Our Life: Fast-forward: 2010-2011 Year in Review

Okay, it is that time of year again...the year in review! Just like before, it is probably better to start at the bottom and work your way back up, if you are worried about seeing things in chronological order. Warning: This is a really long post!

This is Alex's 36 inch long northern that he caught in Canada on his Scooby Doo pole. It took a while to get it in, and Alex was worn out by the time he was finished reeling it in. It was incredible to see it come in the boat.

Usually during our time in Canada we talk about how uneventful it is...but not this year. Bill and Addie went out to fish together and came back shortly because Bill had snagged his finger with a treble hook. The hook had gone in next to the fingernail on his left hand and had just broken the skin on the bottom of the finger. Dad took over as the "surgeon" and I was "nurse". Mom had to step outside so that she didn't lose her breakfast. :) After discussing the two different options for hook removal (which Dad had read about in a magazine) we decided on the up and out the way it went in. I held the finger and Dad disengaged the barb and then pulled it out. It was quite the ordeal!

So Bill did actually catch some fish, not just his finger. :) This is a walleye that he caught on a day trip with Chuck, the owner/operator.

This is the Trunnell/Brummer/Heubner group picture at the end of the week.

I too caught some nice walleyes and since Dad found me a fish glove I didn't mind holding it for the picture. Bill enjoyed that too, since he didn't have to take the fish off the hook.

As usual we celebrated Amber's 13th birthday in Canada. Yes, she is now a teenager (unless of course you listen to Uncle Aaron) It was a lot of fun! Amber made her "cake" this year...mini whoopie pies that were gluten-free so that Andrew could eat them too.

Grandma and Grandpa brought up two kayaks this year and Ashley could have used them everyday. She and grandma went out together and had a good time paddling around the bay. Ashley said that she got caught in some weeds, but she figured out how to get loose. Earlier in the week she took Alex out in the larger one and just paddled around the swimming area. He had a blast!

This year in Canada Addie decided that she needed to know how to drive the boat with her daddy. She learned to turn the key, use the throttle and steer the wheel. Most times she didn't want Bill's hands on the wheel at all.

Canada 2011: Cousin Wyatt got to come and spend some time at our camper. He loved being up on the bed above the driver. They watched a couple of movies together and Wyatt loved to pretend to go to sleep and then wake everyone up.

Bill and I took a motorized canoe out at the Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve. It was a gorgeous area with so many fish jumping in the early morning. I managed to catch a catfish that stung Bill. That was the only unpleasant event during the entire time, although I wasn't sure if I was going to have to motor us back and drive Bill to the doctor for the sting. We had a manatee surface right next to our canoe. I looked over and saw a snout sticking out of the water not even two feet away and just about had a heart attack.

Bill and I took a trip to Sanibel this year to celebrate our 15th anniversary. We spent a lot of time on the beach - Bill fishing and me either in the water or in a beach chair. It was fantastic! We tried a couple of new restaurants and enjoyed both of them. One was the Stone Crab and the other was Cip's. We walked for such a long time on the beach, went fishing off the pier and saw a guy catch a sting ray. We also enjoyed Pinocchio's ice cream. Here's to another 15 years!

While we were on the cruise, Ashley celebrated her 11th birthday! The waiters brought her a special dessert and then sang to her. She was so happy!

One of our excursions was in Jamaica. We hiked up the Dunn's River Falls. It took about an hour to climb the falls and believe me it was daunting. There were a couple of times where our guide would just come and pick up Alex and carry him to a resting point and then the rest of us would climb to meet him. There were several pools on the way up that we could stop and sit in, or take a picture at.

2nd formal night all together.

Probably one of my favorite photos of all. I love the pose, I love the dress and the color. I love everything about it!

Here is the 1st formal night photo. I really like this one and I am probably going to put this one up at home on our wall. The kids are really growing up in this photo!

This is the kid's picture from the 2nd formal night. The girls braids definitely change the look, don't they?

This is the second formal night, where the ladies wore the long dresses. We opted for a photo of just the two of us.

This is the best picture! During our first night on the ship we went to dinner and I ended up sitting across from Bill. The photographer snapped the one of Tyler and Bill and we all just cracked up. Later on in the week the photographer snapped another one of both of them together! This is a great memory!

Addie really enjoyed playing with Griffin at the pool. She seemed to want to take him under her wing. She is really at an age of "mothering". She definitely wanted to carry babies around and help out as one of the "older" kids.

This is Ashley post-braids. :) These will be great photos for graduation!

This is Amber post-braids. :)

When we stopped in Cozumel, a bunch of us went on a deep sea fishing boat...and caught nothing! Bill and Dad got sick and ended up throwing up. Some people went on excursions and the some of us stayed back and went to the pool and took care of little ones.

On our excursion in Jamaica we went to the Falls, but we also went to Dolphin Cove. We saw dolphins (I know, shocker!), sharks, tropical birds, had a traditional Jamaician jerk chicken lunch, spent some time souvenir shopping, hung out on a beach, and just had a great time.

Ashley worked up enough courage to jump off the back end of the pirate ship. It was so high up, there is no way that I would ever consider doing that.

Now this should shock anyone that knows Dad. He JUMPED off the boat into the WATER!! Yes, into the WATER! Amazing.

We were given the opportunity to walk the plank and jump into the water. The water is so blue and SALTY! This is a bunch of us floating next to the pirate ship in about 15 feet of water. Beautiful setting!

