Creation Museum

Decided to take the crew to the Creation Museum. So packed up the minivan and off we went for the weekend. Interestingly, it was more cost effective for us to by the yearly family pass than to buy single tickets for the 8 of us (Finally! A financial perk to having 6 kids). If you've never been to the Creation Museum, I highly recommend it! Was really well done and we enjoyed it. Nice little get away for the fam--So, here's the pics from that weekend....

Easter 2010

Wanted to share w/ Hongru our "typical" Easter. Nothing super "typical" really about what Easter represents, but rather very "atypical" that our God would send His Son to die for us and then raise from the dead 3 days later. But I think to be able to show him that this is something worth celebrating is what we wanted to show him.
We did some "traditional Easter events" in that we dyed eggs, decorated some cookies, and got all dolled up for Sunday Morning Easter Service--along w/ other Doty silliness. But, hopefully, he also heard the message that was brought forth that Easter Morning....

Abby's 9th Birthday

Given there are several kiddies running around here, to do a big birthday party every year for each kid just isn't financially possible---I'd have to take on a 3rd job which there just isn't enough hours in the day to do that. So we have gone to an every-other-year bigger birthday party for each of the kids. This year was Abby's party year and she thought and thought about what she wanted to do for a theme. She had recently gotten into the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series and it just so happened that the movie came out a couple weeks before her birthday so it was a given that the theme would be "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". My BFF Jess helped me put together come cute little crafts that included making bookmarks and a diary of their own. I found a Diary of a Wimpy Kid poster that had several of the stick figures on it and we posted it on the sliding glass door and the kids traced them for decorations on their bookmarks and diaries. They also got their very own "Make-your-own" version of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We also went to the movie and have to say I found it enjoyable. Was a fun party. Abby was pleased I think! So now she begins her last year of being a single digit--they grow so fast.

Kyle's a teenie bopper now...

Well, I'm officially old. My oldest just turned 13 and I just became the parent to a teenager. Wow! When did that happen? Hard to believe! He has gotten into golf a little bit so Kirk has been taking him to twilight golfs at the park district. Where else can you get hours of exercise and entertainment for 9 bucks? Such a deal...We also decided to do the golf theme for his birthday party this year so packed up a few of our buddies and the menfolk went and hit around a couple balls...was a good day.

Yeah--my kid is a Weirdie

So, Abby gets on these kicks and decides she wants to be more like her dad...so she dressed up like him. The beard consists of brown letter stickers from her scrapbooking stuff....I don't where she comes up w/ it....but she is a riot. The other "outfit" is her firewood chopping outfit. Don't ask....

Ski Trip Feb 2010

So this year was no different that the last years....we did the big Bessemer Michigan Trip w/ the whole crew: the Peterson kids, the Ackermans, and our whole crew. We rented our usual Family Times townhomes units #1 and #2 which are ajoined. Was another few day get away that proved to be a great time. Brianna skied for the very first time and by the time the day ended, she was independantly getting on the lift. Hongru also had a great time skiing. Hoping we can continue this fun family tradition. Is always a great time....

Thanks Obama!

Well, Obama gave us a very nice Christmas gift this year. In his pathetic efforts to "go green", our broke government put thru a program that gave a FAT rebate to people who bought an "electric car" by the end of the year 2009. For some reason, they decided that golf cars would qualify so we thought we'd go ahead and take advantage. So, here's the pictures of our latest purchase. Not your typical "golf car" as it goes 25 mph, has a truck bed, and is licensed in the state of Illinois. But it has been a great addition to our property. Given our driveway in Magnolia is 3/4 of a mile long, makes for a quicker commute.

A Whole lotta Christmas

Christmas is always a busy and great time of year for the Doty family. We end up having several get togethers throughout the season. We always reserve Christmas morning for just our immediate family. This year we had a few more "immediate" family members. This was Hongru's first American Christmas. He thought we did a little too much socializing for his taste. Had to explain we just feel it's a reason worth celebrating over and over again.....the birth of our Savior! It is also a great oppurtunity to see the extended family--which we did alot of. Overall, Christmas 2009 was a good one.....
The slideshow gives some glimpses of the kids' school Christmas program and our church's Christmas musical as well (Alexa was the cutest sheep you ever did see). Also pics of our Christmas morning and our get together's at Mom's (aka Grandma Pat's).

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Dec 23, 2009

Guess it pays to be a fan. We joined the Trans-siberian Orchestra fan club which allowed us to have first crack at tickets and we ended up in third row center BABY! Some of you may have never even heard of this group but I am sure you have heard their music. Their Christmas album is very popular. They are kinda an 80s hair band meets orchestra. Pretty cool. So, we went to Indianapolis this year and got a hotel, had some BBQ downtown Indi, and took in the concert. These guys know how to rock and the boys have taken some musical interest as a result of listening to their music. So, here's some pics from that trip. The ones we took during the concert didn't turn out unfortunately. We were hard of hearing after the concert as those speakers were CRANKIN'! Was just Kirk, the boys, and I this year. Was a nice little get away.....

Catching Up

June? Really? Last post I had was in February and was about Christmas. AWFUL blogger I am, huh? Well, lots has happened and gonna do some uploading about the Doty adventures. Will likely be old news for many of you who we are closer to but nonetheless, feeling convicted that I've got to be better about this so gonna start making entries from where I left off. That's kinda what I do w/ the scrapbooking too. I'm about 2 years or so behind there. Just not enough hours in the day I guess.....Well, get ready, here come 6 months of antics for your reading pleasure!

The Hobart Family Christmas 2009

Here's some pictures from our annual Hobart Family Christmas (Kirk's siblings and Grandma). For some dorky reason, we have been doing family pyramid pictures at this annual event so this year was no different. The kids really enjoy it and I think the adults don't really mind it either. We are getting it down to a science. DISCLAIMER: No family members were seriously injured in the making of these photos...

Christmas Family Picture 2009

Well, the idea of going to get professional photos with 8 people at Christmastime for some odd reason didn't sound like fun so thought we'd just take some at home this year. Here's the results. Keaton's buddy Robbie from school took them. I think he did pretty good!

Catching up.....

Gonna be doing some catching up since I've been such a slacker and haven't sat down at this computer to post some pictures. Have had alot of people ask what I've been doing with all my "spare" time since the kiddies are now in school as I must just sit around all day and eat chocolate w/ Midge, right? Well, as it turns out, things are as busy as ever---just a different kind of busy. My house is a chronic battle, much to my husband's dismay. Our evenings are full of homework, basketball events, music lessons, and a few minutes of family time. Work has kept me hopping. Admittedly, I've let the everyday stuff overtake some of the little moments as of lately. Why is it that I let that happen far too often? As I was uploading my pictures this morning and looking over some of the "highlights" of the last few months, I was convicted that I need to do better with enjoying the little things.

One fun "little thing" captured in photo: At Christmas time Midge had received some "Magic Reindeer Food" from our friend Lolo. We had gone outside and dumped some of the "magic food" and then after we came back in, I had come downstairs to find Midge dumping the remainder of the food right outside our kitchen sliding door. When I asked why she was doing that, she had relayed that she wanted to be able to see the reindeer really good so thought if she could get him to come up to the door, she could get a good look. She's a smartie, huh?