Chaos

The chaos that ensues a Gaalswyk family photo is really quite comical. 

See for yourself:

Everyone getting situated. Note Mark.

Kathy assumes her position and pastes that smile on. Judging by the look on Melanie's face, something is not quite right. Mark is trying not to look obvious. Anna has no idea.

Kathy still has that killer smile. Melanie seems to be less angry. Benny has spotted Anna's new head ornament. Mark can't look up because his smile will give him away. And Neal seems to have spotted what is going on with the orange flower.

Luke comes to the rescue of his bride. Mark thinks he is hillarious. Ben is mad he doesn't get the flower. And Truman looks less than enthused about his hand off. 

Ahhhhh. Jack still can't look at the camera, but for the most part, this is a beautiful family photo :)

(this series is actually how these photos were shot!)

Weekend Fun

This past weekend Mark and I (and the kids) went up north to have a fun family weekend with the Gaalswyk side. Mark's whole family was together which was really fun (we all haven't been together since Christmas). Luke and Anna (mark's brother and sister-in-law) have the cute little feller in the middle with the bright head of hair :) Mark likes to call him 'blaze'. Isn't he just a stitch?!

Mark's Cousin and her family are also visiting from Czech. It was a blast to meet the newest addition to their family, Gabe and Alex....sweet little miracle babies. 

Mark and I got a somewhat normal looking family photo...

Dama Taffy and Papa Neal with all their grandbabes

Jack given his dama a little sweetness

After spending two nights up north together, all of the 'kids' gave the grandbabes to the grandparents and took off for a little trip to the Brule River in WI (sans kiddos!). We had such a great time...sleeping in, walks, canoeing, sunset watching, and catching up. Completely relaxing and enjoying each others company. 

Here we all are watching the sun set

 My sister-in-law...each time we are together we find more weird similarities including the way we look. How ironic that we married twin brothers :)

 Melanie, Cait and Aleisha 

And the whole group in front of the wood shed at our cabin!

We are so fortunate to have wonderful family that we love to be with! What a blessing ;)

Minnesota Evenings

Just a typical night at our house. The fellas eat supper and after their bellies are completely satiated, they jet outside as fast as they can to play with some equipment.

 Mark is usually close behind whatever they are doing

I mean seriously, I would pay this fella to come blow my leaves for me everyday just to get a look at those cute little cheeks!

 Look at that tongue! This is how you know J is really concentrating :) 

And this guy?! Well he has been doing so well at driving the lawnmower, he is already talking about how he is going to start driving me around for my errands! How lucky am I to have such a handsome chauffeur???

Gosch's Grocery Models

Easter

This past weekend our family was able to spice things up a bit by hosting Easter instead of driving up north. It was a lot of fun to be with family and to have such a large gathering at our home. It was also really great to be able to go to our own church for a holiday service. 

Here are just a few of the photos that I have gotten through...

So blurry, but you get the point. My dad and Mark decided to be twinsies for the day :)

Mr. GQ

Papa Neal and Dama Taffy (grandma Kathy)

Papa Denny and Dama Ori (grandma Lori :) )

One of my little moosers

Hunting for eggs, Benny decided he needed a break to see what was inside.

All tuckered out from morning festivities, Papa and Benny decided a little snooze was on  the menu

Benny

Don't let the sweetness of this boy fool you. 

He loves to snuggle when he sleeps and we often find him cuddling with his bumpers :)

When things are quiet upstairs and you think he is doing this...

He is a crazy bookworm and is always reading

He is actually most likely doing this...

He is T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Don't be the next one bamboozled.

(This is the 3rd time this week I have found a bathroom like this)

Updates!

Something that keeps Mark and I fairly busy are house projects. We really enjoy doing them and now that the boys are getting a bit older, it makes it much easier to accomplish the tasks. 

A few weeks ago we decided to finish trimming out our main floor. Somehow during this process I finally talked Mark into putting board and batten on our entry wall. 

Here is our entry before:

And here it is after (much more dramatic b/c the first pic is with a cell phone ;) ):

 

Can you find the closet door?! Soon we will be putting on a flush mount handle so it doesn't stick out so much. 

I also need to figure out what color to paint the entry door. Alas...another project :)

Since moving into this home (3.5 years ago) we have put in a lot of time working on 'projects'. Here is what our main floor looks like now:

 Now if only I could get one of those kitchens in here that I have been photographing lately?!