An Angel meets her Lord!

 Althea Williams was a GREAT Grandmother (Grandma Toys my kids called her).  She went to see the Lord today.  Pastor Fred reminded me last night the Lord tells us DO NOT BE AFRAID!  I know that my Grandma was not.  It makes me smile!  It is still hard and I will miss her but I know that she is going to be just fine!  I love you Grandma and I will miss you!!  Until I see you again.....  ~ Lynn

Blog-O-Rama, another Sidney Prayer

It's Christmas Eve and we just got back from Church, so you should consider that in context of what you will read next.

Prior to eating, Sidney said our prayer.  And actually, it was one of the best prayers she's said in a long time - very thoughtful and sincere.  Then, at the end, just like Pastor Fred said during church, she decided to bring us home with a powerful, collaborative close:  "And All God's People Said: (AMEN)."  

As if that wasn't enough, she decided to go for an encore.  After we were done eating, she asked if she could say another prayer.  This time she was talking about Christmas and what it really means (again, very nice), when she threw in another one-liner (talking to God): "and it's pretty incredible that you're able to go through this every year."  While very funny at the time, it's pretty appropriate when you think about it.

With that, we're off to track Santa.  In addition, 24 straight hours of "A Christmas Story" is on TV, and I'm committed to watching all 24.  OK, I may throw in a quick 2-hour break for "Christmas Vacation," but that's all!

Until next post...God Bless, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Love, The Baumi's

So, here are the recent Family Pictures. Yeah, you all can submit them to the "Best Looking Family" contests if you want, I know that's nagging in the back of your mind...

On the Christmas Card, that little guy in the middle is just so cute! And Carter's not bad, either!

Blog-A-Palooza!

We know you all have been anxiously awaiting the next Baumi Family blog posting, and here it is!  There, are you happy?  Just kidding!

'Tis the season to be ornery...it's now December 23rd, the stockings are hung by the Chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nick will turn the other cheek and give our kids some toys.

While you all will be getting the Baumi Family Annual Report (cleverly disguised as our Christmas Letter) soon, a select few will also receive a special surprise with Sidney's first Christmas Letter of her own.  In said letter, there is much discussion of Will P.  Boy oh boy, I can't wait until she's 15...

My wife told me to be nice in the Christmas letter.  I was hoping to provide some levity and humor by outlining the last year as one of (sarcastic) tumultuous trials and tribulations, but nonetheless was denied.  

My wonderful sister-in-law and brother-in-law in Colorado have given us grief for not updating the blog in a while.  I suppose we deserve that, so they better be ready...we're gonna start bloggin' our butts off.  

And we know that really the main reason for anyone to check the blog is our little section we like to call "Random Thoughts."  While we don't have any great updates lately, we do have a story that probably qualifies as somewhat in that same vein...

So Jaxon and Dad are playing downstairs.  And as often happens when boys get playing a little bit, Dad encountered a little bit of "intestinal fortitude" (also knows as gas to you and me).  And like any good Dad who looks to take advantage of every educational opportunity we can, I asked Jaxon to pull my finger.  When he did, surprisingly a noise came out of somewhere.  We both laughed, and of course this just reinforced to Jaxon that he has the coolest dad in the world.

So, Jaxon then assumes this just happens naturally.  He sticks out his hand and asks me to pull his finger.  When I did and nothing happened, he looks back at me with a straight face and simply says: "Huh, I guess mine is broken."

Yep, that's my boy.

Until next time (and it won't be long).  Look for future blogs on our Top 10 New Year's Resolutions, the airing of Grievances (you got it, Festivus for the Rest of Us), and our deep reflections on the meaning of life.  Or at least something like that...

With love,  The Baumi's

Sid's Turn - Random Prayer Thoughts

So it was only a matter of time before the girl got in on the action...leading our prayer tonight before dinner, it couldn't have been any better:

"Thank you for this wonderful day, thank you for this wonderful meal, thank you for your support."

What is this...dinner prayer, or a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler commercial? Gotta love it. Can't wait for the next one.

