The Garage is Gone!

After years of talking about taking down the garage, the day has come that we now have an open backyard and the old garage is now gone. Below are pics and a video of the process. The first two pics are before and after (now you see it, now you don't)shots. The rest of the pics are of the deconstruction in progress. There is a video at the end of the entire structure coming down. Enjoy.

Chris

Fence, Shed, & Tearing Down Garage Project Has Begun

The work has started on the fence, shed, and tearing down the garage projects. The shed was built yesterday, the fence was started today, and the garage should start to come down later this week. I'll have an update when the project is complete. Here are some pics and a video.

Chris

Life of a Missionary

Typically, blogs are all about our family. I wanted to share a blog posting from a college friend. Don't be surprised if you start to see more blog postings that are about other people than our family.
http://njaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/real-raw-and-unedited-life-of-a-missionary/#comment-29


Chris

Josiah Sings the ABC's

Josiah sings the ABC's. The video quality isn't the best, and you may need to turn up the volume, but it's still pretty cute.

Chris

Payne Train 500

The boys had fun racing their bikes today. It wasn't 500 miles, it may not have even been 500 feet, but they had fun. Enjoy the pics and videos.

Chris

Josiah the Worker Guy: Part II

It's that time of year again. Making several trips to the compost site each Spring is an annual event in the Payne house. Josiah (the worker guy), was very helpful with shoveling and spreading compost. Below are two pics and a video.

Chris

Birthday Week 2010

As you may know, we like to extend birthdays as long as we can around here. Birthday week started on Tuesday and went through Friday. (Technically it’s still birthday week, as I am supposed to be getting another package in the mail on Monday) On Tuesday we celebrated my 32nd birthday at home. The kids got me the traditional birthday present of Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch. Cari made me my ‘special quilt’ (something I have asked for for a couple years).

On Wednesday we drove to my mom and dad’s. It was a beautiful day. Temperatures in the mid-high 70’s on March 31st is unheard of in Wisconsin. It was so nice that we were able to have a picnic meal outside. Surprisingly, it was still very warm when we got to Superior. Of course that was not the case the next day. The temperature back home was about 80 degrees. At the same time, the temperature in Superior was at least 30 degrees cooler. The term ‘cooler by the lake’ was definitely in affect that day.

On Thursday we had a combined birthday party for me and my niece Kathleen. It’s funny when you have a combined birthday party with a 4 year old girl. Who would have thought that I would ever have a ‘princess birthday cake’. I received a GPS as one of my gifts. Now I have no excuse for getting lost.

When you have a 4 hour drive with 4 kids in the van you have to find ways to keep yourself entertained. Part way through the trip Cari brought out some questions for the kids to answer to pass the time. Below is one of the questions that she asked. We thought it was very interesting how each person answered the question. You can see the personality and thought process of each one, especially the kids.

“5 things to bring on an island by yourself”

Levi
Toothpaste/toothbrush, Bible, hoola hoop, books, swimming suit

Samuel
Nintendo/TV, toothpaste/brush, bike, book, hoola hoop

Josiah
Nothing. “I don’t want to be on an island by myself”

Nathanael
Road, Dude, Nana, Papa, banana

Cari
Bible, knife, blanket, change of clothes, toothpaste/brush

Chris
Matches, sunscreen, hat, Bible, Bocce


Chris