EMAILS!!!!

I was wondering if I could get everyone to give me their emails, as I would love to be able to keep in contact one by one.....I have no idea who Dylan has for the secret santa for the kids this year and I would love to be able email ideas for what Dylan needs and possible toy ideas. My new email is cjdmahlum@comcast.net or cjdmahlum@att.net I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We gathered at Dawn and Chris's today for a wonderful meal and some great laughs. We also celebrated Brenda and Brian's Birthday's. I thought I would share a couple of pictures. Well as in years past I forgot something. This is getting to be a bad holiday habit of mine. This year we had everything running smoothly and we were ready to eat on time. We sat down to a scrumptious dinner of turkey and ribs. When we were all stuffed and cleaning up the meal I walked by my insulated bag on the phone counter and realized I forgot to get the stuffing out. So no stuffing this year and if you go back to 07 you will see what I forgot last year. Oh well Ed will eat is this week with the leftovers. We also had the most cooperative baby as Ashlynn decided to take a nap while we ate. Well that is about it as Greg and Ed are hard at work mapping out their route for tomorrow so they get the most shopping done before Greg has to be to work at 8:30. Hope you all had a great day and enjoyed the time with your loved ones. Love, Julie

Drinkin' Coffee in a Winter Wonderland!

Good Morning All!

Sooooo.... who woke up to a winter wonderland this morning? We did - as did most of Wisconsin according to the news! We only got about 1", so not even necessary to shovel. But the trees were flocked so beautifully! It's as if God painted a beautiful picture for us!

As I'm putting my final grocery list together for our Thanksgiving feast, I wanted to take a moment to wish everybody a very Merry Thanksgiving... I mean a Happy Thanksgiving... see, I need more coffee! :)

Have a wonderful week... and don't let your dogs steal your turkeys!

Love you!
Dawn & Chris

Mahlum Update

Hi everyone, I am soo sorry I haven't been able to get on here and update you all on Dylan's progress. HE'S WALKING!!!!!!! He has been walking all over the house and can say BaBa, MaMa, and DaDa. Halloween night was when he first really let me hold his hand while we walked in between a few houses, he got about three before he got tired and wanted me to carry him. My little man was a chocolate cow. :) He is growing so fast and it just warms my heart when I see his eyes light up. He will be going to daycare for the first time in January, only for about 4 hours a day, but I figured he needed some more children interaction. He will also be going because I am going back to an actual campus college, Rock Valley College full-time. I am so excited to bring Dylan up to see everyone for Christmas. Well we love you all and cannot wait for christmas.

Smiles

I thought a little smile would brighten your day. Booties by Grandma Reindl have springs to make her jump higher. Have a great day. Julie

Happenings with the Merfeld's

Well here i am on a crappy November Saturday just finishing up with work and then heading to a wedding reception tonight. Jesse and I are doing well, Jesse had been putting in long hours trying to get as many corn stalks baled before the snow comes, work has been busy for me even with the slow in the economy Silver Leaf has had a great year. we are now over half way through this pregnancy almost 22 weeks to be exact and things have been so much better, the first 15 weeks were spent being sick and now i am able to enjoy it more and it becomes more real everytime i get a jab in the stomach every now and again. We had our 20 week ultra sound and the Dr said that everything looked great, however the little stinker kept its legs closed so we are in the dark as to the sex of baby Merfeld. I have been joking with Jesse that this baby has his sleep habits already, it likes to stay up late and sleep in come morning. We have placed a trail camera on our property to track the deer movement and this year the race is on between Jesse and I who it going to get the monster buck we have seen:) I will keep you posted as opening weekend is only 2 weeks away.
Diesel and Shelby are well and I think they will adjust fine to the new baby. Well i hope everyone has a great turkey day, Jesse and I are going to Iowa to see his 95 year old Grandpa and other family for the big day. I can not wait until Christmas to see everyone is seams like forever since i have seen some of you. Take care and God bless:):):)

Bathroom Renovations

Here are some before and after pics of our bathroom remodel. Things you can't see on the pics are....the floor is heated, the shower head comes out of the ceiling, the tub has a whole bunch of little holes around the bottom of the sides for maximum therapy, the back/head rest for the tub is heated, and you can set the jets to go in waves. Also, the toilet seat will not slam down - it just very slowly goes down and shuts quietly. The wires coming out of the wall by the mirror now have sconces. There is a cable outlet for the TV so you can watch TV while you're soaking in the tub. The very last picture of Noah shows what happens if you put too much bubble bath in the water and turn the jets on. You don't need very much at all. The first time I took a bubble bath, the bubbles were so high, you could't see those decorate tiles that are in Noah's picture.

You can call or e-mail if you would like to make an appointment for the Spa de Mi Casa :)

Update!

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween. Ashlynn and I were fortunate enough to celebrate Halloween twice this year. The Sunday before Halloween we went to a little visit at Brian's sisters house for a nice cook-out (well cook-in, It was windy). And on Halloween we went to Mom's house to hand out candy with her and Riley and see all the cute little costumes! :) It was very fun and absolutely perfect weather! Ashlynn was dressed as a little kitty cat!

I suppose I should explain why Brian didn't get to be part of our Halloween festivities! :( Brian was on another work trip to China. His 3rd time over there in the past 14 months! He left October 20th and was due to get back on November 6th! However the group of 4 guys that were over there worked really really hard and long days (12-14 hrs...even weekends) so they all could get home early! :) He surprised Ashlynn and I late Tuesday evening! SO nice to have him home!

Ashlynn is getting bigger and bigger. She's currently fighting with those 2 little bottom teeth which want to pop through so bad but they are being so stubborn. She is quite the little talker now! She's reaching for everything...and of course it heads straight toward the mouth! She's sleeping great! She giggles and she rolled over for a first time last Thursday! So exciting! I'll post a few pictures including one where we were playing so hard on the floor she just decided it was time to take a nap. :)

Hope all is well! We are looking forward to Christmas!

Love- the 3 of us in Burlington

PROUD AMERICAN

Did you vote? How was your experience? Were the lines long? Did you do something special?
Well I voted absentee, it was my way of catching the whole day on TV, of others and their feelings as they voted in an historic election. I wanted to be a sponge. I am proud to say we can vote and not feel like we will be shot at. We, Americans, have begun a new era where the brick wall is torn down and we can start to get rid of the ignorance and fear of race so we can be a stronger and more healthy country. Tim Russert began me on this journey to the historic day and evening we had Nov. 4, 2008. He explained how this election unlike any other held components of America that has never before been a part of our campaigning for leader of the country. He told us before he died June13th, 2008 that we should try to absorb as much as we could so we can share the history with our babies because this is truly a part of history we will never forget just like 911. Today count your blessings and be proud that we can vote and we can accept all people to make our country all we can be. I know I am proud. Julie

On The Move

That’s right the Griepentrog family is on the move and by the end of this month we will be in our new home. We bought a used modular and are putting it on the Griepentrog family farm which Arnie & I bought from Arnie’s parents earlier this year. Our new house is nothing fancy but it has three bedrooms and lots of space for Oliver to run as well as it will make life easier with us being on the farm so Oliver can spend more time with daddy and we can be there for Arnold & Florence (Arnie’s parents) as they aren’t getting any younger (Arnold will turn 80 on the 30th of December and Florence is 74). I will post pictures when the house arrives and is set up. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween.

We here had fun with our little pumpkin.

We even did a little Trick-or-Treating just too some family and friends houses, but it was fun and Oliver got lots of candy. Remember get out and VOTE tomorrow. It doesn’t matter who you vote for but make sure your voice is heard.