were opened to the different aspects of daycare and all the work that goes into operating one! At the end of the night we agreed that Karen is our top priority now! So, we are a bit relieved that we have so many good things going for us!
As the month of August rolls around, we continue to get busier and prepare for school to start. We hope you are all blessed, healthy, and enjoying the finer things in life! Take Care!
Saturday brought some sweet memories and more celebration. The day started by heading to Manchester and enjoying some homemade ice cream with Mom and Dad. The folks are stripping and re-sealing their deck, and I wanted to help Dad get some of the old stuff off the deck. We worked for a few hours, then enjoyed grilled burgers, grilled potatoes and onions, sweet corn, cucumbers and onions, potato salad, zucchini cake, and more homemade ice cream. After a tour of gardens and some potato digging it was back to the deck. Knowing that we had a wedding to get to, my work ended early, and I showered and we headed to First Lutheran to see the group that just arrived back from West Virginia (Carlos included). We celebrated and prayed with the group, returned the van to Dubuque, and headed to Bellevue to celebrate the marriage of Kyle and Alisha. The drive was scenic, the weather beautiful, and the outdoor service was a nice touch for the bride and groom. We enjoyed catching up with old friends, eating some delicious roast pork, sweet corn, and a variety of salads and pies, and learning more about how the pig's head ended up in the roaster! It was a great day, and would have been better without the 2 hour and 1 minute drive back to Waterloo!
Sunday, we worshipped and celebrated the visit of our friend Greg! He was on leave for the weekend and it was nice to see him and hear stories from his last few months away! With any luck, he will be back permanently in the next week! After church was mowing and dinner. After dinner was our big interview for childcare. Our friend Karen operates a daycare out of her home, and she has an opening in January! We ended up spending 3 hours at her house, catching up with the family and talking more about expectations and the logistics of daycare. My eyes were opened to the different aspects of daycare and all the work that goes into operating one! At the end of the night we agreed that Karen is our top priority now! So, we are a bit relieved that we have so many good things going for us!
As the month of August rolls around, we continue to get busier and prepare for school to start. We hope you are all blessed, healthy, and enjoying the finer things in life! Take Care!
Friday, July 29, 2011
7 Months Done
This summer has flown by! With that in mind, here is a quick update of June and July...
June brought Summer Orientation to UNI for all but 2 days of the entire month. Paul kept busy helping new students, meeting with parents, and trying to keep up with other 'office' stuff! Along side that mowing weekly and a couple sets of tennis lessons (teaching, not taking) has rounded out the weekdays! The weekends included weddings, camping, and trying to keep up with housework!
Melissa tried to stay cool in June and take care of her back. Other than general Pastoral stuff and covering for a colleague who has retired, she has been slightly less busy than the during the school year.
As always, Carlos stays busy and tries working out, get as many hours as he can at 4 Queens, and prepared to detassle in July!
The 4th of July weekend was spent in Peoria with Melissa's family. Lots to celebrate, as we got to meet our nephew Myles and proudly became his Godparents, celebrated Dave's birthday, and just spent time as a family! Tenderloins were consumed, dominos and cards were played, and our first-ever family viewing of Nathan's 4th of July hot-dog eating contest!
July 23 brought the West Delaware Class of 2001 reunion. With Kurt, Paul tried golfing (and lost 6 balls) at Pin Oak Golf and Country Club in Manchester, followed by a meal and some great conversation. There was a lot of laughter, lots of catching up, and some tentative plans for getting together more regularly before the 15 year reunion!
The past week, Josh and Joe (Melissa's sister's two youngest boys) have been staying with their cool aunt and uncle! As of this post, the activities have been frequent and regular, and lots of good times have been had! Two highlights from the trip happened after work this week.
On Monday, we rendezvoused at Hansen's Dairy Farm outside of Hudson. This interactive farm tour took us through many buildings and provided many opportunities to interact with animals. We got to see wallabees and cows, we fed baby calves, we milked a full grown cow, made our own butter, and sampled milk and ice cream. As Melissa and I get more financially stable, we are trying to support more local growers and farmers and consider eco-friendly operations to limit the damage we do to the environment. Hansen's dairy makes excellent products and keeps things local, providing a great experience and great value for our money! The four of us enjoyed our trip, and Paul said he would go back in a minute!
