Happy Halloween

We just wanted to say Happy Halloween!! I was Clifford the Big Red Dog, and David was Spiderman.

~Jonathan

More Fall Fun

Hey everybody ... we've been meaning to do this blog entry for a week, but it seems like time just gets away from us. Last weekend we went camping at Hartwick Pines -- it was our last trip for the year, which makes us sad, but the season must come to an end. We went on their Halloween walk through the Old Growth Forest which turned out to be quite interesting. There were "actors" along the path dressed up as various wildlife and they told us about what they were, what they ate and how they lived. The pumpkins lining the trail were really cool too ... some of the people who carved them have a lot of talent. Today mommy took us up to CMU for the "Make A Difference Day" activities they were hosting. "Make A Difference Day" is a national day where groups get together to do good things for their community and the people in their community. Each community does different things and the CMU community focused on reading (we're not sure, but we think their focus is always on reading) The day's activities were held in Finch Field House and we were able to have our picture taken with Clifford the Big Red Dog, have some balloon animals made for us by a clown, do some crafts and pick out a free book! It was a fun time and we are hoping to attend again next year.

~David & Jonathan

The Marching Show

For those of you who are interested, you can see a video of daddy's marching band from this past Friday at: http://www.montabella.com/band.htm -- scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link that says "View the 2007 Beatles Marching Show!" The video doesn't do their performance justice as it sounded much better in person, and the person running the camera (mommy) doesn't always have a real steady hand, but we think you will understand why we are so proud of daddy and his band -- remember he started 13 years ago with a mere 5 students!

Apples and Roller Skates

Hi Everybody!

Well, the weather here sure took a turn for cooler temperatures, but we guess that was bound to happen, it is after all mid-October. We've had a busy week. On Wednesday my preschool class went on a field trip to the Anderson and Girl's Orchard near Stanton. Mommy went along as a chaperone and although it was a little misty out we all still had fun. We got to pick a gourd and an apple, see and pet all sorts of animals including a camel, goats and reindeer. Then we got to have an apple doughnut and some apple cider. YUM!! You can see the pictures from my trip to the orchard by clicking on the "Jonathan's Field Trip" link to the right.

Friday night was the last home football game for the Montabella Mustangs (Daddy was happy for that!) The marching band sounded awesome -- mommy is working on putting the video on the computer right now and is hoping to upload to a spot on the Internet so you can all see it.

Saturday we went on our annual trip to Klackle's Orchard in Greenville with the Keillor's. We had a great time as always. Klackle's gets bigger and bigger every year. We picked lots of apples -- David is going to take some to school for snack for his class. This year they had added a BMX track, Pumpkin Putt-Putt, and lots of other stuff. You can see the pictures from our trip by clicking on the "Klackle's Orchard - October 2007" link to the right.

Today mommy and daddy took us roller skating. One of the prizes we earned this summer through the library's summer reading program were some coupons for free admission to a roller rink not far from here, so we thought we'd check it out! It was a lot of fun, although balancing on those wheels is hard. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of that. Mommy didn't want to take her camera 'cause she figured she would fall and break it, and she didn't think to take in her cell phone -- probably just as well, she was quite proud of herself for not falling a single time. (Quite a feat for someone who hadn't been on skates for a good 20 years :-) and if she'd been trying to take pictures she would surely have fallen!!

Well, that's all the news on our end. We hope you have had a relaxing weekend.
~Jonathan

Fall Fun

Hey, how is everybody? Where has time gone? We can't believe it's been over two weeks since we've posted a message, time sure is a flyin'!

School is going well for both of us. Jonathan really likes going to preschool, and I'm having fun too -- I also played flag football again this year. We had 2 weeks of practice and 2 weeks of games. It was fun, and I even made a couple of touchdowns.

2 weekends ago we went camping at Hartwick Pines State Park -- it was really nice, and we are hoping to have just as nice weather in another couple of weeks when we go again. Last weekend Marybeth and Jenna came up to play for the day so mommy and Aunt Michelle could stamp. This next weekend is our annual trip to the apple orchard with our friends the Keillors ... busy, busy, busy!

