The Habeckers

Coffee Jar Collections

2012-01-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well it is public that we are going through the stages of adopting another family member. After much prayer and the Lord working in our hearts we have decided to set our sails to Thailand. It is going to be a really long process and we debated telling everyone because of the length of time. The more we went into the process we realized we are going to need help financially. So if you are reading this and want to help us out then check out our storefront with Just Love Coffees.

https://justlovecoffee.com/Habby All you need to do is buy coffee from them and a portion of the proceeds goes towards our adoption. I know you may have many questions, we do to, but we will keep you updated as much as we can. Until then enjoy a cup of Java and say a little prayer for newest member out there :)

Play by play on how to toss leaves

2011-11-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

Directions are as follows;

Get a rake

Make a pile

Toss High

Michelle and Ben

2011-06-26T18:18:00.001-07:00

Michelle and Ben, a set on Flickr.

I had the great opportunity to help out a friend and provide a really fun couple some great wedding shots! Despite the rain, I had a great time, thanks Michelle and Ben!!

Even bigger girl

2011-05-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that the reason why I started this blog was our adoption of a beautiful little girl! You can look back in our history and read all about it, if you really want to relive the moments. When I was in Alaska waiting the adoption process of Alyse I wanted everyone to know about our journey and share pictures! Now four years later, I am still blogging about her life. Wow, did I just type 4 yrs! God continues to amaze me how He

brought her into our lives and how much joy she is. We are currently waiting for His timing again to add to our family! In the meantime, we will enjoy teaching how to ride a bike and all the fun that comes with being four!

Wicked Belated Birthday Bash

2011-04-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

The best way to celebrate a milestone birthday is to make it a bash. So I called up my best buds and our cousin in NYC to see if it may work! I decided to postpone it for a month to hopefully have warmer weather (which didn't really work). My sister was able to join us to take in the sights, attend Wicked on Broadway (which was incredible), hang out in Times

Square and eat at my kind of restaurant, only Mac-n-cheese on the menu! I am very blessed to have great friends and family, hopefully we will be able to celebrate many more milestones to come.

Me? Crafty??

2011-03-15T17:18:00.001-07:00

Those who know me, may not know that I wish I was a crafty person. I mean putting things together, sowing, making thrifty things. It has always been a goal for me to at least try but I guess I am too slow for the project to get it finished or to lazy to do it right. I always have great intentions and ideas but that is as far as they go.

My friend over at radical crafts - radicalcrafts.blogspot.com (check it out), posted about a cool project for baby food jars. I had a wedding shower coming up so I went for it. I did two jars one for the bride and one for the groom. It was fun, didn't take long, learned you can't put hot glue all the way around the top and then put your ribbon on. After much pealing off, I finally finished the project. Then I had these really cool all natural honey jellybeans, thanks to my mom, that topped of the project!! Don't worry, I won't be trying anything new soon!!!

Thoughts

2011-02-27T14:01:00.000-08:00

WOW! It has been way to long since I did something with this! I almost forgot I had a blog site, not even sure if anyone is out there! Maybe it was because this past month I said goodbye to the thirties and hello to a new era. Upon turning the big four oh, I was thinking of what transpired during the 30's. This is what I came up with;

I got married

Bought a house, Inherited a Dog

Got a new doggie when we had to say goodbye to the old one

Adopted a beautiful baby girl

went to Alaska twice

checked off baseball spring training from my bucket list

bought two cars

new niece

switched careers

had one car accident

caught up with old friends that I always wondered about

celebrated a high school reunion

said prayers for three tours of duty for my brother

lost grandparents

added a new sister in law

visited NYC - and will again to celebrate the big birthday

(there is probably much more but since I am getting old, can't quite remember them all)

So goodbye to the 30's! Can't wait to see what my list for the next ten years!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T18:39:00.001-08:00

This free greeting card personalized with Smilebox

Newest Habby

2010-09-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

This slideshow generated with Smilebox

Dress Up

2010-09-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

Since there were days over the summer that we were advised to stay inside, we had lots of dress-up dates. On this recorded session, I took pictures of the masterpieces and someone wanted to reciprocate by taking my pictures. We had tons of laughs and I was proud of her, there is 3 year old talent there, watch out world!

New Hobby

2010-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Some of you may not know that I have now added baking to my list of hobbies (lots more affordable than photography). So for a year now I have been making cookies for a hair salon every Monday. This is so their customers can have some fresh yummy treats. Also I have been experimenting and providing desserts for our Thursday Home group for a couple years now. So my Kitchen Aid has a workout at least twice a week (thanks mom). Unfortunately I haven't been working out as much and needless to say, somethings have changed. What is pictured above is a Martha Stewart show delight (thanks again Mom) that was easy and so yummy called Brookies (love my two hobbies together, pictures and treats)! They were AWESOME but I learned the hard way they need to cook longer than they say (at least in my oven) Try some you won't be disappointed!

Brookie and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com

Nuts about Baseball

2010-07-25T10:07:00.001-07:00

The one Saturday in July that we had nothing scheduled, I bought tickets to Alyse's first "pro" baseball game. This is the first year for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, who are the double A team for the Giants. We are so glad to have baseball back in Richmond, so much easier to get to and affordable! GO NUTS!

My first Baseball game!

The mascot Nutzy, whom we had to watch everywhere he went!

Highlight of the night, high five from the Chick-fil-a Cow!

Everyone enjoyed the game, even uff uff

Dad caught a T-shirt during the game

loved the clapping! Let's Go Squirrels! They ended up winning the game!

Heres to Number 3

2010-07-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

I love the day we celebrate Alyse's adoption (July 6th, it is also YaYa's birthday). It continually reminds me of my adoption into God's family and how blessed we are. I am still in awe of how God graciously granted us the chance to become parents. It was the third time we had a phone conference with the judge in Alaska, in which our request was granted. So here is to the three's!

Traditions Continue

2010-06-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

This photo album generated with Smilebox

Berry Pickin Time

2010-06-03T13:31:00.001-07:00

It was fun taking Alyse on her first berry picking adventure. Maybe I went strawberry picking as a kid (I can't remember), I had never been as an "adult" (if you could call me one) until a couple weeks ago. It was really hard resisting the temptation to take them all in but we did enjoy one or two while we were working hard. What did we do with all the

strawberries? Well thanks for asking, some went whole into the freezer, others were mashed and placed into a deep freeze and for the first time ever I managed to make some Jelly! Wow, had I known it was that easy to make it, I wouldn't have been such a wimp to try it sooner.

even "kitty" got into the picking

Thanks dad for the fun!

Barkley

2010-05-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

Due to circumstances not in our control we had to say goodbye to our family dog. I was reminded that it is good for little ones to experience all parts of life. It was hard but we have made it through. So now the newest dog in our family requires no food, no late night outings to the outhouse nor does it shed, what a big difference. Thanks to PaPa and MeMe we now are now owners of a fuzzy big doggie named Barkley!

Visit from PaPa

2010-04-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

PaPa Dressel came down the Monday after Easter for a day. He had some meetings in DC so we drove him up and had lunch on the mall. It was Alyse's first time in DC to see sights and not an airport.

Easter

2010-04-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

Digital ecard generated with Smilebox

Big Girl Hair Cut and Photo Shoot

2010-03-28T06:47:00.001-07:00

trying to be very still

It has been a while since we went and got our first "professional" haircut by Monica. Monica's hair studio opened up a year ago in the photo studio, what a blessing! So after our haircut we had 2 yr old pics taken (even though we were closer to 2 1/2). It was tons of fun :) Thanks to my co-worker Louise she was able to capture some pictures since Alyse wouldn't sit on the booster.

