The Wetzels

1st Camping of the Summer

2011-05-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

We ventured out on our first camping trip of the summer. Headed west about 3 1/2 hours to Stone Mountain right outside of Atlanta. We rode the sky lift to the top of the mountain, which by the way is a 10 mile deep piece of granite and is the largest one in the world. Only about 1/4 of the mountain is exposed. At the top there was a great view of Atlanta and the rest of the park. Next we hopped aboard the train and went around the mountain. We had a blast.

Aside from the park, we had a ball in the campground. Took in a little bit of swimming, beach volleyball, and of course a great campfire.

Best of all Grammy from Michigan was able to making it down for the trip. Such wonderful memories were made and a great time was had by all.

Ultimatums

2011-05-05T09:44:00.000-04:00

Lately Bryson’s world has revolved around ultimatums. “If you take your bath, you can play with Momma’s iPod.”…..”If you sit quietly, you can have a milkshake”, etc. And in some cases we have even had to revert to the negative ultimatum: “If you do not listen, you will not be able to ride your four-wheeler”. He is defiantly learning the power of negotiation.

Well…two nights ago the tables turned. All three of us were sitting on the couch watching Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse and sharing a banana. Bryson would take a bite and then he would graciously share a bite with Daddy. After Daddy’s bite he turned to me. With my mouth wide open waiting for my yummy bite, Bryson looked at me, started to extend his banana my way and then suddenly stopped and said, “No bite for Momma…please have IPOD”.

WHAT??? Was this an ultimatum? After several more minutes of asking for a bite, he made it perfectly clear that those were the stipulations. Jason just about died laughing. On me…..talk about what goes around comes around.

Easter Bunny Train Ride

2011-04-16T13:36:00.000-04:00

This morning Bryson and I headed to Winnsboro for a train ride with the Eater Bunny at the SC Railroad Museum. Bryson was just in awe of train....the Eater Bunny...not so much. Either way it was a great fun ride. During the ride we pasted this really neat old granite wall at Greenbrier School, so on the way home we had to stop and take a look. What a wonderful piece of art. Too neat. Here are a few pics from the trip.

Spring Oyster Roast

2011-04-15T21:55:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of the month Jason and Boy Jamie (neighbor) put on a great oyster roast in our back yard. We had steamed and fried oysters, fried shrimp, and crab legs and all kinds of yummy dips and sides.....AND tons of fun company!! A great night was had by all!

Check out all the kidos....

https://picasaweb.google.com/virginiawetzel/AprilOysterRoast?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2ehYyS5KjjRw&feat=directlink

Captain Bryce

2011-03-20T16:43:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe that we put the old girl in the water mid-March. This has to be a record. The earliest I can remember putting the boat in was from a couple of years ago in mid april. We had such a fun afternoon. Captain Bryson drove us all the way to the dam and back.

Sowing our seeds

2011-03-14T12:30:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited to report that we finished planting our very first vegetable garden this weekend. I've always loved hearing stories from Jason and Pa about the wonderful gardens they both had growing up. Stories of Grammy Wetzel growing their own tomatoes and then canning them for spaghetti sauce or stories of Granny Giltner canning her own berries for jam. In fact just yesterday Pa was telling me how neat it was as a child to have his very own row of vegetables he was in charge of from the planting to the harvesting.

Jason prepared several really neat raised beds in the backyard and a wonderful tilled patch out at the land and we are going to give it a go. Cucumbers, peppers, carrots, peas, tomatoes, and corn. Bryson had a ball digging in the dirt and helping us map out each row. Here are a few pics to get us going. I hope to follow up with more in the next few weeks as our garden starts to HOPEFULLY grow. :)

Tomatoes

Cucumbers, Peppers, Carrots

Garden at the Land

Covering the seeds

The Water's Edge

2011-03-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Jason and I were able to go canoeing at Congaree National Park. It was absolutely amazing. This picture says it all. The water was so calm that you could hardly tell where the trees stopped and the reflection began.

From Canoeing with FLP

Fun Report

2011-03-04T12:12:00.002-05:00

Major Excitement:
We were able to Skype with Bryson’s cousins Jackson (age 6) and Miya (age 2) this week. Grammy was visiting them in Poplar Grove right outside of Chicago and was able to take her computer camera. Thank you so much Grammy!! She is always so on top of things. It was sooooo much fun. We got to see how tall they both are getting and how long and pretty Miya’s hair is getting. We practiced making faces back and forth and giving all kinds of kisses. So much fun.

