Dear Friends!

Left: Myself and Jennifer Headlee Meyer.Right: The Biegler and Meyer kids.

Friday afternoon I got a surprising phone call from my dear friend, Jennifer. She was driving across country from Utah to Michigan and decided to stop to visit us. I was thrilled! Jennifer arrived with her husband, Max, and their 6 kids: Jacob (16), Megan (14), Zachary (10), Lindsay (7), Melissa (5), and Josh (3). The stayed overnight and visited for a while Saturday before getting back on the road.

Jennifer and I have been friends for 31 years! When we met her aunt and uncle lived next door to us. I was 5 and swinging on the neighbor's swing set when Jennifer came out (she was 7). She said, "get off my swing". I explained that it was Mikey's and Emily's swing and they let me be on there. She said, "it's my swing now, get off". Jennifer's family had bought the house from her aunt and uncle and were preparing to move in. I got off the swing and went back to my deck where I played "Barbies" alone. Jennifer looked over and said, "are you playing Barbies?". I said yes and invited her to play. She did, and we've been friends ever since!

Despite that first unpleasant impression of Jennifer she is one of the sweetest, most loving girls I've ever known. We spent many an hour playing House and Barbies together. When we weren't doing that we were running around outside trying to escape from my brothers. Over the years we've both moved in opposite directions, gotten married, and had kids (10 between us)! Despite the miles apart we are still dear friends. Calling her is like no time has past and no miles between us. She's someone I look to for support and advice. She's one of the best Mommies I know. Her kids are wonderful! We really loved being able to see them.

Go Cubs Go! (and go away rain!)

We got to go to the Cubs game (vs. Atlanta) as a family. Ella Jane stayed with a friend, but the rest of us braved the rain to watch our favorite baseball team. This was Patrick's first Cubs game. And although he didn't smile for any pictures he had a great time! For some reason, he just wasn't interested in pictures.

Funny, I realize that as years go by I am loosing more and more of my Michiganness. I am (sadly) a Cubs fan! I'm not really interested in sports, but there is no place quite like Wrigley Field. It's really a cool place to be. Cubs fans are certainly not fair-weather fans. They stick with their beloved team through thick and thin (mostly thin). Hopefully in my kids' lives they will see the Cubs win a world series, but let's not hold our breath!

There was about a 45 minute rain delay. When the game started we covered up with garbage bags that Kevin got from work, put on hats, and went to our seats. It rained pretty much the entire game. It wasn't heavy, just steady. And, darn it, our nachos got wet!

Kevin was lucky enough to get seats from the owner of his company. They are great seats, about 10 rows back from home plate. It's really neat to be so close you can hear the umpire yell "STRIKE"! Unfortunately, we heard way too much of that when the Cubs were at Bat. In the top picture Ryan Theriot was at bat and Derek Lee was on deck. Lee is Jack's favorite player. He was thrilled to see him up close! Jack would have sat through a hurricane to see Lee play!

The highlight of the game (aside from having cotton candy) was when Fukodome hit a home run. Sadly, that was the only run of the game and the Cubs lost 4 to 1. Bummer! We had a good time despite the loss.

Summer Fun!

We had a busy 4th of July. We started the day at Kevin's dad's house. It was a rainy, but we still had fun. The kids played in the rain and didn't care that they got soaking wet. We headed to Kevin's mom's house afterward for dinner and then to the fireworks. Unfortunately, my fireworks pics didn't turn out well and are not blog-worthy.

Kevin played against his cousins in a game of basketball. I think the girls pretty much kicked his butt! By the way, check out Jack in the background throwing something in the air.

Even Patrick played in the rain. He was wondering around growling like a dinosaur. It's not like him to want to be in the rain. It may seem like a simple thing, but it's big for Patrick!

On Sunday we had a 4 family BBQ in our back yard. It was the Bieglers, Hurleys, Joufs, and Sutherlands. There were 8 adults and 14 kids running around. Above on the left: Abby, Isabel, & Caleb Sutherland, Joe Jouf, Patrick, and Ella Jane. The kids were all a mess, which is a true sign of a lot of fun.

The guys hung out talking sports. Kevin was the grill master.

Jaci Sutherland on the left. Eating popsicles and swinging, what could be better.

Okay, so the picture on the left needs some serious explaining. Jack was on the "circle" swing. I asked him to come over for a group picture. He said, "I can't, I'm stuck". I went to him and found his shirt wound tight around the rope. I tried unwinding him with no luck. The rope was flat against his chest with the shirt tight around the rope. I called Kevin over and he tried too. He decided to take Jack out of the shirt, thinking then he could unwind the mess. The shirt got as far as his neck; it would not budge any further and was TIGHT against his neck, which made me nervous. Kevin had to cut Jack out of the shirt! We have no idea how this happened. Only Jack! What makes the picture even better is Jack's blue popsicle face, Sam Jouf in front eating his popsicle without a care in the world that his best friend is stuck to a rope, and Patrick in the background drinking his melted popsicle from a plate.

