Tough Guy!

After Braeden's fall conference with his
1st grade teacher we were hurrying out to the car and he fell in the street. The cut over the eye resulted. An emergency room trip and several stitches later he looked like this! Perfect for his hockey games.

Braeden Hits the Ice

In the fall of '06 Braeden hit the ice for the Owatonna Parks & Rec 'Learn to Skate' program held at the Four Season Centre. Dad helped out.
By the time the season ended, Braeden was very skilled at skating, turning, and hitting the puck. He came a long way from the first days of "chair pushing". He's excited to continue his hockey playing. At the end of the season the kids scrimmaged and families were invited to attend. They announced each of the kids prior to the start, did the national anthem, and provided medals afterwards.

Back to Christmas....

Jumping around a bit....regardless, here's the crew with Santa at the ECFE open house. Heidi is a board member so was working with Santa helping give out gifts to the lucky kids. As you can see Laken did well with mom holding her. The boys did great.

Halloween '06

Brad and Heidi were 'Cowboys & Indians', Laken was a little squaw, pudge was a baseball player, and Braeden was ready for landing as a pilot. It was a crisp night, but the boys were fired up to go trick or treating. Brad took the two out around the neighborhood while Heidi and Lake stayed home to dish it out.

While leaving one home, Preston tripped on his cleats and hit his nose on the cement causing a bloody gusher. It was tear-fest and it took a while to get it stopped. After that we went home and took the van around the rest of the way because we were starting to get cold.

Laken's 1st Christmas Tree-Nov. 06

Brad and Laken pose in front of the perfect Christmas Tree! The weather was great and the Meier family found an out of the way farm outside of Ellendale to go tree hunting. The boys loved running around and through all the trees. This was one of the fattest tree's we've ever brought home.

An Apple a Day...

Braeden finds two choice apples at an apple farm north of Rochester this fall '06. Our family met Gammy and Grandpa Meier and Auntie Chrissy at the orchard. The corn maze was a hit and a few times we didn't know if we'd ever get out! There was also a hay wagon ride to get us to the trees. Braeden found the best apples on the tops of the trees, he reached them by climbing the grandpa ladder.

Aim High! Air Force

Brad, Braeden & Preston check out a fighter jet courtesy of the Air Force at the Steele County Free Fair. The boys especially enjoyed the flight games on hand, but were disappointed to find out you needed to be 18 to join the force.

South Dakota Vacation 06

Brad, Braeden & Laken ride a wild bronco at Wall Drug. This stop couldn't have been avoided if we wanted to...the kids had a great time (both big and small).

South Dakota Vacation 06

Braeden with a concerned look about entering a real mine. He was a trooper and liked the tour.

South Dakota Vacation 06

Heidi, Laken & Preston gear up for Big Thunder Mine, a real goal mine in Keystone, SD. These miners didn't strike it rich.

South Dakota Trip 06

Heidi, Braeden, and Preston get excited
about Mount Rushmore!!!

Steele County Free Fair Bull Riding

A ferocious bull was all that sat between Brad and the ground on Friday, August 18th at the Steele County Free Fair (SCFF). A bull that was supposed to "run around" and maybe buck a few times came out of the shoot hoppin. Sadly the run did not last the required 8 seconds.

The swelled ego from riding a bull helped ease the sore butt that was aquired in the fall.

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