Merry Christmas

Mom got the boys a video camera for Christmas.  Below, you can see some of our most recent creations.

Girls Day Out

This week Amanda took the girls for a special day at the Children's Theater Company production of Cinderella.  A wonderful time was had by all and as you can see from the pictures below, everyone looked beautiful.

Happy Halloween

Things have been flying at the Minnesota Gammons house.  So much so that we decided to punt on Halloween costumes.  The kids all pulled something out of the play room the morning of.  We had a great team even still.

We took in a pretty good haul.  I said to some coworkers that Halloween is one of the only holidays where it pays to have six kids.  We'll be eating this candy until Christmas.

Cowboy

Fall Door County Trip

Last weekend we ventured to Door County, Wisconsin for our regular get-together with all of Amanda's family from the Chicago area.  We had another great time.  Al Johnson's restaurant, Peninsula State Park, apple orchards, the fish boil and hanging out with family.  We love this place and love returning there regularly.

Let's play hockey!

Last night we got to go to a Minnesota Wild hockey game.  It was a blast!  While I grew up in hockey country and attended many games growing up, this was the boys first hockey game.  We got there early and were able to watch the team warm up, got the compulsory picture with Noordy the mascot, and got our food.  The seats were great and best of all they were given to us.  What's better than a night of free hockey with the boys?  Not much!

Brothers

All of the brothers at our house love their newest little brother.   It is so good to see them love on him and hope for what God is doing in their heart because of this love.

Brvroom, brvroom

This is the sound that Nathan makes whenever he wants to do one of his favorite things: a Rhino ride, the quad or standing in the van and playing like he's driving.  He makes this sound a lot.  Whenever we are outside he goes, "Brvroom, brvroom," and points to the garage.  The kid doesn't do a lot of sitting still.  He's got lots of opinions about what he thinks he should be doing.  As you can see from the above smile, when he gets to do something he wants, he's not shy about letting you know how happy he is.  Nathan is a ton of fun to have around and I sure do love that smile.

Molly

Matthew

Matthew turned 8-years-old this weekend.  He got his ceremonial jack knife like his brothers did at 8.  When I went into his room that night this is what I found.

His wolf t-shirt, cutoff shorts, his Swiss Army, and his new camo hat, all ready to roll for the next morning.  It was quintessential Matthew.  He is a wonderful person who I grow to love more every day.  Put him outside in this outfit and he's like a pig in slop.  You might not see him for hours, even days.  I have loved watching how God has knit him to be just exactly . . . Matthew.

Fall Camping Fun

Even with some rain, we had a great time camping with friends last weekend.  I love to camp in the fall.  Waking up in the morning with a nip in the air is wonderful.  The rain got in the way of us hanging out by the fire in the morning though.  Having to be stretched in our creative pursuits was fun though too.  We've put away the pop-up for the season.  We will look forward to an early spring trip soon.

11

Benjamin turns 11 today.  It is amazing to think that 11 years ago Amanda and I went to the hospital early in the morning to get our new little boy.  That little boy is now growing to be a young man.  I thoroughly enjoy watching him change, advance, struggle and work to find out and become who God wants him to be.  We love you Benny and are so excited to see what God will do in your life in the next 11 years should he grant them.

Lucy's New Haircut

Lucy is turning into such a big girl.  I sure love her new haircut!

Molly Goes To School

Molly has begun school with an exciting seriousness and gusto.  She is very different from the boys in her approach to her education.  Amanda said today that every time she looks at her profile she is so glad that she gets to homeschool her.  It has been a pretty challenging couple of weeks as we seek to find balance among our six little charges.  I am so thankful for Amanda and the tremendous work that she does for our family and especially the kids.

Matthew's New Grill

Matthew is on the way to a new grill.  He's gotten a spacer in his mouth that gets cranked every night to give his teeth more room to come in.  It's working already.