On Thursday, July 28, we trekked to downtown Waterloo with Ryan and toured the KWWL news station. After over a year of planning, we finally had arrangements made and got to meet with Tara, Ron, Mark, and the fine folks of KWWL! They were very friendly, generous, and provided insight into a lot of different angles of producing a 30 minute news show! We enjoyed meeting these celebrities and getting to watch a live airing of the news! I encourage any viewer to contact the station manager and get a tour. Tara Thomas said she enjoyed having visitors, and very few people actually take the opportunity to see the set and meet the people who provide the news!
The month of August looks to be busy as well, as there are weddings to celebrate, baby classes to take, school to start, lawns to mow, and 'stuff' to sort through and get rid of (are you ready Goodwill?)!!! As always, keep us updated on what is happening with you and come to visit when you get a chance! If you are reading the Blog, feel free to leave a comment, so we know who is out there. We also take requests for topics you would like to hear about!
June brought Summer Orientation to UNI for all but 2 days of the entire month. Paul kept busy helping new students, meeting with parents, and trying to keep up with other 'office' stuff! Along side that mowing weekly and a couple sets of tennis lessons (teaching, not taking) has rounded out the weekdays! The weekends included weddings, camping, and trying to keep up with housework!
Melissa tried to stay cool in June and take care of her back. Other than general Pastoral stuff and covering for a colleague who has retired, she has been slightly less busy than the during the school year.
As always, Carlos stays busy and tries working out, get as many hours as he can at 4 Queens, and prepared to detassle in July!
The 4th of July weekend was spent in Peoria with Melissa's family. Lots to celebrate, as we got to meet our nephew Myles and proudly became his Godparents, celebrated Dave's birthday, and just spent time as a family! Tenderloins were consumed, dominos and cards were played, and our first-ever family viewing of Nathan's 4th of July hot-dog eating contest!
July 23 brought the West Delaware Class of 2001 reunion. With Kurt, Paul tried golfing (and lost 6 balls) at Pin Oak Golf and Country Club in Manchester, followed by a meal and some great conversation. There was a lot of laughter, lots of catching up, and some tentative plans for getting together more regularly before the 15 year reunion!
The past week, Josh and Joe (Melissa's sister's two youngest boys) have been staying with their cool aunt and uncle! As of this post, the activities have been frequent and regular, and lots of good times have been had! Two highlights from the trip happened after work this week.
On Monday, we rendezvoused at Hansen's Dairy Farm outside of Hudson. This interactive farm tour took us through many buildings and provided many opportunities to interact with animals. We got to see wallabees and cows, we fed baby calves, we milked a full grown cow, made our own butter, and sampled milk and ice cream. As Melissa and I get more financially stable, we are trying to support more local growers and farmers and consider eco-friendly operations to limit the damage we do to the environment. Hansen's dairy makes excellent products and keeps things local, providing a great experience and great value for our money! The four of us enjoyed our trip, and Paul said he would go back in a minute!
On Thursday, July 28, we trekked to downtown Waterloo with Ryan and toured the KWWL news station. After over a year of planning, we finally had arrangements made and got to meet with Tara, Ron, Mark, and the fine folks of KWWL! They were very friendly, generous, and provided insight into a lot of different angles of producing a 30 minute news show! We enjoyed meeting these celebrities and getting to watch a live airing of the news! I encourage any viewer to contact the station manager and get a tour. Tara Thomas said she enjoyed having visitors, and very few people actually take the opportunity to see the set and meet the people who provide the news!
The month of August looks to be busy as well, as there are weddings to celebrate, baby classes to take, school to start, lawns to mow, and 'stuff' to sort through and get rid of (are you ready Goodwill?)!!! As always, keep us updated on what is happening with you and come to visit when you get a chance! If you are reading the Blog, feel free to leave a comment, so we know who is out there. We also take requests for topics you would like to hear about!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Weekend Plans....
WOW- the last eight weekends have been a blur! This Father's Day weekend is the first weekend we don't have 'plans' since before Palm Sunday. With that said, we have seen a lot of people and enjoyed a lot of celebrations along the way.
Congratulations to Mike and Kelli on their wedding Memorial Day weekend! There was a small mini-reunion for the folks of the UNI-LSC. It was great to see many old friends (some of whom were enjoying 'Old Friends'), meet some new people, and enjoy the people watching. Mami, from Guatemala, was even in attendance, and it was really neat to see Carlos and her speak in Spanish! Best wishes to Mike and Kelli and all the exciting things they have coming up!
