Olivia's Snowmobile

Today Jesse let Olivia take her snowmobile out for the first time this winter. She loved it!! This was Olivia's Christmas present last year. It was a project that her and Jesse worked on together last fall. It was restored to look like a John Deere Liquidator. Jesse named it the "Littledator"

Thanksgiving Day!!

Olivia and Charlie on Thanksgiving Morning.

We hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We stuffed ourselves full at my mom's around noon with my brothers and their families. Grandma and Keith made it over to my mom's too...it was so nice spending time with them.

After my mom's, we went to T.J. and Lucille's (Jesse's aunt and uncles)
and had another great dinner.

Olivia and Charlie were both sleeping on the way home. They were very tired after an exhausting day of having awesome food and lots of fun with cousins :)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Alright, I am pretty sure that some day Olivia will be embarrassed that I am posting this, but I just had to. She was taking her shower tonight and she was singing at the top of her lungs. I quickly grabbed my camera so I could record her voice. She is just a little excited that Santa is coming in just a little over a month.

There really isn't anything to see, but make sure you turn your volume up...

Story Time at the Babler House

Olivia loves reading books. Most of the time they are made up words, or only some of the words, but one of her favorites to read is Brown Bear. Of course she has it memorized, but she loves reading it to Charlie, and he loves listening. Notice that Jack even likes to join in.

Daddy's Garage Buddy!!

Charlie in the Garage with Daddy!!

Random Recent Pictures

Here are some recent pictures that I thought I would share.



The birthday cake Olivia made for Jesse. I made the hearts, but she did write Dad.


Wow...look who is smiling :) What a proud daddy!!


Jesse playing with his little sidekick.


Charlie loving sitting up in the Bumbo chair.



These two love each other so much :)
Olivia will go right past us every morning.
She always wants to know where and what her brother is doing.

Grandpa Harvey, You Will Be Missed!

This past week we had to say goodbye to a very special man, Jesse's Grandpa Harvey. He was loved by many, and will be missed greatly. We are so blessed to have known such an awesome man. He has been there for the special moments of our kids' lives and are so grateful to have had him in our lives.
Here are a few pictures of some very fond memories.

Grandma Joan and Grandpa Harvey


Cousins - Jennifer, Jeremy, Jayne, Jesse, Luke, and Amy with Grandpa Harvey


Grandma Joan, Olivia, Grandpa Harvey, and Owen.


Olivia's Second Birthday with all of her Grandparents.


Olivia and Grandpa at their auction September 2009


Grandpa Harvey and Charlie when he was 4 days old.


Olivia giving Grandpa his blanket after his surgery in August 2010

For My Grandpa

© Ilona Blake

I know we are all feeling a little bit sad,
That we've lost our Grandpa, our friend and our dad
Together we have cried an ocean of tears
As we feel so empty and hold many fears

But Grandpa would want us to know he's in a good place
And that he watching us all with a smile on his face
As we have made him so proud, as proud as can be
That he has raised such a beautiful and special family

Thinking back now I really must say
I feel lucky and privileged to have known Grandpa to this day
For in my life, you have played a special part
The memories I will treasure and keep close to your heart

For me I am glad my little baby he got to meet
And for all of us, be grateful, his life is now complete
To each one of us he has loved and cared
And a family, be thankful for the good times we shared

Although he has gone we will always be together
And his spirit will live on each one of us forever
When you look to the sky, look for the brightest star
As that will be Grandpa looking down on us from afar

And now I would like to thank the good Lord above
For blessing us with our Grandpa with his kindness and love
Dear God, if it is not too much fuss
Take extra special care of our Grandpa as he is very dear to us

Grandpa if you are listening say a prayer for us every day
Be sure to protect us and guide us on our way
We know when God called you, you had to go
But we want you to know Grandpa we miss you and love you so

We love you Grandpa!!

What a beautiful weekend!!

This past Sunday, we FINALLY had a day to relax and spend at home. It has been so long since the four of us could just hang out at home and take it easy. We spent sometime outside on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We played a beanbag toss game and roasted hot dogs by the fire. Here are some pictures of the kids.

Halloween

The day before Halloween we decided to carve our pumpkins. Olivia loves this...me...not so much. It is always so messy and I do not like putting my hands in the gross pumpkin guts. Thank goodness Jesse is always willing to carve her pumpkin with her. Here are some pictures of the carving.






Olivia's Pumpkin



Charlie's Pumpkin



Here are some pictures of our Yellow Submarine, Little Cow and T.C. Bear on Halloween.

Blankets for Grandpas

So much has happened over the last few weeks...we have lots of things to catch up on.

Jesse and I have been crazy with our jobs. Jesse has been working long hours and recently traveled to Texas for work, and I have been busy getting end of quarter stuff together and just got back from a conference in Northern Minnesota. As I am laying in bed, relaxing after a hectic couple of days, I am trying to catch up on our blog.

Something that I have been wanting to post for awhile, is way back in August, Olivia's Great Grandpa Chris had fallen while we were at Jesse's uncles Joe's house. Olivia was very concerned about Grandpa Chris. Around the same time her Great Grandpa Harvey had a surgery and was in the hospital. One night, we were praying for the both of them and Olivia decided that she needed to make a blanket for each of her Grandpas. She LOVES her blankets, and they always make her feel better when she is not feeling well or sad, so she decided she needed to make one for each of her grandpas. We were so proud of her coming up with this idea all on her own. Well, of course, Grandma Ruth was all over this. She picked Olivia up one day and took her to the fabric store. Olivia picked out fabric for both Grandpas. She picked out John Deere fabric for Grandpa Harvey because they have always had this back-and-forth Red vs. Green tractor debate. And she picked out Route 66 fabric for Grandpa Chris because he likes to drive and because it had Texas on it. We worked on the both blankets. We were able to deliver Grandpa Harveys at the hospital, but we had to wait to give Grandpa Chris his blanket. Luckily Jesse had some training there a few weeks back and he was able to deliver Grandpa Chris' blanket in person. Here are some pictures...