First Day of School 2013

Today the kids start their first day of school.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Benjamin, 6th grade

Caleb, 4th grade

Matthew, 2nd grade

Molly, 1st grade

Lucy, preschool

Minnesota State Fair 2013

It's already that time of year again.  Yesterday we enjoyed "the great Minnesota get-together."  After Amanda, Nathan and Lucy missing it last year due to Nathan being only weeks old, it was great to have everyone there again.  Each of us have our favorite parts of the fair.  Nathan loved the french fries.  Lucy liked watching the parade.  Matthew really wanted to watch the skateboarders and bmx riders.  Caleb was pretty excited about getting his $5 item from the souvenir shop.  Molly had a great time on the sky glide with her brother.  Amanda always likes to watch people.  I love getting to talk to the high school kids about their animals.  I met a really interesting kid from Stillwater who may be able to help us get some pigs next year.

It's probably good that it only comes once a year.  It it was more often, we would all weigh 300 pounds and be broke.  As the kids prayed last night, getting to go to the fair made all of their list of things for which they were thankful.  It made mine as well.  Memories made and good times had by all.

One Year With Nathan John

Nathan John turns one-year-old today.  It has been nothing but a joy and a pleasure to welcome him into our family.  He is sweet and all of us love him immensely.  We got him a cozy coupe for his birthday.  They gave it to him this morning.  Amanda texted me and said that "Someone won't get out of his car to eat breakfast."  We are so thankful for him and love the way that he has perfectly rounded out our family.  We love you Nate Jack.  Happy Birthday!

Nathan Likes Bacon

Some friends gave us some salt cured bacon last week.  We fried it up on Saturday morning to go with our pancakes.  As you can see below, Nathan was a fan.

Rough and Tumble Lu Ru

Amanda just sent me this picture.  Lucy apparently fell down the stairs outside by our mudroom.  I think she's on her way to urgent care to get a couple of stitches.  She is a pretty tough little cookie.

This is Lucy's second head wound in the last few weeks.  When we were camping last weekend, we had just stopped to check in for our campground.  All of the kids were out of their seats in the van.  We had just pulled around the corner to head for our site.  All of a sudden, I hear the van door open.  Lucy had opened the door and tumbled out.  We were going about 5 mph.  I stopped the van and jumped out.  She was bleeding like crazy from the back of her head.  I picked her up and began applying pressure to the wound.  Long story short, the boys ran to the ranger station to get help and the rangers arrived, lights and sirens blaring, in minutes.  We got the bleeding stopped right away and Lucy calmed right down.  The rangers recommended that we take her to the hospital for a stitch or two, but we decided not to.  The wound was more of an abrasion and not a cut.  She was fine.  When we went to church the next Sunday, she said, "I have to tell everyone about how I fell out of the car."

I guess this is the life of a 3-year-old.  I'll post an update if indeed there are some stitches necessary for our little sweetie.

Natedog

I just can't get enough of this kid.

Gammons Family Reunion 2013

Ten years ago the Gammons family looked a lot different.  Benjamin was the only grandchild.  We were all very newly married.  We kids all lived in Michigan.  Mom was still living full-time in Alpena.  

Today, God has added 11 more grandchildren.  Our families are now scattered to the four winds of our country.  Mom has retired and moved to Florida full-time.  Can you see the changes in the photos below?

It was a good weekend of connections.  The kids really enjoyed being together.  We capped it with a great dinner out at Lake Elmo Inn and fireworks around the pond.

I love these people!

We just got done with a weekend of reunion at our house.  It was a good time together with my extended family.  Our friend Abigail came over and took some pictures of all of us.  I love this one of our family.  It is amazing to me how old all of the kids look.  Ben looks like a teenager.  Caleb and Matthew are not little boys anymore.  Molly is a little girl and Lucy is no longer a toddler.  And could Nathan be any sweeter?  Amanda and I are truly blessed and it's amazing to look at how things have changed over the years.

A few more vacation highlights

We just spent a week on Minnesota's north shore. It was a great week. The thing I enjoyed most was the uninterrupted time I had with Amanda and the kids. We did some amazing hikes, saw some great Minnesota history and even ate some good food. The weather was typical North Shore weather (from what we've heard.) We were very thankful that we got the kids all rain coats before we left. It rained most days and some days the highs didn't get out of the 60's. It didn't dampen our time though.

We talked to a number of people about the places we should go while we were there. A special thanks to Scott Jamison, who put together maps of all of his favorite state park spots. He was right on with every recommendation. We will definitely be back. Lake Superior is a wonderful spot and feels like home. Amanda has commented often about how much she loves the great lakes.

Here are a few more pictures that just scratch the surface of the great time we had.