Pumpkins

Slimey pumpkin guts and seeds!

Halloween

Dressing up is so much fun and we didn't spend a penny!

Family Picture

Once again our handy dandy ten second timer has worked out for us. Amazingly the baby thinks it is fun to say cheese and smile at the camera. Camo is our theme this year and Kevin was very happy to wear a hat.

Violin

Samantha has been asking for a neighbor girl to come over and play her violin with her. She finally came over after several attempts trying to remember. She had this little violin she showed the kids how to hold and play. It was really fun to see how well they could do it.

Daddy's Hat

KayDee found Daddy's truck-fixing hat and had to try it on. She has also learned how to say cheese and pose for pictures. This picture says more than words.

The Used but New Trampoline

Kevin's co-worker gave his old trampoline to us a few weeks ago. We have set rules for jumping and not jumping and the kids are following them well. Sara only wanted the trampoline up for a week since it can be dangerous for babies walking under it. She has changed her mind since the kids have been listening and it is still up and bouncing.

KayDee's in the Dog House- Literally

I was sitting on the deck watching Kevin work on "the Chevy" and I turned around to see where KayDee had gone. I didn't have to look hard, she had entered the dog house with the dog in it too. I rushed for my camera because she was having such a great time and the dog was so willing. This is one of the many pictures. It actually looks like the dog house is big enough for her to live in there, although the dog may object.

Kevin in a Chevy?

We can't believe it! Kevin is in a Chevy. It is truly remarkable. And not only that, he took this picture by himself (ten second timer).

Kevin is putting the motor back in this Chevy for a friend and he always takes a picture of himself in the empty space where the motor should be. He has done this for every vehicle he has put a motor in, even if it is a Chevy. Don't worry he will always be a Ford guy even if a Chevy ends up in our driveway once in awhile.

Kid 4-wheeler

We finally have a battery (thanks to a nice neighbor). We purchased this 4-wheeler at DI for $10 a few years ago but it needed a new battery. The kids are having a blast driving it now. We tell them not to run anyone over, of course that happened within the first hour, but thankfully KayDee was not hurt and it hasn't happened since.

Haircut

Sara let one of her young women cut her hair. She was only 13 and did a great job. It is even and cute. The girl was nervous to cut her president's hair but Sara knew she would do a great job. This all came about because two of the girls had cut each other's hair and they looked great so Sara invited them to cut her hair a couple of months later (when she was ready for a change). Kevin was glad it didn't go too short. Sara's grateful to cut 5 inches off although she doesn't have any layers left. Yes, Sara is crazy!.

Upside Down

Derrick is very excited that he can do tricks upside down. We have to find new adventures while Sam is in school. He was excited to show his mom his new trick.

Dirt vs Baby

Can you guess what KayDee was doing 5 minutes ago? We have a pot with black dirt in it and that is our sand box. She loves it and gets annoyed that the dog has to see her using the shovels. We aren't sure how the dirt accumulated on her face; wiping her nose, eating it, practicing putting on make-up... Very picture worthy.

Town Pinewood Derby

We had a town Pinewood Derby and we were planning on just watching but Justin and Rachel had an extra kit so we made a car that day. Sara spent the afternoon painting the firetruck to make our block of wood look cool. We won best paint job and were placed around 35th out of 52. Not bad for not putting any weight on it. Derrick is totally thrilled he has another firetruck to play with and takes it everywhere.

Lagoon

Kevin won tickets by answering a radio station question, of course it was automotive. We hurried up to Lagoon before the season closed. Sara's brother Jake and Elise (his girl friend) came with us. We left the kids with Sara's parents and prepared for rain. We had a great time and the rain did not hinder us. We had fun standing in line waiting as Jake challenged us to name the seven dwarfs. Jake and Sara were successful but Elise sure gave us a new list of seven dwarfs: Dumpy, Gropey, Sleezey, Crappy, Droopy, Creepy and Doc... The faster she said it the worse it got and the funnier it got. Good thing Doc was there! Maybe she was dizzy from the previous rides.
Kevin had fun educating everyone on all the guns and ammo from pioneer village and it was hard to pry him away.
We also bumped into Sara's niece, nephew and brother-in-law before we left and we made sure they went on the log ride with us just in case they weren't wet enough from the rain.

BACKFIRE!

Kevin went to start the jeep to warm it up to go home and it was parked on a downhill slope. It cranked and cranked and cranked and it wouldn't start. He thought that was weird because it normally starts right up. So he tried again and it let out a HUGE backfire. Kevin even saw the flash and started the jeep right after. Meanwhile, Sara, kids and her parents were inside and heard a huge BOOM and came running wondering if it was his pistol. Fortunately the jeep started up before they reached the door relieving that panic. As Sara came to the door she saw Kevin and her Dad looking under the side of the jeep at the blown up muffler we had just purchased last month. Kevin had only heard of mufflers being blown out and never thought he would get to see one. Clearly, he was wrong.