We hope you all have been enjoying this unseasonably warm weather we have been having ... it sounds like it's about to come to an end. Hopefully it won't get too cold or wet this weekend, since we will be spending quite a bit of time outdoors! We'll write again soon! ~David

My 1st Day of Preschool

Hi everybody!

Today was my first day of preschool, and boy did I have fun. I will be going to school 2 full days/week (Mondays and Wednesdays). I had to go to the doctor on Monday to get my shots updated so I could go to school -- I had to get 4 -- 2 in each arm. I didn't even cry! Today I met all sorts of new friends and got to get to know my classroom. We have a pet guinea pig named "Buddy". Mommy had a little bit of a "mom moment" this morning when she put me on the bus ... she thought I looked way too small to be climbing those big steps. :-) (That's my face peeking out of the first window in the last picture.) I think I'm really going to like going to school -- I'll be sure to keep you all up-to-date on what I'm learning! Talk to you all again soon.

~Jonathan

My First Day of Second Grade

Yep, hard to believe, but today was my first day of second grade. I was very excited ... couldn't wait to get on the bus and get to school. We went to Open House last night so I had already seen my classroom, where I would sit and talked to my teacher and I could tell already I'm going to have an awesome year!

Jonathan starts school in about 2 weeks. His teacher (who was also my preschool teacher) came to meet him this afternoon ... I'll be sure to have him tell you all about his first day, 'cause I know he's going to have a great time in Mrs. Katie's class!

~David

Happy Birthday Grandma Hill!

Well, her birthday isn't until tomorrow (8/28), but we celebrated with her this past Saturday! We had a lot of fun hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ron, Aunt Christie and Brandon! We were bummed it was too cold to swim, but we had fun none-the-less!

My Lucky Summer

Well, this summer has been a lucky one for me ... David and I both took part in our library's summer reading program and earlier in the summer I won a toy in one of their weekly drawings! Yesterday mommy received an email telling her that they had to draw a new winner for the boy's bike they were giving away 'cause they couldn't get ahold of the first person they drew, and I won it! It's a bit big for me, but I'll grow into it someday :-)
~Jonathan

Gormley Family Reunion

This past weekend was the annual Gormley Family Reunion Picnic. This year Grandma and Grandpa Gormley were in charge of the festivities, which took place at the Attica Township Park. We had a good time playing and visiting with everyone! Click on the "Gormley Family Picnic" link to the right to see pictures!

Marybeth and Jenna Visit!!

This past week our cousins Marybeth and Jenna visited and we had a blast! We spent a lot of time in the pool and jumping on the trampoline. It was great to have someone to play with! Hopefully they will be able to come for an extended visit again next year!!

Look -- no training wheels!

While we were camping last weekend everyone noticed that when I ride my bike my training wheels don't touch the ground very much, so when we got home on Monday daddy took them off -- I was able to ride right away -- I just need to figure out how to get on and get started by myself!

~Jonathan

Gormley Family Camping Trip

Last weekend we went camping with the Gormley side of the family. We camped at the Brighton State Recreation area in Howell, MI (near Brighton). We had a lot of fun, swimming, fishing, and riding our bikes around the campground. On Saturday morning we went into Brighton and played at the "Imagination Station" play area, then walked through town checking out the vendors who were set up for the local festival taking place.

Uncle Craig took us kids fishing on Saturday -- Jonathan was the first to catch a fish, but I caught one too. Chase even caught a turtle that time. Saturday night at dinner time we celebrated Marybeth and Jenna's birthdays. I got to go fishing again on Sunday afternoon with Uncle Craig and Marybeth and I caught 7 fish that time. I really want mom and dad to buy me a fishing rod, but they don't seem to excited about that idea :-)

Check out some of our pictures in the "Gormley Family Camping Trip" album listed to the right!

~David

Playing in a BIG Sandbox!!

