Visited by Carolers - What Fun!

It was a starless night with the temperature dropping and a slight mist in the air. And what to my wandering ears should I hear but 12 wonderful girls singing Christmas carols at my front door. Here are some pictures I took of the ragmuffins as they sang. Many of them were in the second grade and many attended the Lutheran School in town. Thanks to one and all. I was out of figgy pudding.

Great Night with the Girls and Their Parents

These two sweetie pies visited and sang their Christmas program songs. We will soon get to hear them present the Christmas story at their Thursday morning program.

This is one wild pair. Stella and Miriam having fun. Stella is the best baby ever. Note the wild hair. That would be on Stella; Miriam is more able to control her hair...

Stella just laughs, shrieks and giggles. She is almost always happy and eager to interact.

Here are the tired parents catching a few moments on the couch. It is so much fun to have them visit. After a couple of hours I am exhausted and must send them home. Grandparenting is such hard work...

Landscape Efforts in Austin

Minor and Sarah have been working on their front bed for a few years. It was covered with a Texas ground cover as tough as Texas is itself. Minor has worked to remove it and now comes the planting time. Sawyer is always a big help. Two (twin) trees were planted on the west side of the house honoring the soon to arrive twins. One was a boy tree and the other a girl. Time will tell how close to reality I came...Here is the front bed on the day of our leaving. The sun was just coming up so it is not the greatest picture. It will serve as a frame of reference for the future. I look forward to watching this area grow and develop in the upcoming months.

Cute Jennifer

My sweetheart didn't like the last photo I uploaded of her. Here is another attempt at my beautiful wife. We traveled to the top of Mount Bonnell in Austin to get this picture with the Colorado River behind us... You vote -- who is the cutest of the Baker family?

Thanksgiving In Austin

Over Thanksgiving, we traveled to Austin to see our kids - Minor, Sarah and little Sawyer. We had a great time. Sarah will be giving birth to number 2 and 3 within a few weeks. We are eagerly waiting to see what the gender of our next two grandkids will be. I am betting on a boy and girl. Names are all arranged,,, Little Paul Junior and Jenny Pooh are near the top of the list... I will let you know as soon as it is finalized. Dr. J and I worked hard on some project around the house. We also got to watch Sawyer on Monday and Tuesday as his parents were working.

Some Of This and Some Of That

I needed to get these pictures up from our trip to Belvidere. Above is the Edwards Apple Orchard. One goes there to see farmy stuff, eat delicious donuts and buy overpriced items. This entire structure behind me was distroyed by a tornado in the spring. A new barn, very similiar to the one destroyed was built with lumber from two barns in Wisconsin. Our former church Immauel is in the upper left and our dear friends the Brahmsteadts are pictured upper right.

The Greens came to visit and I got to read them the "monkey book." It has a very scary part they both love... Alex needed to borrow some "corporate looking duds" for a trip to the home office. He is seen here modeling his new look. Jennifer is holding Baby Stella with the wild hair...

What Made Andrew (Great)

These pictures were taken on a recent trip to Belvidere. Our children did most of their growing up years here. I was driving by these places and thought of Andrew (Minor to some of you). These early jobs, I think, provided the growth for Andrew in being the helpful, cheerful, and of course, hard working person he is today. Above is the Belvidere Ace Hardware - So many wonderful hours were spent here.

And who could forget the gas jockey years. Fill'er up Sir? What a great way to build character in a teenage boy... I also spent some time serving the great public in such a job during my teenage years in Adrian... Like father...like son...