Our Big Girl!!!

Holidays a month later

2010-01-24T06:12:00.001-08:00

The holidays have come and gone and it's been a month, guess I am a little behind, eh. After the feet of snow we enjoyed a wonderful white Christmas at home. It was a true blessing being able to be home and not go anywhere. Don't get me wrong we LOVE our families

it was just nice to have a holiday with our little family. It was a joy to talk to Alyse about Jesus Birthday and everywhere we saw the manger she would get excited and say "ahhh, baby Jesus is sleepin in the hay". Baby Jesus had many kisses and hugs! She loved learning Christmas Carols "Hark the Heard Angels sing" and "Away in the manger" were

quickly learned and sang over and over. It was a fun Christmas because of the excitement of understanding the meaning. Along with Jesus birthday we did talk about Santa and that opened a crazy can of worms! Thanks to skype we were able to spend moments with the family!

The day after Christmas we ventured up to PA for Christmas with the Habeckers. Alyse really enjoys her cousins and couldn't stop talking about going to YaYa and PaPa's house. We also attended YaYa's family reunion which was held in a fire house. This meant many trips to see the trucks and not much eating. Our families and friends overwhelmed us with many fun great gifts this holiday and we have many thanks to everyone!

Snow Blast

2009-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

O Christmas Tree

2009-12-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Before we were blessed with Alyse, Tim and I went to a tree farm to cut down our own tree. I couldn't wait to share this fun with our child and now the time has come! On a warm Virginia day we went to Ralph' s Tree farm to find our perfect Christmas addition. Alyse called it "an ocean of tree's" as we searched for the one we would take home. It didn't take us long, the chosen tree was hugged and when we asked if is this it "YES" with a little dancing, came the reply!

Feasting 09

2009-12-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

Once again it is that time of year...the ultimate day of gluttony! We actually both took Wednesday off and

drove up our favorite interstate (haha) 95 to

PA! It was great time with family and food. Alyse loved readying about the first "feast" and continued to call Thanksgiving a Feast.

On our "day off" we took cousin Erin to the infamous Choo

Choo barn for a peak at the huge models they have set up.

Life under the big top and life with the Amish barn raising, in which their arms were moving!

I just had to take a pic of the wedding happening downtown

Alyse helped in the rolling of the making of the dinner rolls!

For the big Feast we all met at the mayor of Wrightsville house for consumption of the good stuff!after the feasting we took a big walk and then chill time with the Family!

Fun with Pumpkins

2009-10-27T13:28:00.001-07:00

Well our first planned day to go the pumpkin patch was a rain out :( Believe it or not so was our second day, bummer. So we just went to the farm and picked out our favorites that they had already picked. When we brought them home they became the "new" thing to play with! Great fun on a rainy day!

Alyseisms

2009-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

It is so much fun having a two year old around the house. She is so inquisitive and curious about everything. For example we were downtown by UMW and she asked where everyone is going. I told her "college". Then we talked about people we know who go to college. She paused for a while then said "I want to go to college.." Then I explained it would be a while and she responded by saying "Patience, Mommy".

For some reason Tim decided to teach her to say "I smell like a cheese steak". She said to me the other day "Does mommy smell like a cheese steak?"

Great Enterainment

2009-08-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take some pics of my new "d0". A friend suggested to put my camera on the timer and do a self portrait (since I am always behind it). So Alyse and I had a blast, she would push down the button and then we would run to try to make it before it was taken! This was sooo much fun we did it forever and had tons of pics! Thanks to digital cameras and not wasting film! Try it!

Inherited Traits?

2009-08-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well whose to say that some traits are inherited because this trait that Alyse is demonstrating is such a "Dressel" thing to do. No this is not a learned behavior (neither Tim or I have done this in the presence of the wee one).

It's Official, welcome to the Zoo

2009-07-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 6th was a big day for the Habby Family (not to mention it was YaYa's birthday)! It is year number two for adopting Alyse, Happy Gotcha Day and that means she is 100% ours! We are excited to know our little Tlingit is here to stay. To celebrate the occasion we,

with Aunt Peggy, took our little Alaskan beauty to the z

oo in Richmond (what a better to way to say "welcome to the family zoo"). It was a great day and the zoo was just the right size for our first visit. Alyse enjoyed the monkeys, the fish swimming

in the moat around the monkeys and the best part was feeding the giraffes. Unlike her mother she had no problem sticking her hand

out with the food for eating (their tongues were very long and slimy).

When life gives you lemons...make Milkshakes

2009-06-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that isn't quite how the quote goes but it did for us last week! We had our very first no nap day. Here is where the quote fits in, I could have pouted, gotten angry or frustrated, but I choose not to. Instead I made Alyse her first Strawberry Milkshake! To round it all out the strawberry's were from a farm and the ice cream was the famous Carl's kind. We sat out on the porch and celebrated a new milestone and drank our shakes.

Exploring New Things

2009-05-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to sit back in amazement about God's handiwork. I am still in awe of how He added to our family! Tim and I wonder what her likes and dislikes will be and we've gotten to explore those areas a little more lately (playing drums, guitar, surfing and drawing in new places) and hopefully explore the potty a little more! We even held a frog that the neighbor boy caught and was taking care (torchering) of it. Our little explorer loves to watch the frog that lives in our front pond, pretend like she is driving to church (when she plays in the car, I ask her where she is going and it is always church) and take care of her babies. She was even trying to get her Abby doll to use the potty but much to her dismay Abby fell in (yes I had to go rescue her from drowining in the potty). Thank goodness Abby is used to getting wet and we had no problem giving her a bath ( I didn't get any pics of that one).

Turning Two

2009-05-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my, where has the time gone! I know someone told me that these years will fly by but I now know what that is like! Seems like yesterday I was flying out to Alaska to meet a beautiful baby girl and now we are celebrating Two Years! We are so blessed to have a fun, smart, energetic and loving little Alaskan! To celebrate the occasion we drove up to PA for the weekend. It was great to be with family, Alyse enjoyed loving on YaYa, PaPa (we mean many hugs and kisses). Saturday night the whole Habecker gang (minus the Martins) were treated for dinner out, which was a lot of fun and Alyse was very well behaved! Sunday the whole gang came over and we had a BBQ in honor of the two year old and Mothers! Alyse got some loving from the cousins, Aunt's and Uncles and really enjoyed blowing out the candles (which we did several times) eating her birthday cake (made by one of the best young cake bakers we know, Miss Emily from the youth group), opening presents and being spoiled! On her actual Birthday (Monday) we drove 2 minutes down the street for time at the park. I am not sure who enjoyed it more, the four adults or the two year old. Thank you to everyone who has been with us on this great journey of parenthood, can't wait to see what is in store for year #2

Easter

2009-04-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

What a year a difference makes! Someone was able to dye eggs, hunt them (which the ones we dyed only lasted one hiding), scream for Chocolate and want to wear her chuck taylor high tops with her dress (thank goodness that was after we went to (church).

At first I thought Tim was crazy not wanting to go anywhere but after the day, I was very thankful for his wisdom of spending the holiday at home. We all rested and had a great day celebrating the resurrection! Earlier in the week we did get the chance to go on an Egg Hunt with our Mops group

and Alyse really didn't care after she found out that there were goodies inside the eggs (she sat and opened them and didn't hunt).

