Schmidt-Liere Family Reunion

The annual Schmidt-Liere reunion was again a great success, thanks to my in-laws.  My father-in-law smokes some wonderful brisket and my mother-in-law cooks beans as well as decorates the hall, etc.  This year we decided to design a reunion t-shirt.  The Schmidt's & Liere's have been around the Cypress area for quite a while now and have MANY lifelong friends that also are invited.  I have learned in the 14 years I've been a part of the Schmidt family, that friend is just another term for family as far as they are concerned.  That being said, the reunion also includes many friends and family in-laws. 

Every year the Country Knights, featuring Uncle Craig Schmidt, provide entertainment.  Dancing & music is deeply rooted in our family from young to old.  This past summer we lost 3 very special ladies, Aunt's Tudie, Monie & Ruby.  They had all worked hard in collecting family information to pass on our history so future generations to know their roots.  Each one was a fine example of how a woman should be, kind, loving, humble, Christian women.  I could only hope that one day my daughter and I are thought so highly as these women were.  They were great examples of what we should strive to be as women.  I believe they are wearing out the dance floor in heaven at this very moment.  Ronnie's cousin & I are going to try to keep adding to the family info that his aunts collected, continuing on their legacy.  What a wonderful family I married into.  Thank you Lord! 

Michael's Birthday 2010

This past July we celebrated Mike's birthday in his new home.  Congrats to Mike and Laurel!!  They made some wonderful chicken spaghetti, garlic toast and tossed a delicious salad.  As with just about all our family gatherings we enjoyed a great game of hold 'em followed with the initial hold 'em losers starting up a craps game.  Boy are we creatures of habit or what?  Some of us even resurrected a good ole' game of spades, another Ellisor delight.  The guys were out there trading their...quarters back & forth so I decided to come give them a run for their money.  Ronnie kept thinking he needed to take me to Vegas; I was on a roll.  Lots of great company and great fun!! 

Summer Excitement - Part 2

Once we finished up with the garage sale, Aliska and I drove to Matagorda for the annual "Fish Camp" weekend.  No not the Aggie Fish Camp, but the trip we take with Ronnie's family (RD & Vera, Rhonda & Bill, Emily and Caleb) each summer for a few days of fishing and beach fun.  This year we caught a few fish, but not a plethera.  Kids had fun at the beach as usual.  Aliska seems to be at that borderline age, wants to be like the adults yet still wants to play with the younger kids.  STAY A KID AS LONG AS YOU CAN!!  Trust me.  Vera always seems to find the neatest new gadget for us to try each year and this year was a blooming onion maker.  After about the 3rd one, I think we had the technique down.  The national bird of Matagorda was ever present as usual...the mosquito!!!  We had a great time as usual. 

***BEACH FUN***

Summer Excitement - Part 1

Since my last post the end of May, life has been flying by us. I thought summers were for relaxing and taking the occassional family vacation. WRONG!! It seems it's for running your kids to every VBS within the county, going to summer cross country in the wee morning hour, going to basketball camps and camping with extended family just to name a bit. One of these days I will be wishing these days back.

Ronnie being the wonderful provider he is (yes, I'm kissing up), planted another spring garden this year.  He decided to expand it making room for more okra, purple hulls, corn, cucumbers and more.  Our peach tree decided to produce more this year so the kids and I decided to make peach jam.  It is heavenly, especially on apple strudel bread toasted in the toaster oven.  YUMMMMY!!  The kids and Ronnie have done most of the canning due to my work schedule.  The Lord has blessed us abundantly!  I had to clean out the pantry and some of the kitchen cabinets to rearrange things to make room for our canned goods. 

    The first weekend after school was out, Dawn, Judy, Stephanie, Meemaw and I had a garage sale to raise money for the account we started for dad to help cover some expenses (parking, gas, etc.) associated with his battle with cancer. This was the most successful garage sale I have been a part of...thank you to all who supported contributing items and buying others. We are looking to have another around October in East Bernard when it cools off a bit.

Dad's Retirement Party @ PHS

Faculty at Pasadena HS had a retirement party for dad and 2 of his co-workers that retired from PHS this year. What a wonderful job they did! I was also blessed to see several of my former teachers whom I haven't seen in years. The FFA Floral Design students made several beautiful floral arrangement​s. There were fun slide shows, gift presentatio​ns, lots of food and cake. Dad was blessed with 18 years at PHS and has had a wonderful family there that I know he will never forget.

