Quick update!!!!

G'day!!!

So I have been really slack of late and have not updated our blog in quite a while.
Many things have happend since last time.

A few highlights:
* We moved into our apartment in Grand Rapids
* Mocha came home for the first time
* My parents, grandparents and brother all came out to the USA
* Nick was ordained at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Barrington, IL (wearing the stole Grandma Schumacher made just for him)
* We all travelled to Grand Rapids (9 in total plus Mocha) to see our new place, enjoyed Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Fourth of July celebrations on a bridge right downtown oh and Nick's installation into St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, MI.
* All but Nick went back to Barrington and said goodbye to the Aussies
* Nick went to work camp in Ohio with the youth from Church
* Went to the installation of our good friends - Daniel & Heidi Ross who are in Saginaw, MI
* Daniel, Heidi and their new puppy Edward came to stay
* Kirby found a part time temp job working in the HR department. After one week working at the part time job Kelly Services called and wanted me to work full time. Started the next week. I am a recruiter down at the Holland branch. I love it!
* After 2 weeks of work Nick and I travelled to Australia for 7 days. Dropped Mocha off at Barrington to stay with Mom and Dad Mullen
* Nick got his Aussie permanent resident visa initiated
* Stayed with my bestie Viv and John. We figured out that from bed to bed it was 49 hours!!!
* Played 20 (or so) games. These included Dominion, Dominion - Seaside,  Agricola, Colosseum, Bohnanza, Settlers of Catan card game, Ticket to Ride, Puerto Rico. Please note that we did not play Carcassone or Legretto. These two games are our normal games and I was a little sad that we could not play these, however it was just so great to play any games. Next time we will play these first!!!!!!
* Caught up with some other great friends - Emma Graetz, Mel Graetz, Tim & Fluer Kupke, Kara Heinrich, Brendan Jaensch, Sam and Tara Modra. We were sad we could not catch up with everyone. With only being in Australia for 7 days we were limited in time. Please forgive us for not seeing you.
* Tasted some wonderful Aussie food. An AB at the Red and White cafe, pies, lollies, fish and chips at Barnacle Bill's, chicken schnitzel, steak sandwich - YUMMY!!!!
* Re-connected with our Aussie family - well the South Australian side anyway
* Partied hard with my Great Grandma for her 100th birthday. She has around 80 descendants and all but one or two were not at the party to celebrate with her. A massive achievement. We may not all get together again for a long time, if ever. So needless to say it was very special to be a part of the celebrations
* Hung out with our immediate family. Just a few people ... Ma, Pa, Mum, Dad, Martin, Steve, Rosanne, Nickson, Sigrid, Jenna, Nathan, Eszter, Justin, Sharon, Eli, John, Micah, Verity, Matt. Great Grandma, Aunty Ai also joined us for lunch.
* Found out that my parents car was stollen from the Seminary and was part of an illegal activity - naughty car! That was a fun start to the morning, then drove down south in the 1925 dodge to get the Triumph motorbike and the MG car and then hang out at a playground and had a picnic lunch. The kids loved it. A few tears when hurt on the playground but much laughter!
* Said a sad goodbye to my family.
* Sad goodbye to Viv & John
* Flew back to the States and saw Mom and dad Mullen and our little Mocha Moodle.

Uncle Nick and Verity 

* Drove back to Grand Rapids and have started to settle back into 'normal' life.

So my friends and family, this is our life in a nut shell. I will add a bunch of photo's so you can see the adventures!

Love to you all

Nick, Kirby and Mocha!

All the wonderful people who helped us move in! 

4th of July fireworks!!!

Me and Mocha.

Pastor Daniel & Heidi Ross.

Downtown Chicago. Matt, Lyn, Ken, Melva, Me and Uncle Malcolm Bourne

Nick and Aunt Barb Lopez.

