The Life of the Marty Party: March 2011

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Gramma's 90th Birthday

I love her so much! I'm so happy we were able to be there to celebrate this special occasion with her.

Three of the most beautiful women I know...Aunt Nancy, Gramma and Mom. I have so much love and respect for all of them and I'm grateful for the wonderful influence they have been in my life.

My gift to her was this plate that I designed and hand painted.

Gramma with my 3 of her 15 (soon to be 16) great grandkids!

51st Annual Pancake Feast

My Grandpa, Louis Blaser, is a charter member of the Rotary Club in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He takes great pride in the fact that for 51 years he's had perfect attendance.

...in line for pancakes, kisses for the baby

In 1987, my grandpa built this rotating pancake griddle for the Rotary to use every year for their big pancake feast. Appropriately named "Louie's Blazer".

It's been a few years since the last time, but I started going to this pancake feast before I could even eat pancakes.

Since it was something I did every year growing up, it was kinda fun to be able to take my kids.

Grandpa and Grandma (married 72 years) just as cute as ever. It's always so great to see them when we are in town.

It makes me so happy that my kids get to know their great grandparents.

My little sister, Brook and her boyfriend, Mike

Dad and Mom

Briar with her bestie cousins Sawyer and Evyn

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Princesses On Ice

It was a special time just for Briar and me. We decided to do this for her because (a) Disney World seems a little out of the question right now for many reasons... some more obvious than others

(b) Briar is really into Princesses--particularly Ariel (c) We took Eden when she was little and she loved it (d) They were in Minneapolis ...need I go on? I guess reasons a through d will suffice.

Ariel and Eric

It was so much fun! And, the show was truly way more spectacular than ever.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I had the opportunity to join Quenton on a HOPE trip to Dominican Republic that he was leading. Mostly married couples signed up to go so we thought it would be fun for both of us to be a part of this one. I've already been on a few trips, but it never gets old. I'm always re-inspired to the work of HOPE every time I go on a trip like this or even just to hear Q speak about it. I love it! I'm sold. I'm in. This trip was no exception!

We went to observe a bank of HOPE meeting at a Hatian Batey

The kids were so adorable and so much fun to play with. They loved having their picture taken and then seeing it on the screen on the camera.

the bank meeting...making loan payments

at one of the homes in the Batey

Q and I with one of the HOPE clients.

On the bus

At the end of the trip, we had a couple hours to tour the city. This was taken in front of Christopher Columbus' son's house.

...& Love

We made the last 3 nights and 3 days of the trip a babymoon!

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and enjoyed some time relaxing in the warm weather. Our 15 year anniversary is this year on July 20th. We thought this would be the better time to celebrate considering we will have a newborn and I will just be a couple weeks fully recovered from surgery in July.

We enjoyed early morning walks on the beach.

Flamingos at the resort...

...and peacocks just kind of wander around

It was such a blessing to just hang out on the beach and have nothing to do [read: no houses to clean]

It was my birthday shortly before we went on this trip. My birthday present from my bff, Dawn was some much-needed pampering. So, I saved it for this day on the beach, and this sweet Dominican lady came right to my beach chair and gave me a head-to-toe massage and a manicure. LOVED IT! thank you, Dawnie!

exactly 6 months pregnant

(27 weeks)

We had a special dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort to celebrate the 15 years that we've shared as husband and wife. We are both so grateful for our marriage and the life we've made together. God has been with us through the good times and the challenging times just as He promised, and we give Him all the glory for our blessings and our sufferings.

So excited about the future!

