Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, it all started a few days before when we found out that Duaine was getting his old boss back at work (which is a HUGE answer to our prayers). We also celebrated Michael's 11th birthday. He has grown up so fast, he is such good kid and we are so grateful to have him in our family. The children all had a great time opening presents and eating, eating, and eating some more.
After all of the morning fun and the birthday celebration we went to Pottstown, PA and had dinner with our cousin's and met up with some old friends (The Matheson's). We really enjoyed the company as well as the yummy food.
We hope you all had a great Christmas. We miss you all.
Love,
The Horlacher's

Amish Country

We had the opportunity to go to some friends home yesterday and see Santa Clause and visit their historical home in Gap, Pa. Their home was built in 1720, where they now give tours of their home. We spent some time in their renovated barn that is now a craft store, where they sell their home made candles etc. It was the first snow of the season and the kids had a ball playing in it(that is before they turned into ice cubes). We had a wonderful time together as a family and we wish that the week ends wouldn't go by so fast. We also really enjoyed seeing the Amish buggies drive buy, that is always a highlight of visiting Lancaster County.

Don'd blink or you'll miss it!

It is so hard to believe that Halloween and Thanksgiving are behind us and Christmas is only a few weeks away. This year has really flown by.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with our cousin's, the Hickman's and also Emily, Jenny's sister. It is so nice to have the Hickmans' so close to us.

We are getting ready to go to Michael's Christmas choir concert tonight. He has been working hard to prepare for this.

As always there is an excitement in the air and the kid's all seem to have more energy this time of year. They can't wait until Christmas, in fact, the 3 oldest ones started making their lists yesterday. I guess that means I better get shopping. I'm not really one for crowds, it's to bad I'm a procrastinator.

We hope you are all doing well. We miss you all.

Love,
The Horlachers

Our Busy Lives!

We have been very busy with the 3 oldest children starting school on August 26th (my birthday). Michael started the 5th grade. Scott started the 4th grade and Hilaree started 1st grade. Leaving Brandon and I home during the day. It is much easier having only 1 home. No fighting is proboly the best part! I really enjoy my time with Brandon. He is a sweet little mommies boy.
We took the kids to New York City with our cousin's the Hickman's and also Nate Guymon, our cousin as well. We had a great time riding the subway and seeing so many sites that we usually only see on tv.
Over labor day we visited the Indian Echo Cavern's that are less than a half hour from our home. We went with the Gagon's. Our friends from the ward. It was neat to go on the tour of the cave and I think we make it with out any melt downs. Yea!
We also celebrated Scott's ninth birthday on September 15th. He is growing up so fast. He is enjoying 4th grade and being in the same school as his brother Michael.
We were also lucky enough to have Grandpa Horlacher and Uncle Fred come and visit us. We had so much fun with them. We were so sad that it was such a fast trip. We look forward to having visitors in the future.

Our trip out west.

July 1st began our adventure travelling across the United States. The first day Duaine set the alarm for 2:30AM and off we went. We made it to St. Louis to visit some friends the Halverson's. We had a great time visiting and almost stayed up for 24 hours. I don't recommend this while driving across the country. The next day we got as far as Centennial, Colorado. It brought back a lot of great memories. We loved living in that area. On the third day we made it to Glendale, Utah to Grandma and Grandpa's Ranch. We had a great time spending time with the whole family. All of Duaine's siblings were there as well as Mom and Dad Horlacher. It was so exciting to see all of the cousin's get reacquainted with each other. The children were able to be in the 4th of July parade in Glendale, go on rides up the mountain on Grandpa's mule, go horseback riding, watch Uncle Charles shoot a snake and eat it (my boys also had a taste. YUK!), the older kids were able to drive a golf cart and loved every minute of it. We roasted marshmallow's every night and had a wonderful time being together.
We were also able to go to St. George to see Duaine's 102 year old grandmother. That was neat for us. I am so glad that our children were able to meet her. She is such a sweet woman. While in St. George we also had to stop by In and Out hamburger. One of Duaine's favorite hamburger joints. We were also able to drive through Zion's National Park. What a beautiful Park!
After our time in Southern Utah we headed North to Idaho. We started off by going to the Leishman Reunion in Island Park, Idaho. I love it there. It has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the country. It had been many years since our family attended a Leishman Reunion, so it was very special for us to be there (even though we were sick of camping by then). While in Island Park we went floating down the Buffalo River. It was a lot of fun. Even Brandon enjoyed himself. We also had a great time just visiting with our family that we hadn't seen in years. After the reunion we went back to Shelley and enjoyed some time there. We had more family pictures and had a great time being together.
The last night we were there Duaine and I went to Idaho Falls to The Destination Inn. Where each room is designed like a country. We stayed in the "England" room. It was soooo nice. We don't get to spend a lot of time with just the two of us, being so far away from family and all. So we appreciate Grandma and Grandpa Weist for watching the kids for us.
We love our family so much and we want you to know what a great time we had with you all. We made a lot of wonderful memories. We can't wait to see you again.

