Our 35th Anniversary!

Based on the ending of my last post, you probably already know what this post is about!

YEP!!

We DID go to Florida!!

It seems like years ago now, but we enjoyed five days away the first week of April.

It was WONDERFUL!!

We hopped on a plane in Minneapolis on Monday morning, and landed in Fort Myers in the early afternoon.

The weather was literally perfect the entire week – as per usual!


The first order of business upon our arrival was getting some groceries.

Travel days are slim in the eating department!!

We were hungry but only ended up having snacks for dinner because we did not want to take the time to cook!


Mornings started early for me, as I am an early bird.

We had a beautiful suite we were staying in that allowed that to be ok!!

I really enjoyed the area we stayed this time as it had the most beautiful spot to walk on sidewalks around beautiful lakes.

Early morning walks are something I wish I could do in Wisconsin!


Blake and I would head down to the pool area pretty early each day.

I just wanted to be outside 24/7 while we were there!!

I love sunshine and warm temperatures and could have slept out there too!!

We ate our lunch around the pool each day.


Pretty soon I was getting photos from back home because they were having a blizzard of all things!

That had not been predicted before we left, just saying!

I felt so bad for the kids – but was thankful that everyone was together at home because no one could work due to the snowstorm.


Tuesday afternoon Blake and I headed to one of our favorite spots to get a smoothie and enjoy sitting outside.

We love Food For Thought!

They have live music each evening, but we wanted to head to the beach to watch the sunset – which is exactly what we did!


These next photos were taken in order – watch that sun disappear!!

It was SO SO beautiful – sunsets on the beach are sunsets like no other!!


We headed back to grill some dinner Tuesday night and did not end up eating until 10 p.m.!!

Life with no schedule was pretty sweet!!


Wednesday morning my hubby treated me to a manicure and pedicure.

It was so relaxing.

Of course we headed to the pool right after that and spent the day there again.

The mornings there always start with clouds, but they never last long!!


We grilled our dinner again that evening, but this time ate much earlier.

I enjoyed sitting outside being moral support while my hubby cooked our meal, ha, ha!


The BEST part about our trip, just so you all know, is the constant conversations.

Blake and I have many, many things that need discussed all the time, but we live in a home where there is zero privacy and zero time to have those converations!

It is the season we are in – a VERY good season – but I am ever so thankful when we get time where we can concentrate effort toward decisions that need made and things that need talked about!!

It was SO so good!!

I even bought a notebook while we were there because we felt like we needed to write things down.


Guess what we did Thursday?

More of the same, yes!!

I DID NOT want to go inside at all that day!!


Friday was our last day.

Wah.

We took another long walk that morning.

The weather was so incredibly perfect.

I saw a house for sale and told Blake it was perfect for us.

Then we saw that alligator in the water – do you see him there?

No thank you!!

We honestly talk a lot about spending several months in Florida each winter, but keeping our roots here in Wisconsin of course!!

After our long walk we sat around the pool – I was reading a book in the shade but enjoyed every single second.


Around 11 Friday morning it was time to shower and pack up to get ready to leave.

I am so glad I took some photos of our lovely home away from home!

We would definitely stay there again – it was our best spot so far!!

And this was our fifth year visiting Naples – our sixth if you count the year we took the children!


We had one last stop to make before heading home!

A gluten-free bakery that has the best cinnamon rolls on this planet.

I am just taking everyone else’s word for it because I do not eat grains or sugar!

We wanted to bring some back for the kiddos and we did.


Then we headed to the airport and got on our flight to head back home.

I was so ready to see the children, be in our own bed, and be back in my kitchen – but it was a bittersweet goodbye for sure!!

I even jokingly said to Blake “See you next year, honey!”, ha, ha!!


Mr. Blake Moschel, I cannot thank you enough for making this trip happen!!

Life is and was SO full I did not think it would be possible, but it was!!

I am so very grateful for the time we had together, the conversations, the good food, the genuine rest, and the time in the sunshine.

I am even more grateful that you see the need for us to purpose time for each other and our marriage – it means the world to me!

You know quality time is my love language!!

Just looking back at all of these photos and thinking about our time there has my heart so full!!

You are my favorite, babe!

I would go anywhere with you!!!

And I LOVE YOU MOST!!

I cannot wait until next year’s trip, Lord willing!!

March Blessings

This post does not contain any celebration news!

You are shocked, I know!

March held A LOT of normal but crazy busy days – and just looking back on the photos as I loaded them to this little blog of mine made me smile SO much about all the good memories we make here!

You have to know that there is much planning going on.

Addie is a skilled, organized, joyful bride-to-be who is doing an AMAZING job getting us all ready for the BIG day!

We have planning meetings sometimes, but usually whenever we see each other in the evenings we update each other on all that needs told!

Especially now that packages arrive here daily!

Planning a wedding through the internet instead of running all over the place is actually very nice!


At the beginning of March I had the pleasure of being a third wheel on one of Scottie and Addie’s date nights!!