Laziness and whatnots

2009-03-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have no excuse for not blogging for a month.....I could make up a cool one though; spending way too much time on Facebook, bunny sessions at work, making three wedding albums at one time, catching up on missed sleep, playing with baby dolls (with my daughter of course, but the other day I was playing with the fisher price stuff without her), baking cookies once a week for a hair studio, hanging out with middle school girls and eating fundue, providing parents at SPC a night to themselves, going to visit friends and Potomac Mills trips, reading a book then getting into the next one to not lose any time, gloating in my 14 out of 16 picks on my bracket, Sunday night small group at SPC (love you girls), spending time with college students home on Spring break, still trying to figure out my new MAC, listening to my daughter sing her ABC's and the theme song for Larry Boy and lastly just having no time (that is a great excuse)!

A Fast One

2009-02-20T12:18:00.000-08:00

Since my birthday this year fell on a Wednesday, I spent most the day at the studio and then church. My awesome hubby took us out for breakfast since it is my favorite meal of the day (and dinner would be at church)! Alyse and I ate french toast and eggs. I guess I will get the point of why I am blogging about my birthday.

At work my co-worker checks in with me about the happenings from the previous day. She tells me all the good stuff then calls back a little while later. She called to tell me to light the candles. I was thinking to myself (yes that does happen time to time), what the heck, who cares about candles, but I will since she called. I proceed to light 2 out of 3 (I was too lazy to light the one that was further away). About 10 minutes later I got up from the computer to stretch and take a break. On way back to the room I glance over to the table that has displays and low and behold, I see me! That picture was framed and sitting there with Weadon Photos!

My first response was "what the heck, how did that get there". Then I proceed to laugh, what an awful picture, who let me out of the house with hair like that. It was from an FCS Christmas party I believe either 95, 96 b/c after running a marathon with hair like that, it was gone. So I call my co-worker who tells me that my mom came up with the idea, sent the pic to my co-worker and was hoping to surprise me! Well it worked, she pulled a fast one on me, ugly one (literally). I did tell my mom to beware, paybacks are coming! Don't worry I didn't keep the pic!

Love you!

2009-02-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Words

2009-02-10T11:56:00.001-08:00

It is amazing all the new words on a daily basis that Alyse is learning. She is even trying to put some together "dusty barking", "bless you daddy", "love you mommy", and my favorite "chocolate milk". Speaking of Daddy, I was reading Psalm 33 the other day and the fourth verse says " For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all He does". WOW that really convicted me on how big words are! Verse 6 says "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth." Just by a word of the Lord things came into existence. It really hit home for me since we are working on words for Alyse. Words can be so powerful and hurtful but thankfully I know the right and true words.

Happy 33

2009-02-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

Today the man of the house turned 33! Wow, where has all the time gone. When we woke up there was a nice white blanket of the snow kind and it looked beautiful! We made Dad/Tim some banana bread to celebrate, opened a couple of presents (which one was Chocolate Chips so we could make cookies) and sent him on his way. I am attempting to make a steak (another present) and laughing to myself. I think this is the only second time I have ever bought steak and the first to prepare it (Tim has cooked it in the past). So here is to another year and meat and potatoes!

Crazy Counting by Alyse

2009-01-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

For Christmas 2008 we headed out for Reno, Nev on the 20th of December. I was anticipating the worst with traveling on two flights with a 19month old but low and behold she was great and I was thankful for the layover for someone to run around (Tim included). We made it without haste and had fun getting spoiled by the Dressels, Aunts and Uncle. While we were there Tim marked off his list, a massage! We played many games of Wii and many times traveling up and down the stairs...and up and down the stairs... and up and down the stairs. It did snow twice overnight so we had a little bit of white for the holidays! Then on Christmas Eve we flew with Aunt Amy to Colorado for the remainder of our vacation! Besides the nasty wind (no not from somebody, just mother nature) it was wonderful! We got to go through some family heirlooms, pictures and things mom had saved up for us all to divide. Alyse got to meet some deer and that became a fast new word. We played many card games, drank way too much egg nog and celebrated nana's birthday! After majority of the gang headed to their respectful homesteads we stayed around. We did a day in the Fort visiting old/new friends, seeing Daines place of employment, see Mak's new pad and the way the good ole Fort has grown and a trip to downtown Estes. We celebrated the New Year in stlye....zzz's! After it was midnight on the east coast we had a really hard time staying up (no surprise) so we said hello to 2009 as if it already happened! Can't wait to see what is in store for us in the New Year

Food for thought

2008-11-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

I know you may find this surprising but the other day I was thinking about my life and somethings I have accomplished. This thought process is coming from the recent SPC fall retreat! It occurred to me that I have been attending a fall retreat for the last 15 years. Between my time at FCS and with the gang at Spotsy, wow that is a lot of retreating. That means I have heard 60 retreat "talks" (man you would think I would have gotten things by now). I have eaten 75 retreat meals, some so much better than others (concord is way up there). I can't even begin to comprehend how many miles I have put in driving, riding a cheese wagon, playing football or other silly games like ultimate cabbage (this last retreat I tried for a record of 3 hours of playing four square, call me insane), or the lack of sleep that occurs. Thankfully only once was I a c0-program director (once is all that they will get) and numerous times watch my hubby get some laughs! Of all these things nothing compares to the chance to make a difference in someones life or the other way around. So here's to another High School retreat and the many more to come!!!

Falling Off the Charts

2008-11-13T12:17:00.001-08:00

Today I went in for the 18month check up and shots for Alyse. Once again we have aimed high (litterally) and she is off the charts for height (34inches). She is weighing in at 27lbs which is in the 90th. It always makes me smile how God worked things out b/c her male life giver(biological) was 6'4 and so is Tim! How cool is that! So I love to say her Dad is 6'4 and that is why we have one tall girlie! The hard part is clothes that fit since we are in the 18-24 month sizes, go figure! At least I know her chances of being taller than me are great and hopefully a great goalie, center on a basketball team, swimmer or homerun hitter. Right now I will settle for a happy, talkative, outgoing, darling little girl who loves the outdoors and is not quite sure what to think of the leaves!

Carving the Fam and treats

2008-11-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

We decided to carve our little family of pumpkins (Tuesday night)and our little girlie girl didn't want to touch what was inside and get dirty (who would have ever imagined) but she did want to handle the knifes. Tim the creative pumpkin carver did Alyse's pumpkin first (that is why there are so many pics with dad) otherwise known as "Bob". She did get into all the fun after bath time and tried to put "Bob" back together again.

Our little sunflower did have a fun night running around in the dark. It was pretty warm here so we let her stay outside while we handed out candy. We did trick or treat to the closest neighbors. Alyse wanted to grab all the candy either in other kids bags or the items being handed out. We did have a good night and enjoyed the festivities!

Words...and more fun

2008-10-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Alyse is a word machine! Watch out world we have a chatter box on our hands! Each day I swear (not bad words) she has a new word. Her latest have been; home, neigh, toad and please. She is so fun to have around. When we are in the car she loves to rattle off her list of names; steve, nana, bobby, amy, mommy, daddy, meme, che che, papa and her latest is Ally (one of our youth group girls). This is also a fun time to teach her new names, so don't worry I am trying. Of course there is much anger when something has to leave her possession, that is not so fun! One of her newest things is when we say "bye" to someone she immediately says "bye". Yesterday I finally heard it on the phone when I called Tim and it made me smile (and get a little teary, softy)! Every time I make something she always wants me to pick her up, which she says "up". So I finally got smart and Tuesday when I was making pizza , I gave her a chair and the pictures tell the rest of the story!