This past weekend we went camping in the Silver Lake/Mears area with the "Anderson" side of the family. It's always fun to camp with Grandma/Grandpa Hill and Uncle Ron/Aunt Christie and Brandon. We stayed in a nice private campground right near Silver Lake and Lake Michigan. On Saturday morning we went to see the Little Sable Lighthouse, and actually got to climb all the way to the top. Those circular staircases are interesting to say the least -- not especially hard to go up, but kinda weird coming down :-) The view at the top was really beautiful though. While we were there we even saw some people fly overhead on a glider. Mom and Dad had to leave late morning to come back home to go to a wedding, but us boys stayed at the campground and that afternoon we went on a 9 mile bike ride and hung out at the campground.

On Sunday morning we went to "Mac Woods" and took the dune ride in the "Sahara Cruiser". In the afternoon we got to drive/ride on the dunes in rented jeeps -- that was AWESOME!! It was a lot of fun riding all over the sand, climbing the hills and bumping over the "whoopdy doo's" as the guide called them!

After riding the dunes we stopped at Craig's Cruisers and drove the go-carts -- those were fun too, although not as much fun as the jeep ride.

All in all we had a great weekend and we are looking forward to another weekend of fun camping this coming weekend when we go with the Gormley side of the family. Check back here early next week and we'll tell you all about how that trip went!!

~David and Jonathan
P.S. To see some of the pictures from our trip to Silver Lake/Mears, check out the "Anderson Family Camping Trip" gallery listed to the right.

RLCA - Camp

I had a really fun time at camp (Rock Lake Christian Assembly). I went to the Wilderness Camp this year which meant that I stayed in a tent. We got to swim in the lake, visit the canteen (to get snacks), we played tag in the woods, sang songs, did crafts and had devotions. We got to have a campfire every night, and on Monday our campfire burned all day 'cause we used it to cook our food. Before we left mom bought me a really cool green blanket that rolls up into a pillow. I had fun and hope to be able to go to camp again next year!
~David

Me and Chuck E. Cheese

Well, David is off at camp, but that doesn't mean I don't get to have any fun ... Mommy and Daddy wanted to go to Best Buy today so we took a little road trip to GR and stopped and had lunch at Chuck E. Cheese's ... it was fun!!!!! I know these pictures aren't great -- they were taken with Mommy's phone -- she finally figured out how to get the pictures off of there :-)

~Jonathan

An Awesome Day!

Today was an awesome day! We went to Grand Rapids and spent the day with our friends the Keillors! We went to the John Ball Zoo in the morning and saw all sorts of animals. (Check out our John Ball Zoo gallery link to the right.) We even got to touch a stingray and a shark! (These stingrays have had their barbs removed so it is perfectly safe to touch them ...) The stingrays felt really weird, kinda slimy - although mommy thought they kind of felt like velvet.

After an interesting morning at the zoo we ate a picnic lunch then went to Millenium Park, which is a great park with a "splashpad" water play area and a beach. It was nice to splash in the water and soak up some sun.

It was a busy and very tiring day, but boy did we have fun!!

~David & Jonathan

Just a Test

I'm still trying to learn how all this stuff works -- most specifically the googlegroup I set up ... this is just a test message to see what a setting I just changed does :-)
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Kati

Kentucky Camping Trip

On June 26, we left for our much anticipated trip to Kentucky. The original plan was to leave very early on Wednesday morning, but at the last minute, we decided to leave on Tuesday evening and drive partway so we wouldn't have to drive so far on Wednesday. Our first stop Tuesday was at the rest area near Battle Creek, MI where we met up with Uncle Craig, Aunt Michelle, Marybeth and Jenna -- we then drove on down to the rest stop just north of Auburn, IN to stop and spend the night. It wasn't an awful night, but none of us slept too well -- we forgot about the fact that the truck drivers leave their big rigs running all night long, so it was a little noisy.