I happened to be at home alone (thanks to a robotics event), and so they took me along to work on their registry and to shop for their new home!

I HAD THE BEST TIME!!


I am sure you can imagine how we feel about not only Addie leaving us, but the fact that she is taking Ruby with her.

It is very bittersweet!

Because we are SO HAPPY for Addie and Scottie but we are going to miss them both SO much!

We spend so much time with Ruby everyday because Addie is at work and we are at home.


Here is Lane getting ready for that Robotics event I mentioned above.

He still loves this SO much!!

And he is VERY good at it!


Throughout March, as I had a little free time here and there, I continued to work on my purging and organization of our home project!

I had a list in my phone, you all, of the things that still needed done!

To pat myself on the back here a bit – I will add that I condensed five HUGE Christmas decoration totes into three much much smaller totes.

Those needed gone through SO badly!

I never take time to do it during the holidays when we have them out anyway.

I also needed one little container a while back to hold some essential oil rollers that were making an oily mess in a bathroom drawer.

I found what I wanted, but had to buy a pack of three.

They were only $2 for three of them – so pretty soon this happened!

If you know, you know.

That drawer was a MESS before!


It wasn’t too long after that that I went back for more of those cute bins to work on another messy drawer!

Of course I did.

How long do you think all of this organizing will last???


While I was going through things, I was also deep cleaning things.

Areas I am sure I have never cleaned, based on their appearance, good grief.

Like under one of the sinks in the bathroom that holds cleaning supplies and a haircut kit.

I am sure there were several health code violations under that sink – just saying – it was so gross!

We mostly use Thieves household cleaner to clean, but I love making our other cleaning products.

They work great and do not have any harsh chemicals.


Ok, moving on!!

You know we ate in March!

And you know we love food!

And you know how big of a job it is here!

Let’s take a look at all the goodness that came from the kitchen, shall we?


Did you even look at all of those, ha, ha??

This kitchen of ours takes a beating every single day, but it truly is my absolute favorite place to be!!

It really is the perfect size and layout!!

I literally live in my apron most days!!

The best work uniform!!


Kayla and I are still doing our bulk monthly shopping.

We are actually heading to Costco today!!

Here is my March Azure order.

I pick up my Azure orders about five minutes up the road in Cashton.

It is SO handy and their products are wonderful!!


I love my good helpers!

I am teaching my way out of some jobs – teaching Tate and Eliza to make bread!

They LOVE to help and feel like an important part of this team!

Letting your children own important jobs in their childhood builds confidence like no other.


Speaking of my helpers – how will I possibly keep up with everything when they are grown and gone???

I haven’t told the youngest two they are never allowed to leave – but they aren’t!!!

My trio are the ones who care for our Lil Red Barn and our animals, help keep up with that crazy kitchen, and keep up with our home and land.

See why I love their help?!


Let’s talk for a minute about my waffle maker.

My waffle maker belonged to my Grandma Stambaugh and was gifted to me by my Mom shortly after I was diagnosed with celiac.

It was OLD, but still worked SO great!

The cast iron plates were my favorite part!

I could no longer change the heat setting on it, and I had to use a fork to pry it open with an oven mitt on my other hand because the handle was missing, but I LOVED that waffle maker.

Unfortunately, it started to feel dangerous.

The cord especially.

I just kept imagining that hissing sound soon turning into a fire!!

So I was time to let my beloved waffle maker go.

I have made literally thousands of waffles in that thing.

Even Chad couldn’t believe I was letting it go!!

It was emotional for me for sure.

Blake gave me the green light to order a new one.

So I did.

It is AMAZING.

I do not even have to set a timer on my phone while the waffles cook because it has one!!!


School marched on in March!

We currently are VERY close to being finished with our school year!!

Eliza and Tate are technically finished and Lane has a few Math Lessons and one Module of Biology to complete yet.

The goal was to be free of school work in time for the first WEDDING!!!

And we did it!!


The weather continues to be wacky!!

But we get outside all the time anyway!

The children have really been enjoying biking ever since Eliza got her new bike.

I love watching them and hearing them outside!


We still enjoy everyone getting together on Sundays!

It fills my cup for the week ahead!


We had some fun outings too!!

I had the immense last minute privilege of meeting up with a best friend on a Friday morning – and she even took me out for lunch!!

I left with my heart so full!


We have a lot more weddings this year than our own two!

It has been and will be super fun!!

Got to sit with some wonderful friends at a reception of a very, very sweet wedding!


Blake and I also took our newest giant on a date night one Friday night.

This kiddo of ours gets lost in the shuffle sometimes – so it was SO good to spend time with him!!

He needed new clothes because he is growing an inch every night while he sleeps – trying to catch his older brother, I think!

We shopped and then had ice cream by the fire in the new Hyvee.

It was such a fun evening!!

Lane makes me laugh so much!!


Addie and I are also still on our Women’s Ministry Committee at church and part of the planning and hosting a Women 2 Women gathering each month.

It is truly a highlight of the month for me!

We have our last one for this “year” (we follow the school year) next week!


We also had a beautiful Good Friday service at church.

