Holiday Train

The Holiday Train stopped in our town tonight, and Waseca. We actually went to Waseca to see it since it was there at 7pm....that way we saw it in the dark instead of at 4 when it wasn't quite so dark yet. It was pretty neat. We actually saw the train from a distance on it's way to Waseca when we were driving there.
Here's a couple snap shots of the train, us in the cold and Santa. :)

Here the kids are, waiting, jumping around, trying to stay warm. It was pretty chilly out there.


Here she is pulling in! There were tons of lights on every car. It was very neat.


They opened the doors and there was a band and Santa inside. Santa started things out with a little holiday rap. It was pretty funny.... When I say Santa, you say Clause... Santa ---- Clause ---- Santa ---- Clause!!!


Towards the end Santa came around and handed out candy canes to all the kids. That was exciting. :)


This is the Holiday Train Band. They did a pretty good job. We got there at 6:30 to wait, the train pulled in at 7....opened the doors at 7:15, and we left a little before 8. It was so neat though. I was glad we waited to see it in Waseca in the dark instead of in town here in the afternoon. :) Plus TJ was able to go with us, instead of just me and the boys.

Monster Jam

Saturday night we surprised the boys with Monster Jam at the Metrodome. They did not know where we were going. We just said we'd take a car ride and see where we end up. :)
Here are a few pics and highlights from the evening.

This is Maximum Destruction. It is supposed to be one of the best ones. But he did not have a good night. Right away when they were just introducing them he rode over one of the jumps and broke off one of the front wheels. So he didn't get to be in the first racing part. But he came out at the end for the freestyle. As soon as he came out I said, this can't last long. They fixed the whole tire in 2 hours.... this was his first jump and then the axle broke and he couldn't finish his 90 seconds. Like I said not a good night for him.


They brought out a camper and Grinder drove right through it breaking it apart. This was the second time he hit it, but this time didn't work out so well, right after this his he flipped over.


This is yet another truck that tipped over. He said something about, nothing like tipping over and breaking his $150,000 truck.


El Toro Loco....looks like he tipped over but it was just a close call. He regained control and kept going. :)


This is us, right before we left the Metrodome. It was about 10:30pm. We all had a great time though. We'll have to do it again when the boys get bigger or some other time later!

Interstate Breakdown

First I'm going to say some positive things. Atleast we didn't get in an accident. Atleast we have a friend who was willing to come help us immediately and give us a ride home. Atleast we are safe. Atleast I didn't break down on my way to or from the funeral today in the middle of nowhereville. Atleast TJ's fingers didn't get frost bite. Atleast we didn't get kidnapped and tortured by communists. Atleast our car didn't start on fire. Atleast we have another car. Atleast the chicken was on sale today. Atleast we have clothes. Atleast we didn't waste our money on a ChiaObama.

Now with the story.

Today I went over to Jeffers to a Funeral. Shortly after getting home I got our stuff ready and we headed over the church to decorate for the Senior Brunch tomorrow (Saturday) morning. On the way there, we took the exit for Faribault and when we went to turn the first corner to the church the car died. TJ restarted it and slowly headed up the hill, and then the Coolant Temp Light came on and beeped at flashed at us. So we were trying hard to make it up the hill and into the church parking lot. TJ thought it just needed more coolant so we borrowed Cathy's car and went to the store to get some. He put it in, and the car sat and cooled down while we were in the church. When it was time to go, we started down the road and had just pulled onto the Interstate when the light starts flashing again. So we pull over. We shut the car off and waited a few minutes, started it again and then headed for home. We barely got up to 60 mph and the light started blinking. So TJ went out to look under the hood trying to see if there was a leak in the coolant. It wasn't empty so if there is a leak it's not that prevalent. Finally we called Mike to see if he knew of a quick fix so we could make it another 9 miles down the road to town or our house. But not so... Mike decided to come take a look. In the meanwhile we are sitting in the car, freezing... :) And a police man pulls over and comes to check on us. Making sure we have help on the way, or if we needed some help.... and what not. Then while we are waiting the boys are just constantly talking.... Why was the police man here? Is he going to give you a ticket? Why did he leave already? Is there another police man coming? Are we going to call TowMater to come get us? This is not fun. I don't like sitting here. I'm cold. I'm tired. How are we going to get home...... You get the drift. :) Finally Mike comes, checks things out.... thinks we might be able to drive it and he follows. Start down the road and smoke is coming out like crazy so we pull back over. We called Triple A and got "TowMater" to come and get the vehicle and bring it to town, and we rode home with Mike. Thank the Lord for great friends who are willing to come help at the drop of a hat! :) God Bless you Mike!

So the boys got their first vehicle break down experience. TJ got his first breakdown on the interstate with his entire family in tow experience. And I don't think any of them liked it much.

Mike thinks its going to be the head gasket... Yipee!!! Just what we needed, another bill we can't afford... oh wait, I mean, atleast we have a car so we don't have to walk everywhere. :)


.... fun times.

Almost There

Today is a relatively big day. We have been waiting for what seems like FOREVER for the state of MN to finish our paperwork. Well we finally got it in the mail today! Yay. That means that we can send in our other paperwork that we've been holding on to in to the court for them to pick the court date for us to sign papers and put our names on their birth certificates as their legal parents! Now the biggest prayer request we need from you guys is that you pray really hard about getting the court date before the end of the year. We would really like to have it done before Christmas, not to mention the end of the year, as far as filling out our tax paperwork for next year! We are so ready to get this stage behind us, so please, please pray with us!
Thanks! We'll keep you posted for that most important adoption finalization date!
Yay!
-Stephanie