Q and I have been married for 16 years. We've been through so much together from traveling the world and living overseas to the births of each of our 4 children and everything in between. Our marriage is stronger than ever and for that we are very grateful. We do not take it for granted and we're always working on staying close and improving our relationship. Marriage definitely has it's ups and downs just like every part of life, but we've chosen to relish the good and to learn from the bad and grow through it. In 1996, we started our life together in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Q was an associate pastor for 5 1/2 years. Our life changed forever in 1999 when we had our first baby...a girl. In 2001 we had a boy.
In 2003, Q began working for HOPE International. We moved our little family of four to Kiev, Ukraine for the first 15 months and then transferred to Lancaster, PA where the HOPE headquarters is located. We lived in Lancaster for 4 years. During that time we happily welcomed our sweet baby #3, another girl.
Then, in January 2009, Q resigned from his position with HOPE and we moved our family overseas to Krakow, Poland to join Q's parents and siblings in a family business. The business was called "More Than A Cookie". We baked and sold gourmet cookies and brownies, ice cream, and specialty coffee drinks. Our passion has always been to further the Kingdom and support ministries close to our hearts so the idea was to give a portion of every purchase to support children's ministry.
In December 2009, we moved back to the states yet again. This time to the home we know and love *Minnesota*. [We have since sold the rights to our family business in Europe]. It has been a great experience to reconnect with family and friends after being gone for 6 1/2 years. I was able to start up my cleaning business again and I still love it. Q is back with HOPE International working as the development representative doing fundraising work here in the twin cities and Chicago as well. We feel so blessed to be part of such a great organization.
In May 2010, We bought a house on a lake...which is so fitting for Minnesota...and we have really enjoyed getting settled into our life here. Have you heard the saying "new house new baby"? Well, we found out baby #4 was on the way only 4 months after we moved in!*SURPRISE*
We evened the score with another boy and our party of five became six last May. We know each one of them is a special gift from God and we are enjoying this incredible journey of parenting together. It's not always easy but we can't imagine our life without any of them. We feel so blessed.

Eden is 12 years old. She is a beautiful, sweet, fun and very creative girl. Eden enjoys sewing, drawing, painting and any kind of art project. She is also very talented in singing. She's played fall soccer for the past 2 seasons and this year her team even won the championship. It has been such a joy to watch her grow into a young lady {preteen}...it could not be more true "the years go by so fast" we have enjoyed every stage so far. What a great big sister and help to Mommy and Daddy she is! She is very responsible and is always watching out for her little brothers and sister.

Truman is 10. He loves sports. His most favorite is football...any version...He plays on a city league team, he plays on the Playstation, he plays with his friends at school and with just himself in the backyard while narrating the play by play (this version is especially fun to watch out my kitchen window) and then of course there's his favorite NFL team, the Vikings, he loves to watch on Sundays...he even collects football cards. He also plays on the traveling basketball team and he is very good. He was on the track team in the spring and he won several blue ribbons in that as well. He's just one of those athletic kinda guys.
He also really loves fishing! His biggest catch was on a guys' weekend with Daddy when he caught a 24 inch Northern.
Although Math is his favorite subject in school, like his sisters, he is also very good in art and he even has his own little creative side.
He has such a great sense of humor. He's always making all of us laugh. He is a total entertainer. But, he is also one of the most thoughtful, sweet and sensitive boys you'll ever meet. We love this about our Truman. Most of all he is so happy to finally have a brother! It's been so fun to watch him with Jude.

Briar is 5. She started Kindergarten this year and so far she loves it. She goes for half days. In the morning she rides to school with Truman and then she comes home on the bus at noon. I love getting her dressed in the morning and doing her hair in fun braids or piggy tails, buns or curly buns. I want to take a picture of her every day because she is so stinkin' cute! Briar also played soccer for the first time this fall. She did a great job. She's not terribly aggressive or anything but it was still really fun to watch her.
She is such a fun little girly girl! She loves to play kitchen, babies, Barbies, Polly Pockets, dress-up, make-up...I guess "girly girl" would suffice! She even has her own little sense of humor. I wish I could video tape every moment right now because she is so adorable and she says the cutest things in her sweet tiny voice.
Briar is my best helper in the kitchen. I love that she doesn't just get bored with it half way through and quit. She always helps until everything is completely done.
She has been loving her new role as "big sister". She is definitely Mommy's little helper. Briar always helps me with bathtime for Jude and she loves to change his diapers and even burp him. I have loved watching her with him. It is truly precious. Every day when she gets off the bus she runs to give Jude a big hug and kiss!

Jude Blaser Marty baby number 4. Arrived on May 21st at 10:27am via C-section.
Weight: 7 lbs 6 oz
Length: 21 inches.
We didn't know we would ever have a 4th baby, yet here we are...completely in love with this little boy. He has completed our family. We are all crazy about him.
Jude is such a perfect "baby of the family". He is so laid back. He is very patient...it's like he knows there are 3 siblings to compete with for our time and he's totally okay with it. He's such a little love nugget speaking of which he already has so many nick names including but not limited to:
Ju.d.ju
juju.b
jude dude
lovey love
the man
the one
total munch
munchabunch
love munch
kicky bubbles
honey love