Our church can SING.

Like really SING!!!

And we do.

It was so so beautiful!


I read some good books last month!

Some more enjoyable than others, if you know what I mean!

That gut book was a doozy!!

But I learned a lot!


Speaking of books, I sent my beloved Bible (my best friend!!) away to be recovered.

I am not kidding when I say that it took a lot for me to be able to do that.

I could not imagine one day without my Bible!

I cannot wait to get it back and it will be so nice that it is not falling apart anymore!


Last, but not least, this happened sometime in the middle of March.

That last text was followed by an instant phone call from my hubby – I think we were both trying to gauge if the other was serious or not!!

Well – stay tuned for the next post to see what happened after that!!!

The suspense shouldn’t be too bad since you know we are creatures of habit who do the same things all the time, ha, ha!!


And here are some sky photos just so you know it is really me!!

I LOVE THE SKY.

It has been so beautiful lately.


That last photo was taken at a retirement party that Blake and I went to.

It was really fun, and I had a delicious meal!!

They are so kind to care for me that way!

I also got to bring home one of the centerpieces.


Ok, March, that’s a wrap!!

I hope you all had a wonderful month full of wonderful things!

Until next time…..

More celebrating!!

Our next celebrations included Easter and TWO very special birthdays!!

Kayla was hosting again – thank you so much for that, Kay!!

The farm looked beautiful when we arrived there after church on Easter Sunday.


Our church service that day was FANTASTIC – so worshipful – the singing was BEAUTIFUL!!!

It was wonderful to have everyone together for Easter lunch afterward!

Kayla, Addie and I split up the meal preparations!

Lunch was DELICIOUS!!


Lane had a birthday two days after Easter!

So we celebrated him!!!

I cannot believe my Lane Stevan is sixteen years old!!

He is growing into a giant and already much taller than his mama.

It was fun to give him gifts to go along with his passion for all things STEM and robotics!


Kayla’s birthday was eight days after Easter!

So her Mom and Dad brought her birthday gift to our Easter celebration as well!

Saige loved the bow!!


Soon it was time for our annual Easter egg hunt for the younger children!

They love this little tradition that David and Kayla do!!

It was cold on Easter Sunday, but we had the hunt outside anyway!!

Then they came back in to open up their eggs.


Another fun celebration in the books!!!

Memories made and memories now kept!

I will say we are having some conversations about how we will handle celebrations now that our family is growing as Grant and Addie get married!

We will need to bunch them together more, I think!!

Time will tell!

Lane Stevan, you are turning into a WONDERFUL young man.

You have such a gentle spirit, soft heart, and show so much grace to everyone in your midst.

You are so, so smart – and we cannnot wait to see what the Lord does with your math and engineering mind!

Kayla Lauren, what a beautiful woman you have become.

You handle all the busy you have with laughter and a big smile on your face.

Your lighthearted spirit shows in your children!

The Lord has immensely blessed your and David’s efforts in so many areas of your life.

I pray often for the two of you to keep Jesus first, and the Lord is hearing my prayers!

Happy, happy birthday to my oldest and youngest birth children!!

What an immense privilege to celebrate you both!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

Our FIRST celebration for Grant and Kamryn!!

Welcome to my new blog series called “celebrations!!”, ha, ha!

We have had many celebrations as of late, and they are just starting!!

All of them for VERY, very good reasons!

Kayla, Addie and I hosted a bridal shower for Kamryn.

(Addie helped us plan for the shower, but was out of the country on a trip when the shower took place!)

It was a WONDERFUL celebration!!

We had the BEST time!!

Kamryn and Grant are blessed with SO much support as they start their lives together and they received so many thoughtful gifts!

Kayla and I got her home ready for the party while everyone was at church the second to last Sunday in March.

We had the such a good time planning and preparing for this day!!

I will let the photos tell the story!


I will add here that I had had a pretty strong conversation with Jesus early that morning about the weather.

Thankfully we live in Wisconsin where very few are afraid of a little weather because we are used to it!

During the shower that day it snowed almost the whole time.

Thankfully it was a wet snow during the afternoon and it was not sticking to anyone’s cars or the driveway at Kayla’s!

From what I heard, all of our guests arrived home safely before the real storm started.

I was still at Kayla’s, but Blake had dropped me off that morning – SO thankful we planned it that way!

Blake and the children came back to pick me up, but we were in the thick of it and barely made it home.

We also stopped to help someone who had slid off the road and was in a ditch.

I was SO thankful Blake was driving!!!


Even with the snow that day, it was the MOST PERFECT CELEBRATION!!

It could not have went better if I had been able to plan every single detail.

We are in WEDDING SEASON!!!!

Grant and Kamryn’s wedding is approaching quickly!!!

We are SO VERY EXCITED!!!

Everything is going to be SO beautiful!

It was a joy like no other to be able to plan and host a shower for my new daughter-in-law!

Thank you to everyone who joined us that day and supported my son and daugther-in-law!

We appreciate each one of you!!

And we had the BEST time!!!