December Activities!

Well as I said in my last post way back in September, that time is just speeding by.

December is here already, and we can probably say good-bye to December, and look forward to the new year.

Daniel got confirmed last month and we had family up for that

we had everybody home for thanksgiving, that was enjoyable,  Sarah brought home Dan Waterbery to visit, that was nice

Matthew brought home his XBOX with his Kinect that was fun to watch everybody do that

We do have our Christmas stuff out and slowly putting it up, it is hard to believe we are in the second week of advent already

on December 4th I finished my last class for my MPA so I am all done with my master's program

we only got a dusting of snow last Friday

Philomena won here postal shoot in archery

and Philomena was selected to go to the IBA band,  it is like the All State Honor Band for Junior High,  she will play down in Des Moines in May, 2011

We hope everybody is doing fine

we are keeping warm, I was not quite ready for this cold weather

posted by Randy

New Post...Finally!

Well it has been almost 6 weeks since the last post

I cannot believe how the time has gone by this summer, a lot of activities and crazy schedules

Right after the 4th of July Daniel and I went out with a total of 10 adults and 20 scouts to Colorado for summer camp.  Out of that group of 30,  3 adults (which included me) and 7 of the older scouts went on a high adventure and backpacked, hiked, camped for five days in the Rawah Wilderness Area next to the Roosevelt National forest just north of Estes park about an hour and Northwest of For Collins.  We took everything we needed (food, cooking, tents, etc.) to survive for 5 days of hiking.

We did camp above the timberline at 11,300 feet one night

here are some pictures

The above picture is Twin Crater Lake all snow melt fed, when the kids skipped snowballs out into the water the snowballs just floated away and did not melt.

This is blue lake at 11,100 feet we saw two elk and a moose walk by our campsite in the morning

we hiked and saw mountains up close and personal

It was a lot of fun.

The kids did well at the County Fair this year and Philomena will get to present her project at the State Fair this year. She gets to present on August 19 2010, so we will be at the State Fair on August 19, 2010

I have to work the State Fair on the last day August 22, 2010

Sarah did an excellent performance in her community play in Cedar Falls it was Joseph and the technicolor dream coat.  The signing camels were funny

the grass just keeps growing

It has been very hot lately, but finally we did have a small break in the heat and humidity

School is just around the corner hard to believe August is finally here.

we went down to Burlington on July 23, 2010 for Caroline's class reunion,

We are filling up on Harrington's sweet corn, they are out of Nashua IA

Some girl hit our car when Caroline went down to see Sarah's Play, it damaged the back bumper, she was pulling out of a parking spot and clipped our back bumper with her front bumper. It was our trailblazer

the Trailblazer will go in to get fixed in about a week

that is about it, so hopefully we will get into a pattern and post more regularly now

posted by Randy

OK,

It has been quite a while since our last post

Mary just left to go back to camp

Daniel, Matthew and I just got back from a fun canoe trip on the St. Criox river with the scouts, the tornadoes in the area were 15 miles south of where we were camping that night while on the St. Croix.  Our tents stayed dry, and on the ground.

Philomena got back from camp at Schnoenstatt in Sleepy Eye

Stephen was a cub scout camp last week

I finished my Drake summer class last week

Matthew had his Eagle Scout Ceremony with two other Eagle Scouts last week, that went very well.  Grandma and Grandpa Schnoebelen came up for that

Congratulations to Nathaniel for graduating from College, we are looking forward to him coming to Iowa to do his grad program

Congratulations to Katie for graduating from High school.  Sorry we could not make it down for the celebration

Happy Father's day to all the Fathers out there.

Matthew is going back to work at BV on Tuesday.  Still no hair cut.....how long will it grow??????

Sarah is in a community musical in Waterloo,  Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat

Everybody have a good week!!!

posted by Randy

de ja vu on birthdays

Thanks Daniel for adding variety to the blog by posting a new blog.

Well another round of birthdays for the week.

Happy birthday to Paul on last Monday and Emmanuela today! Paul I hope you had a fun birthday party and you had enough cake and ice cream left over so you could have seconds

Emmanuela I hope you had a real good time today on your birthday enjoying cake and ice cream and blowing out the candles, and you felt like a queen all day today!

I see Tom and Melissa will be celebrating a wedding anniversary on Saturday, Congratulations on their wedding anniversary.

Nancy will be celebrating a birthday on Sunday (will all those candles fit on one cake?, I guess it depends on the size of the cake!) Not to worry I will find that answer out in a couple years! :-)

Doug and Janice will be celebrating an anniversary on Sunday also, so we extend a heartfelt congratulations on their wedding anniversary. I hope they have a wonderful day.

And on Monday I begin my final year in the 40's bracket. Do they still make Geritol? What does it taste like?

We just finished Matthew's Eagle project tonight. The bat house is done! I am sure he will post pictures of it on his blog sometime soon. I am really proud of him. It was a good project and is an excellent addition to the outdoor classroom at Clear Creek School. Now the nagging will continue to get the project put on paper and sent to the Boy Scout office in Waterloo before August 24, 2009.

Sarah has left the building!
Sarah has now moved down to Sumner, IA and begins her new career this week starting Thursday with new teacher orientation. My first tax deduction has flown the coupe!

Mary is finished with summer camp for the year, she is up at Valley Fair, having fun. I wonder if she is getting her phone wet again?

The pyrotechnic Guild International (fireworks) is back in town for their big conference. they set off fireworks every night showing off their stuff and styles. Pyrotechnic professionals from around the world come to this conference. It is like a big trade show for people who put on firework displays. Instead of rolling out a new car or computer to show off or display they shoot off fireworks they design. They were here 4 years ago, and they liked Mason City so much they came back. It definitely brings in a lot of people.

Well have a good week

Posted by Randy