My German Sister!

My German sister, Andrea, is "back home" visiting us for two weeks! Wunderbar! She lived with my family in 1994 & 1995 as an exchange student. We met in September of 1994 when we were on the high school volleyball team together. She originally lived with another family. One evening in November, I was giving her a ride home from practice. I was asking her how she was enjoying America and living with the family she was with. She told me she was loving her experience, but she felt very sad because she was going to have to live with a different family because the other family was having some problems. After I dropped her off, I went home and begged my parents to let her come live with us. I kept asking, "Can we get her?" They agreed, and our entire family has come to love her as one of our own. We love her dearly.

Andrea has just completed her studies to become a lawyer. In Germany, their schooling takes a very long time. It's not uncommon to be in law school for six or more years. She is very relieved to have passed her exams. She starts her new job in September and will be working in Real Estate Law. I'm so happy for her.

My group of friends from high school and I had a lot of fun with Andrea. We had her teach us how to say silly and sometimes naughty things in German. In our huddles during our volleyball games, we would shout, "Ich liebe dich!" (I love you!) or "Ich habe grate ge furtz" (I have to fart). Mature - no. Hysterically funny - yes. Who knows what our opposing teams and the spectators thought. We would also take her through drive-thrus at fast food restaurants and make her order her food in German. Once we took her through the drive-thru at Steak-n-Shake and we told her to order a chocolate shake in German. When she finally agreed and placed her order, there was silence on the other end for a while. A teen-aged boy finally replied, "Um. No comprende." Andrea was kind of shy, but we always talked her into doing crazy things just so we could get a laugh. She was such a good sport.



This is Alivia. She is such a smiley baby. Her mom and dad, Andrea & Josh S., are friends from high school. Andrea S. was part of our group of friends from high school that did silly things with Andrea (kind of confusing I know, but the Andrea's are pronounced differently). Andrea S. and Alivia came to visit with Andrea at a little party we had for her.

Elizabeth and Drew enjoyed playing with Alivia.

Ellie, Katie, and Jason also came to visit. Ellie is getting so big! She turns one at the end of the month.

Some of our cute cousins

Katrina & Mallory

Beautiful Audrey

Sam wasn't quite so sure I was trustworthy enough to take his picture.

Baby Katrina



Blue-eyed Edward

Silly Judson

The oldest cousin - Olivia

Sweet baby Ellie

Brand new baby Cora

Matt & Ross

10 Years

Today is our tenth anniversary. Wow, that sounds like a long time! And Edward is still my Prince Charming! Then ...

... and now - 4 kids later.

Sweet Baby Kathryn

Our sweet niece, Kathryn, left us last week. Our hearts ache at her sudden passing due to an undiagnosed heart condition. She brought absolute joy to her family and will continue to bring joy to those who wait with her on the other side. Please say a prayer for the Sanders. Her beautiful obituary was written by Edward's sister, Katie.

Kathryn McKay Sanders, 5 months old, of Crestview, Fla., passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 2, 2007, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla. She was born on Feb. 21, 2007, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to John and Jan Sanders. Kathryn is survived by her parents, John and Jan Sanders; two sisters, Caroline and Julia Sanders; one brother, Sterling Sanders; and grandparents, Donald Eugene and Donna Jean Sanders of Florida; and grandparents, Otto and Jan Hildebrand of Missouri. She was preceded in death by her grandfather, C. Edward Felker III of Missouri. Kathryn was an angel in her home, blessing the lives of her father, mother, sisters and brother. Friends and family knew that to her siblings Kathryn was like a beautiful little baby doll, cherished and loved in every possible way. In her they discovered the beauty of being an older sister or brother. They loved holding her and entertaining her. Making Kathryn smile rewarded them beyond words. Caroline was always quick to set up play areas for Kathryn and to help with her daily stretching and therapy. Julia got ready early in the mornings just for the chance to help with Kathryn and to be able to hold her. Sterling never forgot his baby sister during his busy 3-year-old play. He reveled in stopping his playtime to tenderly kiss and love his sweet little sister. For the family, Kathryn’s short life blessed their home. Her sweet and pure spirit graced the home, and the family showered her with their love. For mother and father, Kathryn was a daily gift. Dad enjoyed holding her and having the quiet moments of the morning to peek in at his little blue-eyed blonde daughter’s head bobbing in the crib. Mom treasured the extended time she had holding her little angel, always asking a blessing on her life. Kathryn’s precious smiling face, so happy, so pleasant and so peaceful will always be a treasured memory in the Sanders’ home, where her life gave them a bit of Heaven on Earth. A visitation will be held on Sunday, Aug. 5, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 3 Del Cerro Camino. Funeral services will follow the visitation at 4 p.m. Burial services will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Forrest Hills Memorial Cemetery in Morely, Mo. Brackney Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.