The Great Pumpkin

2008-10-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today we had the chance to find the great Habecker pumpkin! (of course we already have our "little pumpkin"!).

Grama and Grampa Habecker came for a visit so we dragged them along! Alyse wasn't too sure about the pumpkin patch but really enjoyed the hay ride over. She did find a few that were just her size but

decided to show off her bowling skills and needless to say they didn't come home with us. It turned out to be a beautiful day and very successful!Thanks Aunt Peggy and Cousin Mak for the cool hat!!

All by myself

2008-09-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Someone is growing up way too quickly! Everyday it seems we have new word. The other day a Fire Truck drove past us and Alyse said "truck"! Yesterday we spent a few minutes at the pool before saying adios to summer and on the way she kept saying "pool". Before we know it, she will be always talking and we will be wanting her to be quiet! Here are some pics from the last several days. Last Thursday we had a rainy day so she played in the homemade house (thanks Dad) and we got out the crayons for the first time (yes that is her hugging her paper). Auntie Amy sent us our first baby doll from Alaska and we named her Abby (the street that Amy lives on). Now if I say where is your baby, she goes and gets her! Alyse loves trying on shoes (we may have a girlie girl on our hands) and is always stealing shoes, another word she can say! This morning we got the chance to play outside for most of it. Dusty joined us and I discovered that Alyse can go down the slide all by herself! Thanks Aunt Peggy and Makenzie for the new shoes!

Updates

2008-08-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since you last heard about our adventures. My excuses include the following: 1. Summer Vacations 2. Being very busy at work (one day we took 5 Seniors pictures, 2 sets of twins) 3. Tim going on Mission Trips/camp 4. Spending as much time with the girls from SPC before they leave for College 5. The motherboard in my computer crashed! Thankfully not the hard drive but this meant not being able to work on my pictures. So I have had to bring myself to shoot in jpeg mode since I have no Photoshop or regular computer, bummer. Anyway Alyse turned 15 Months, walking everywhere and is still in the 97% for height! We are making sure she watches the Olympic swimming, volleyball and basketball to get ideas and take notes! She does say Ball now so we are well on the way.

Speaking of words, we now have a few more to add on to the list: Car, Rock, Juice, Yea (one of my favorites). It is a new adventure everyday! Lately she has developed some skills that I hope will continue for a while, cleaning, taking care of her baby, feeding herself and little Miss Fix it!

Love at first sight

2008-07-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to introduce Alyse to the beach and spend time with family. We drove down to South Carolina after I got off work (Jo) and 7 1/2 hours later we were greeted by Uncle Billy, Grandpa, MeMe and Cousin Abbyanne. This of course made a little tired girl not so sleepy. Thanks to Uncle Billy we had a couple hours of sleep before someone was too excited to sleep and wanted to venture out to the beach (6:30 am). So to keep peace in the home Alyse (in her PJ's) and my keen sense of direction went in search of the great white. It was love at first sight and it made the lack of sleep worth it all! At first I felt guilty that Dad wasn't with us but we didn't go in the water so we would allow him the pleasure of enjoying that first experience. Boy did she love that too! We had no problem with the sand on the feet, the waves at our face and the taste of the "spicy water" (that is what Abbyanne called it). Speaking of Abbyanne, she also loved the water and had manycool rides on the waves. Her Dad was a great help finding the best waves to ride on and they had a great time together. Despite the long drive the trip was way worth it and everyone had a great time! Thanks Grandpa, MeMe, Aunt Ching, Uncle Billy and Abbyanne! We love you!

Hey mom, does it fit?

2008-06-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

I never quite thought I would post my unmentionables on line but when Alyse got a hold of them (folding clean clothes) I couldn't resist! That is our crazy girl!

Takes the Cake

2008-06-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Alyse's 12 Month Portraits takes the cake!

First of Many

2008-05-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks we have experienced several firsts in the adventures of Alyse! One of them was saying a word, clear as day. I heard some noises coming from the bottom region and I thought hum someone is doing a number 2. I said to this someone, "poo poo" and what came back to me was "poo poo". Ah my daughters first clear words are poo poo! Some of you are thinking that is so appropriate for my child and I do have to laugh at the one.

Well that may not go down in the books, Yipes! We will say that her first words were ruff ruff.

The second first was last night Alyse attending her first concert and loving it! She danced, clapped, crawled and had a blast (our little future rock star). The band 10th Ave North played at FCHS and of course we had to go and see Mike and the gang.

The third first was the graduation of Daine William (who is Alyse's cousin and Jo's Nephew) He graduated from Fossil Ridge High School (in the good ole Fort)! Wahoo, way to go!

The fourth first was the Birthday party! It was a first having to make cupcakes and Birthday cake and it may be our last (we'll hire Todd for the occasion). It ended up being a perfect day! No one got lost finding the Gulatsi farm (all the cousins came down from PA), the weather was outstanding, no kid fights and Alyse survived the party. The kids entertained themselves by swinging, sliding and eating! Alyse opened her gifts, hung out with the guests, ate her cupcake (North Douglass I might add) and took one long nap after the festivities were over! Thanks to all who made the day a huge success and Auntie Bethie and all her fam with the planning, decorating and eats! Enjoy some of the pics from the day!

One Year Old

2008-05-20T09:07:00.001-07:00

WOW! I can't believe that we know have a one year old in our home! Where did the time go! The day started of with a smile and a chance to wake up big sister Dusty and have her wish Alyse a Happy Birthday! We opened one present bbefore church since we knew Nana got us a fun Birthday dress. Believe it or not she tore into it and then had fun taking items out of the box.We celebrated her birthday at home since it was wet and cold outside. It was the best Mother's Day present ever!! Alyse got a slide on her birthday but we gave it to her a day early since we knew the chances of playing on it on her day were slim.She had a great time opening her presents and playing with them! Thanks everyone!

The Great Outdoors

2008-05-08T12:43:00.001-07:00

Someone has discovered that she is in love with the great outdoors! Phew! It is a good thing since her mom and dad love being outside and involved in many activites that involve the great outdoors. Besides just being in the outdoors she has enjoyed taste testing the outdoors (dirt, sticks, leaves and all).

The Art of Eating a Cookie

2008-04-22T06:34:00.001-07:00

This is how to enjoy a cookie made by grama. Cookie Monster beware!

Easter

2008-04-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

I know we are a little behind in posting about Easter! It was great spending the day with Aunt Amy and the new adventures of Alyse. She loved having an Easter basket with her very own Easter bunny (not live, thankfully) , bubbles and she really liked emptying her basket. She enjoyed finding the eggs that the Easter bunny hid around the living room and got a kick out of shaking them! Who would have thought that would entertain her for such a long time! It was fun dressing her up in a pretty dress but the hair bow didn't last too long (ok by me). I had nursery duty and thankfully Amy was able to help out! The day included a very yummy lunch (thanks Nana), a puppy visit (yeah Ruby), watching basketball, walking around the neighborhood and just spending quality family time!

Springing Up

2008-03-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

This spring things are popping up! We have flowers in the front yard and several families members have visited! Aunt Amy came for a weekend to allow for some r&r and Alyse time before flying to Africa on her medical mission trip with World Vision. It is a long 33hour trip (that would be if she would fly direct - yipes) from AK to Africa. An East Coast stay was recommended for her (which you can never pass up the chance to chill with the choo choo) and she will be doing the same thing this coming weekend on her way home. So we will have Easter with Amy! I am sure she will have many pics & stories that she will share and post on her blogsite!

