Working out at the gym!

Kade and his friend Miles meet for a power workout. You should see them lift weights.

Best Buds!!!!

Collin and his friend Nick playing in the snow after the big storm.

The crew looking over the menus, Uncle Eric and Aunt April, Mom with Nana and Kade

Picture of the boys on the way home from the long weekend, Collin giving the red eyed tree frog a hug, Zach and JD having a smiling contest.

We had a big weekend adventure! Collin, Kade, and I packed up and drove over to visit Aunt April in Menominee. I figured I would do the traveling this time since April has drove over to visit us quite often to see the boys(and us) or help babysit. She works at a hotel so we got a two room suite for half the price (and much easier since each boy had a room). My mom met us at April's apartment Friday night where the boys opened valentines from Aunt April, we made tacos, and ended the night making valentines treats! The next day we headed to Mall of America where we met with Uncle Eric and some family friends. We ate diner at the Rainforest Cafe. Diner was wonderful with the five boys excited about all that was going on around them! (The Butcher's have 3 boys Simon 9 months, Zach 3 and JD 5, and then Collin 4 and Kade 10months) After diner we hit some amusement rides then headed back to Menominee. Sunday we went to Tomah to help Papa celebrate his birthday. It was a fun and exciting weekend but we are now happy to be home.

New age baby!! Kade is having fun "talking" on the cell phone. He picks it up and babbles just like his mom. He has been know to randomly call people before I can get the phone out of his hands.

This past November I was asked to join a committee at church to help plan a women's retreat after many meetings and awesome ideas the weekend finally arrived. This past weekend we drove up to Imago Dei Village (A beautiful camp) for a fun weekend "Straight From The Heart". The weekend was spent studying the Ephesians text and it was an uplifting weekend of faith, fun, and fellowship(even a few camp songs). I'm sharing just a few pictures from the weekend. We had the opportunity to stay in the Johnson building. We were only the forth group to use the brand new facility. There were four rooms for sleeping, a central meeting location with a wonderful fireplace (which we had burning the whole time), and a kitchen. Friday night was spent getting to know one another and a night of pampering the "Princess'" of the weekend. We had fondue and watched the movie the Princess Bride in which we discussed how some of the story lines could be related to our lives and the Bible. Saturday we had two bible study groups and fun activities throughout the day and ending he day with a great service that everyone helped plan. It was a wonderful weekend!

Here are some pictures of Kade in his music class. We took it with a friend and he loved it! He loved the teacher and watching her play the guitar. We learned a bunch of new songs and he had the chance to play with many different instruments.

Kade full of energy

Kade is almost ten months and full of energy. At his nine month appointment he was 22 pounds and 30 inches long. Off the charts for height and 75% for weight. He is now walking along all of the furniture, standing up by himself and tonight he took his first steps. I think he will be walking soon!

Our big guy is starting to stand on his own. Well he will stand if he has something in his hands. Here it was a pen that he thought was helping him stay up!

Our little man loves to eat! Kade is now trying big boy foods! Collin thinks it is so fun that Kade can eat cheerios with him in the morning. Kade is up to four teeth and he may get two more soon!

Guess who made it until midnight! Collin partied it up at the Brokaw's and got a quick kiss from Mom at midnight. This is the latest little Collin has ever been allowed to stay up. He was pretty tired but he slept in until 9:30.

Little Party Animals! The kids enjoyed dressing up except for Kade who didn't looked to thrilled to put on a tiara and join the rest of the kids on the floor.

On New Years Eve we met up with some friends and took the kids bowling. Collin loves to go and Kade took his first try with some help from Dad. Collin took a break and enjoyed a slushy (he didn't try for the beer yet!)

Kade's first Christmas. He really didn't get the idea of opening the gifts but he sure liked to play with them! Collin had the best time opening them all!

Our tree Christmas Eve and the boys on Christmas morning. Collin woke up at 4:30 because he was so excited to see what Santa left him. Yes, the boys have matching pajamas and I think it is cute!