Bryson’s favorites for this week:
Words: Apple Juice and iPod.
Potty Training: Getting better. Of course the apple juice intake created many opportunities to use the big boy potty.
Hobby: Riding his power wheel four-wheeler with the utility trailer attached (Little Jason Wetzel in the making).
Foods: Butterscotch pudding.

Great February Afternoon

2011-02-27T21:23:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful Sunday afternoon enjoying this awesome warm weather. Hard to believe it can be 80 degrees this time of year. We worked in the yard, played with sky girl, and then enjoyed a great family dinner on the back porch. So much fun! Thank you Mr. Groundhog for seeing your shadow and sending us an early spring. Have a marvelous week everyone!

Video

From Feb 2011

Happy Day!

2011-02-24T11:59:00.004-05:00

I had about the best birthday I can remember this past Tuesday. I got home to a marvelous home cooked meal of Chicken Marsala. Jason went all out and recreated our favorite meal at our favorite restaurant, Carrabba's. Then I was surprised with an ice cream birthday cake as well. Ice cream and cake in one little yummy package. Little B and my favorite!! Then to make things even more exciting, Uncle Harv showed up with several yummy cupcakes from the Cupcake store downtown.

Of course with all of the yummy desserts, we all had a sugar rush so we headed outside to play in the yard. The weather was amazing. We kicked off our shoes and raked the yard. I'll tell ya...nothing quite like fun times with the family. Here are a few pics and a video from our evening.

From Feb 2011

Tractor Time

2011-02-17T10:38:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Jason got a tractor for our storage business and let me tell you Bryson has just loved every minute of riding and learning how is works. His absolute favorite part is making the bucket on the front go up and down. Too neato. Here are a few pics. Have a great Thursday everyone!

Long Overdue.....

2011-01-27T15:04:00.004-05:00

I can not believe it has been 8 months since I updated our blog. Geez-la-pete. I think an 8 month recap might be darn near impossible so I'm just going to jump right in with the current happenings around the Wetzel household.

- We had a marvelous Christmas with snow!! Bryson's favorite Christmas toy so far is his Thomas the Tank DVD that he watches on our little portable DVD player. (Thanks so much for the fun idea cousin Avery :) ). He also LOVES Jason's remote control helicopter. We all 4 (including sky) gather in the living room each night to see how close daddy can get to objects without crashing....GREAT FUN.

- Bryson's speech is getting better and better. He is starting to put words together now. His latest grouping is "blessing please" and "come on...sky cold" while signaling to us to let sky girl the dog inside because it is cold outside.

- Our latest sleeping adventure was a dosey! Jason found Bryson just last night at 3:00 AM changing his monkey's diaper with all the baby wipes he could find.

Life has been grand! More fun updates to come. Happy New Year!

Pa's Glider Crew

2010-05-12T20:28:00.008-04:00

For Mother's Day Little B and & visited Pa & Mema and spent the Sunday out at the airport in Chester. Little B got an A+ in crewing for Pa. He examined the cockpit, pulled out the tow rope, and welcomed Pa back from his flight with a big ole smooch. Fun stuff. Got a little sun too. Those rosy checks still have not faded out yet.

My favorite new hobby....the water hose.

2010-05-08T20:46:00.003-04:00

We have had some pretty hot evenings here so far in May and Bryce has always helped me water all of our flowers around the yard. It wasn't too long before he discovered just how fun the water hose could be. He loves it and it has now become a nightly ritual. That well water is so c-o-l-d too....he is gonna be a water dude for sure.

Spring Visit from Grammy

2010-05-08T20:34:00.005-04:00

We were so excited Grammy was able to stay with us all the way from Michigan for almost an entire week. A big time was had by all and especially Bryce. He soaked up every minute and loved spending time with her. We miss ya already Grammy. Love ya and can not wait to see ya again soon.

Here comes petter cotton tail

2010-04-18T19:59:00.005-04:00

Easter was so great this year. Bryson had a blast at church and we are super excited to hopefully be settling into a church in downtown Columbia. Later that day we had fun at a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and then enjoyed a fun dinner with our new pale Trevor.

Our buddy Trevor. To cute and the happiest fellow.

SNOW: 7 plus inches!!!!!

2010-02-15T19:51:00.004-05:00

Sky Girl loved it. Bryson wasn't so thrilled. We didn't have the right gear for him. No need to worry...Momma is on a mission to find some hand me down/ second hand snow bibs for next year. We will be prepared.

New Year Fun

2010-02-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

Our favorite book hand made by Auntie Elizabeth. We LOVE it. Just learned to unzip the lady bug. Feel free to check out her website at www.kid-os.com.

