The end of a season...

The journey of life is nothing if not change. This week, we had to say goodbye to such an integral part of our lives, that I never imagined being without them. Our dear friends - our brother and sister - James and Letitia Brooks, are moving their family to Virginia to be closer to extended family. Here are some photos of the goodbye party we threw them, and all the members of our little "family" here in MN....

Back(from left): Eddie, James, Merry, Greg
Seated: Letitia and little Hannah

Letitia, Patrick, Patricia and James (oops - got a little finger smudge on the lens)

Bev and Chris Stark with little Ben, Letitia and James

We moved up here as four newly graduated college students ready to take on the world. Instead, the world took on us a bit. However, though relationships change, the really deeper ones cannot be destroyed. James and Letitia are more than friends, more than family. I cannot explain the conflicting feelings I have - I'm excited for them and the new phase they are entering, but deeply sad to be "loosing" them.

The "blizzard" of 2007

This is the most snow we've gotten since we first moved here. The problem with this one is that it all came practically at once. Last Sat. we got the first 8-12 inches. Shoveled out of that one and had a beautiful week. Then, it started snowing late Wednesday night and didn't stop until Friday afternoon giving us an additional18-20 inches. WE SHOVELED THE DRIVE 4+ TIMES FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!



And here is what being stuck inside for a snowstorm produces in young boys under the age of 5:




Now you know why I am waiting to buy new furniture...

Columbia Children's Museum

Wouldn't you know it...gotta take the kids to the south to expose them to ice fishing!
Fireman Ethan
Right in the middle of the museum is this huge kid. You can go inside of him - it's built like an obstacle course, but with body systems. You can walk into his heart, jump around in his stomach with the food he's eaten, slide down his esophagus, etc. It's really cool.

One of the boys favorite parts was the grocery store. Noah knew exactly what to do - he grabbed a cart and went right to shopping. Ethan bought what he wanted for lunch: a sandwhich, some milk, and a whole cake. At least Noah got a few veggies and fruit in his cart!
They never miss the chance to sit on a John Deere.
Or a camel.
Ethan enjoyed playing along with the video of the African drummers.

Here are some photos of our family in South Carolina. We had a wonderful time and the weather was heavenly (we conveniently missed the coldest snap in MN so far this winter...hee, hee,hee!)


Rob's mom, dad, and youngest brother (who is STILL not married, ladies! And he COOKS!)
Ethan with some cousins - they had a lot of fun running around in the church gym.
Noah having some cuddle time with grandma.
Four generations of Funderburk's: This is Rob's last living grandparent - his paternal grandma Ethel Funderburk. Noah is copying the people trying to get him to smile...he still doesn't quite get the photo op.




This is Rob and his cousins. Later, we had a wonderful time visiting with Mike (far left) and his lovely wife, Rhonda.
Ethan and great-grandma Funderburk. The boys just loved her collection of animated stuffed animals!

One last Christmas photo....

Here is one last photo from Christmas - the boys were helping me take down the decorations. They both enjoyed the tinsel very much!

Catching up

Well - it's been almost forever since I found time to sit down and blog! We took a couple of weeks to prepare for and travel to SC. Then when we got back, there was a lot of stuff to catch up on, 2 very large snow storms, and lots of events all of a sudden at our church. Now I'm entering "the birthday months" - and finding that almost every other family at church has kids born this month as well! UGH. Trying to organize Ethan's 5th birthday is proving difficult.

Anyway, the next several posts will be updates for the past couple of months. Thanks for being patient with me!

Sorry it's been a while. We took a vacation to South Carolina to visit family. We had a wonderful time and will get some photos up soon.

Man, after a week in South Carolina...it's REALLY freakin' cold up here! :)