Why we avoid taking our kids out in public III....

Ok, so this falls under the "cute" category, but you never know what may develop when Katie and her cousin Teagan get going when we're out in restaurants!

Crashed

Days get pretty busy for a near three-year-old. Katie has "crashed" a couple of times recently taking impromtu naps. Although she looks peaceful, mom and dad remember that afternoon naps = extended bedtime!

Emergency Storm Shelter

You can't be too careful during a tornado warning. Jacob and Zack (next door neighbor) make their own emergency shelter in the basement during a recent tornado warning.

What Happens When Katie's Sad...

Katie was sad the other day...

Jake was annoyed.

I was laughing.

Hard.

I'm telling you the truth!

We didn't stage this picture!!!

Why we avoid taking our kids out in public II.....

Post Dinner Activities at Bob and Carrie Webber's House.

Fore!

Katie is not even 3 and she already can hit the ball better than me!

Pictures of Our Family

Here's just some pictures of our family...

Why we avoid taking our kids out in public...

We plan on getting Jake a new bike this summer. Sometimes I just shake my head in wonder, until I remember that my kids take after their father. I can only hope that their mother's genes kick in at some point.

Family Rollerskating Party

For the second year in a row, some friends of ours (Joel and Lisa Anderson) reserve the local roller skating rink for a family roller skating activity to help celebrate some Anderson Family birthdays. This was Katie's first year skating who, several weeks later, still talks about "having fun skating with Daddy!"

Spring Is Here!!!

Sign at White Bear Township Cub Foods' Greenhouse.

Dad's 'n Lads 2008

This past April, Jacob and I attended the Father and Son (Dad's 'n Lads) weekend at Camp Lebanon in Upsala, Minnesota. Last year we enjoyed a late April weekend of temperatures in the 60's and 70's. This year, we had the unexpected surprise of 6 inches of snow when we woke up on Saturday morning. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as one of the themes of the weekend was linking science to God's Creation.



One of the speakers was a United States Department of Forestry Biologist, Brian Lubinski who is also a Pilot and a fish and bird expert. Brian led awe-inspiring sessions that linked science with the God of Creation. One of Jake and my favorite activities was the Creation Hunt where we took a hike on camp property looking for signs of God in nature guided by a list of 40 "creation" Bible Verses. Here are some pictures from our hike.

Introducing, McKenzie--New Editor and Contributor.

I would like to welcome the new editor of the Van Loh blog, my daughter, McKenzie, who is 11 years old. Many of you have been reading McKenzie's blog post on her own blog. I actually don't have the time to keep up with her as she is much more dilligent than I am with posting updates of our family. So I guess the old adage is true, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. McKenzie is a talented writer, so I'm proud to introduce McKenzie as my official blog editor and new contributor.

Katie's Summer Memories

Recently, my Mom and I were talking about this Summer and things that Katie would be doing. We were talking about how Katie might be able to go camping with Me, Jake and my Dad at a campground or with me and Jake in the backyard. I asked Katie about camping in the tent and immediately her little face lit up. She must have remembered the tent because the first thing she said was, "The tent is red. It goes zip zip."

This morning I was asking Katie about things that she would like to do during the Summer. I think she has a memory kind of like me because she brought up the paddle boat that she enjoyed riding last year at our friend's cabin.

Katie will be fun this Summer because she is becoming such an independent little girl. Now that it's warmer, Katie has been constantly asking to go outside and play-even in the rain!

It will be fun to blog about Katie this Summer. I hope you like the Katie posts! God gave us a wonderful gift. We treasure her.

-McKenzie