Congratulations to our niece Samantha, who graduated from high school over Memorial Day weekend! We enjoyed a fine celebration in Dubuque, and a fine after party at my sister Robin's house.
In June, both of us attended the Northeast Iowa Synod Assembly at Luther College. This was my first experience at an assembly, and it was really neat to see the democratic process work and in triangulation with the Holy Spirit and God's people! Luther College was beautiful, it was great to see our nephew Ben representing First Lutheran and the youth of the synod, and time away from Waterloo was enjoyable. We saw many friends, and Melissa was overjoyed to get to hang out with her friend Dan (and I was ecstatic as well)!
Congratulations to our cousin Chris and his new wife Linda, as they wed on Saturday, June 11 near Quaski! Melissa officiated the wedding, and the company, food, and drinks were excellent! We stayed until dark and really enjoyed catching up with family and even a hay-ride through town!
Carlos has now moved on from his Junior year and prepares for his senior year. This summer he is working on staying in shape, preparing for college stuff (never too early to start), and working at 4 Queens in Waterloo!
Melissa is enjoying the summer and itching to get that camper out and about! We hope to camp at least 4 times this summer, and we might actually have enough free weekends to do so! Her back has been sore and she is currently in therapy to relieve some of the pain.
The dogs are both doing well and full of energy. Dallas has slowed down a bit and is showing his age, and Chester continues to keep one step behind anyone doing anything exciting, and really likes fetching the tennis ball.
Work at UNI is busy as orientation is in full swing! Welcome to UNI all you future panthers and parents. We are currently mowing 7 properties, and that is a good way to spend a few hours outside each week. Also, the modified garden is in and things are still green. I have already harvested 6 green beans! YUM!
Things we are looking forward to this summer include (but are not limited to):
*Traveling to Peoria for birthdays, a baptism, and family time
*Camping
*Working on the deck at Mom and Dad's house (and cleaning out my old room at home)
*Going on a 'bike ride' with Kurt and Meg to Cedar Rapids
*Going to Lost Island with friends
*Golfing
*Trips to 4 Queens for Ice Cream!
Congratulations to Mike and Kelli on their wedding Memorial Day weekend! There was a small mini-reunion for the folks of the UNI-LSC. It was great to see many old friends (some of whom were enjoying 'Old Friends'), meet some new people, and enjoy the people watching. Mami, from Guatemala, was even in attendance, and it was really neat to see Carlos and her speak in Spanish! Best wishes to Mike and Kelli and all the exciting things they have coming up!
Congratulations to our niece Samantha, who graduated from high school over Memorial Day weekend! We enjoyed a fine celebration in Dubuque, and a fine after party at my sister Robin's house.
In June, both of us attended the Northeast Iowa Synod Assembly at Luther College. This was my first experience at an assembly, and it was really neat to see the democratic process work and in triangulation with the Holy Spirit and God's people! Luther College was beautiful, it was great to see our nephew Ben representing First Lutheran and the youth of the synod, and time away from Waterloo was enjoyable. We saw many friends, and Melissa was overjoyed to get to hang out with her friend Dan (and I was ecstatic as well)!
Congratulations to our cousin Chris and his new wife Linda, as they wed on Saturday, June 11 near Quaski! Melissa officiated the wedding, and the company, food, and drinks were excellent! We stayed until dark and really enjoyed catching up with family and even a hay-ride through town!
Carlos has now moved on from his Junior year and prepares for his senior year. This summer he is working on staying in shape, preparing for college stuff (never too early to start), and working at 4 Queens in Waterloo!
Melissa is enjoying the summer and itching to get that camper out and about! We hope to camp at least 4 times this summer, and we might actually have enough free weekends to do so! Her back has been sore and she is currently in therapy to relieve some of the pain.
The dogs are both doing well and full of energy. Dallas has slowed down a bit and is showing his age, and Chester continues to keep one step behind anyone doing anything exciting, and really likes fetching the tennis ball.
Work at UNI is busy as orientation is in full swing! Welcome to UNI all you future panthers and parents. We are currently mowing 7 properties, and that is a good way to spend a few hours outside each week. Also, the modified garden is in and things are still green. I have already harvested 6 green beans! YUM!