Wednesday morning we drove on into Auburn, IN where we had breakfast at Bob Evans and Grandma & Grandpa Gormley caught up with us. We spent the rest of the day driving.

Thursday we went to the Lost River Cave and got to take a boat tour of the cave, visit a butterfly house and David and Marybeth tried out the climbing wall. Then, in the afternoon we went to Beech Bend Waterpark and played in the water. Unfortunately, we didn't get to play in the water as long as we would have liked since a thunderstorm rolled in.

Friday morning Daddy, Mommy, David and I took a little drive up to Elizabethtown, KY to see Daddy's online friends. Jerry and Barb Garlish live in Elizabethtown and Chuck and Jan from Virginia were also passing through so we were able to see them as well.

Saturday we went to see the Mammouth Cave and took a 2 hour walk through the caves.

Sunday we went to a really neat zoo called Kentucky Down Under which features animals from Australia. We got to go on another cave tour there, see and pet lots of animals, and mine for gold!

Monday was the long drive back -- we had a lot of fun, and thought Kentucky was beautiful!! Mom has uploaded a few of her many pictures -- you can see them by clicking on the Kentucky link to the right.

~Jonathan

Guess Who?

Brian and I having a silly moment the last time they came to visit! (Actually, most all the moments we are together we are silly ... :-)

~David

Playing catch-up again!

Where does the time go? It's hard to believe it's been a month and a half since we last blogged -- it sure doesn't seem like it :-)

I had another good ball season -- it seemed really short this year, but that's probably because we had one game canceled due to weather and I was unable to play in the last game 'cause we were gone to Kentucky.


Memorial Day weekend I ran in the Alma Highland Festival's Kid's Fun Run -- Daddy says I came in about 5th among the kids in my age range . Mommy and Grandma and Grandpa Hill walked the 5K, and although it was a very wet morning, we had a good time anyway.


~David

Oh, and I forgot to mention ....

I lost my 4th tooth last night! It was my other top front one!
~David

It's been a great weekend ...

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you a bit about our weekend. We spent a lot of time working out in the yard. Mommy and Daddy rented a rototiller and Daddy cleared the space between our two barns -- we are going to plant wildflowers there. Then Daddy cleared another spot where Mommy is going to try her hand at gardening. We started working on the landscaping on the back side of the house too -- lots of digging. We saw at least one snake (ewwwwww....) well, it might have been 2, we didn't get close enough to see if it was the same one twice, or two different ones. We also found this really cool bug! (look in the middle to the left of the cactus.) This is a "Six-Spotted Green Tiger Beetle" (thanks to Aunt Michelle for the awesome insect and spider field guide she got us for our birthday, we were able to look that up and learn all about it.

While everyone else was pulling weeds, Jonathan got creative with the garden implements -- Mommy and Daddy actually thought this was pretty ingenious for a 4 year old.

Well, we hope you all had a great relaxing and productive weekend. We are excited because we are going to pick up the solar heating panel for the pool tomorrow and we are hoping that means we might be swimming soon.

I have my first ball game tomorrow night as well. Only 9 days left of 1st grade! Talk to you all soon! ~David

A day @ the park w/Brian and Josh

A few weeks back we took a Sunday afternoon drive to visit our friends the Keillors. Dad and Uncle Brad went to see a movie so Mom and Aunt Shannon took us boys to a park near their house. We had a lot of fun ... check out the "Park Pics" link to the right to see just how much fun we had!
~Jonathan

Easter, Camping Trips and T-Ball!

We realize it has been awhile since we've posted to our blog -- we are sorry, (as always)!

Easter was cold but a nice time spent with our family! The Easter Bunny brought us some new books and a little bit of candy!