Grandpa Dressel came this past weekend on his way to Maryland and D.C.! Grandpa was willing to spend a couple hours with the choo choo while mom and dad did church duties! Alyse really enjoyed her time with her gpa and even felt so comfortable to fall asleep early in his arms.

Road Trip

2008-02-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

Alyse and I went on our very first mother daughter road trip to VA beach to visit the Harkin gang last Friday. Ashley was a F'Burg roommate (until Mike swiped her off her feet), dear friend and one of our bridesmaids. Tim went up to PA to speak at a middle school retreat so we retreated ourselves! Thankfully we stopped on the way down for refreshments (coffee for mom and bottle for Alyse) since it took about 2 hours just to get through the beach area, stupid traffic. Oh well, we made it and had a great time. Some the Harkins weren't 100% in the feeling good department but they still were fun to hang around! The last time I visited the Harkins, Korinne was around Alyse's age, wow time flies! Alyse and Austin have the same initials so once we betroth her to them she won't have to change them! Thanks Harkins for allowing us to invade your home and putting up with us!

2008-02-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

9 Months

2008-02-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

At our 9 month photo shoot someone was a ham! Thank goodness Dad (aka Tim) came along to bring this out! This 9 month old weighs in at almost 21 lbs, 29 inches long and is full of energy! No walking yet, thank goodness but we are everywhere and loves to walk while holding hands!

Goodbye gummy grin, Chompers move in

2008-02-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

Snow Day

2008-01-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well we finally got a dose of the white stuff! It started today around 8:30am and by 11:00am it covered the ground. Of course we had to go out and play in it!! Alyse had fun crawling in it, eating it and just chillin (literally) in it! I had fun taking pics of Alyse!!

Goodness

2008-01-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

Today as I picked out a skirt for Alyse to wear (mainly because it is over 70 degrees outside and this will probably be the last time she can wear it). I was brought to tears of joy, why you may ask? We are so blessed to have her as part of our family. Never in a million years would I have known that a little girl would bring us such joy. The Lord knew what he was doing bringing her to us. I know I prayed many times for a little boy and the Lord soften my heart to a girl and now I am so thankful for his sovereignty. Even though pink still isn't my favorite color it now warms my heart to have it around our house! God is soooo good!!

p.s. the big girl picture in the middle is her "I am so beautiful pose" (instead of so big).

The Holidays

2008-01-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

It was such a blessing to home for Alyse's First Christmas even though we did miss our families. I don't know who got more overwhelmed Alyse or us on the big day. Dusty even got to join in on all the fun! We had challenges trying to get her to sit down and at least take a picture with her presents. She did finally rip open one only to put
what she ripped into her mouth. We were so thankful for all the gifts she received and some of them she didn't have the patience for us to open them. We saved some gifts for later in the day which we believe was a great idea. Thanks to the Herl's we had an outstanding Christmas dinner! Later in the week we traveled up to PA for
Habecker Christmas and once again we were blessed with gifts, good food and family. Alyse enjoyed her cousins so much that it was a big effort to go to bed! She got to hang out with her second cousins while we were there and meet some of Dad's, Gramma and Grampa's church friends.
For New Years we laid low and stayed home. Dad got out his guitar and Alyse enjoyed singing and playing with dad, her first lesson!

The Holt gang came over and played with us in the afternoon and had a scrumptious New Years dinner! To top of the night Santa made an appearance at our first bubble bath, or is that a bearded Alyse! Thanks to everyone we love for making this first Holiday such a treat to all! Happy New Year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2007-12-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

We are so excited for Alyse's first Christmas.
As you can see her Dad and her are so excited they are sleeping under our tree for the year (couldn't put up the big one due to little fingers and things going directly to the mouth). We are going to be home for the big day then later in the week traveling to PA for Christmas with the Habecker gang! We will post pictures of the big day and we would like to thank everyone who blessed us this year and were a great support to us to make this Holiday season extra special for us!

See more Holiday Pics go to

Santa's List

2007-12-08T14:18:00.001-08:00

I am sad to say that I made the naughty Santa list this year along with Tim. Thank goodness Alyse was nice!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

There are many things for us to be Thankful for this year! God has greatly blessed us beyond our dreams! We are very thankful for family and of course our family addition! For Turkey day we traveled up to PA to spend time with Habecker side of the family, see a new home and reunite with cousins! We had great eats and fellowship.

Explorer

2007-11-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Someone has become quite the explorer around the house. Now that we can get ourselves to new heights (literally) we are everywhere, inside and out! Enjoy some pictures from our explorations!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15371522@N06/click to see more pictures!

1/2 a Year

2007-11-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

As someone turns 6 Months old today, it is amazing how much Alyse changes and how blessed we are! She is crawling, eating and on special occasions turning into a frog! What a joy she is to have around the house, bring comfort to those who are mourning and laughter to all. Sometimes I want her growth to slow down to enjoy these times a little more and other times I can't wait to see what is around the corner.

Our Trip to Colorado

2007-10-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Alyse and I had the great adventure of heading out west for a week, to meet Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, reunite with Nana and Aunt Amy and of course attend Uncle Billy and

Aunt Ching's wedding celebration! Flying with Alyse was much easier when she first took air (coming home from AK) but we managed and no one asked us to be quiet! She was quite the trooper both coming and going! It took us both a while to get used to the altitude and dryness( poor Alyse had very dry checks, both ends). We did a lot of prep work for the wedding during the week and did alot of chilling with family members, including the 5 dogs that were there! On the "big" day we woke up to snow on the ground! Alyse loved watching it fall (it was the first time she saw it fall but not the first snow experience). Luckily I had been prepared for anything since I packed way too many clothes for the little one. Despite the snow, the wedding was successful and fun!
Ching was gorgeous and Billy wasn't too bad himself! Abbyanne did a great job as the flower girl and Daine as the best man! Amy and I took on the duties of photographer and thankfully Peggy and Nana took Alyse. It was a fun event and I was very thankful that we were able to attend!

Happy Baby

2007-10-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Pictures tell it all...

Rockies or Phillies?

2007-10-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

A house divided?? Which way to go, mom's home state team or dad's team (which would make dad one happy fellow)?

Baby Training

2007-09-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of baby athlete training around our home. Thanks to our friends Trent and Traci, Alyse now is the owner of what I call a johnny jump up (that is what it was called back in my day). Alyse is enjoying hanging out in it but hasn't quite got the jumping part down.

Hopefully it will help with her training to become an athlete. Also we have taken on supervised belly swimming in the tub. Someone really wants to be a swimmer when she grows up!

4 Months

2007-09-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

Well we have reached 4 months and are loving every minute (yes even the poopie ones) with Alyse. She weighs in at 15.6lbs and is 25.5 inches long. She is a chart topper continuing for another check up to be in the 90%. You go Girl! To share a little bit about our days, here is the night time ritual. At our home this is Dad and Alyse time. Dad gives her a bath then gets her ready to read. Sometimes they hang out

until Mom is ready to put her to bed. Usually all goes well and we are down for the night and sometimes we wake up, only once, and sometimes we make it through the whole night! A couple nights ago we had a visitor, Jake and Alyse enjoyed staring him down, love the red hair!

Please Dad

2007-09-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Dad

Can I please go to the Phillies game? I would be the biggest fan for the Phillies! Much Love! Your lovely Daughter!

Bottoms Up...