Things we are looking forward to this summer include (but are not limited to):
*Traveling to Peoria for birthdays, a baptism, and family time
*Camping
*Working on the deck at Mom and Dad's house (and cleaning out my old room at home)
*Going on a 'bike ride' with Kurt and Meg to Cedar Rapids
*Going to Lost Island with friends
*Golfing
*Trips to 4 Queens for Ice Cream!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Whirlwind Tour- 2011- Edition 1
WOW- it has been a while since we have been on! It doesn't seem like that long, but time is flying by. We are less than 2 weeks from June 1! Yikes! As a family, we have been quite busy. Here is the month of May by numbers, and this has only been the first 20 days:
2 Graduation Parties- Congratulations Austin and Casey Freiburger (our nephews), who have graduated from high school and will be attending college next year!
6 high school soccer games. Carlos, Austin, Casey, Matt, Derek, and Ben are all in soccer, and we have been lucky enough to see them all play!
1 Mystery Trip- Pastor Melissa and myself took 8 members of Zion on a mystery trip (Thursday, May 19). Our stops included Grandview University, the State of Iowa Historical Building, and the Iowa State Capital! It was a neat trip, I got to walk the winding staircase to the gold dome, and learned a lot about higher education and the building of the state of Iowa!
500 Miles- Melissa and I took a quick vacation to the Chicago on Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14. We drove to Cumberland, rode the Blue Line in and stayed at the Swissotel for an evening. We had a certificate for the executive suite (which had 4 TVs), and free breakfast Saturday morning. The view was great, the price was right, and the morning buffet was fantastic! We rounded out our trip with a Saturday trip to Shedd Aquarium and really enjoyed ourselves. If you get the chance to head to Shedd- GO!
WE hope you are all doing well. Keep us update on what is happening with you! We are safe, healthy, and happy, so life is good. Have a great weekend! -The Watermans
2 Graduation Parties- Congratulations Austin and Casey Freiburger (our nephews), who have graduated from high school and will be attending college next year!
6 high school soccer games. Carlos, Austin, Casey, Matt, Derek, and Ben are all in soccer, and we have been lucky enough to see them all play!
1 Mystery Trip- Pastor Melissa and myself took 8 members of Zion on a mystery trip (Thursday, May 19). Our stops included Grandview University, the State of Iowa Historical Building, and the Iowa State Capital! It was a neat trip, I got to walk the winding staircase to the gold dome, and learned a lot about higher education and the building of the state of Iowa!
500 Miles- Melissa and I took a quick vacation to the Chicago on Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14. We drove to Cumberland, rode the Blue Line in and stayed at the Swissotel for an evening. We had a certificate for the executive suite (which had 4 TVs), and free breakfast Saturday morning. The view was great, the price was right, and the morning buffet was fantastic! We rounded out our trip with a Saturday trip to Shedd Aquarium and really enjoyed ourselves. If you get the chance to head to Shedd- GO!
WE hope you are all doing well. Keep us update on what is happening with you! We are safe, healthy, and happy, so life is good. Have a great weekend! -The Watermans
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Baby Waterman at 12 weeks
Had a doctor's appointments yesterday for Baby Waterman. Everything is going well and baby is healthy. Melissa had a lot of blood work done so hoping all of that comes back good. We won't have another sonogram until June!! That will be our 20 week appointment and get to see everything in detial. At this time, we are not finding out what it is. We want to be surprised. For some reason, I can't upload our ultrasound from this month, but you can see the baby's right hand and foot. It's so cute. It was confirmed again yesterday that we are only having one baby.
It's been raining a lot here and Paul is anxious to get outside and work in the yards and begin his garden. He started wtih seeds about 4 weeks ago and we have plants every where in the house. It would be good to have some nicer weather to get some yard work done.
Carlos is still playing soccer. They have a game tonight against Thomas Jefferson in Cedar Rapids. They had 2 games last Saturday in Cedar Rapids and lost both games 2-1 in overtime. It was a rough day for soccer. He informs us that he's the manager on the soccer team now so he's got a lot of responsibility. I'm guessing he just wants something to do so he doesn't get bored sitting on the bench.
Have a great final week of April!!
It's been raining a lot here and Paul is anxious to get outside and work in the yards and begin his garden. He started wtih seeds about 4 weeks ago and we have plants every where in the house. It would be good to have some nicer weather to get some yard work done.
Carlos is still playing soccer. They have a game tonight against Thomas Jefferson in Cedar Rapids. They had 2 games last Saturday in Cedar Rapids and lost both games 2-1 in overtime. It was a rough day for soccer. He informs us that he's the manager on the soccer team now so he's got a lot of responsibility. I'm guessing he just wants something to do so he doesn't get bored sitting on the bench.
