Well things are getting fancy here - let's see how you like the slideshow!

Jackson and Ella had a little t.v. time the other day as you can see they are both completely enthralled - I believe it was Bambi II!  Jackson found a climbing buddy in Gpa W and Ainsley continues to be entirely sweet. 

It must be springtime because we are always on the go!  It's great to be able to get outside and get some fresh air!  J and A and Mommy went up to Appleton and went to Jonathan's track meet, too fun!  A trip to the zoo landed A her first train ride and a Red Power Ranger Mystic Force cake topped off Jackson's 1/2 birthday.  Whew 

Hard to believe we are already coloring Easter eggs!  The year seems to be flying by already.  But it is lovely knowing that spring is just around the corner. 

We spent Valentine's Day in Colorado (see new vaca pics) which was, appropriately, quite sweet!  Here are a couple other kid pics in WI 

The kids and I got away to the tropics and the desert - in the Domes!  But it still felt wonderful - they had the annual train show there and we had a great time looking at the pretty displays and running around without our coats! 

Christmastime has arrived and we are so thankful for our two most precious gifts.  If only we could capture it on a family photo - take a peek at the unsuccessful, yet amusing, attempts

Jackson has a baby sister!  Ainsley Mae arrived November 7th weighing 9 pounds 14 ounces and is 23 inches long!  Wow!  Jackson is a very proud big brother and is so happy to have Ainsley home!

Jackson is 4!!!!  What a wonderful time we had celebrating the big day.  Jack got to wear a crown at school, Gma and Gpa W came to stay and there were trick or treats!  We can hardly believe he is 4 already!

New pics 9/15/05

The fun keeps going with lots of playdates at the park and now the pool since Jack and Mommy got a season pass - yea!  We can't wait to become official "fish"!

We have gotten some nice weather and we are trying to take advantage of it as much as possible.  Jack and Mommy just got back from a trip to Appleton where we went to 1000 Islands nature preserve and played along the river! 

More excitement as we went up to Appleton to see Dora the Explorer Live! - This was Jack's first stage show and he was mesmerized!  He loved every second of it and just sat in silent awe.  He now wants to wear the Dora shirt each and every day. 

Wow!  Christmas came with a whirlwind of excitement in the Kohnke house.  First we celebrated Christmas eve up in Appleton with the Westphal clan and had a great time running around the party room!  Then Santa came and was quite good to Jack on Christmas morning.  After opening gifts we packed up the car and headed south to Indiana to celebrate with the Kohnke side of the family.  Jack went sledding for the first time and got to stay at a hotel and go swimming with his buddy Will.  Then back to WI to revisit the new toys and rest up for the new year!  How blessed we are to have so many wonderful people to share this joyous time of year with!

The holidays are flying by so quickly!  We had great fun in Chicago (see Vacation pics) then we went to Appleton to visit with Gpa and Gma W and Jack even got to open a gift (so did Mommy, hee hee)!  Then the big breakfast with Santa happened too - Jack has made a couple passes at Santa this year, he really wants to make sure Santa knows about that Hover Copter!

We are officially caught up with pictures - yea!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, SO much to be thankful for.  Jack played with his Kohnke cousins and aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa and Mom and Dad and had just a fabulous time.  The neighbors had a bonfire and Will and Jack got to go and watch it - everyone had fun and got plenty of great food!

I am finally finally getting some pictures up!  It seems like it has been a whirlwind fall but we are having a great time - Jack turned 3!!!!!  And had a couple birthday parties to boot!  Jack was Swiper the Fox for Halloween and had a great time trick or treating - all the pics will be up soon but I'm putting them up a few at a time - enjoy!

September is here and so school is back in session - for Jack that means a super fun music and swim class!  He loves them both and with any luck will actually listen to his teachers at the end of 15 weeks - Ha Ha!  He does super though and he has a blast which is all that really matters.  Jack loves the water and keeps wanting to dunk his head even though after two lessons we're not quite there yet - oh brother!

We took our last trip to the cottage - it was so fun but also a bit sad.  Jack had a great time though, he loved playing with Gma and Gpa and hanging out by the campfire at night.

