Christmas

It was a strange Christmas. It was the first time in 25 years that we celebrated Christmas without any of our kids home. We were a little sad to say the least. Brad, Jessie and Aiden were in Utah with Jessie's family. The Zastrow's were in Kentucky. Tawni and Ryan were in Utah and Tyler is in Henderson, Nevada. We understand the importance of sharing our kids with in-laws, and sons serving missions or money getting in the way of traveling. We also understand that the real reason we celebrate Christmas is because of the birth of our Savior. It's because of this knowledge that we cherish our family. Not only our immediate family, but our extended family as well. We still were able to spend time with extended family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We were not entirely alone because Mike D. was here with Alexis and Carter. What great little kids. We love the little DeMotte family. Thanks for letting us be your family. Meagan and Brent bought us Kentucky shirts for Christmas. This pic was pretty much the only Christmas Day pic we got. We are wearing these shirts very proudly since now we will have two our our kids families in Kentucky. Brent at Dental School and Brad at Medical school. We couldn't be prouder! GO WILDCATS!!!!! Many prayers have been answered. We love 0ur family and are so proud of ALL of their accomplishments.

Thanksgiving with the Griffitts

We have so much to be Thankful for and we had such a great Thanksgiving. It was the first Thanksgiving we had been home for four years. Tawni and Ryan were able to come up and celebrate with us. We sure felt the hole that was there by the absence of the Zastrow Family and Tyler, but it was good to reflect on all of our blessings. We had Steve and Marilyn and Randy and Wendy over for dinner. Then we went to a movie. Afterwards, we went to Grandma Shar's for dessert. It was nice to hang out.

Tawni is half way through her pregnancy and her little belly is starting to grow. We are so excited for another little Grandson!

Tawni, Sandy and Jessie

Tawni and Ryan at the Resort on Friday night. I think we have found a new tradition. We went downtown about four o'clock and ate at Dockside and then we were able to just step outside in the back to watch the fireworks. We had a great spot to sit and had an excellent view.

Jessie, Aiden and Brad. Aiden loved the fireworks. His eyes were as big as saucers the whole time.

Fun at the Resort

Our family at the Resort. We were missing so many of our family members! We were thankful that Tawni and Ryan were able to come celebrate with us.

Lyle and Darbye.

Brotherly love!!!!

Lyle, Darbye, Marilyn and Steve

Jessie, Aiden and Brad

Watching the Fireworks!

Here are Lyle, Darbye, Ryan and Tawni waiting for the fireworks to start. We were so lucky, because it rained most of the morning and then in the afternoon the clouds lifted and it was a beautiful, clear night with no wind. Ryan and Jessie had never been in Coeur d'Alene for the Christmas celebration, so we were happy to share this with them.

This is such a cute picture of Marilyn and Steve. Thanks for not only being related to us, but for being our friends! We love you guys!

This picture was taken at Grandma Shar's after the fireworks. Aiden and Mylie hanging out. They are so cute!

Little Em!

These boys are so cute and they really love their sister.

We loved that the boys would always call Emily "Little Em". Whenever Emy would try to take something away from Atlas, or cry, or whatever she did.....they would say"NO LITTLE EM!!!" She is definately spoiled.

Extra Kentucky Pictures

Here are some stray pictures that Tawni had on her camera from our trip to Kentucky. This was a BBQ place that we went to for dinner on the night of my birthday. The food was ok, and we forgot that in Kentucky certain counties still allowed smoking in the restaraunt. Luckily, the company was awesome!

When Coen was in school one day we took Emy and Atlas to Build-a-Bear to get stuffed animals. Coen already has a bear named Hayden, so Emy got a kitty named 'KIKI' and Atlas got a very brightly colored bear named "Ronald McDonald". He knows what he likes.......what can we say. We figured Atlas would pick out a bear that would stand out. We had so much fun helping them put them together.

We put voice boxes in the animals that Alan and I had recorded our voices into. I have to say that after five minutes of listening to our voices that I was sick our ourselves, but they will always be able to here our voices when we aren't there. We did end up telling Atlas that the batteries would wear out if he pushed the box too many times, so it did get less annoying.

Tawni and Ryan are having a BOY!