Have a great final week of April!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Lots of Blessings...
As you can tell, it has been some time since we have last updated. Sorry! We are all doing well and enjoying the Iowa spring (which consists of winter spring and summer)! There have been a lot of things going on, so we will update you on a few of them.
Lent is almost over, and always ends with celebration and the joy of Easter! Melissa has been busy with worship, meetings, and confirmation, but she has stayed healthy and continues to be a blessing to many! To our knowledge, the baby is healthy and growing, and we go back for another set of pictures next week!
Melissa recently spent some time in Chicago, visiting with her family and helping her dad recover from surgery! The good news is he has healed wonderfully and even got out of the hospital a day early! Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with him as he grows stronger and gets better!
My parents are also spending some extra time with the doctors and nurses as Mom undergoes some medical tests. We hope that the doctors can figure out what is going on in her body and have some sort of remedy! Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with her.
In the next six weeks we will get to see lots of family as we celebrate three graduations! Samantha, Casey, and Austin are all graduating this year, and we look forward to watching them grow into responsible, mature college students!
We hope you are all doing well, staying healthy, and enjoying life! Call, email, Facebook, or better yet, come visit!
Lent is almost over, and always ends with celebration and the joy of Easter! Melissa has been busy with worship, meetings, and confirmation, but she has stayed healthy and continues to be a blessing to many! To our knowledge, the baby is healthy and growing, and we go back for another set of pictures next week!
Melissa recently spent some time in Chicago, visiting with her family and helping her dad recover from surgery! The good news is he has healed wonderfully and even got out of the hospital a day early! Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with him as he grows stronger and gets better!
My parents are also spending some extra time with the doctors and nurses as Mom undergoes some medical tests. We hope that the doctors can figure out what is going on in her body and have some sort of remedy! Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with her.
In the next six weeks we will get to see lots of family as we celebrate three graduations! Samantha, Casey, and Austin are all graduating this year, and we look forward to watching them grow into responsible, mature college students!
We hope you are all doing well, staying healthy, and enjoying life! Call, email, Facebook, or better yet, come visit!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
It's a BABY!!!!!!!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Spring break
Well, last week was spring break for UNI and West high where Carlos goes to school. Carlos was busy with soccerr (of course!) and we both worked. Friday we all three had the day off which hasn't happened in a long time so we made the best of it. We hung around Waterloo and our house to get a few things done and took the dogs for a walk. Then we had a nice lunch and headed to Cedar Rapids to do some shopping. We hung at Planet X for a couple of hours and the boys had a good time taking in all the events. Even if little kids did cheat while they were playing laser tag. Paul was called "old" by one of the cheating kids!!! Saturday we spent more time at home and running errands and then headed to Edgewood to see Paul's grandparents. Had super with the Hamlett's for Grandma's birthday!!! Sunday was the usual routine around the Waterman house and I got my 2 1/2 hour nap in as well. There was some outstanding basketball on as well. We didn't get everything done on our list, but it was good to spend some time as a family. It was a rough weekend with Carlos so if anyone has tips on raising a teenager that expects to get everything he wants and has no $$$ please let us know. My dad is currently in Chicago having some pre-op tests done the next two days as he prepares for hip surgery at Northwestern! We are excited for him and a better life he will have after the surgery.
We love to hear from you so leave comments, give us a call, or stop by our house in Waterloo!
We love to hear from you so leave comments, give us a call, or stop by our house in Waterloo!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Welcome to the blog!
Greetings! For those of you who have just joined the blog- welcome! We have taken a bit of time off as life has been pretty hectic. We will be better about more regular updates and I am nudging Melissa to give an entry a try! With that said- here are a few updates on what is going on with our family.
We just recently returned from a quick trip to Peoria. Our time was spent hanging out with family and especially spending some quality time with Melissa’s grandparents. We had fun going to the beauty shop, the bank, and out to eat. A soon-to-be congratulations goes out to Melissa’s brother and sister-in-law, as they will be having another baby in the next seven days! Thanks to Dave and Wanda for their hospitality!
