First Day of School Pics 9/3/08

First Day of School--Daddy's Girls!

Kisses by all...that Silly Old Daddy

They grow-up too fast.....hmmmm

Sarah Jane loves the game of soccer just as much as her older brother Kevin. Watch out Kev!...you are going to have some competion from little sis. This fall her team is called the Red Flames.

Kevin in action on soccer field

Kevin in action...out on the soccer field. He is in his element!

Dad A's Birthday

Well my parents came home from Hawaii to visit--what a time they had--seeing all 10 grandchildren's different activities from soccer, gymnastics, dance, ice hockey, field hockey--they had to have a schedule to just keep up with everyone! They had fun and enjoyed themselves plus they got to go out with friends to lunches and dinners etc... My Dad just turned 62 and look how young he still looks!! Must be that Hawaiian air that they breath over there. My Mom is happy and she is posing with the oldest granddaughter who just turned 13. Boy time goes by. They are both back to work and arrived in Hawaii safe and sound.

Donna & Craig

Well a good friend of my husband told Craig that he enjoys our blog...however he wanted to know why my husband was not on the blog. So here we go...this is the wonderful man that I am married too. He is my best friend, my rock, my lover, and NO he is all mine! I love this man so much. He is a great father, hard-working man who loves the Lord and life. He coaches Kevin's soccer team, loves watching Hannah do her gymnastics and is teaching Sarah Jane to follow in Kevin's footsteps in the game of soccer...which is pretty good at.

Life don't get any better then this...enjoying each other. Well did not want to disappoint the "Marks" man...I hope that you are now happy to see that I did not forget to include Craig.

On a personnal note--I am now starting my 318th book of the year...every year I try to beat myself by reading 1 more book than I read last year...so I must read 351 by Dec. 31st....will I make it??? hmmmm stay tuned. Oh and many of you are wondering what does Donna like to read---well I love to read anything!! But I especially love Janet Evanovich...I laugh out loud when I read her books...and I got my grandmother 'Gram D.' to read all her books...she loves them too.

Well to all you men out there--don't forget to tell your wife that you love her everyday...and you women--do something special for your man by telling him that you are proud of him and surprise him with a BIG kiss at the door. Goodnight.

Kevin's new soccer team STM United

Kevin is now playing on a new team STM United

It is a new team that was started to get boys that are serious about soccer to play at a higher level of play. They were in their first tournament and came back very happy with a 1st place trophy. Something to be proud of. Kevin is playing at a higher level and loves every minute of it. He lives, eats, sleeps soccer! He is playing forward lately and loves scoring.

Sarah Jane is starting soccer soon and is getting ready...she also starts Kindergarten this coming week...very excited about it. The two older ones are getting excited about going back to school and seeing friends that they did not see over summer. I can't believe that summer is coming to an end so soon. However, I love FALL! season...the crisp air and the changing of the leaves. The colors are just so pretty. Well to all those parents out there...enjoy these last few days of summer with your children. They grow up so fast. Kevin is taller then me and eats us out of house and home right now. So they do grow up fast. Our school secretary was sharing with me the other day that all her children are now off to college and it is just her and her husband at home...a very quiet home "empty nesters"...she said that she missed the days that all her children were loud and running around. So enjoy those loud moments...because sooner or later the all too quiet moments will come.

Sarah Jane can swim!

Wonders always happen!














I can not believe it! The whole family can not believe it...Sarah Jane now swims...yes and underwater! YYYYEEEEAAAAA. We were waiting for this moment. She was so "pigheaded" last year and into the this summer about swimming. She finally listened to Uncle Todd. He always gets all the kids to listen...hmm maybe I should take some lessons from him...SJ never listens to me. She starts Kindergarten in Sept. I hope the teacher is ready for this one! The teacher will probably retire after having SJ in the class. WELL DONE Sarah Jane--we are so proud of you for taking on swimming! Now you can have fun with the rest of the family swimming, much more fun when you know how. We had a great time at the beach with our good friends Mup/Allison and their children. I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer...it is soon to be over and the kids will be back at school...YEAH ME. I think they are ready to get back to the books anyway. They are set and we went back to school shopping already with my Mother-in-Law. We have a tradition every year the girls and I go with her to go back to school shopping and out to lunch. It is alot of fun and alot of "girl" time. Kevin gave up going with us about 2 years ago...he said it takes to long. I can not believe that all my children will now be in school...wow where did the time go.

