Halloween '08

Well, somehow in the midst of bringing Nathan home, we managed to get the kids in costume and head out trick or treating in the neighborhood.

Belle, Superman, and Gabriella from High School Musical hit the streets with mom, dad, and new little baby brother Nathan (he was dressed as a newborn)

As you can see, Sammy takes this thing way to seriously, Abigail is 7 going on 17, and Meghan can't believe we just keep getting to go house to house getting candy! You should have seen the look on her face when someone gave her a gift certificate to McDonald's instead of candy...not happy!

Nathan comes home!

Well, we came home on Thursday and all is well (at least until tonight when we try to sleep)! This is one of his rare "awake" moments and he is alert!

Here he is in a quiet moment with mom and dad.

As you can see, Abigail and Sammy are very proud. They have Halloween off school so we will be hanging out together all weekend and eating a lot of candy!

Welcome Nathanael Elliott Reazer 10.28.08

John 1:43 - 51 Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael

"...When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, 'Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false'. 'How do you know me?' Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, 'I saw you while your were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.'"

Nathanael means "Gift from God"! We are so blessed and thankful for the gift God has given us in Nathan! I love that the Lord "knows" us and already "knows" our son as He knit him together in Maria's womb!

Maria's parents, Don and Carolyn, came to celebrate with us and also watched the other three. Maria and I went in at 1 a.m. to Missouri Baptist. She was induced starting at 2 a.m.

The tug-of-war begins! Can you tell who the boss is in this picture?

Little Nathan with his mom and big brother and sisters!

8lbs 7 ozs. - 21 inches! Our biggest yet! Done!

After his first full meal, his first nap!

And....Almost Done with Week Four!

So when you have the same schedule every week for four weeks, you realize that you are taking the same pictures over and over! It has been an awesome time for family and the kids. As you can see here, Sammy lost his first tooth. Unfortunately, he swallowed it while eating corn on the cob!

Meghan won't go anywhere without her tri-cycle. She spends her days at the beach and her evenings watching daddy be "silly" at club!

Abigail and Carter also spend the entire day toghether at the beach. Abigail is not camera shy.

Sammy has been working on his tan, his scooter riding, baseball with Will and Yates, and he is definately the best 5 year old frisbee golfer in camp!

We will be leaving camp this coming Sunday and heading to another cabin on a lake here in Minnesota. We will have some family time together and slowly make our way back to HOT St. Louis. Maria is doing well but has had a cough/congestion for a few weeks. Ibuprofen has become a regular part of Bill's diet - 800mg with every meal! Either sickness or body aches have been around all month!

Almost done with week two!

Abigail was down for two days with a 103 degree fever. She is doing better now but it is crazy living in a house with 10 kids! This is her first day out and feeling much better with her pony tails and upside down sunglasses.

We all spent the afternoon yesterday walking around camp, sitting at the beach and had some time at the snack bar. This is Meghan and Sammy sporting their new Castaway shirts.

Everytime daddy gets on stage, Meghan wants up! She is still a little confused but definately thinks he is silly! Bill also leads music at club for 350 people and we could barely keep Abigail of stage last night when he played a Miley Cyrus song - she went crazy!

This is the look you get from Meghan when you ask for your slushy back! Definately my new favorite picture.

Meghan also likes to jump from the lifeguard stand to her new favorite person, Jake! He is doing a great job as Bill's program tech and also watching the kids every once in a while!

A Day at the Beach!

The kids spent the afternoon at the beach. Meghan like building sand castles. Sammy plays a lot of volleyball, and Abigial is working on her tan!

Well, we made it! And so did our luggage, bikes and program stuff. There were 3 adults and 3 kids in the car. We have been at Castaway for a week now and just finished up week one of the first 350 campers.

Abigail, Sammy, and Meghan pretty much are going non-stop. Abigail has a new friend here her age named Carter and they hang out all the time. Sammy rides his scooter everywhere and plays with the other boys from sun up to sun down. They were all wiped out after the week. They did a end of the week "program" performance for all the work crew and summer staff. 

Sammy and Meghan having breakfast in the place we are staying. As you can see it is a nice view every morning.

This is the place we are staying all month. 

And this is Bill and Becky or "Mow-Jangles" and "Mow-Donna". They are professional lawnmower racers...here with their "Mow-Mentum" Energy Drink.

We have tons of pictures and will be posting the links here on our blog if you would like to look at more - they are in the column on the right. 

Last Few Days At Home Before Assignment!

In our short time at home this summer, Abigail, Sammy and Meghan like to hang in the backyard, swim in our little pool, play a lot of baseball, swing on the swings and catch "lightning bugs". 

Abigail draws, colors and writes all the time. 

Sammy can stay in this little pool for hours. 

Meghan has no trouble posing for the camera in her favorite bear shirt.

Just before bedtime...and if taking pictures means they can stay up longer, they will do it.

Sammy playing baseball in the backyard the other night with friends. We had an ice cream "get together with friends. What you can't see in the picture are the 17 little kids that were running around.

We are off this week for Castaway Club in Detroit Lakes, MN. We will be gone through August 11 as we will take a small vacation in Minnesota when we are done. We will be updating this blog with pictures and stories from our time away so we hope you enjoy!

St. Louis Crooked Creek Ranch 2008

I spent the first week in June at Crooked Creek Ranch with 53 kids and leaders from St. Louis! It was a great week!

Crooked Creek Banquet Night  - St. Louis

These are the leaders that went to camp from St. Louis - Max, Casey, Allison, Laura, Jamie, Jake, Kevin, Bill, and Sara!

I like to refer to this picture as "Where's Waldo - aka Bill?"

Volleyball Tourney - Day 2 at Crooked Creek 2008

New Camera time!

This was our first picture with our new camera of Abigail and Sammy.

Way Old Family Pic!

This is a picture from vacation 2 years ago. Either we need more pictures or more vacations.