Mom has been playing around a little and has figured out how to add some links along the side bar (look to the right in the new "Our Photo Albums" area) and this is where she will be able to add more pictures, so instead of putting them in with our posts, if we have a lot we want to share she will make a link and tell you about it in the post. So ... check out the link for Holland Pics to see pictures from our recent camping trip to Holland, MI. Daddy couldn't go with us because he is in charge of the MS play and that was the weekend they were performing so Mommy, Jonathan and I went over and met up with Grandma/Grandpa Hill and Uncle Ron/Aunt Christie/Brandon. Mommy was quite proud of herself for getting us over there and back all by herself! We had a lot of fun and we saw more Tulips in more colors than we could have ever imagined existed.

I've started T-Ball practice. I'm pretty good at throwing and hitting, but still working on catching the ball. I'm not really even on a T-Ball team this year, I've moved up a level and we don't use a "T" at all -- we have to hit the ball off the coach's pitch. I'm looking forward to our first game in a couple of weeks.

It's hard to believe we only have 13 days of school left. This year has really gone by fast. Check back soon, I always have something to say :-)
~David

March 19, 2007

Well, here we are playing catch up again ... We've had a birthday dinner, I'm officially 7 years old, Daddy's bands went to band festival, and spring is almost here!

We had a lot of fun the day our family came up to help us celebrate our birthdays. I had a very cool football cake, and Jonathan had a basketball cake. I had a great birthday and got a really cool new bike. Now Jonathan can have my old bike -- we both really want to go on a bike ride, but mom says it's still too cold. Maybe by the end of the week we'll be able to go. Mom made the coolest cupcakes for me to take for my birthday treat at school. Band festival is done for another year. Now daddy is busy getting the Middle School play practices started. Spring starts later this week and we are all very excited. We all want to get outside to do more stuff and are looking forward to our first camping trip in a couple of weeks.

We hope you all are enjoying the warmer weather!
~David

Snow, Snow and more Snow

We got quite a bit of snow on Sunday/Sunday evening. Enough to keep us home from school on Monday. As nice as it was to have a day off, we (mommy especially) are getting tired of winter and are ready for spring to arrive.

It's hard to believe day after tomorrow is March already. This month has gone fast, but that's what comes from being busy, busy, busy. Back at the beginning of the month we met Uncle Ron, Aunt Christie and Brandon at Splash Village (an indoor water park at the Zehnder's Hotel in Frankenmuth) for some fun in the water. Mom had hoped to have some pictures to post here to show just how much fun we had, but none of them turned out. The week after that the flu visited our house -- first Daddy, then me, then Jonathan, then mommy. We went to several basketball games, and last week daddy had his "pre-festival" concert. All of his bands played and did a great job. They should all do well at festival on March 10th.

This coming Saturday (weather permitting) our family has all been invited to come help Jonathan and I celebrate our birthdays.

Well, we just wanted to let you know what we've been up to the past couple of weeks. Watch the blog early next week for pictures from our birthday dinner. We hope you all are enjoying reading this!

~David

Tooth #2!

I lost my 2nd tooth today! It fell out while eating my chicken nuggets at lunch.
~David

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Yep ... believe it or not, it's my 4th birthday! We spent the day in a rather uneventful way. Since we had a basketball game last night we needed to go grocery shopping this morning. We went to Greenville this morning to Big Boy for breakfast with the intentions of going shopping after that, but David was not feeling well, so mommy and daddy decided we'd better bring him home, so mommy went back to Greenville and did the shopping by herself. Later in the afternoon I got to open my presents and then we got pizza for dinner. I got the Operation game I've been saying I wanted for the past month or so ... mommy and daddy say the makers of the game have really toned down the sound effects on it. They say it was a lot louder when they were kids. David and I need to work on our operating skills, but we are having fun trying to remove all the parts without hitting the sides.
~Jonathan

Getting Started

Well, mommy has done a dismal job of getting our newsletter started back up, so she wants to try to go a different route. Instead of doing an entire newsletter on a regular basis (which she obviously has a hard time doing) we are going to try Blogging -- we are thinking perhaps this way we can share bits and pieces of things we are doing more often and it will just take a quick minute or two instead of the longer time it takes to put an entire newsletter together. We hope you all will check in often, and enjoy hearing about what we are up to! ~David and Jonathan