Sunday, Carlos and myself (along with the Smothers family) had the opportunity to celebrate the Hartman Reserve Maple Syrup Festival! During a Volunteer Tuesday event at UNI, I got to work closely with my boss and co-worker to help the nature reserve prepare for this annual event. After hiking through the woods and checking buckets for sap, learning from the syrup-maker how the process works, and standing in line for 45 minutes, we made it to the front of the line. Chris Cakes brought a big rig and made 4 dozen pancakes at one time! I was amazed by both the efficiency and the speed of the one made who make the cakes! After 7 pancakes (along with butter and milk from Hansen’s Dairy), topped with real, homemade, Hartman-Reserve maple syrup. I was stuffed, but the food was great and was a great reminder to buy fresh- buy local!
Wedding bells are in the air. No Carlos is not getting married, but we do have many friends who are at various stages in the process. Kelli and Mike are getting hitched Memorial Day weekend, Kyle and Alisha as well as Deanna and Jonathan tie the knot in August, and Kim and Dusty are to be wed in September! Janessa and her now fiancé just got engaged within the last week!
Since it is Ash Wednesday- it would also be appropriate to wish you a humble and insightful Lenten journey (for those of you involved with Lent). I will be trying a variety of new things for this journey and will hopefully have many success stories to post. This year I am giving up all pop and coffee! I will also be adding a few things, including but not limited to watching less TV and updating the blog on a more regular basis! We are interested in knowing what you are changing in your life for Lent. Feel free to post and let us know what you are doing, and hopefully we can provide some support. If you post and keep us updated- I will post your updates on our blog as well!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
NOW it's a Party!
Wow- it has been a while since we have last posted. Sorry to keep you in the dark, but we were in Cancun, Mexico with the lovely and talented Kurt and Meg Palmer last week! We have wanted to take a trip somewhere warm (while it was cold here in Iowa), with the Palmers since Kurt and Paul discussed it in the Spring of 2009. The plans came together quite nicely and we had a wonderful trip, with very few troubles. Below is the itinerary we followed, with pictures coming in the near future...
Friday, January 14, 2011- Kurt and Meg arrived in Waterloo, we ate dinner at Applebees, and watched the movie Couple's Retreat (what a great warm-up for the week to come- if you haven't seen the movie, I would strongly recommend it [my favorite part is the Yoga scene])
Saturday- Wanda (Thanks Wanda) dropped us of at Waterloo Airport at 5:45 AM and the hurry up and wait began. We flew to the Twin Cities, then to Cancun, and were sipping Corona's and Margaritas at the Casa Maya Hotel (http://www.casamaya.com/ingles/index.html) by 3:30 PM!
Sunday- The morning was spent listening to the time share presentation and telling them no. After our three hours of listening, along with a free breakfast and mamosa, we left the resort and went to Wal-Mart. After spending almost 2 hours at Wal-Mart, we climbed in the taxi, went back, and made it to the beach. At night, we spent over 4 hours at Margaritaville with All-We-Could-Eat Fajitas and All-We-Could-Drink Margaritas!
Monday- We sat on the beach, swam in the ocean, played Farkle, learned 4 Point Pitch, Euchre, and Phase 10, and ate at Hard Rock Cafe.
Tuesday- We signed up for the Excaret Excursion (http://www.xcaret.com/), but didn't end up going because both the guys had some 'stomach issues' that needed resolved. The best medicine- take a 3 hour nap, go to the beach, play games, and stay at the resort (the pasta buffet was delicious), and get to bed early!
Wednesday- We made it to Excaret and had a blast. We snorkeled in an underground river and saw some bright-colored fish, we snorkeled in the bay and saw lots of different types of fish, we saw people swimming with dolphins, saw men swinging from a tower on a rope, ate a seafood buffet, and watched a 2 hour show on the history of Mexico! By the time we arrived back at 10- we played a few games of Farkle and went to bed!
Thursday- We slept in a bit and Melissa and Paul went to Market 28- a 'local market' that is geared more for tourists. After hearing every excuse to come into each individual store, we decided to buy from three locations, made our purchases, and went back. The beach was quite sunny and warm. Knowing it was our last beach day, we stayed out for most of the afternoon. We showered and went to Hooters for our final dinner.
Friday- Up early for the hotel breakfast buffet and on the way to the airport by 8. After 13.5 hours of traveling, through customs and enduring a 90 degree temperature differential, it was nice to be out of the airport and home by 10 PM. We hugged the Palmer's and sent them on their way, as we unpacked and missed the sunny, sandy beach we had just left.
