Merry Christmas!

I know it has been awhile since we've posted, but I just wanted to say that we are all doing well.  We had a very wonderful Christmas yesterday.  Up until now, our kids have not awakened early on Christmast morning.  Well, this year they finally did.  I think there is an internal clock that kicks in at 6-8 years that tells them when to wake up.  We heard them tromp down the stairs at 5:30 am.  Jeff finally went and herded them back to bed for another hour or so.
We had church at 10 am.  So, we let the kids open their stockings, but they already new that we would have to wait until after church for the rest.  We also had our traditional "Santa Pancakes", made with strawberries and whipped cream.  Yumm!
Church was wonderful.  Our missionaries sang "O Holy Night", and my friend and I played a medley of songs from the hymnal.  It was enjoyable.
We had fun opening gifts afterward.  Jeff especially enjoyed his mailbox my parents gave him.  Jeff's parents gave me a shirt that brags about "finding my husband at BYU-Idaho".  The kids recieved many fun gifts from their Michaelis' cousins, Roper cousins, Christensen cousins, and Rogers cousins.  Thanks to everyone for the time and effort to mail things out to us.  We love you all!
At dinner we had our "grandparents", the Stith's, over for dinner.  It was so enjoyable to have their company.  We also played a few games of Blokus with them.
We were able to skype with Rope cousins and see Scott's surgery scars.  We are so thankful he is doing well. And got to skype with G&G Roper and see everyone at their home.  We chatted on the phone with G&G Michaelis (the kids were disappointed not to skype with them).
I better end this long post.  We recieved many nice and wonderful gifts, but we are always most thankful for Family!  We love you all.

Halloween

Zady was so happy to lose another tooth (and working on a couple more)












The kids all getting ready to go Trick or Treating.













Walking the streets of Plymouth.

Collin Jeffrey

We finally have internet connected in our new home.  Yeah!

Many things have happened since July, but the most important is that Collin has joined our family.  He decided to come on his due date--September 2nd at 11:58 am.  He was 8 lbs. 11 oz.and 20" long.

Here are some more recent pics of him and also some other shots.

Collin in his blessing outfit--October 16

Grandma and Grandpa Michaelis came to visit

Jeff and the kids exploring the back yard.  Notice the huge mushroom in the bottom left corner.

Collin making a happy baby face.

Culver Beach

We went to Culver Beach (in Culver, IN) the other day and we had fun with the kids playing in the sand and in Lake Maxinkuckee (just another of the "strange names" of our Indiana life). Just in case you can't tell, Amelia is a mermaid, Zady is a muscle builder man, and Claire is a skeleton. Ross's reaction is priceless.

Easter Eggs

Here are examples of the creativity level of our family. 

Claire's egg

Another side of Claire

Amelia's egg

Ross's egg (designed by Dad)

Dad's egg

Zady's egg

Mom's egg (the most colorful)

IT'S A . . .

Yes, we finally found a doctor that would take me as a VBAC patient.  He was the only one in northern Indiana, by the way.
Today we checked Amelia and Zady out of school and took them all to the appointment for our first ultrasound.  Can you guess what we are having?
After the ultrasound, Jeff took the kids back out to the waiting room while I had my first official visit--pap smear, exams, etc.
Everything looks good with the baby.  I am approximately 20 weeks, 3 days.  The baby is measuring 20 weeks, 5 days.  I am very relieved that things seem to be going well.

Yes, it is a boy.  At first the tech couldn't get a very good view.  Really, what baby ever cooperates when you want them to, huh?  So, she said she was seeing pink.  Then a few moments later, she said "wait".  I thought I might have glimpsed something too, but I didn't really know.  Then she became pretty confident that it was indeed a boy.  I'm still not sure what we will do with another little monkey running around!  But we are excited and just happy to see him growing well.

BTW Happy Birthday Gina!

Baby on the way!

For those who don't know, we are expecting our fifth little bundle of joy this fall!  We are very excited and are looking forward to adding to our family.  The only damper is that prenatal care is very different out here.  I am about 15 1/2 weeks along now, but I still don't have a doctor.  Part of the problem is that many of the hospitals out here don't allow VBAC's (vaginal birth after cesarean).  I was very disappointed when I found this out.  There is a hospital up in South Bend that is supposed to still do them--so we are trying to find a doctor there.  It is a larger hospital than here in Plymouth and so I would rather go there, anyway.
The kids are excited.  They go back and forth with wanting a boy or a girl, so we are lucky no one will be disappointed!
The weather is starting to warmup here--which we are grateful for.  Thursday we are supposed to get up to the mid 60's.  Yeah!  Last week we went to the art gallary in town because they were doing a display of some of the elementary school student's work.  Zady had a picture displayed.  It was a coloring of our apartment.  Complete with a spaceship, alien, and cat outside!
The girls have been very aware of the situation in Japan.  We have some friends that are living over there.  Luckily they are in Tokyo and so missed the tsunami--we still worry about them with the radiation concern, though.  The girls remember them in all of their prayers.  Also, they never forget about their cousin, Zach.  We all continue to pray that the Lord will grant the blessing of him regaining control of his body.  It is encouraging to see the pictures and video that can show us some of his improvement.  We continue to have faith that He is blessing them and that He has a plan for Zach.
We are all doing well and are looking forward to seeing all of you this summer!