Boy, most of July has been spent having fun with family!  We have a couple new pics of Jack's new passtime - playing Blues Clues in his thinking chair with his notebook but be sure to check out our other activities in family pics and vacation pics too!   

Hartland had their big 4th of July parade in June which is great for us since we will be gone over the 4th!  Jack's cousins Will and Ella came and we all had a great time watching the fire engines, marching bands, and all kinds of other great participants in the parade!  Will and Jack waved their flags and Ella had a great time testing out her new walking skills!   

We wrapped up May with a very fun Jumping birthday party for Jack's friends who turned 3!  May has been pretty cold and dreary but this day was beautiful and he had so much fun he still talks about it!  Jack is dancing and singing all the time now and loves going in his wagon to the park (all day if he could).  Can't believe we have almost been back a year - where does the time go?   

We wrapped up April with lots of fun!  Momma gave Jack one of her original Digger dogs and he LOVES it!  He sleeps with it and it makes Momma so happy to see him with something she loved so much as a little girl.  Also, Jack learned the goodness of ice cream sandwiches as you can see by the chocolate on his face in the pictures!  Can't wait for the weather to get warmer and warmer, we are on the hunt for an excellent playset for the backyard!

Jack is helping Mommy and Daddy work on the new house!  We are also having quite a bit of fun with the new slide he acquired during a recent visit from Gma and Gpa W!  Jackson's vocabulary has just exploded and he runs around the house singing songs - hilarious!

We had a great visit up to Appleton to see Gma and Gpa Westphal.  It was so fun we stayed overnight!  Jack and Gpa laughed and laughed saying "Come Bird" to the planter.  Gma baked special cookies and had fun with Jack trying to get the new ball blaster to work.  Aunt Tami came over and checked out all of Jack's clues in his notebook!  We met Uncle Scott and Cousin Jonathan for pizza and fun and were so exhausted from the good times that we fell asleep at Gma and Gpa's house!

We celebrated Grandma W's birthday and had a yummy cheesecake!  Jack had a terrible cold but was thrilled to celebrate with his "grangras" anyway!  It is really really snowy here!  As soon as we are past these colds we are going out to make a "frossy snowman".  We also had fun taking pictures with Jack's cousins Will and Ella on a Monday afternoon! 

Well Jackson had a fabulous Christmas!  We all did, but he was really having a blast this year.  Santa came through with quite a cool Winnie the Pooh train that goes on batteries and talks!  We also were blessed to spend time with our families - check out our family page to see the fun there! 

Happy Holidays!  We are having so much fun this year - Jackson LOVES snowglobes and Santa (not the live ones though - at ALL)!  We are excited to celebrate our first year back home for the holidays - there's no place like it!  An especially nice treat is that all of Kristi's sisters will be home for Christmas for the first time in 11 years!  What a blessing.  

The year is going so quickly!  November was lots - we went to Appleton to celebrate cousin Jonathan's birthday and had yummy food and cake!  Then we were off to Indiana and Gma and Gpa Kohnke's house for Thanksgiving.  Jack had a blast with Will and Ella!

What a fabulous birthday for Jack!  It was so wonderful to have a big family party!  Jackson woke up with a smile on his birthday and it still hasn't wiped off, several days later.  We had a very fun Bob the Builder party with many balloons (Jack is addicted) and yummy food.  All the grandmas and grandpas were here and lots of aunts and uncles and cousins - what a blast!

The big birthday is drawing near and Jack is starting to get lots of fun presents!  He doesn't quite understand birthdays yet but he sure thinks all the toys are fun!  Grandma Kohnke is in town and Jackson has been having lots of fun with her and tiring her out!  We are all excited about the big party on November 1st - yea!

We went to open gym at M&M Gymnastics for the first time with some friends and it was so fun!  Jack loved the trampoline (not unlike jumping on beds)!  There were so many fun things to do we couldn't believe how quickly an hour flew by.

Jack is having a blast being around family again!  He adores his cousins and has lots of fun chasing Will around.  He is talking more and more and coming up with some very funny phrases.  Bob the Builder has become quite the favorite and so Jack answers everything he wants with "Yah!!!!!!"