Random Thoughts, by Jaxon Baumgartner

So, the 3 monkeys often have some "interesting" phrases from time to time. Those that make you go: "hmmmm..." and those that just make you burst out laughing so hard that it feels like you'll bust a gut. What better place to track those and share with family than here - so look for the commentary to be added from time to time, whenever they come up with those amazing one-liners. Here's the first:

We're driving to get flu shots this morning and talking about what we're going to do today. We realize that the kids aren't very good about keeping the right DVD's in the right case (example, the one in the Snow White case today was not Snow White, but was in fact The Pacifier. Yes, close, but that doesn't count), so Lynn suggests that when we get home the kids need to go through every DVD and make sure the right DVD is in each case.

Amid some expected whining and sighing, Jaxon says with a completely straight face, "I would rather punch myself." Yep, that's my boy. He didn't laugh one bit, even when Mom and Dad busted up and almost lost control of the vehicle from laughing so hysterically.

Gotta love it. Flu shots went good (Sidney almost flew away from flapping her arms in "fear"), we got home and the did indeed check the DVD's. And to complete the story, Jaxon did not actually punch himself.

Halloween 2008

Some pictures we thought you'd enjoy from Halloween...Jaxon was the Fireman, Carter a Lion, and Sid...well, you can make up your own mind.  Free ice cream coupons for the best guess...

Sidney the....?!?!?!

Carter the Lion (with socks in hand)

Jaxon the Fireman

The 3 Crazy Monkeys

The Cedar Rapids Trip

The weekend before Halloween we traveled to Cedar Rapids to spend some time with Sandi, Dave, Hannah and Colin (pictures below).  It was a great time, but the weekend always goes so fast.  Especially this one where we knew the McDill's were going to be moving to Colorado Springs in the following week, and it would be awhile before we would get to see them again.

We got in late on Friday night, and spent some time swimming at the pool.  Sidney and Jaxon are getting better with practice, and enjoy every time that we get a chance to stay in a hotel with a swimming pool.  On Saturday, all the girls (Lynn, Sandi, Hannah and Sid) had some "girls time" and went to have their nails done and enjoy a lunch together.  The boys stayed around and played football and Star Wars, and had a Papa Murphy's 5-Meat Stuffed Pizza for lunch (this was the best!  Thanks for introducing us to this one, Uncle Dave!!)!

We toured some of the devastated areas of Cedar Rapids from flooding earlier in the year as well...what an incredible travesty and the remants of destruction were still there.  An incredible sight, for sure...ironically, I saw a news report when we returned home that showed them tearing down some of the houses we just saw the day before.

Sunday, we got up (swam again, of course) and joined the McDill's for a great Church service.  After Church, we headed to Ruby Tuesday's for a farewell lunch.  A quick stop back at their house to change clothes, our final good-bye hugs, kisses and a couple of tears, and we were on our way back home.  Traveling directly into wind that was literally 40-50mph on our way home was a bit of an adventure, but we made it home in time to get ready for bed.

We were so glad to have the time together with the McDill's, and will miss them being out of the state of Iowa.  The good thing is that they are likely on our route to drive down to see Papa Al, so perhaps we can make a swing through there sometime on our next trip to New Mexico.

UPDATE - the McDill's have made it to CO, and are settling into their new house and neighborhood.  We wish them well, and are praying that they will be able to sell their Cedar Rapids house soon!

Just the Boys

Colin and Jaxon - Goofin' Around

Just The Girls

Sidney and Hannah (Sid took this picture herself!  Nice Job!)

The First Family Post

Welcome to the Baumi Family Blog!  

Above you'll see Mom, Dad and the 3 Crazy Monkeys who we affectionately call Sidney, Jaxon and Carter.  Look forward to multiple posts and pictures to keep you updated on a regular basis as to all of the "goings-on" with our family.

As I'm typing now, we're getting ready to head off to see Lynn's sister and her family tomorrow as they prepare to make a move to Colorado in the next couple of weeks.  We're looking forward to spending a nice weekend with them.  More pictures to come I'm sure from our trip out East (yeah, all the way to Cedar Rapids).

More to come...hope you all enjoy and we'll be typing to you again soon!