Pastor Nick and Grandma Lampe

Pastor Nick and Grandma Schumacher

The Mullen Family

The St. Louis Clan - Nate, Andy, Pastor Nick, Kirby, Betsy & Elliott. Tabitha is missing:(

Pastor Nick's installation - July 4th, 2011

Mmmmm Julius Medni in Chicago

BBQ in Chicago

The Schultz / Mullen family. Nick, Ken, Justin, Matt, Kirby, Verity, Lyn, John, Sharon, Micah, Eli

John

Eli

Mac

The Schultz / Mullen / Schumacher family

Eli Schultz & Jenna Schumacher (second cousins) 

Kirby & Great Grandma Cheney - the day after her B'day party!

Eli, Jenna & Uncle Nick

Matt Schultz

Love Always,
Nick & Kirby xxoo

Introducing ..... Mocha Mullen

Last night at 8pm Eastern Standard Time Nick and I met our little Mocha.

She is an 8 week old Labradoodle from Maggie Lauderdale a Labradoodle breeder from Ohio.

http://lauderdoodles.com/

We drove through some normal Chicago traffic and arrived at the rest stop 15 mins early.

The wait was terrible. I made Nick turn the car around so I could see the on-coming cars better. Then we thought we were in the wrong area and we drove to the other side of the gas pumps because that looked like a better 'grassy area'.

Anyway between 8:05-8:10 a car pulled over and there she was. 

A little fluff ball with a pink collar around her neck. 

She did very well at going 'potty' and we held her as we were getting our instructions / suggestions on how to be good parents for her!

We then hopped back into the car with Mocha sitting on my lap. 

Oh boy was that fun and funny. She was trying to lick all over my face (which I do not really care for) and have general playtime. 

After a little while she found the towels in the middle of Nick & I and proceeded to get comfy. By the end of the 2.5 hour car ride she was all nestled up to Nick with her head and paw on his leg - very cute.

Introductions were made to Nick's parents. They are not willing to be called doggy grandparents. (They want the real thing!)

- Dinner

- Potty

- Bedtime ....

Our good family friends, the Bunns loaned us their crate and I put some towels in there for comfort.

We have put the crate in the laundry room next to our temporary bedroom in the study. (We have been kicked out of the room we normally sleep in as my parents will reside there!)

I put Mocha in her crate and then just left and shut the door. Silly Kirby. Her crying started straight away. I came back and sat beside the front of the crate and put my fingers in the mesh so she could smell me and know I am still there. I also was saying 'shhh' but it did not seem to matter.

After a little while Nick took her outside to make sure she did not need to go potty and put her back in her crate. He stayed by the crate until she was asleep - moving from right next to the crate to just outside the door, to sitting on the lounge.

We then went to bed.

I could not sleep because I was waiting for her to make a noise and wake the house. It did not come until about 2:30am. I got up and took her out in the dark. 

Another silly Kirby moment ... I did not put her leash on her.
So when I put her down she started to run in the other direction until I could call her over and grab her. I have learnt my lesson!

5:30 (ish) Mocha woke again. 

- Outside

- Potty

- Inside

- Playtime

- Breakfast

- Potty.

Needless to say at 7am when I was tired myself and needed to go potty I called for Nick to take over. He did a great job and played with her outside!

She did pretty well in the mid morning, going to sleep in her crate when she was crying.

We took her to Nick's Grandma's apartment so they could meet. Grandma loved seeing Mocha and Mocha was pretty sleepy at this point. She slept on the 12 minute ride over, while in the apartment and on the way home.

Once back home we gave her lunch, she did not seem to want it though. Mom Mullen, Nick and I all crammed around her and strongly encouraged her to eat! (We thought that if Mocha felt like she was still with her brothers it would make her eat)
I thought dogs love food - all the time. Not our Mocha. She prefers toes and leg pants.
The good news is she is eating more every meal! 

Nick thinks I am funny when instead of saying 'No' when she is eating something she is not suppose to (like the leg of a chair),  I just growl! 