Princess Smile

Samantha said she gave her prettiest princess smile for this picture. We have noticed we have to make her laugh to get a real smile but we figure retakes would turn out the same. She does have a "pretty princess smile". We think it is a very cute kindergarten picture.

Fender

This is our gimpy puppy. For a long time Kevin has desperately wanted a dog and Sara has said he could have one when she was ready. Taking care of babies and puppies don't mix well with Sara. The baby is over one now and the thought processes of a dog turned in Sara's head. Then all the sudden Fender was at the house and he was definitely a keeper. We made some phone calls to people in town and he was ours. Immediately after we obtained ownership, we took him to Kevin's family reunion and the dog insisted on jumping out of the truck after tying him up on both sides with a collar. He had squeezed out of the collar and Kevin only had time to slow down to 50 mph. He broke his leg and has healed pretty nice over the last few weeks. We'll see if he recovers from the limp.

Fortunately Justin and Rachel (cousins and renters) love the dog too and so he is owned and loved by all of us.

Peanut KayDee

KayDee is our little munchkin and she has been our peanut since birth. She is very cordinated and can climb almost anything her little legs can get up. She loves pockets and can always find one, it is usually the one that starts at the neck of the shirt. Sara has found many items down her clothes using her "pocket" theory (she's smart enough to know that onesies make better pockets than t-shirts). Recently she has been folding her arms for prayers and has said many words like up, cheese, and bellybutton, among others.

"My name is Derrick"

It never fails, Derrick constantly introduces himself to EVERYONE. Sara always calls him a play by play boy because he tells you as it comes. There is nothing but bluntness and that is the sweet part. He goes from telling people "That's my Dad" to "Samantha, you looks so pretty" and "I love you Mom" to "KayDee's our peanut".

Derrick rides his bike without training wheels (a new development since May). He also makes sure we know which trucks are getting dirty when we go off-roading. When the rodeo was going, Sara couldn't figure out why he was talking about all the cows on the radio. Finally she figured it out and asked if he was talking about the rodeo and Derrick gave a shy grin and said yes. He is very good with his bow and has broken his arrows from being used so much. Sara had to take away the pencils he found to replace them.

Our 5 year old Samantha

This is our Samantha. She started school and loves it. She has been very good and stayed on green for discipline and we are very proud of her. She also knows all the letters they have talked about so far and she comes home and tells us she knows the one for the next day. She'll whisper in our ears "I know the letter of the day tomorrow... it's 'I'." Sam rides on the bus home from school and the bus driver gives them spray bottles to cool off. The older girls sitting next to her always come off the bus drenched.

Flash Flood, Too close for comfort

We had the exciting flash food on August 1, 2007. Sara had called Kevin and told him the river was extremely high and Kevin said it should be fine. Rachel (our cousin and renter) came over and wanted to take pictures of the river down by the bridge since that was safer. We walked down to the bridge, waving at some fire trucks as they went past.

Rachel was taking video and Sara saw water coming into the yard of the first house by the bridge and she yelled at Rachel to run, and so the running began. Sara wanted to knock on the door of the house since the people didn't know it was flooding. Rachel said she would do it and Rachel was surrounded by water in seconds and had to wade in thigh deep water to get out (the camera was her motivating factor to jump the fence).

As we pulled out to the road, we looked back at the bridge and happened to see Kevin attempt to cross the bridge. He was right in the middle of it with water up to the floor board. He backed out and was stuck on the other side. We are lucky the bridge didn't take him down or our Bronco. (He has a strong mental note from his wife to NEVER do that again!) The flood subsided and three homes were flooded and our pasture flooded almost to the fence next to our driveway. We were blessed.
We took pictures of the rodeo grounds, the bridge without water anymore, our yard, and that white car that landed several feet higher than it's origin.
Derrick continues to pray everyday for every meal that "those big muddy waters won't come back". Good thing too.

Kevin and Sara Laub Family

It has almost been seven years for us now and look what we have accomplished! Three kids, a house and lots of "classic" trucks (the trucks are no surprise). We really feel blessed and happy.

The best part of this picture is the hair line of the baby and Kevin. Unfortunately Kevin is not very fond of it but Sara thinks it is adorable. Thank goodness Kevin has more hair than this picture reveals or he would really be upset. It has been one year since this picture so it is definitely time to update.