Signing the beer pong table at Uncle Will's 30th birthday.

Helping Daddy install the kid locks on the kitchen cabinets.

First trip to the zoo with Grammy.

Cruising the hood!

Little B's 1 Year Birthday

2010-01-31T14:37:00.002-05:00

I have been a busy little man the past few months...

2009-12-10T19:16:00.026-05:00

My first trip to WDW!!!

About to turn the big 1

The storage project.

Helping Daddy put up the fence.

Good shoot'n Daddy, Grandpa, cousin Faye, & Prange. My Daddy and Grandpa also each got a deer with their bow.

Like this latch is going to keep me out.

Things will be much easier for us all if you just do it my way.

Need a bit more room Mommy

Thanksgiving with the fam.

Showing them how to cook.

Can you see me now Pa?

MMM... dirt cake, my favorite

RRR mate'

MMM... candy, my favorite!

Faster, Daddy, Faster

Pick'n up chicks!!

Chowed down on some corn bread...

Sky girl cleaning me up!

Busting a Move!!!

2009-09-19T17:22:00.002-04:00

Major news from the Wetzel household. Little B stood up by himself in his crib last Saturday 9/12/09. He was so thrilled and of course we were too. Time to start baby proofing everything. I think the count down is on.

Little B's First Trip to Michigan

2009-09-14T20:45:00.005-04:00

The Wetzel family had a great trip to Michigan to visit family and take in a little bit of site seeing. Of course it is all for one and one for all in our family, so Jason, Little B, Sky Girl, and myself packed up for the 14 hour drive. It was a big success. I would say the biggest challenge was changing a monstrous diaper in the middle of Detroit traffic in the back seat of a truck. Always an adventure. Little B laughed through the entire process so that of course made everything A OK. Our 6 day trip involved a family gathering at Grammy's, a Wetzel Family Reunion, a Prange Family pig roast, a visit to Grandpa's, quick trip to Mackinaw Island, afternoon water slide adventure at a pond, and a few nights camp out at Grandpa's Land. We had a blast. Check it out!!

Resembling Daddy as a Baby

2009-07-30T14:51:00.003-04:00

Long Overdue Update

2009-07-29T17:20:00.014-04:00

Swimming with Daddy.

I run things round here.

My first boat ride.

Wear'n Mommy and Daddy out!!!!

Cruis'n in my jeep.

Mommy and Daddy and Me

The Best Grandparents EVER

2009-04-01T17:22:00.007-04:00

This past week Little Bryce has received some really fun gifts from his marvelous grandparents:

Neato Fish Aquarium

Grandpa Wetzel got him a really neat fish aquarium for the side of his crib.
First Easter Basket

Pa gave him his very first Easter Basket with his very own fireman's helmet.

Tire Horsey

Oppy got him a fun tire horse swing to hang on her front porch for our visits. I know he will enjoy for years to come!!

Johnny Jump Up

Grammy got him a Johnny jump up which he absolutely loves now that he has discovered how to thump his little legs.

Two Months Old!!!

2009-02-19T16:29:00.007-05:00

Bryson went to the doctor today and got his shots like big boy.

Birth: 6lb. 15oz 19.5"
Now: 12lb. 1oz 23"

As you can see, he has been busy!

News from the homefront

2009-02-07T19:44:00.005-05:00

Here are a few of the happenings from the Wetzel household:

Little B slept through the night this past Friday. Major Excitement
Jason finally got his mustang back from the Airport body shop. Man ole man does it look good, but it is going on the market pretty soon. Fun pictures to come.
Virginia has optimistically started her job search.

Bryson is gearing up for a cold walk around the neighborhood.

Bryson's One Month B-Day...time flies when you are havin fun!!

2009-01-21T19:37:00.003-05:00

Little B - 3 Weeks Old

2009-01-08T19:29:00.007-05:00

Bryson turned 3 weeks old this past Wednesday. There have been some wonderful, exciting events since the last posting. Here are just a few. Hope everyone is doing marvelous!!

Special moments with Grammy Wetzel and Grand Mom Giltner:

Grammy Wetzel

Grand Mom Giltner

Bryson's Baptism on January 4, 2009:

First Scrub-a-dub-dub:

Happy Day #5 and Introduction to Sky Girl!!

2008-12-23T11:30:00.005-05:00

Little Bryson: 5 days old.

Sky girl did so great meeting Little Bryson for the first time. I think they are gonna be best pals.

Excitement!!