Overall- it was a great trip, with great friends, and a nice getaway from the Iowa winter. Throughout the entire trip, we felt safe and secure, and Paul was enjoying the attempt to use Spanish he had picked up along the way! We rode the public bus system, exchanged dollars for Pesos, took a taxi, and shopped at Wal-Mart- all with great success.
Thank you all for your support, love, prayers, and encouragement. Thanks to Craig and Pat for the connection to lodging, for Wanda, Karen, Clare, Grandpa and Grandma Palmer and Larsen for taking care of the young boys and girl in Iowa. A huge thank you to Kurt and Meg for enduring a week with us, for being great travel companions, and for being the best of friends!!!
Friday, January 14, 2011- Kurt and Meg arrived in Waterloo, we ate dinner at Applebees, and watched the movie Couple's Retreat (what a great warm-up for the week to come- if you haven't seen the movie, I would strongly recommend it [my favorite part is the Yoga scene])
Saturday- Wanda (Thanks Wanda) dropped us of at Waterloo Airport at 5:45 AM and the hurry up and wait began. We flew to the Twin Cities, then to Cancun, and were sipping Corona's and Margaritas at the Casa Maya Hotel (http://www.casamaya.com/ingles/index.html) by 3:30 PM!
Sunday- The morning was spent listening to the time share presentation and telling them no. After our three hours of listening, along with a free breakfast and mamosa, we left the resort and went to Wal-Mart. After spending almost 2 hours at Wal-Mart, we climbed in the taxi, went back, and made it to the beach. At night, we spent over 4 hours at Margaritaville with All-We-Could-Eat Fajitas and All-We-Could-Drink Margaritas!
Monday- We sat on the beach, swam in the ocean, played Farkle, learned 4 Point Pitch, Euchre, and Phase 10, and ate at Hard Rock Cafe.
Tuesday- We signed up for the Excaret Excursion (http://www.xcaret.com/), but didn't end up going because both the guys had some 'stomach issues' that needed resolved. The best medicine- take a 3 hour nap, go to the beach, play games, and stay at the resort (the pasta buffet was delicious), and get to bed early!
Wednesday- We made it to Excaret and had a blast. We snorkeled in an underground river and saw some bright-colored fish, we snorkeled in the bay and saw lots of different types of fish, we saw people swimming with dolphins, saw men swinging from a tower on a rope, ate a seafood buffet, and watched a 2 hour show on the history of Mexico! By the time we arrived back at 10- we played a few games of Farkle and went to bed!
Thursday- We slept in a bit and Melissa and Paul went to Market 28- a 'local market' that is geared more for tourists. After hearing every excuse to come into each individual store, we decided to buy from three locations, made our purchases, and went back. The beach was quite sunny and warm. Knowing it was our last beach day, we stayed out for most of the afternoon. We showered and went to Hooters for our final dinner.
Friday- Up early for the hotel breakfast buffet and on the way to the airport by 8. After 13.5 hours of traveling, through customs and enduring a 90 degree temperature differential, it was nice to be out of the airport and home by 10 PM. We hugged the Palmer's and sent them on their way, as we unpacked and missed the sunny, sandy beach we had just left.
Overall- it was a great trip, with great friends, and a nice getaway from the Iowa winter. Throughout the entire trip, we felt safe and secure, and Paul was enjoying the attempt to use Spanish he had picked up along the way! We rode the public bus system, exchanged dollars for Pesos, took a taxi, and shopped at Wal-Mart- all with great success.
Thank you all for your support, love, prayers, and encouragement. Thanks to Craig and Pat for the connection to lodging, for Wanda, Karen, Clare, Grandpa and Grandma Palmer and Larsen for taking care of the young boys and girl in Iowa. A huge thank you to Kurt and Meg for enduring a week with us, for being great travel companions, and for being the best of friends!!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Middle of the Week
Wednesdays are usually great! Not only is it coffee in the morning and the halfway point of the week, the day generally goes pretty quick as I try to catch up from the beginning of the week and keep up through the end of the week. This Wednesday is no different, as lunch is over and the afternoon work time is about to begin!
The five of us in the family are still celebrating the accomplishment of the 'baby of the family,' as Chester graduated from beginning class at Puppy School. His instructor, Andrea, passed Chester with flying colors, and he has been invited to attend Intermediate classes starting later this month. We have a certificate and picture of him with his hat one (which he didn't necessarily care for and fought with the whole time it was on)! If I can figure out how, we will post a picture.