Tawni and Ryan had their ultrasound today and found out that they are having a boy!!! We are so excited for them. Everything looks good and she is still due April 19th. Almost half way there. We look forward to seeing our next little grandchild!

Our Missionary is on His way!

This was the last picture that we got of Tyler when we dropped him off at the MTC. We drove up and there were about 100 missionaries standing on the sidewalk greeting us. It was a little overwhelming for me....I am not sure how Tyler felt because it all happened so fast. They opened our door, Tyler got out, Alan grabbed the suitcases out of the truck and they started to whisk him away. I made sure to stop him long enough to take this picture and give him a big hug before he walked away. As we drove off Alan said he tried to look back and see if he could see him, but he had just blended in with all the other missionaries and dark suits. I did shed a few tears, but we know that Tyler was ready and that we wouldn't want him to be doing anything different than going on a mission right now. We are so proud of Tyler and his decision to serve a mission!!!

Here is a picture of President Reynolds, Elder Griffitts, Uncle Steve and Alan the night that Tyler got set apart as a missionary. We were able to stay at the Gerrard's the night before Tyler went into the MTC and he was able to see Matthew also. It was a great last evening together and we thank everyone for helping to get Tyler to where he is. We will miss him, but are so excited for him. His first email to us was very positive and he sounds like he really likes his companion (who is a 220 lb. football player). Right away they had sports in common.

Our last couple days together!

Marilyn Gerrard took this picture of Tyler with the "Glow" around his head before we left for the MTC.

Saying our goodbye's

Talking to Tawni on the phone.

Monday we drove down to Utah and stayed at Tawni and Ryan's house. We were so glad to go see them before Tyler left.

Halloween night at The Astin's with Justin and Kama.

Our trip to Kentucky!

After we dropped Tyler off at the MTC I had a very sad few moments. I was sad because I knew I wouldn't be seeing Tyler for two WHOLE years, but I also knew that I wouldn't want it any other way. I had planned for weeks to fly out from Salt Lake to Kentucky with Alan and he was going to drive the truck home. I so badly wanted him to go to Kentucky with him, and as I sat there crying in the car I said to Alan how much I just wanted him to go to Kentucky. Little did I know that he had purchased a ticket to Kentucky as a surprise to me for my birthday. Only Tyler and Tawni knew about the surprise and when he told me that he would be going I was so excited! We were also able to surprise Meagan, Brent and the kids. We got into Kentucky very late on Wednesday night, but it was so great to be there. Great Medicine for a sad mom...baby of the household gone....new era....time to be grandparents!

This isn't the most flattering picture of Alan, but it is adorable of Emy. The best thing was that she didn't forget us. I went into her room in the morning to get her out of her crib and she just wrapped her little arms around my neck and hugged me for about five minutes. There is nothing better than that!!!!

Sibling Love!

We took the kids to Build-A-Bear to make stuffed animals. Emy picked out a cute kitten that we named "KIKI".

The girls!

Checking out the Race Track

One of the mornings while we were in Kentucky we dropped Coen off at school and went to Keenland Race track and watched them exercise the horses. October was a big month at the track when they sell and buy horses. It was very quiet and beautiful to watch. Emy loved hanging out with Poppi.

Beautiful Horses!

Atlas, Brent, Meagan and Emy

Alan and Sandy

The Track was beautiful too!

We have news!!!!

I have finally been given the go ahead to announce that we are going to be the proud grandparents of our 5th Grandchild!!!!!!! Tawni and Ryan are expecting their first little baby on April 19th!!! She had her first ultra sound today and the doctor said the baby was moving around and kicking like crazy......just like it's parents. Tawni and Ryan don't have the internet....so I was told I could announce for them! We are so excited and hope the time goes fast for all. Tawni is 11 weeks pregnant and sort of coming out of the sick stage. She felt pretty icky for a while. All is well and we are so happy for them!!

Thank you Brady!

The Zastrow Family! Coen, Brent, Atlas, Meagan and Emy


Twenty Five years and counting!!!!......

Pictures by Brady Campbell

Before Meagan, Brent and the kids left we were able to get some pictures taken by Brady Campbell. He is our official photographer and no matter what he does he always takes great pictures. These pictures are so precious to us since our little Zastrow family is so far away from us now. Thank you Brady for creating memories for us to see and look at!