Christmas Program

Malorie

Emma Michelle

Abbigayle is 2nd from the right

Joel is on the right

Maggie is in the pink behind the tree.

The kids had their christmas program at church. Joel played christmas songs with his friends on his trumpet, Emma was the angel, Malorie was Mary, Abbigayle was a christmas caroler, and Maggie decorated the Christmas tree. She spent most of her time hiding behind the tree!

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a great and healthy New Year!

Christian's Monster Buck!

Christian got a "buck of a lifetime" this year during shotgun season. A big 12 pointer! I was so excited for him!

Deer Camp 2010

Front: Mitch, Christian, Joel. Back : Uncle Ron , Chris, and Brad

Front: Christian, Mitch, and Chris Back: Travis, Brad, Gerry, Ron, and MN

Another fun Shotgun Season at the VandeLune house. Uncle Ron, Cousin Mitch, Brother Brad, Brother in laws Travis and MN, and friend Gerry came to hunt. The boys got to go out with the group. Christian shot the biggest buck this year! We got to help MN celebrate his 40th birthday at our house during deer camp.

Christian got a 9 pound bass!

Christian caught this 9 pound bass out of our pond! As you can tell....he spends all of his free time hunting and fishing!

Chris' bear!

Chris went to Canada for 9 days. He shot a 350 pound black bear. He had a great time with the guys he went with and made some great friends. He took a well deserved vacation.

Chris' turkey

Chris got a nice turkey, too this year. I guess I had Christian's turkey's beard length wrong. Christian's turkey had 1 1/8" spurs and a 10 inch beard and Chris' turkey had 1 1/4" spurs and an 11 1/2" beard. His father pointed this out to me (I think it is because Christian usually beats Chris out in buck , turkey, bass, and walleye!) I once said to Christian, "just think, when you get your own house you can have all these trophies on your wall someday." he replied, "But then you won't have anything on your walls!" He said it just loud enough for his dad to hear! LOL! Abbigayle took these pictures!

Christian's turkey

Christian shot a great turkey this year! 1 1/8 inch spurs and a 11 1/2 inch beard. He was excited!

Taylor's quilt block

Taylor won a contest for her quilt block to be displayed at the Iowa State Fair on the new building. It also was on display at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee. She did a great job!

Emma Michelle turns 9 years old!

Emma had fun celebrating her 9th birthday with friends at the King's Point Water Park in Storm Lake. We did crafts, played games, had a beauty shop and went down the water slides. Mom and Bailey and Tayler were good and tired by the time we brought everyone home!

Fiddler

I have the best horse in the world...he is great with kids, loves to ride at the age of 26 and even poses for pictures for over an hour back in the timber. Who would have thought when I bought him when I was 16 years old, that all my kids would get to ride him. Cowgirls ROCK!

Pictures: Top--Malorie and Abbigayle on Star Middle Emma on Fiddler, bottom- Malorie on Star

Joel got his first Buck!

What a great moment when Joel shot his first buck in youth season. He got a nice 8 pointer. He was so happy...I haven't seen that big of a smile on his face ever!

Clay County Fair

The boys and I had a great time at the Clay County Fair with our friend Don Pingel. The boys did great with their rabbits...they won many trophies and ribbons. Christian brought the best of breed with his Black New Zealand and Californian. Joel got showmanship out of a lot of kids. They did great.

Abbigayle in her godmother's wedding

Abbigayle was a jr. bridesmaid in Wanda's wedding. Wanda and Luke were so good to include her in their special day. Everyone looked great. Here are a few pictures from that day.

First Day of School

Here's a picture of the kids on the first day of school. Abbigayle--1st grade, Emma 3rd grade, Maggie on left Malorie on right 2nd grade, Joel on left in back 6th grade, Christian -8th grade, Taylor 7th grade.

We'll miss you, Bailey and Alanzo!

We had a wonderful summer with two awesome high school kids. Bailey and Alanzo helped us with the kids and outdoor work. They are awesome kids, and great role models. We will all miss seeing them every day! You two come back to see us often!

Fair

The kids love the fair. They did really well on their projects. Joel brought the overall best poultry of the fair (a black cochin cockeral) and Christian brought the overall best rabbit of the fair (a black New Zealand doe). They both got several trophies and ribbons on their livestock, and on their static projects. Taylor got several trophies and grand champions on her clothing and static projects. They had a great time, and I had a great time watching them. (minus the washing of 30 chickens) Thank you to Grandpa Dennis, Blake and Jessica for helping us with that while Chris was in the hospital!)

Summer Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to Joel and Abbigayle! Joel turned 12 on August 2nd. He celebrated by having his buddies go spend a day with him at King's Point Water Resort in Storm Lake. Abbigayle turned 7 on July 2nd. She celebrated with her friends at our home. We had a birthday carnival with Sassy the Clown (Emma) and carnival games, pony rides, face painting, snow cones and a huge slip and slide. Both parties were a blast!

Happy 40th Wedding anniversary, Mom and Dad Gabrielson!

This August my parents celebrated 40 years of marriage. They are wonderful parents and it really is great to have parents who are still so in love with each other. Love you! Congratulations, Mom and Dad!

The twins and their ponies

The twins love their ponies. Malorie's pony is named Star, and Maggie's is named Brownie. They are awesome riders and cute little cowgirls! Top picture Malorie and Star with Maggie and Brownie following, second picture Maggie and Brownie, Third picture, Malorie and Star.

Emma

Emma traveled to Wichita for 2 weeks, and then went to deaf camp at Iowa School for the Deaf the day after she got home. That was hard on mom! Iowa School for the Deaf is in Council Bluffs. The campus is amazing! Though we hope for her to stay in a mainstream school as her hearing goes, we do really like the 4Plus program that she could attend there after graduating from High School. It would allow her to take college classes at a college nearby, and they would help her find a note taker and help her learn to live in a hearing world on her own with limited hearing. She is doing awesome! She is very smart in the classroom, so she will do great! In the pictures, there is one of her and her godmother Terri from Wichita, one of her and her roommate at deaf camp (Jessica) and one of the signs posted at the Deaf School. They are all over campus. The camp was a great experience.