The picture on the right is of most of the kids. The two older Sutherland boys opted out of the photo and baby Morgan stayed sleeping in her mom's arms. Isn't Isabelle pleasant? I couldn't get a smile to save my life! She is not the most coopertive when it comes to group photos. And, I'm not sure why "Little" Isabel (as the kids call her when both Isabelles are around) is crying. Ah, and you can see Jack in his cut open shirt. Not a perfectly posed or neat and tidy picture, but perfect because it shows the best part of summer.... being with friends, eating popsicles, being messy and carefree!

Kevin's Birthday!

Seriously! How am I married to a 38 year old!

We had such a fun birthday celebration with Kevin! We went to a place called Hidden Cove about 30 minutes from here. They have inflatables, bumper cars, go-karts, rock climbing, mini-golf, arcades, and more. We were there for 6 hours! A good time was had by all!


We were the only ones on this inflatable. In fact, it wasn't very busy so we moved freely through the entire place without having to wait in lines or be crowded. Kevin had as much fun as the kids. I was so proud of Patrick. He typically won't go in bounce houses, but because it was only his family he got brave. It was so good for his stability and his nervousness. I love to see him try new things!

Ella Jane was very cute. She couldn't stand up at first, but tried and tried until she could walk across the bouncer. Of course she was laughing so hard it wasn't easy to stay standing.

Putting giant mallets in their hands typically wouldn't be the best idea, but I'm happy to report that no one got hurt!

Patrick got on the go-karts, another first for him! Again, so proud of him trying new things!

Isabelle did great on the rock climbing wall. She got pretty high before letting go, but tried over and over. I'm pretty darned impressed! No fear of heights in that girl!

Mini-golf was interesting with 4 kids. Isabelle has the perfect golf attitude... lousy! She was crabby with every bad shot and then finally smiling when she got a good hit. At one point she even threw her club on the the ground! "I hate golf. I hate golf. I hate golf. Nice shot! I love golf!" The boys kept moving ahead and not really following the rules, so we just decided to throw rules out the window and play for fun. Jack and I each got a hole in one!!! (Daddy didn't -- Ha HA). It's not exactly easy to play a real game when the little ball stealer (a.k.a Ella Jane) kept running off with our golf balls. Pretty funny!

Ella Jane walked along with brick border as if it was a balance beam. We were pretty impressed by this. She has a daring side to her!

Kevin enjoyed his chocolate chocolate cake!

Happy 38th birthday Kevin!

Over the river and through the woods....

We just spent a week at my parents house in Michigan. We had a wonderful time. We had perfect weather, went on lots of fun outings, and spent time with family.

Patrick and Parker John are good Buds. Ella Jane and McKenna seemed to have a lot of fun together. It's nice to have cousins so close in age.
Papa loves having his grandchildren around. In this picture he is holding his youngest (of 8) grandchild, Gabryelle. She's now 7 months old and a total joy! Isabelle loved being the big girl with all the girl cousins! McKenna is 2 1/2. She said the cutest thing to Isabelle. "I love you Isabelle. Can I taste your ice cream?" Smart girl!

We spent a morning one morning at a nearby nature center. The kids enjoyed the hike in the woods with Papa seeing all the animals and birds. The center rescues local wildlife. We saw owls, hawks, bobcats, deer, and more.

My parents neighbors were very generous to let us use their pool every day. The big kids love being in the water!

There are a few kids who live on the same street as my parents. Lauren is Isabelle's age (but about a foot taller) and Katie is Jack's age.

We got to go to the annual Howell Balloon Fest. It was amazing! After going on a few rides we sat down and watched close to 100 balloons lift off. It was a beautiful site and this picture does not do it justice!


For any of you who have known me before adulthood you will remember my New Kids on the Block phase. As teenagers my good friend, Becky, and I loved them! We went to as many concerts that babysitting money could buy and even tried chasing them down at hotels and in their bus after concerts. Yes, we were THOSE girls! So, this past year when the guys announced they were having a reunion tour Becky and I knew we had to go! We went to the concert in October and again in June. It was so much fun reliving such a fun part of our teen years. It may seem a bit dorky to most of you, but it was very nostalgic. At least this time I didn't loose my voice! Now instead of thousands of screaming girls the concerts are filled with thousands of screaming moms wearing bad mom jeans, with their bad mom haircuts, and driving mini-vans! Pretty funny!

New Kid on the Block

Our dear friends Mike and Melissa Hurley had a new baby girl. Morgan Elizabeth was born on June 16.
We feel blessed to have this new baby in our lives and look forward to watching her grow up. We had Maddy (big sister) with us for some of the time Mom was in the hospital. She's doing well and adjusting. My favorite line of that week, "Mrs. Biegler, I just don't feel like myself today". AWW! Ella Jane is absolutely obsessed with Morgan. I think it must have something to do with Morgan being smaller than her! We let Ella Jane hold Morgan and when I tried taking her back Ella Jane held onto Morgan with all her might, and screamed, "my baby Morgan!" She wants to love her a little too much!