May/June updates

May was a fun month for us. It started out with Duaine and I celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary. Time has gone so fast. It has been a fun journey. We have lived all over and have experienced a lot together. It has been hard living so far away from our families, but we have grown closer together as a couple.
May ended with with Memorial Day and we were able to take the family to Mount Vernon, Virginia and see George Washington's Mansion and Museum. Duaine was so excited to see George's wooden teeth, but they ended up not being wooden after all. It was a fun day. We all really enjoyed our time together and learning more about the history of our country and remembering those who had given their lives for our freedom.
June started with the kids getting out of school. The 10th was their last day. I love them dearly, but after having them in school all year and having only little Brandon at home, it is an adjustment. Especially when going to the store with 4 kids (not a good idea).
You probobly already saw the picture on our blog, of Scott's head. Poor Scott has had so many head injuries. We were clearing out a section of our woods in the back yard, for our fire pit, and Michael and Scott were moving some logs, when Michael through one that nailed Scott in the head. I heard him screaming, but I went to the wrong door. Then I went to the garage and found him covered in blood (a sight I will never get used too). It was scary. It was hard to tell where the blood was coming from. We cleaned him up and stopped the bleeding and then I called our cousin's the Hickman's (Dave is a ER RN), who were on their way to have a BBQ with our family and asked if Dave would bring his glue, just in case Scott's head needed glued, but it turns out he needed staples. So thanks to Dave, we didn't have to make another trip to the ER.
We are now preparing for Duaine's birthday tomorrow (June 14th). The Hickman's offered to watch the kids, so we can go on a date. We are going to go into Philadelphia and try out some Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. I am excited to taste them, I have heard so much about them. I will let you know how they are.
I hope you are all enjoying your summer and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Spring Time

We has another busy week end, beginning with Easter. We had our own Easter egg hunt at our home on Saturday. We had to have it in doors because it was raining very hard that day. We then went to the church and the kids had a primary activity, learning more about the Resurrection and also had a Easter egg hunt there as well. After that we went to Shady Maple, in Lancaster County, (Amish country) to meet our cousin's. Dianna and Emily were there visiting Jenny Hickman's family and we were able to catch up after not seeing each other for a very long time.
The next week end was Brandon's 2nd Birthday. It was a lot of fun. We had the Haas's over. They have a son Brandon's age and they seem to enjoy each other. It's hard to tell at this age. We also had my cousin Jenny and her cute family there. We had a great time together. Brandon got a lot of cars, to add to his collection. In his opinion, the more the better. He also got some Elmo Lego's, a Car's ball, a Car's truck with a Lightning McQueen in it, some sand toys, and a race track and cars. He has really enjoyed playing with his new toys. He is such a sweetie.
We also started soccer and were able to spend a lot of the day, on Saturday, watching Michael, Scott and Hilaree play. It was fun to watch, despite the fact that we all came home with a sun burn. They all did a fantastic job.
***Scroll down and you will see the pictures from Easter and Brandon's Birthday***

April

I can't believe it is April all ready. It is nice to see the trees blooming and the grass getting greener. Spring is so beautiful in PA, we think it even beats the fall (believe it or not).
We have officially started soccer, which means our lives are now pretty crazy. We now have 3 practices and 3 games each week. On top of many other activities our children are involved in.
On Saturday there was a high wind advisory and after sitting through the soccer games the kids decided to use that to their advantage. They got the wagon and a tarp and sailed it through the back yard. It was really cool! They are so creative.
We had a nice week end listening to General Conference and spending time together. It was nice to actually see Duaine on Sunday, which doesn't always happen.
***There are pictures below of the kids sailing in the wagon***

Hilaree Lost Her First Tooth!

We are happy to say that Hilaree finally lost her first tooth. She pulled it out herself. She was so proud of herself for doing it with out help. She came home from school and it was just hanging there and she did not eat any of her lunch because she thought she would swallow it. So after she got it out she was ready to eat. (There are pictures below).

March Updates

This has been a crazy few weeks. We started out with Duaine having some severe stomach pain and ending up at the emergency room. He spent a few days in the hospital recovering before we brought him home. We found out that he has bleeding ulcer's and has had a painful last few weeks. He has finally returned to work and is feeling a little better. Hooray!

Michael has been testing for Envirothon the last few weeks. There were 40+ students that wanted to be part of the team, but there were only 20 spots available so the students were tested to see who had the highest grades and only the top 20 were chosen for the team and Michael was one of them. We are so happy for him and proud of his hard work.

We have all been really sick this cold season (except for me, thank goodness). It has been exhausting taking care of a sick husband and sick kids, but thankfully everyone is doing better.

Hilaree's Birthday!

Hilaree turned 6 years old on Ground Hogs Day (February 2nd). She is growing up so fast and keeps us laughing all the time. She was mad at Scott, (which is pretty normal) yesterday because he wouldn't share his gum with her. She said "Dad, Scott won't share with me. I asked nice and I told him one of my secrets and he still won't share". We are so happy she is part of our family.
For the longest time she said she was not going to get her ears pierced and after seeing her cousin Madison get hers pierced for her 6th birthday, she decided she wanted too as well. She was so brave and was very serious the whole time. She didn't make a peep during the whole piercing.
She loves going to school and playing with her friends. She is doing so good in school. I was a little concerned about having her go to all day kindergarten, but she is doing awesome. We love her so much!

2009 Updates

It's hard to believe that 2009 is already here. We are excited for the new year! Michael, our oldest is in the 4th grade. He is such a good boy. He will start soccer soon and recently started Envirothon (a group of students that learn about the environment in Pennsylvania and compete with other schools at the end of the school year). He also enjoys scout's and all kinds of games.
Scott our 2nd child is in the 3rd grade and is full of life and energy. He will also start soccer soon and is also involved in Envirothon and Scouts. He recently started loving the Pittsburgh Steelers (I wonder where he got that from) and is looking forward to the Super Bowl.
Hilaree is our 3rd child and in in all day Kindergarten. She is really loving school. She couldn't wait for the Christmas break to be over and go back to school. She is a lot of fun (when I'm not doing her hair). She will start soccer soon, and I will go crazy from running around every where.
Brandon is our youngest and man does he keep us busy. He dumps everything out (food, toys, you name it). He is full of the business and is such a mama's boy. We love having him in our home. He turns 2 in April.