2008-12-19T16:14:00.003-05:00

We are home everyone! Bryson is sooooo much fun and just the most precious little guy. He is eating well and sleeping pretty good so far. Jason and I are doing great too. Just trying to catch up on some sleep here and there. Thanks for all of the prayers and thoughts these past couple of days. The entire family loves you all and appreciates all of your excitement!!

PS: He has RED hair. More pics to come!!

Bryson Thomas Wetzel

2008-12-17T19:38:00.005-05:00

He's here. He is 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Born at 11:07 AM. Healthy baby and mom.

1 WEEK TO GO

2008-12-10T10:55:00.000-05:00

Exactly one week from today Baby Wetzel will enter the world. I'm so excited I can not hardly stand it. Have a marvelous week everyone!

PS: Rachel....here are some recent belly shots.

36 1/2 Weeks: Update

2008-12-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

Okie Dokie!! We are getting pretty darn excited about little Baby Wetzel's arrival.

Status:

Almost 37 weeks

2 centimeters dilated

Will be induced on Dec 17th if have not already delivered

AND still no name....yikes.

Can't hardly wait!!

This is true excitement!!

Baby Wetzel Update

2008-11-18T19:11:00.001-05:00

Jason and I had our 34 week doctor visit today and all looked marvelous. We did get the chance to have one last ultrasound and it looks like Baby Wetzel is headed in the right direction and he is still wiggling all over the place and definitely growing like crazy (weighing approximately 5 lbs 10 ounces). Our doctor said that there could be the possibility that we may either be induced or deliver by the week of December 15th due to my size and the baby's size. Excitement!!! Happy early thanksgiving everyone!!

Smudge's SC Baby Shower

2008-11-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

One of my most near and dear friends, Cora along with her Mom hosted a baby shower for Smudge this past Sunday. They did such a great job with everything and it was so great to see everyone. Thank you guys so much!! Excitement!!!

Me, Momma (who could not stop laughing), Cora, and Renee (Cora's Mom)

Here is a link to check out more pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwetzel4/SCBabyShower?authkey=QA48aZgnBIg#

Neighborhood Fall Festival

2008-11-06T17:28:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago our fun little neighborhood had a fall festival. So many people pitched in to make so memorable for all of the kids. They had blow up bouncy machines, carnival games, pie eating contest, face painting, and even a lawn mower race for the grown-ups. Too cute!! Check out some pics below.

My Little Bro's First Cross Country Solo

2008-10-18T13:27:00.001-04:00

Joe Joe Harvey Giltner made his first cross country solo flight from Columbia Downtown Airport to Chester Airport this past weekend!! Congrats Harvey!!

Jason's Annual Michigan Hunting Trip

2008-10-16T10:04:00.000-04:00

Practicing in SC before the trip up.

Friday evening bow hunt on his dad, Tom's beautiful land in the thumb of Michigan. 8 point deer, 40 yard shot.

Over the years, Jason and his dad have had so many great hunts. Above is a rack collection of their success. The mounted deer was shot by Jason's dad in 2005.

Michigan Baby Shower

2008-10-15T16:45:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Jason was able to make a trip to Michigan to see his family and go hunting. While he was there his Mom held a baby shower both for us and his brother Greg and wife Amy who are due one week ahead of us. Everything looked so marvelous and I just hate that I wasn't able to make it due to the long car ride. We love ya Grammy Wetzel and thank you so much for the marvelous shower.

The marvelous host: Grammy Wetzel

Baby Girl Partaka's Cake

Baby Boy Wetzel's Cake

The cute parents to be: Greg and Amy

They could not talk Jason into putting the balloon under his shirt but these two are too cute!

Jason getting in some practice. This is his cousin's precious baby girl, Abigail.

Jason's Mom had the boys open all of the gifts. I wish I could have been there to see Jason and all of his excitement. What a hoot. This little outfit came from Jason's sister, Elizabeth. Too cute!!

Our Crazy Charleston Weekend

2008-10-07T21:53:00.000-04:00

Howdy folks. I hope that everyone is doing great! Jason and I were able to make it down to Charleston this past weekend for a fun visit. We were able to have lunch with Jason's old boss Bill who is such a neat fellow and later that evening hang out with Will, Breanna, Cora, Nick, Brock, and Brooke at Boone Hall Plantation. It was so marvelous to see them all.

We originally went to Boone Hall for their Halloween festivities, but the highlight of the trip was seeing a huge alligator that was caught earlier that day at Lake Marion. CRAZINESS! Check out the pics below.