2007-08-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

The last couple of mornings we have checked on Alyse and this is how she is sleeping.
I guess she is like her mom, showing her best side (haha). So this is what she looks like when something is coming out of that bottom. To clean that little bottom we have moved to the big bath tub and someone enjoys splashing in it!

3 Months old

2007-08-16T09:28:00.001-07:00

Someone turned 3 months old this past weekend, can you believe it! Time has gone by so fast. She has learned to roll over but she can't get herself back over which usually leads to frustration and some cries for help. During a few feedings she consumes 8 oz! We have had many laughing moments (usually when I am being a silly mom or changing clothes). The drooling has increased to the point we have to put a bib on regularly. Alyse has experienced her first of many bug bites with all the mosquitoes we have around the home. Some nights she sleeps right through, which I do too! Thanks to Aunt Peggy who sent us a beautiful cross-stitch for Alyse (background of pics)!

A Dream Come True...

2007-08-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Maybe you don't know this about me, but I have always had a thing for the Oscar Mayer wienermobile. Yes, I know you are saying to yourself, she doesn't even eat hot dogs (only at ball games), but it is true I love the wienermobile. I have a matchbox mobile and I have an Christmas ornament of the mobile! This week I got to see it in person!! Believe it or not it came to Fredericksburg! Of course I had to go see it and bring Alyse along to experience the fun. So here it is, all of us with the wienermobile! Enjoy

Alyse's BFF

2007-08-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

Alyse wants to welcome her BFF into this world! She is so excited to have Addison Paige around to cause trouble with at SPC!

One Month

2007-07-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

Well it has been one month since we brought Alyse home to VA and much has happened. We helped her celebrate her first Independence day by hanging out at the Holts and a couple days later we were celebrating our Independence from the courts. On the 6th of July we were able to celebrate the signing of the decree to adopt Alyse! A deep wahoo went out through the state and we were able to celebrate the day along with Gramma Habecker's Birthday. While we have been home Alyse has met many people and has enjoyed every minute! She had her first swim in the pool which will probably be
the first of many swims. She didn't like standing in the pool so once we moved she was happy. The staff at SPC hosted our first baby shower and we attended a shower in honor of
Catherine (Strode) Parks and their upcoming addition to their family. Tim and the SPC Youth went on their annual summer mission trip to West VA and we had fun adjusting to life without Dad at home. The hardest part was taking care of two children (the dog and Alyse). While Dad was gone Alyse slept her first night in her big girl bed, her own crib. We ventured out to our Dr. here in VA (we miss our Aunt Amy) and had our four 2 month shots, yipes, that was a hard one for both of us. Alyse now weighs 12.5 lbs and is 24 inches long (one day he is going to tower over me).

Our visit to Hoonah

2007-06-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Faces of Alyse

2007-06-13T18:03:00.001-07:00

Weeks to follow

2007-06-12T17:25:00.001-07:00

After our first week together and many many poopy diapers we have had many good times in Juneau. We have had the chance to meet some really neat people who live in the area and are friends with Aunt Amy. On May 20th I got the awesome chance to go on a Wilderness Tour to see Alaskan Wildlife, whales and such (see the slideshow below). The day couldn't have gone any better, the weather was perfect we saw many whales, Alyse slept and was very good. Afterwards since the weather was nice we went out to a "block party" to meet the Meade girls (who ended up being my first babysitters). During the week I had my two week check up with Dr. Amy and I was weighing 8lbs 8oz and I was 20 3/4 inches long. We had another great opportunity on the 24th to watch a Tlingit ceremonial
dance and I was asked to take pictures for the event. The group did this for the tourists coming to Juneau and it was quite a site. Aunt Amy bought Alyse a Veggie Tale book and we were very glad to see that she really enjoyed it! On memorial day we took the tram in Juneau up Mt. Rogers to look down on Juneau, walk through snow and enjoy God's creation. Then the sad day came in which (May 31st) I had to leave to go back for a week. I knew that Alyse is was in great hands, everyone I met here is more than capable of being a great babysitter and who else would you want your kido with than Auntie Dr.Amy.

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

My First Week

2007-05-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

Now that you know my story, here is a little bit of what I did my first week! I got to hang out a lot with my mom at Aunt Amy's house. We had great bonding time, a lot of sleep together and a lot of watching each other. Monday we went to meet with the lawyer in the morning and learn all about my adoption. Afterwards Amy drove us to see a glacier (from the distance) and then she drove us to the ski resort. Believe it or not I saw my first snow.
I had my first Dr. visit on Tuesday with Dr. Amy and I had gained 1 oz and grew longer just a little to 20". I got to meet all kinds of wonderful people at the Glacier Ped's. Aunt Amy made me cry by pricking my foot to draw blood, oh well, won't be the first. My mom and I saw an eagle on the side of the road as we took our first adventure out by ourselves on Tuesday.
On Wednesday I had my first cooking lesson, Banana Bread! I was a big helper to mom. Too bad I couldn't try any! We also watched a little bit of Hardy Boys to bring mom back to her younger days.
Thursday we just chilled at home, resting, eating, filling my diaper all the fun stuff. Friday I turned 1 week old and mom took me clothes shopping at consignment stores, and we bought my first pair of jeans! Also on Friday we went for our first walking outing. We found a trail and went for a little walk using my sling that Grandpa and Meme bought for me. After all that we picked up Aunt Amy from work and went to a Junior High music concert so Amy could hear her "little brother" play. I didn't like the big drum but I still slept through the concert. To end the day we drove to Auke Bay for some waffles (well mom and Amy) and a little touring around the area.
Saturday Amy was working at a babysitting function so after running errands we went over to see what she was doing and meet more of her friends. All in all it was a great first week of my life!

Happy Mothers Day

2007-05-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have a story to tell you, one that is quite exciting and a great example of how great our God is! What could be the best gift that adopting parents could ask for? And especially on Mother's Day? If you are thinking what I am thinking, then theanswer is a little girl! Here is how the story goes: a Dr. related to an adoptive parent called on Friday night and explained a situation that happened at the hospital (where she works) early in the morning. A beautiful girl needed a home and after other Dr.'s contacted their people, Dr. D stepped up and asked for 15 minutes. It was then that she gave a call to see if they (adopting parents) were interested. She gave them details about the little one and they got in contact with their social worker. The potential father was on his way to Louisiana, so much of the talking took place over the phone Friday night. When all was said and done it was decided that potential mother get on a plane asap and get to Alaska. So that is what she did, Saturday afternoon. She got in late Saturday night after one of the most beautiful plane rides ever and little did she know what might happen next.

The Dr. told this potential mother that they were going to the hospital on Sunday (Mother's Day) to meet this little girl and possibly take her home (to the Dr.'s house that the potential mother is related to). TAKE HER HOME? Went through the . mother's head, how could this be. The potential father (still down south) thought the same thing, but it was true. They went to the hospital and met the nurses who were taking care of this beautiful girl. She was in a room getting TLC. Upon entering the room the potential mother was experiencing many emotions at once until she saw the most beautiful little girl with a knitted hat! It was love at first site, no doubt. The potential mother and the Dr. then got to spend some time with the little girl and get to know each other. A phone call was made to the potential father about her features and how beautiful she was. After talking a while the potential father wished the potential mother a Happy Mother's Day, then the flood gates opened. After a while the potential mother got to give the little girl a bath, which she did not like (the little girl). We had to get her dressed ready to go out into the real world. Then Dr. D gave her a check out exam and all looked good. A few papers still needed to be signed and a few goodbyes needed to be made and then watch out world here they came.

