There isn't much to "report" these days, as life is cold, snowy, and absolutely normal! We are thanking God for an entire month of good health for our family. (Also crediting the faithful ingestion of cod liver oil tablets...don't know if it helped, but my wonderfully healthy grandmother would say that it has!) Allison was exposed to the chicken pox, but hasn't shown any symptoms of it so far. We had hoped she would go ahead and get it overwith now, but it seems that won't happen.
Last Friday night, Greg and I hosted an all-nighter for our Upper Level kids at the school. We took our kids with us (the girls until about 12:30 a.m., and the boys all night), and these are a few pics of them trying to stay awake. :)

After we left the gym around 11, we went to WalMart so that we could stock up on whatever it would take to keep us awake all night, and then picked up pizza to take back to the school.  By midnight, the girls were done:

Looks like Ryan was playing checkers in his sleep...

This is the last photo I took...by 3:30 I was convinced that I'm gonna be 35 in May, and I'm finally over the fact that I'm too old for this!  Most of us made it until 6 a.m., when we were never so glad to be able to go home and crawl into our warm beds!

Welcome, Annie Marie, to our family! Congratulations to Adam, Valerie & Big Sister Aubrey!

(This is 'old' news considering the speed of information these days, but I was preparing to post it when I ran out of Google space. It's still 'good news'!)

Celebrating Evan

10th birthdays are celebrated with friends as well as family, and this year we moved the party to our school commons. The carpet quickly became a wrestling mat, and boys did what boys do. Pizza, wings, and Sam's Club Triple Chocolate Cake were Evan's menu choice, and a good time was had by all. :)

Lovin' those bbq wings!

What a mess!

2nd grandchild

Some new "wheels" for spring.

Friends

Growing up, yet he's so worried that he's not getting any taller...
he obviously doesn't realize how many pant sizes he has gone through
 in the last 6 months!

Quote from daddy, "Remember, when I'm 85 I'll still be bigger than you!"  (Yeah...)

Love the boy!

It's worth mentioning that Evan submitted his birthday menu to Mama Nichols a couple of weeks in advance (his birthday was on Sunday), and it was a little more complicated:
Beef, noodles, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans (canned...he doesn't like frozen), cottage cheese,  slaw, and on the list went. It was a delicious feast, to say the least!

Technical Difficulty :)

gsrek.blogspot is currently out of Google photo space, so until our recently purchased storage becomes available (hopefully within the next two days), this blog will be silent.  Be back soon!

Happy 10th Birthday!!!

Evan,
We knew you were special...even considered naming you 'Isaac' because of the laughter that we had when we found out you were on the way (5 months after your big brother was born). Never thought of you as an accident because we knew God gave you to us on purpose, and He has big plans for your life. You are such a blessing to us, and we love you!
Mom & Dad