- Potty

- Crate

At 2pm we had to go pick up the rental car for when my family of 5 arrives at 7pm tonight. My parents, grandparents and brother Matt.

I was all stressed about us leaving her and that she would hate us and be all upset. To my relief I was not in the house to hear her crying! She will have to learn at some point that we will not be around all the time - Right!!

Because we wore her out playing she has been sleeping on a dog bed and blanket in the kitchen. Usually when everything is quiet and we are on our computers!

Here are some photo's! 

Nick & Mocha on an early morning run!

Enjoying the deck!

Kisses & Cuddles with Great Grandma

Mocha at 7 Weeks

June 16th was our 4th Wedding Anniversary.

We were quite boring and packed into our new apartment in Grand Rapids!
However thanks to John & Vivien Kupke we got flowers - the traditional gift to give a couple on their fourth wedding anniversary!
Below are the beautiful flowers from Barrington Flower Shop!

Thanks Yonnie and Bibien!

Enjoy!

Love Sleepless in Chicago!

Kirby & Nick xxoo

Stillers

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!


Our good friends from Brisbane, Australia  - Colin & Robyn Stiller joined the fun in Chicago for the weekend.
Nick & I were watching their flight status and left home when they 'landed'. I walked in to the baggage claim area to look for them but they were already standing curb side and Nick had collected them. 
Colin was in desperate need for a coffee so we took them to the local coffee shop in downtown Barrington called Cook Street Coffee. A Nutella and pecan croissant complimented the coffee!!


On Saturday... after making the Stiller's work (they actually asked to do odd jobs around the house) we decided to go and play Bocce. 


"Bocce (sometimes anglicized as bocci or boccie)^{[1][2][3][4][5]} is a ball sport belonging to the boules sport family, closely related to bowlsand pétanque with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Developed into its present form in Italy (where it is called Bocce, the plural of the Italian word boccia which means "ball"), it is played around Europe and also in overseas areas that have received Italian migrants, including Australia, North America and South America." ( Thank you Wikipedia!!)


It was a really fun time for most of us. Nick unfortunately was getting frustrated with himself and the game. We played on an indoor court at Pinstripes http://www.pinstripes.com/. The court was interesting as it was flat but there were loose particles on there too. If you 'bowled' it too fast it would roll all the way off to the other end. Or if you did not put enough muscle behind the bowl it would not make it. Over all it was a fun time ...


Rules: A silver ball is rolled across the red line and then your aim is to get your Bocce balls closest.  If your ball either does not make it over the red line, or it goes to far and hits the back board it is not counted.

Robyn & Sue before the Bocce game!

Colin and Lee measuring (with a tape measure) to see which ball is the closest!! 

Winners of the first game ... Robyn, Sue & Colin

Winners of the second game ... Aussie Aussie Aussie

The whole gang ... Nick, Colin, Lee, Robyn, Sue, Kirby

Sue giving tips to Colin (I guess he did not need them)

After Bocce we came home and grilled out (or had a BBQ) We missed mother's day and will miss Father's day so that is what we celebrated that night. Nick's brother Jay came out too and we played 'Up and down the river' (a card game) Robyn manged to take home that win too! She beat Nick and Lee by 5 points and Colin by a huge 10 points!! Lucky girl.

Sunday was normal. Church at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Barrington then out again for coffee and a bagel at Einstein Brothers. "This is one of the best bagels I have ever had" said Robyn.

Monday was a day of adventure in the Windy City!
Nick, Colin, Robyn & Kirby drove into Chicago and parked near Wrigley field. We walked to the 'Red Line' and took it all the way into Monroe station. Due to my need to drink water on the drive into Chicago a bathroom was first on the list. Lunch and my pit stop was at the flat top grill. It was really yummy and we all got really full which lasted all day.
Millennium Park was right across the street and that was our next stop!
Our first encounter was water. What happens when you go near water? ... Robyn splashes in it with all the other children!!!!

We then continued to walk around the park and stumbled across this piece of Chicago art ...

The Chicago Bean.