This Dr. D then took then into the downtown area for a tour, two fold, give the potential mother a tour and little girl a tour of the city in which she was born. After the tour a celebratory meal was at hand and it was good (fish of course). After the meal, they went to the store to buy essential baby things that were needed. So little girl experienced her first meal out (not eating :)) and her first shopping trip at 2 days old. Upon arriving at home all three ladies were very tired so after quickly getting aquainted to things, eating, where to sleep etc. Everyone laid down for the night and concluded the best Mother's Day ever!

Wednesday Night Mayhem

2007-05-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

We are sooo sad to have to say adios to our beloved Bethany aka Sunny. She has been more than outstanding helping us at SPC, she has been our super hero volunteer and a part of the fam! Thanks Bethany for all the great years you put into all of our lives. We are so excited with what God is leading you to and we are more than blessed that you starting a new youth group! You Rock! We love you!!!!

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Bouncing Around

2007-05-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well we made it past the half way mark and Tim hasn't pulled all is hair out!! The last two Sundays we traveled up to NoVA to visit some mega churches! We first visited McLean Bible's mini campus, and boy was it big. Sitting up in the nose bleed section we got to view three large screens with the words for the music (just in case we were old and couldn't see the front screen). We felt like little fish in a really big pond. After the campus visit we traveled up to MD to visit the Hollowells! We had a great time eating lunch, touring the camp and chillin with the kids and a surprise visitor. This past Sunday we went back to the hubbub of NoVA and visited Vienna Pres, which is more up our alley. We both really enjoyed the service, ran into some old friends and stayed for lunch. All in all it has been fun being able to worship and not get int erupted or be "working". It has been a treat to enjoy the Lord's day.

Chocolate World

2007-04-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Eat your hearts out Chocolate lovers!
Tim couldn't have thought of a better way to spend our 6th anniversary then at Hershey's! If you don't know the traditional gift for the 6th anniversary is candy or iron. My creativity lead to buying an Ironman watch for Tim and his idea was to take me to Chocolate World (drooling even as I type). This is the 100th Anniversary of the kiss...ahhhh..Hershey Kisses that is and so they had tons of Kisses for Sale! We took the tour through the Chocolate making process and received our free kisses at the end. While we were leaving I was asked if I had ever tried their Cookies and Cream candy bar. Have I ever tried the luscious White Milk Chocolate with the yummy crushed cookies, heck ya! So the lady took us to a secret place to perform a taste test! It was very interesting that you could tell one was scrumptious and the other belonged in the trash. Along with our visit to the world of heavenly smells, we went to the Hershey's history museum and learned a lot of interesting facts about the Hershey's. Tim informed me that his family is related to the Hershey's way back (some how with Milton's mom), how cool is that! Too bad we don't get a share of the fun!! After our time in the park we ventured out to the town, found a very nice place to have lunch and they had the best desserts, so it was a very sweet anniversary if I say so myself. The only "bad" part of the day (which there really wasn't)is the fact that it snowed! Not so sweet in my book.

SPC Youth Groups' Newest Member

2007-04-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

We wanted to welcome Reed Johnson (born March 27th) as the newest member of the SPC Youth Group! Congrats to mom and dad and big brother Cale.

Road Trip

2007-03-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

So last Tuesday we left the burg and headed south on a little adventure. Our first stop was Macon, GA where we stayed overnight with Jo's pals PR and Harry and their dog Wrex. It wasn't a very long visit, but we knew we'd see 'em on the way back, so Wednesday morning it was off to Florida.

We made a pit stop in Gainesville and snooped around the campus of the University of Florida for a little bit. We parked illegally so Jo could snap some pictures of the "Gators" at the football stadium. Then we asked a group of college boys if they knew a good place to eat lunch. They recommended "The Swamp" across the street. It was good, they were right. After that we continued on to West Palm Beach.

After arriving at the bed and breakfast and being greeted by Telullah the dachshund we were ready to walk, but not sure what direction to head in so we wandered around lost for a little bit. We also called Tony and Casey (Woodard) McCloud, old Fredericksburg friends now living in West Palm. They came and rescued us. After a nice dinner out they gave us a little WPB orientation and let us know where all the good hang out spots were...as well as Donald Trump's beach house.

Thursday was basically spent bumming around at the beach, in town, taking more pix, eating ice cream and waving to Donald T. who we saw out trimming his shrubs (right). We saw our first Man o' War jellyfish washed up on shore. It was a little chilly for swimming, but once I saw those bad boys I wasn't going anywhere near the water! That night we went to the movies at this really cool theater with couches for seats. Apparently there is supposed to be one like it opening at the Spotsy Towne Center.

Friday was baseball day, Marlins v. Dodgers in spring training. We went really early to catch batting practice and everything. Very cool...if you're into that sort of thing. We got sunburned watching the game but enjoyed every minute of it. After that we drove along the coast for a bit, stopping to check out sights along the way at Jupiter and Juno Beaches, before heading to Boca Raton where we met up with Jo's old pal from college, Lottie and her husband and 3 yr. old son Doug. We spent the night at their place before heading back north in the morning.

Saturday we drove up to Titusville (near Cape Canaveral) where we ran into some kid named Thomas MacGregor. He looked malnourished, a real starving artist, so we took him to lunch. Then it was on to Hilton Head to meet back up with PR & Harry at PR's mom's house. Geez, what a great place to live...Hilton Head. So after hanging out with them for another night it was back home finally. We dropped off "Gerry" (short for Geriatric) the rental car, hopped in "Bob" (our car) and we're reunited with Dusty late Sunday night.

Sabbatical Week One

2007-03-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well, being on sabbatical is certainly...different.

Today Jo and I discovered how nice it is not to work on Sunday. After going to church at 3rd Pres. in Richmond, where we remained happily anonymous, we decided to snoop around the U. of Richmond campus. While there we stumbled on a baseball game between U of R and that sports powerhouse, Yale. It was a beautiful day so we sat on the hill and watched really smart guys play a few innings of baseball before going out to lunch.

Otherwise we've been hangin' with some of the college kids on spring break as well Abby the former intern. Christine, Amanda, and Abby all came over for dinner with Jo and I Tuesday night. We played Canasta and ate ice cream late into the night. Then a couple days later Tim, Tommy, Christine, Amanda, and I all had lunch together. In between all this eating and card playing we talked a lot about faith and ministry, things that had made a difference in their lives, and things that hadn't. Otherwise I've done some writing (my "book"), lots of reading, checked out some running (wheeze!!) trails in the National Park, and done a little exploring in the seminary library in Richmond.

All this reading, writing, and eating makes a man have to go outside and work with his hands. I've been working on the back of the house trying to make it appear a little less ghetto. Although, come to think of it I've never seen a ghetto with as much dog poop as our backyard. But it's getting better. I painted the foundation and crawlspace door and the dog helped out. While I managed to minimize the amount of paint on me, Dusty now has a frosted white tail and a white tip on her left ear.

Someone better comment on these blogs or I'm not going to bother!

High School Retreat

2007-03-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Once again we loaded the vans and headed to Brethren Woods for this year's high school retreat. This year we talked about trusting God and changing our perspective. We were joined by three of our esteemed youth group "alumni." The weekend started with hot chocolate, cookies, and some serious "King/Queen of the Box" action. Saturday we spent the day in the woods doing low ropes in the morning and the high ropes course in the afternoon. Somewhere in there a giant turtle made of aluminum foil. After that we took a break during which a few of us decided to engage in a little mud football while waiting for the lasagna to bake. Later after our worship time everyone took 20 minutes of silence and then spent the rest of the night hanging out and eating brownies and homemade ice cre...er...milkshakes. Sunday morning was spent putting out the fire in the oven, cleaning up, and praying for one another. Then after a last minute and unsuccessful attempt to rescue the turtle we headed for home.

