Vis Family Vacation 2009

Grandpa and Hailey

This past week was the annual Vis family vacation and the destination was Schreiers Campground on Lake Shetek. The weather was outstanding allowing us to spend a lot of time on the water. We also did some fishing, mini golfing, volleyball, and ping-pong. The big events of the week included: Hailey knee-boarding for the first time, my crash on the boat landing, Carter's 45 minute tantrum in the boat, and the physicist at church.

Carter was a busy boy at the camp ground.

This is the group that spent the most time in the water. Taylor got better in the water as the week went on, but preferred to stay in the boat.

Carter really liked the boat and loved to sit on Uncle Eric's lap when he was driving.

Hailey is giving the the "thumbs up" sign and Taylor is loving it!

Out to dinner on the water

Our family at the "end of the railroad".

The MEN

Grandpa and Grandma with the 9 grandchildren

Another Milestone

Last night Michael was recognized for his one year of service of as a chief resident at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. It was a great year for Mike and our family. He had a flexible schedule and was able to do a lot of teaching. Several physicians approached me and told me how Mike had done such a wonderful job; I am so proud of him. Abbott was a wonderful place for Mike to train over the past 4 years with excellent staff and physicians.
On July 1st he will begin his 3 year cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. This will be a big change for everyone here, but a great new challenge for Mike. This will be the last leg of a very long journey.

Hend, Michael, Ann, & Jackie (resident program coordinators)

The four retiring chief residents of Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Good Old Como

Como Zoo was once a place that we frequented up to 10 times each summer. It was just a short trip from student housing, but now having moved south it has been difficult to get there. We had been really wanting to take Carter as his interest in animals has exploded recently. He has a new "elephant sound" that he uses to impress us with; this is an improvement from using "grrrr" for every animal.

A trip to Como Zoo is never complete without a few rides at Como Town. Carter was devastated after being taken off of the car and really never recovered.

Taylor's 1st Dentist Visit

Taylor had her first dentist visit last week. I would be lying if I said that it went well, in fact, the smile she did for the camera is the best we got for her showing them her teeth. They called it a "happy visit" and next time they hope to do more and actually clean her teeth.

A quick picture before church.

Kindergarten Graduation

Congratulations to Hailey Joy on the completion of her kindergarten year! It feels like it was just weeks ago that I was driving away from this unfamiliar place filled with unfamiliar faces. Now it is difficult to imagine months without bringing Hailey to this wonderful place. I can hardly wrap my mind around how much she has learned this year. She is now a fluent reader, an expert on the planets, the ocean, farms, Arabian culture, God's creation, and math. The other day I heard Hailey say to Taylor "Don't worry Taylor, it is not real, it is fiction."
We are looking forward to the adventures that 1st grade will bring.

Hailey and Mrs. Johnson

Hailey and Julia.

Hailey just lost her second bottom tooth just a few days ago.

Dance Recital

This spring Hailey and her next door friend Olivia decided to take a "Hip Hop" dance class at a near by dance studio. They really enjoyed it and performed their routine last evening. They dance to "Wild Wild West" by Wil Smith. She did a great job!

Taylor also took a dance class that included ballet, tap, and tumbling. She performed both a tap and ballet routine in the recital. Great job Taylor!

The faithful fans!

Carter Update

I just had to get a video of Carter walking in his brace. It has been one week since getting the brace and in one more week we will be getting some more x-rays to check on the status of the break. It was an excellent idea to put on the removable brace. There have been numerous times that I find sand, dirt, rocks in the brace when I take it off for bed or a bath. He does pretty well when the brace is off, but knows very well that it is better to crawl because walking is still pretty painful.
Carter loves to be outside and is very fascinated by animals: squirrels, bunnies, bird, and best of all dogs. In Carter's world they all say "grrrrrr". I officially put Carter's bottle away; kind of sad that his is getting so big. He just has grown up so much in the last couple of months. He seems to understand so much. He is not talking much, but I can tell him so many things and he will do it. He continues to be an excellent sleeper sleeping about 11hours at night with a 3 hour mid-day nap. Food has suddenly become of interest to him once again; this seems to come and go. His love for Taylor is quite obvious. I'm not quite sure why this is. Hailey does seem to "mother" him a bit more and therefore Taylor gets lots of snuggles and open mouthed kisses. Carter does have one down fall and that is he has temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. He does them by falling to the ground on his stomach then rolling back and forth---The funny thing is that he does them quite gently since he has hurt himself in the past, but feels that he still needs to get his point across.

Memorial Day Weekend

Car Wash

Hailey went for an overnight with her next door friend Olivia. They ended up in the house by 1030--maybe next time.

A Beckering Family sleep over.

The big project. Apparently in 2007 there was a massive wind storm that took down a tree that was on the property line between us and our neighbors. Until this past weekend, it was a massive circle of roots, dirt, and weeds. It was quite the project with five kids running around and "helping", but the end result was great.

Before and after