It was such a beautiful day to walk around down in the city. 75 degrees Fahrenheit and about 22 degrees Celsius. We then walked down Michigan Avenue across the Chicago river and saw the Chicago Tribune Tower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune_Tower One of the coolest things about it is that there are bit of building pieces from many different places around the world and from centuries past ... We found this ...

"Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1973"

The only thing next to do in Chicago is go to Wrigley Field and watch the Cubs.

We arrived an hour before the game and just sat and watched. It was getting cooler but we were excited for the game to begin. 

A minor detail about Colin is that he is a HUGE Rugby Union fan. He coaches, watches, breaths Rugby. So can you imagine a baseball game where the first 8 innings there is no score. It is a lot different from rugby -  to say the least. 'Take me out to the ball game' was in the 7th inning stretch. This was something even I had to get use to. 

Nick & Robyn at Wrigley Field!!

The only run of the match - I mean game was in the bottom of the 8th inning. A Cub was on 3rd and ran and slid into home just before the ball came back in from the out field. It was real exciting baseball. The end result ... Cubs 1, Milwalke Brewers 0!! 

But we were able to show the international visitors our awesome winning songs...

"Go Cubs Go"

Baseball season’s underway

Well you better get ready for a brand new day

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today.

They’re singing …

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today.

They got the power, they got the speed

To be the best in the National League

Well this is the year and the Cubs are real

So come on down to Wrigley Field.

We’re singing now …

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today.

Baseball time is here again

You can catch it all on WGN

So stamp your feet and clap your hands

Chicago Cubs got the greatest fans.

You’re singing now …

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today

Go, Cubs, go

Go, Cubs, go

Hey, Chicago, what do you say

The Cubs are gonna win today.

All around we had a very fun and tiring Monday stroll through the Windy City. A win for the Cubs (because the Aussies were there!!!! ;)   The Stiller's then left early on Tuesday to fly to Des Moines, IA then onto South America before returning home. We loved having them here and showing off beautiful Chicago. Hopefully they can come back and see our home in Grand Rapids.

Love to you all

Kirby & Nick

Fond Memories ...

Hello!

Well I am trying again ... to have a blog going about our lives. Sometimes I think " Do people care about our boring lives and want to see / read all about it. If you are interested then welcome. I am happy you are here for the ride.

We have new places to go and many adventures to prepare for. I hope you are ready!

Before we begin let us look back ... look back to what was a wonderful time in Cardinal Country.... St. Louis.

For 3 years including 2 summers Nick has been studying (hard) at Concordia Seminary. Here are some photo's from there ...

Martin Luther

Bell Tower on Campus

Cross at sunset

On May 4th, 2011 Nick received his first call to St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids. 

While Nick's parents & brother Jay were in town we decided to show them real St. Louis food. Pappy's Smokehouse was the location chosen ... http://pappyssmokehouse.com/ (Sorry for the fun music)

Our good friends Andy & Betsy Sell joined the fun!! Yummmmyyyy!!!!

Then on May 20th Nick graduated with a Masters of Divinity.

Sue, Nick, Dad

Kirby & Nick

Cool hat, huh!

Since then we have been packing our apartment ... which is always fun.  Andy & Betsy Sell, Mark & Kayla Anderson & Jacob Blasingame all helped us load our things into 3 u-packs pods. It was a warm day, but we managed to get all of our earthy posessions stored away. As of this moment we do not have an apartment to move into in Grand Rapids. Monday we will be visiting Grand Rapids to look for our apartment!!!

On other small news ... we are getting a puppy. She is a Labradoodle that we will call Mocha. She comes from a breeder in Ohio, Lauder Doodles http://www.lauderdoodles.com/

Mocha at 2 weeks

Mocha 2 weeks, eyes closed

Mocha 3 weeks

She is getting so big - 4 weeks!

Well this is probably enough info for right now. 

I hope to continue to make our life public and interesting!!!

Love Kirby & Nick xxoo