Go Grizzlies!

2007-03-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

Over the President weekend (Feb. 16-19th) the Kvasagers along with the Grizzlies hockey team came out to D.C. to conquer a hockey tournament (up in Reston,VA). Tim and I had fun chillin (literally chillin) in a ice rink for most of the time, cheering on our favorite Grizz #4 and the outstanding coach of the Grizzlies! We played tour guide in D.C. as we ventured on the metro to the Spy Museum. Of course we had to eat Chinese food along the way in Chinatown (dah). Peggy and Mak came down to the Burg for a night to meet Dusty and visit the homestead and spend my BDay with me! The Grizzlies ended up with a third place finish for the weekend and hopefully had tons of fun!

SPC Flag Football Tournament

2007-02-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

...The wind swept across the frozen tundra of Loriella Park as grid-iron gladiators squared off in a test of strength, endurance, and sheer will on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon. The imminent threat of frostbite could not dissuade nearly 50 athletes of varying shapes, sizes, and skill levels from clashing in their pursuit of one common goal...an 18 inch tall trophy made out of a Nerf football, empty soda bottle, aluminum foil, and duct tape.

At the inaugural Spotsylvania Presbyterian Youth Group flag football tournament Andy's team took home the title with a record of 3-1. Wide receiver / running back Marshall Dallas was named MVP and took home the Alan Hager trophy. Although they were heavily favored the victory did not come easy. During pool play the only blemish on Team Andy's record was recorded by a very scrappy Team "Special," and Team Tim put a scare into Team Andy in the championship. But in the end they proved to be in a class of their own.

Thanks to Mr. Steve Judy and Rev. Alan Hager for serving as referees!

Christmas in Colorado

2007-01-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

This trek out to Colorado began with a question, are we going to make it out there? As you may know Colorado got dumped on with some snow right before the Holidays. Thankfully we were flying out several days after the blizzard(Christmas Eve) and had no problems heading out West. Only one family member had difficulties but finally made it out to the snowy state, and that it was! Thankfully we got to sleep in on Christmas (since there were no little ones begging us to wake up) and everyone survived opening presents later in the day. Not like the days when you are little and want to start ASAP. Nana's tree was filled to the brim with presents from everyone (including Santa). We had a lot of fun and received a lot of fun presents, Tim and his Chia Pet, Yoda Billy and Chewbacca Ching, Grill master Clayton, Amy and her shuffle (so she can jam out while running), Peggy and her practical wisdom book by Kermit (who else)!

Makenzie and Daine got some really cool jackets of things that they are into now (Daine and his Mustangs, cars that is, which he inherited from his Aunt Jo, and Mak and her Elvis, which may come from her dad)

Thankfully we decided to open stockings after stuffing our faces with great food, playing some games, catching a few zzz's and relax. Opening the stockings led to some more crazy family fun. Daine and Billy looking good!

After celebrating Nana's Birthday we thought we were in the clear and little did we know but more snow was on the way. It started snowing earlier in the morning (the big white fluffy flakes) and continued well into the night. Snowshoeing became our main transportation that night to get us back to our cabin. The snow led for more tricky times because of family members flying out and hoping their flights won't be cancelled. When this snow storm was all said and done we ended up with another foot and a half (on top of what was already there). So you can imagine we had a lot of fun in the snow and a lot of shoveling done by Tim and Daine!

2006 Year in Review

2006-12-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Habby site! This is a recap of the Habby's in 2006 with pictures with a few side notes. Sit back relax, enjoy reading!

January: Tim started his 8th year at SPC as we rang in the New Year! Jo was busy the first part of the year with Homecoming activites for FCS. We had only a couple snow fallings this year.

February: We both celebrated milestone Birthdays (we will not mention what they are).
We were able to pull off a surprise party for Tim despite heavy snowfall. Jo started her last FCS coaching job by assisting with the girl's varsity soccer team.

March: We had our High School retreat at Brethren Woods (most of the kids returning to the 1st place they went on a retreat with Tim).

Dusty celebrated her 3rd birthday with a birthday bath.

April: Celebrated our 5th Anniversary (has it been that long, just kidding).

Tim went down south, New Orleans, with the church to work with Canal Street Presbyterain Church by cleaning up homes. Several youth from SPC joined them and it was a great success. It was great time of being a witness!

While Tim was southbound, Jo went West to visit family in Colorado because little brother was coming back to the states for his 2 week hiatus from Iraq. Jo met up with her old college buddy Ang, hung out at nephew Daine's hockey game, celebrated Amy (sis) b-day and since it was Easter we colored eggs with Abbyanne (Billy's daughter).

May: We finalized our adoption papers and are officially out there to receive a little one! Start praying! Many FCS alumni graduated from college (hard to believe that Jo is that old)

June: Jo said goodbye to FCS after 11 years of ministry. It was very hard since so many friends, memories, coaching and growing happened there. It was a great chapter in life and one that was truly blessed by God! She started working full time at the photography studio and this started the busy season of 2007 senior pictures.

Jo ventures on her own to take wedding pictures for a friend and former FCS student (Kate and Daniel) in Myrtle Beach.

We also had many graduates from SPC that Tim had witnessed growing up at SPC (he met most of them as 5th graders, yipes)! When she was home Jo watched many hours of the World Cup!

July: We took our Habecker family beach trip to the Outer Banks for a week. Much relaxation happened at the beach and good quality time spent with the newphews and nieces (like being in the water all day).

After returning from the beach we headed down to Tennesse with the High School crew for a week of Mystery with confrontation point mission trips.

August: Tim went to camp to lead a week for a group from Northern VA. Jo didn't have to go back to school this fall (there has been only one other fall since Kindergarten that she didn't go back to school, weird eh). The studio keeps Jo very busy and many weekends working at weddings to get some practice.

September: Billy came home from Iraq!! Despite encountering three IED's during his tour he made it home! The SPC Big Event happened at the Belvedere Plantation with the corn maze, playing in the fun barn (like swinging on ropes), roasting hot dogs over the fire, taking a hay ride, listening to testimonies and a motivational speaker (named Tim).

October: Jo's mom came to visit the Habby Hut one weekend! We all went to Monticello, drove around to see fall colors and did some massive baking in the kitchen. Tim took a group of SPC youth up to camp to do a "Hard Core Weekend" where they did some work on the barn and visited the site of where flight 93 crashed.

Billy and Ching tied the knot and will have a reception next Fall.

November: Another visit from Jo's family, Billy! He came to visit a colleague at Walter Reed and came down to the burg to chill with us. We spent a day up in D.C. being tourist before he had to report back to base.

The Middle School retreat was a very busy weekend for Tim was the big chief for the weekend and Jo (along with a youth volunteer) was in charge of Program for the weekend. The theme was "Make it Real" led by Stary Night and Sunny Day's talk show.

For Thanksgiving we joined the Habecker clan up in PA for some good eats!

December: Things started calming down at the studio after Santa made a visit. We had our Mystery Christmas dinners for the middle school and high school crew at SPC. Jo experienced eating Ice Cream on salad with a knife! Tim got a really cool guitar at the gift exchange, Jo got stale Peeps (haha). For Christmas we will fly out to Colorado, and that will be the next blog post we will make!