Another exciting Tuesday night event was the purchase of a new pair of shoes. Melissa and I consider ourselves old fashioned (and of course, I would fall under the classification of thrifty), so we like to purchase things on sale. We were having conversation with a 17 year old boy, who shall remain nameless, and his quest to get the shoes that he "...really likes!" After trying on shoes and discussing prices, he decided to get the shoes, even if they weren't on sale. I will not disclose the amount at this point, but would like to hear comments on how much is too much for a pair of tennis shoes (not for tennis, but just to wear out and about and do some running in). The topic is still being discussed, and I would be interested to hear your comments and share them with that 17 year old boy!
Please post your opinion on:
How much is too much for a 17 year old to spend on a pair of cross-training/tennis shoes? Why?
Have a great rest of the week!
The five of us in the family are still celebrating the accomplishment of the 'baby of the family,' as Chester graduated from beginning class at Puppy School. His instructor, Andrea, passed Chester with flying colors, and he has been invited to attend Intermediate classes starting later this month. We have a certificate and picture of him with his hat one (which he didn't necessarily care for and fought with the whole time it was on)! If I can figure out how, we will post a picture.
Another exciting Tuesday night event was the purchase of a new pair of shoes. Melissa and I consider ourselves old fashioned (and of course, I would fall under the classification of thrifty), so we like to purchase things on sale. We were having conversation with a 17 year old boy, who shall remain nameless, and his quest to get the shoes that he "...really likes!" After trying on shoes and discussing prices, he decided to get the shoes, even if they weren't on sale. I will not disclose the amount at this point, but would like to hear comments on how much is too much for a pair of tennis shoes (not for tennis, but just to wear out and about and do some running in). The topic is still being discussed, and I would be interested to hear your comments and share them with that 17 year old boy!
Please post your opinion on:
How much is too much for a 17 year old to spend on a pair of cross-training/tennis shoes? Why?
Have a great rest of the week!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from the Waterman's! A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, and we are a bit behind in our posting. At any rate, we hope you all had a healthy and happy holiday season and that 2011 has started off well.
We are very fortunate to have the time and means to see family and friends over the holiday season. Not only did we celebrate the birth of our Lord by candlelight (and an extra 9 inches of snow) with our church family, we were also blessed to have safe travels to Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Manchester, and Edgewood! The gifts were good, the food great, and the conversations outstanding! Thanks Dave, Wanda, Richard, Eileen, Lyle, and Alice for hosting such great holiday gatherings.
We have already celebrated Carlos' 17th birthday (oh wait... we have FINALLY, since it was in October of 2010), by eating at Whiskey Creek and attending the funniest show I have ever seen- Spamalot! All three of us agreed that we thoroughly enjoyed the show and encourage everyone to see it! We would go again in a heartbeat. We are also lucky enough to see our friend, Jacob Smith, perform in the show as Sir Dennis Galahad! He did a fantastic job and fascinated us after the show with stories of performing, traveling, and what the future might hold!
We are working on our holiday letter, which we will send out around the end of January (we wanted to make sure 2010 came to a complete and total end before rushing out a letter)! We hope you are all doing well and enjoying the finer things in life- we know we are. Give us a call, text, email, or even better, stop in and visit!
We are very fortunate to have the time and means to see family and friends over the holiday season. Not only did we celebrate the birth of our Lord by candlelight (and an extra 9 inches of snow) with our church family, we were also blessed to have safe travels to Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Manchester, and Edgewood! The gifts were good, the food great, and the conversations outstanding! Thanks Dave, Wanda, Richard, Eileen, Lyle, and Alice for hosting such great holiday gatherings.
We have already celebrated Carlos' 17th birthday (oh wait... we have FINALLY, since it was in October of 2010), by eating at Whiskey Creek and attending the funniest show I have ever seen- Spamalot! All three of us agreed that we thoroughly enjoyed the show and encourage everyone to see it! We would go again in a heartbeat. We are also lucky enough to see our friend, Jacob Smith, perform in the show as Sir Dennis Galahad! He did a fantastic job and fascinated us after the show with stories of performing, traveling, and what the future might hold!
We are working on our holiday letter, which we will send out around the end of January (we wanted to make sure 2010 came to a complete and total end before rushing out a letter)! We hope you are all doing well and enjoying the finer things in life- we know we are. Give us a call, text, email, or even better, stop in and visit!
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