Continue sending prayers his way! His next MRI appointment is June 10th. We pray that all goes well and his MRI shows no new growth. He has been feeling pretty good except for a couple expected side effects.

Blessings to all!

My Punkin & Sweet Pea

For the past 3 weekends I have been blessed to have my Punkin (Justin) & Sweet Pea (Lauren)stay with us. Dawn and Jason have been diligently working on getting their house repainted, new flooring laid just to name a bit. This week they will finally get in it. Justin is such a curious and adventurous little boy. The entire time he was here with us he was either chasing Lauren and Andrew with the star wars light saber or standing at the back door saying, "Here Wuwu! Come here Wuwu!" He was calling our dog Lulu. She would come to the door, he'd pet her, she'd then go back to her business and he would start again.

Lauren and Andrew made up many games and play scenarios. Their imaginations were so amazing. When she wasn't playing with Andrew, she was face painting and fingernail/toenail painting with Aliska. They bring me such joy having them around. Thank you Lord for bringing them back home.

Michael recently got a position at the Tomball Lowe's and will be permanently moving to the Katy area soon. One other thing that will make my life that much more perfect would be to have my baby brother nearby also. My siblings and I are so close and I hope it will always be that way.

Lauren's Birthday Party @ Chuck-E-Cheese and the kids staying with us

BBQ for My Daddy!

What a day we all had yesterday!!​ Many wonderful friends and family joined us at Hanson Park for a day of celebrating dad, life and friendship.​ Oh, the fellowship!​ I came to the conclusion that life is too short and eventhough we have everday responsibil​ities, why do we get so wrapped up in our own daily routines? What a tragedy that we have lifelong friends and yet don't see them nearly as often as we could & should. Because of dad's illness, I also have made new friendships​ for which I am grateful. My family (extended) also get together more than ever and don't even need a birthday or holiday to do so...that's the way we should all be.

Thank you for all the food many of you brought and the help in making the gathering a success. Thank you also to those helping me contacting many friends we've lost contact with.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.

Trey's 11th Birthday Party

Trey's birthday party was at the Home Run Zone in East Bernard. Kyle & Jenny out did themselves. The boys had such a great time! Not only did they bat, they also came up with their own games. What imaginations they have!! Can't believe my "Trey Man" is already 11! Happy Birthday, Buddy!

A Day @ The Wharton County Youth Fair

Friday was 'Fair Day' for EBISD students. Our tradition the past few years has been taking the kids for an early breakfast and then off to the fairgrounds. This year we had a guest, my nephew Justin! He is such a joy to have around and seems to have a special bond to his Aunt April. My "Punkin" was attached at the hip to me for the past couple days...which I ate up.

Our first stop was the carousel, which he wasn't too sure of at first. Andrew loves horses and using his wild imagination pretended he was riding a real horse. Next were the race cars. This was Justin's favorite ride which he rode 5-6 times, several in a row. Aliska & Andrew rode the bumper cars and then took Justin thru the Fun House. This was a close 2nd for Justin. He made Aliska take him thru it 4 times in a row. He kept telling her, "gain, chicky, gain!" Trey was off riding all the big rides with his friends. Last year those rides didn't agree with Aliska so much, so this year she was more selective of which ones she rode.

As it neared noon, the park was getting more crowded and the temperature was rising. It was time to head to the petting zoo and then look at all the exhibits. Justin loved the animals in the petting zoo...as long as he was my 2nd skin!! I think his favorite exhibits were the bunnies and the "big cows". What a wonderful day with my kiddos and nephew! Great start to a GREAT weekend!

Run For The Rose 2010

Run For The Rose 2010

Today has been such a glorious day! Thank you to all our friends and family that joined us for the Run For The Rose not only as participants, but also the donors. One day this will help cure cancer for many! We had a great time; not only strengthening current relationships, but building new ones. I was so blessed in many ways today through our team members. I also want to congratulate JJ Talas for winning 1st in his division of 12 & under today. He was on our team and is Trey's friend from East Bernard. His mother, sister and dad were all there today and have been a great support to me & my family. Our team was made up of old family friends, a lifetime friend and fellow coach, dad's mother, siblings, kids, grandkids, neices, nephews, friends of family and friends of friends. God has blessed us with so many wonderful people in our lives! Glory to God!!

Dad has been fighting his battle with brain cancer for almost 8 months now and was moved by all that attended in his honor today. My husband, kids and I most definitely want to continue this as a tradition with any and all who will join us. Thanks again!