On the pirate ship they had the kids come down and they initiated them into the pirate club. They joked about cutting off "rope-like" hair on kids like Addie. She didn't take that too well and she looked up to mommy with a worried look on her face. They had the kids swab the deck and then threw water on the kids.

Another excursion that a bunch of us went on was a pirate ship. We took a ferry to the pirate ship and then the crew drove the ship off (yes it was motorized).

This is the view from the top of the zipline. Yes that is our ship in the background. We flew down over the bay in the picture. The entire thing only took a few minutes, and other than getting on the platform and in the harness it really wasn't that bad. It is just hard to tell your body to walk out on a platform so high up. I was going to video on the way down, but honestly, everytime I would take a hand off, I would start to swing to the side, so no more of that! I felt very proud of myself when I made it to the bottom.

Here is Mom, Ellen and Katie (not me, but my sister-in-law).

In Haiti, all the ladies went on the biggest zipline EVER!! Oh yes! It was huge!!! I hate rollercoasters, and I don't love heights, but I agreed to go because you just never know when you will get the chance again. Mom, Ellen, Katie, Susie and I got harnessed up and ready to go.

This was not an uncommon sight at dinner on the cruise. :) So many nights Alex would be so tired from playing and going, going, going, that he would fall asleep before his meal would come. Sometimes he would get the meal and then fall asleep, other times he would be out before the appetizer came!

When we were in Haiti, Amber and Ashley wanted to get their hair braided. Bill did some negotiating and voila! It made them look so different.

On the cruise Addie participated in the Adventure Ocean kid's club. One night they had a circus parade and the children all dressed up as different circus animals or performers. Addie was a clown (in case you couldn't tell). She loved it!

There were two formal nights where we dressed up. On the first night we celebrated Ashley's birthday. Bill just LOVED wearing a tux for the formal nights. :) But he looked so nice in it. We took turns sitting with my parents at their table each night so on Ashley's birthday night we were with them.

This is our boarding picture of just the Heubner's. We have one of the whole group, but I haven't uploaded that photo for some reason.

This is just a random picture of the redness that was our clan. Yes, we had matching shirts...every single one of us. :) We weren't the only ones though, I saw at least two other groups when we were traveling through security.

I was goofing around taking pictures at the hotel pool and I liked this one of my mom and myself.

The next several photos up are from our June Cruise to the Caribbean. My parents took about 22 of us on a cruise. This is Addie and me on the airplane. We flew down to Orlando, stayed in a hotel and then took a shuttle the next morning to the pier to board the ship. It was amazing!

Over Memorial Day we built a new swingset at the riverhouse. Much better than the rusty metal one that was there.

Aaron and mom found some extra landscaping blocks and made a fire ring. It was so nice and we sat out there and made smores. So good!

Easter Family photo 2011

Addie went to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines this year. Grandma Muffie went along with her (last minute) and of course it rained the whole time. They ended the time with mini cones from McDonalds. Ice cream makes everything better!

Alex and Daddy have spent several days throughout the summer fishing at the Rittger's pond. Alex and Addie had a competition to see who could catch more fish. I think they were over 30 fish!

Yes, that is Bill standing in my garden. You know that he hates gardening, but he hated my old fence more. He decided to build me panels of fencing so that it looked nicer. Yes, he thought my old fencing didn't look nice. :)

Alex played soccer for the first time this year. I don't know that you can really call it playing. I don't know that he actually ever touched the ball. He ran around a lot, but never really in the right direction.

Addie also played soccer. She loved it and was more aggressive than she has been in the past.

Here is the posed Easter picture before church on Easter Sunday 2011. Notice all the curly hair!

And more curlers!

Curlers!

Amber was in the middle school musical "Guys and Dolls". She was a doll, in case you were wondering. :)

Amber practiced using fondant on cakes this year. She made Bill's 35th birthday cake. Yes, that is a fisherman with a fishing pole and he is catching a fish.

Addie participated in the AWANA Games this spring. Alex isn't old enough and Ashley decided not to play in her age group, so we only had one playing. This is the train formation. It can get quite dangerous when Addie is swinging out at the end. They usually have all the teams back up for this one so no one gets hurt. (But someone always does).

Sorry the picture is turned. This is Amber at school during an assembly. She is playing a Minute to Win It game using the oreo cookie. She did finally succeed in getting the oreo to her mouth, but not in time to win. They also had a toilet paper game.

Amber went to two different Honor Band Concert this year. She plays the flute and the piccolo. Band is definitely something she enjoys at school.

Christmas 2010

Amber played 7th grade basketball this past winter. That is her with the long blond ponytail on the right(in red).

Addie turned 7 in 2010. Amber also made this cake with fondant with Grandma Muffie's help. It is a jewelry box with a lid leaned up against the back side. There is a figurine standing in the middle.

Halloween 2010. Look at those awesome pumpkins! Mommy is a good carver.

Alex's 5th birthday and the beginning of the Iron Man craze!

Amber's attempt at an Iron Man cake. I think she did pretty well, don't you?

Well, any year wouldn't be complete without at least one trip to the ER. Addie had some horrible tummy pain that we thought was appendicitis (from our experience with Ashley). We ran to the ER and went through many tests to find nothing wrong. They later diagnosed her with a form of adonitis, an irritation in the intestine that mimics appendicitis. So, we spent the night in the hospital and went home the next evening.

First day of school 2010. Amber 7th, Ashley 5th, Addie 1st, Alex PreK (all day).

We went to the state fair and Addie made it a mission to come home with as many tattoos as possible. And yes, the next day was church and that is how she went, with a sweater over her arms. :)