Spring is here, at least some of the time - when we're not still getting snow!  Jack is having lots of fun playing at the park these days, he loves to go down the slide - of course he prefers to go down on his belly backwards hee hee.  We are all getting excited to move home especially now that we have another new member of the family - Jack is a big cousin for the first time to baby Ella - we can't wait!

Oops we missed February!  There are so many pictures from February on the vacation page though you probably haven't even seen them all!  Jackson is running and throwing and kicking now, he loves beach balls.  Jack is also thrilling us with words like Mama and Dada  - and "otter"?  We had a great time with Mary but her visit was too short!  Hopefully we will get some more visitors soon.

Jackson is really on the move now!  He is walking around like he's been doing it forever, we are even seeing signs of running.  All of this is done of course with the grace of a drunken sailor, but Jack can make that cute.  He is having so much fun with this new achievement, we hear his little shoes coming across the floor and there he is just laughing and smiling.  He is working on steps now and we think he will have that down in no time.  Wally and Jack have also started a new game of chasing and dodging each other, it made for quite a funny time the other night.

Seems like Jackson's second Christmas just flew by!  We had a nice relaxing night Christmas Eve and opened gifts from our family, then off to bed to wait for Santa.  As expected, Santa arrived and brought a very good little Jack some nice things.  As a gift to Mom and Dad, Jackson made it through almost half of mass Christmas morning before losing it - thanks Jack!!!  We had lots of fun going visiting our good friends the Schafers on Christmas Day.  Jack and Matthew had a great time playing and it was so wonderful to be with friends on that special day.

Christmas is getting closer and we had a great time decorating the house!  Jackson liked to stand on the step stool and rock so there was a good chance he could tip over, it's not fun if it's not dangerous!  Jack definitely can walk around now although he still prefers crawling.  He has walked across the living room several times so we know he can do it - he gets so excited sometimes he has to just sit down!  We're sure he will be literally running the house in no time.

After celebrating a great birthday and very fun Halloween, we are getting ready for the holidays - can you believe it is almost Thanksgiving?  We here at the Kohnke house always have so much to be thankful for but this year especially we have had some wonderful memories.  Jackson is getting ready to walk, he has taken a couple steps and he laughs and laughs and then jumps in our arms!

Hard to believe Jackson is one already!  He had a great birthday with lots of fun gifts and treats!  We went out to Beau Jo's pizza and saw lots of people in costumes, then home for gifts and cake and ice cream.  What a wonderful 1st year!

Almost one and looking for fun!  Jackson is very interested in having a great time these days, and that means everything in the house is up for grabs!  He is also starting to figure out that baby food is not nearly as good as hot dogs, graham crackers, and ICE CREAM!!!!  We have been having lots of fun going out to eat and playing, he loves to be upside down and giggles himself silly while there.

What a busy time little Jackson is having.  He has had lots of visits with his grandparents, which he LOVES - and playing at Gymboree and showing Mommy and Daddy all the places they still have to babyproof!

Oh boy - Jack is crawling, standing and cruising along furniture!  He sure is keeping Mom and Dad busy and the dogs look a little nervous.  We have to keep a close eye on him otherwise Jack hightails it to the bathroom and tries to climb into the tub - let's hope he still likes the bath tub that much when he is older!

Jackson is 8 months old already!  He is getting up all by himself now and quite proud of his newly mobile antics!

Jackson is sitting up by himself and having fun being a big goofball!

Jack is a big 6 months old and has learned how to make silly faces

New Levis and I'm set to rule the world!

March 2002

At 4 months, Jack's personality is really starting to come through.

With his new outside gear Jackson is ready to take on the world

Keeping warm and mostly sleeping, Jackson is loving winter in the mountains.

Jackson was baptized December 9, 2002 at Light of the World Church.  His Godparents, Grandpa Westphal and Auntie Mary were there as well as Grandpa and Grandma Kohnke.  Everyone else was there in heart.  We had a wonderful cake made and decorated by Auntie Mary.  Jackson cried the whole time, it was very cute.

First Christmas, first New Year, and meeting more of the family, what a wonderful month!