Assen, Netherlands

On Friday I finally arrived in Amsterdam to see my adorable neice and handsome nephew Lauren & Justin...and of course my wonderful sister. They met me at the airport afterwhich we drove to their home in Assen. First Lauren wanted to show me her school and then we drove out to one of the parks they like to bike ride in when the weather is warmer. The countryside is very pretty and green.



Saturday after having breakfast, we got ready & drove to Groningen which is about 20 minutes away from their home. First stop was a lunch fit for royalty...Burger King! (Where else do you go when you have young ones with you) I didn't even know they had Burger King's here. We then strolled through the market where you can buy anything from fresh produce, flowers, breads, cheeses & meats to textile items such as clothing, purses, shoes, etc. Just across the street from there was Martini Tower. Lauren, Dawn & I climbed all 370 steps to the top just behind the clock faces. We happen to get there just a few minutes to 3 pm and at promptly 3 the bells rang and scared the bejeezes out of us! You could see for miles from there and boy was it windy. Lauren counted the bells and we believe there are 13 with there being several different sizes.



On our way home we stopped by the market (grocery store) and picked up a few items for our trip tomorrow. The stores here are different than in the US. You pick up a scanner and scan items as you pick them up to place in your basket. When your done, you replace your scanner and pay. No having to wait in long checkout lines. Pretty neat. I had absolutely NO clue what I was looking at on the shelves half the time.



Tonight Dawn & Jason got to go out to dinner and a movie just the two of them (a rare event since they've been living here). The kids and I had pizza followed with popcorn and a movie...Sound Of Music (Lauren's favorite!) Til tomorrow...

PS - I can't get the slide show to post on here, but will keep trying. You may look at some in the meantime on my facebook site. (under April Ellisor Schmidt)

Ski Trip

This past Christmas we went on a family ski trip...all but Ronnie (had to work). He's not much into very cold weather, riding up lifts or being away from the flat prairies! One day, Honey, one day! The kids and I went with my Dawn & her family, Mike & Laurel, Kyle, Dad & Aunt Judy. What a wonderful blessing that we were all able to go. This was a first in a very long while.



The first day I wasn't such a good mom. I didn't read the trail map and legend much more than a glance or I would have noticed the beginners area. After checking in Andrew at ski school, I instead took the kids (1st time skiers) down a run that was well over their heads (by accident). We finally met Dad, Laurel and the rest of the gang at the room 4 HOURS later. The kids hated skiing, never wanted to try again and we were all EXHAUSTED.

Dawn had pointed out the beginner area that night, so the next day we spent there. The kids only fell 1 time each and dad was able to ski with them, coaching them along the way. They loved it and couldn't wait to go up the lift again and again. Thank you Dawn!! The third day we skied the same area with Andrew this time. He did great as well. Thought that falling was great fun and tried to wipe out even bigger each time. What a charater! Trey was skiing through the trails in the trees with me and looking for jumps...sound familiar Dawn? Aliska kept trying to work on getting her skis more parallel and out of the wedge. They did wonderfully. Dad had such a wonderful time watching them. Seeing the joy on his face of watching his grandbabies enjoying something he started with his own kids was priceless. Now the kids are asking if we can go every year! I sure hope to continue this tradition as best as we can; we'll eventually get Ronnie there.

Christmas

Tis the Season of Our Lord & Savior...Jesus Christ! We have been trying to keep the hustle & bustle of the typical holiday season to a minimum and keep our focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

At mom's, we had the best Christmas! My sister and her family came back from the Netherlands (where they currently live). What a wonderful gift. We also got to have my brother, Kyle's, girlfriend as our guest. She truly fits in quite well. My nephew Justin is now talking quite a bit and says, "mess yam" for "yes ma'am." How adorable!

Then Christmas with Vera & RD...

On Christmas Eve morning we celebrated with The Schmidt side of our family. As usual Grannie Bea SPOILED the kids; and spoiled us as well. She loves watching the kids open as many gifts as possible no matter how big or small. I don't know who gets more joy from it, the kids or Grannie Bea!

Since the majority of our family Christmas gift was the gift of being together, the kids and I went to Copper Mountain, Colorado. We wish Ronnie could have gone with us, but work kept him home. It's late and I keep dozing...so the next post will be Christmas with the Ellisor's at Uncle Fred and Aunt Sharon's as well as pics and video from our ski trip. Night all!!