12 Foot Gator

The Gang: Virginia, Jason, Breanna, Brooke, Cora, Nick, and Will

Breanna

Jason

Virginia

Smudge - Week 25

2008-09-18T12:02:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone! Jason and I had another Smudge update this past Tuesday. Things are going marvelous. Here are the details:

Smudge

9/16/08: 25 weeks (15 to go)

Heartbeat Rate: 114 per minute

Size: 2 lbs (57% in size)

Looks: Has Jason's lips and I think his NOSE

EXCITEMENT!!

Have a great week everyone!

Summertime Fun at the Lake

2008-09-15T21:01:00.000-04:00

This was a great summer on the lake.

Check out some of our favorite, crazy times:

This was a very short ride for Sky Girl. Turns out her big butt makes it pretty hard to balance.

Our good friends Will and Breanna made it up for a fun lake weekend! Will always provides live entertainment. We love ya Will!

Mr. Smudge Squirm Wetzel

2008-08-20T21:23:00.001-04:00

That is right folks! Our little Smudge is officially a BOY. We had an absolute ball watching him bounce back and forth across the ultrasound screen this past Tuesday. He was dancing and squirming around so much the doc had a hard time catching him to determine he was officially a Baby Boy Wetzel. Let me just tell ya, I’ve never seen Jason Wetzel so excited in my life. It was the best moment ever! Now Sky Girl, our lab, will have a baby brother and by the looks of things he may very well give her a run for her money. We can not wait!

Here is an ultrasound picture of Smudge’s profile and a little hand waving in our direction. We did not get to many other pictures that were clear due to all of his bouncing around. A boy after my own heart!!

The Belly!!!!!! Baby Wetzel/ Smudge

2008-07-24T10:30:00.001-04:00

Week 7

Week 12

Week 14

Week 17

Week 17

We had our monthly check up this past Tuesday and everything still looks marvelous with Smudge. Our Doc did say after hearing the heart beat this month that he now thinks it is a girl because it was so fast. The jury is out. Last month he thought it was a b0y. Anyone have any guesses? We will know about the middle of August. Stay tuned!

2008-07-06T16:36:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone!! Jason is teaching a really neat, new class at Midlands Tech called BUYING YOUR FIRST HOUSE. It will run for the first time at the end of July. Check out the flyer above and please tell all of your friends. I'm thinking about taking it to just to learn the entire process. Have a marvelous day everyone!!

Yellowstone in June

2008-06-16T17:09:00.000-04:00

Jason and I just returned from a weeks vacation in Yellowstone National Park and the Grant Tetons in Wyoming. It was beautiful!! COLD...but very fun! The temps never got our of the 30's until the last day we left. We traveled with the Stevicks who are always a fun couple to hang out with. Check out more photos at the link provided below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/vwetzel4/YellowstoneTrip

SMUDGE - 9 weeks

2008-06-05T19:58:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone! Smudge is growing like crazy. My doctor decided to do another early ultrasound to confirm my due date. My new due date is December 26...a Christmas Baby!! Here are the ultra sound pictures. You can already start to see the little arm and leg buds. So neat!! Smudge was 3 cm and had a heart beat of 178 per minute. This was about 2 weeks ago so I'm sure he/she has almost doubled in size. More updates to come. Hope everyone is marvelous!

Pa Giltner's Birthday

2008-05-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

Pa Giltner turned 5....um....i think 59!! Holy Moly!! Mom and I spent 2 hours in the Halmark store picking out the perfect card. Pa is such a great sport. WE LOVE YA PA!!!

SMUDGE (7 weeks along)

2008-05-22T21:24:00.000-04:00

Here is the first picture of little Smudge!! He/she measured to be exactly 1 cm and the heart beat rate was 154 beats per minute!! It was truly the neatest thing Jason and I have every seen!! To the day we are about 8 weeks and a couple of days. Time is flying!!

Excitement!!

2008-05-21T15:34:00.000-04:00

My first blog posting!! There is sooooo much to tell. Let me introduce my family:

Jason: My loving man! To describe Jason in a few words, he is a handsome, strong minded, hardworking, thoughtful, wonderful person who I'm very lucky to be married to for two years this June 2008.

Sky Dog: Sky is our yellow lab who we have had since about our third month of dating. She is about 6 years old and is one crazy dog. Pushing about 100 pounds, Jason calls her a man's dog. But let the truth be told, she needs lots of loving and would practically sit in your lap all day if she could.

Baby Wetzel: We just learned last month that a little Wetzel is on the way. We are so excited we can not hardly stand it!! We have nicknamed Baby Wetzel Smudge for the time being since that is about how big he/she is.

Myself: I'm high on life all day, everyday!! Excitement is my motto!

That is all of us!!