Another beautiful neice!

Baby Cora Anne was born this afternoon to proud parents Colton & Nick and big sister Kayley. She weighed just as much as her two-week-older-cousin, Ellie: 6lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 inches long. I can't get over the hair!

Cora makes the fifth girl born into the Felker family this year! And one more girl is due to arrive in December to Andrew and Sarah. Cora is the 18th grandchild: 11 girls and 7 boys. Did I mention the oldest Felker grandchild will turn 10 this month? That's right. 18+ grandkids under the age of 10. Talk about loads of fun!

Chunky Monkey

Isn't she just so squeezably soft!

Brotherly Love

The boys usually share a twin bed each night even though there are two twin beds right next to each other. Drew usually says he's scared sleeping in his own bed even though it is one foot away from Ross'.

GO CARDS!

We had a great time rooting for the Cardinals on Saturday night. They beat the Brewers 5-2. Andrea and Tommie bought tickets to take their family, but Grant was invited to play in an All-Star game, so they couldn't use them. They had to twist our arms to get us to use the tickets. We were able to bring Harrison, Mary Catherine, and her friend Kimberly. Ross has already been to four Cardinal games, but this was the first for Elizabeth, Drew, and Mallory. Elizabeth watched most of the game and then decided drawing was more fun. Drew's favorite part of the game was eating all of the junk food we packed. He was finished with his stash by the sixth inning. On the way home we had lots of questions from Elizabeth about drunks and homeless people. It was a learning experience indeed. Actually it was a lot of fun!

Elizabeth, Harrison, & Ross

Mary Catherine, her friend Kimberly, Drew, and an extreme close up of me.

Mary Catherine is such a good big cousin!

Albert Pujols, I think. It was kind of hard to tell because my nose was bleeding.

The new Busch Stadium with a view of the Arch. Luckily, no one got stuck up there that night. In case you didn't hear on the news, people got stuck up there last Saturday for over three hours because the power went out.

Mallory Sandwich

Anytime I get out the camera to take a picture of Mallory, someone else has to get in the shot too. This one was cute, though, of her brothers "sand-wiching" her with love.

Quatre gamins bêtes! (Four silly kids!)

The kids show off their Canadian t-shirts.

SOOooiee! Here Pig!

So, Edward was having a peaceful Sunday afternoon, relaxing on the blue couch. Elizabeth decided to "tie Daddy up." She used her charm and whit to get him hog tied. She also easily succeeded because he was laughing so hard. After she was done she told him, "Now try to get out."

This couch has been a risky place to relax recently. It has seen it's fair share of "Kid Initiated Attacks." Right Uncle Aaron?

She even shoved a Fantastic 4 Flame On mask onto his face. Keep in mind it is meant to cover a seven-year-old's face. The hard plastic dug into Edward's temples and adult sized nose, leaving marks long after the mask was removed!

You'll notice Drew/Flame On taking advantage of an incapacitated Dad by throwing his famous move - The Earlobe Grab.

PAYBACKS!

Please don't call the authorities. This was all done in good fun, with much laughing and giggling by all parties involved!

Baby Ellie is here!

We have another beautiful niece! Baby Ellie has arrived! Katie, Mike, Matt, and Sam welcomed her on July 17th. She Weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. We can't wait to meet her when we take a train ride to visit their family over Labor Day weekend.

Bonjour! Parlez-vous Francais?

Edward, Mallory and I just got back from Montreal, Canada. It was a very relaxing vacation. We slept in late, ate a lot of great food, napped a lot, walked around the city, and enjoyed the amazing weather.

Luckily for us everyone there could speak English as well as French. I was finally able to put my two years of French from high school (13 and 14 years ago when I was a freshman and sophomore) to good use. I had a blast watching Edward try to communicate there. He could hardly understand what the natives were saying when they spoke in English because of their thick accents. He would call me over and whisper, "What's he saying?" when someone was speaking to him. On our last day there, I thought I would order our two donuts in French. I was very proud of myself because I thought I did an excellent job. The cashier smiled great big as she proceeded to check us out. I asked proudly, "Did I say that right?" She replied in a thick accent, "At least you tried."

Mallory snoozed almost the entire time on each leg of the trip. She did great.

This is the Basilique Notre Dame. We tried on two separate occasions to go in for a tour, but there were weddings at both times. Our friends were able to go in and said it was quite spectacular.

This is the Ste-Catherine Cathedral. Those are life-sized statues on the top. We're assuming they were saints.

This was the dome of Ste-Catherine's. This was our hotel, The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. Our Elizabeth thought that was pretty cool.

I don't know what this building was used for in downtown, but I thought it looked neat.

Part of Vieux Montreal, or Old Montreal