Hannah Places at Nationals

Hello everyone it took awhile to post since my last posting...I am very sorry about that.--on to tell you how we had fun in WI!

Hannah had so much fun at Nationals. We traveled to Sheboygan, WI --yes we were a crazy couple of parents who drove in a van with 3 kids! But we made it in under 16 hours of driving straight thru--with "restroom" stops inbetween. It was really a great family time and we talked alot...and we listened to 3 kids singing to their mp3's...yes all to different music at the same time...Craig and I laughed because it made us think of the movie RV with Robin Williams who played the dad! We settled in to our hotel room by check in time...the kids were hungry, needed to stretch out their legs with some walking so we decided to check out the local town and find a pizza joint real fast! (Mom was starving!) On Wednesday morning was Openning Ceremonies. This was a great fun time by all--this was the biggest YMCA Gymnastics Nationals ever! There was 21 states represented with 98 teams--which was a total of 1380 gymnasts completing. It was a great experience for Hannah and we are so blessed that our family back home had raised money for us as a family to go and become part of this experience with Hannah. After Openning Ceremonies they had a festival for the gymnasts and their families. It was free food (my husband was excited about that) rides, rock climbing and lots of fun for all. It was great to hang out with the 3 other girls from Hannah's team. It meant getting to know the their families and becoming more of friends then just "parents" of Hannah. We had lots of fun! We all got a good nights sleep because Hannah was due to complete on Thursday. While I was doing her hair...I asked her if she was nervous...she said NO Mom--you just learn to block that stuff out...hmmm I have to take hints from my 8 year old on how she does this?? Well we get her to where she needs to be on time and so Mom's nerves start kicking in! Hannah on the other hand is cool as a cucumber. She did great!! Hannah placed 3rd in vault with a 9.450 and placed 7th in bars with a 9.1 She received metals for these two events. Her score for beam was 8.47 and floor was 8.025. Her all-around score was 35.050. We are really proud of her!! I hope that you all enjoy pictures and thanks so much for your prayers and support! We love you all and are very blessed that the Lord has given us such a great family and friends.

SJ loves soccer... Last game of season.

Sarah Jane is really getting good (like her big brother) at soccer. She says she loves soccer! and that she wants to be a soccer coach someday. We will see what the future holds for SJ. Her Daddy loves that he has another one joining the soccer leagues. I am very proud of her too. Go SARAH JANE Go. She has a break from the sport until this coming fall.

Leaving for Nationals

Well we are busy packing to head to WI for Hannah's gymnastics Nationals completion. She is really excited and has been working hard everyday from 10-6 at the gym. I am busy making sure that all are packed and ready to go (alot for 5 people)...however I believe that we have more food then luggage! We would like to take the time to thank all of our family members who "gave freely" money gifts for us to be able to make this happen for Hannah. SO A BIG THANK YOU! We love all of you so much and we know that our family loves us back. Hannah also sold ham/cheese sandwiches that we all helped make (plus our good friends the Ziegenfus's came to help make them too)

Please pray for safety and good health on our trip especially no injuries for Hannah. She said that "Mom, I am going to do my best and have lots of fun while I am doing it." Her coach has said she has turned into a regular "gym rat"...loves being there.

I will update the blog for everyone when we return home and none of the kids are "hogging" the computer. Kevin will not know how to act with being away from the computer and not checking his stats....hmmm.

On a sad note: My Pop-pop just passed away. He was a great man. Kevin scored a goal in his honor and remembrance...Hannah would like to score a 9.0 or higher on vault for Pops. We will always remember him in our hearts. He has gone to be with our Lord in Heaven...and someday we will meet him there again.

Well until next time...be safe and God Bless!