Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Catching Up



So here are some pictures from our going away party, our trip up to Wisconsin and the last couple of weeks here in Wisconsin. Phill and Kim threw us a going away party at the Wilke's house and it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of beer, cornhole, and laughs. Then there was the stop in Leona, Texas; the Saint Louis Zoo, and the Arch.

Since we have been back in Wisconsin we have been keeping ourselves busy. We have been out to Pewaukee Lake to celebrate my aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary. The live on the lake so there was lots of jet skiing, tubing, and swimming. Both the girls loved it- we are hoping to go out again before summer ends.

We took a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo. There are some animals that the Houston Zoo doesn't have and so Maddie like looking at the penquins and polar bears. We also took in the Wisconsin State Fair. The day we went happen to be UW- Madison day and the Badger marching band was playing. The girls loved the band- their father has turned them into fight song freaks. Emma enjoyed her cream puff by eating it without her hands- she just dove in head first.

We have been following the Brewers and took in a game last week. The girls stayed up in Germantown and we enjoyed the game with Kurt and my dad. We watched C.C. pitch a complete game and a Brewers' win.

We have celebrated my birthday with a 15lb. brisket. Phill you would have been proud of my mom- up at 6am and it was delicious. We got to hang out with some friends that just moved back also. This week Chad has started meetings- he was installed on Monday and meetings for the rest of the week. Monday starts the school year- Maddie has another week after that before she starts. We have the faculty get together Saturday, Maddie's school picnic on Sunday, first day of school on Monday, new member orientation on Tuesday, 3K Open House on Wednesday, let's just say that the next week will be busy.

Today was the first day at Concordia- hope all you Texans had a great first day. Only 2 more days left for the week.

Friday, August 01, 2008

I know, I know



Okay I know that I have been a bad blogger and have been slacking, but I think that I can be forgiven given the circumstances of moving half way across the country.

So where should we start- Chad accepted a call to Martin Luther High School is Greendale Wisconsin. It happens to be my alma mater and I even have a couple of cousins still there. He will be teaching Theology, coaching basketball, and also is the head baseball coach. He is pretty excited that he gets his own classroom again.

So 5 days after accepting the call we packed up and headed to Iowa for Nolan's baptism. We arrived on the 3rd and got to hang with the Pownell's for an evening by ourselves before everyone arrived on the 4th. We were in Iowa for the weekend and then it was back to Wisconsin for a week. We celebrated Chad's parent's 35th Wedding Anniversary, Emma's 2nd birthday, and Chad's 29th birthday. We managed to get a few Brewers' games in. Chad went to three and I went to two. We took Maddie to Monday's game- she had a blast. She actually sat for 7 innings and watched the game. I managed to spend a little time in Chicago. I took the train down there and picked up Anne from Midway. We rode the train home and had a great time. I surprised Chad with the Grepke family joining us for Chad's birthday tailgate.

We headed home on the 14th and then all the packing began. We had about a week of packing and then the movers came on the 24th, packed up and on the 25th they loaded the truck. We headed to Dallas on the morning of the 26th to hang with the Wilde family. Sunday morning we took off for Saint Louis. We spent two nights at the Kiessling Hotel. We got to the zoo on Monday (with cousins Ben and Luke too) and also the arch. Then headed to Milwaukee on Tuesday. We morning. We relaxed for the evening and the Wednesday it was unloading the truck. We spent most of Wednesday in Germantown rearranging boxes and furniture. Thursday was unpacking at the Heff house and today we are waiting for the Pownell's to get here to spend some time with them.

We are happy to be back in Wisconsin. We will miss Texas and all our "family" there. I did make the promise that if the football team gets to the state championship we would be there. The next couple of weeks will be adjusting to everything new. Chad starts meetings on the 15th, school starts on the 25th. Maddie starts school on the 3rd and we are hoping to get Emma into some swim lessons this fall also.

Slide show above is from our first trip to Wisconsin.