Natalie's 6th Birthday Bash!

Here's a quick recap of Natalie's 6th Birthday. Josh and Holly and Seth and Angie were here! We had Natalie's 3 friends from the neighborhood join us for the celebration.

Natalie got nail polish and boy did she have fun with that! Can you guess which number is Dave's feet?

Below is Ana, Wesley, Natalie, and Linnea at Chuck E Cheese. Fun!!!!??
Natalie insisted on a Kung Fu Panda cake this year. This was my attempt.

Cousins & Emi Basketball

I had to get a picture of the Bergmeier and Ostercamp Cousins all together. We had such a nice visit to Kentucky. We swam and walked and talked and played! Thanks for the fun, Bergmeier's!

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Peterson 5 -6 Girls Basketball Team made it to the Playoffs! They were coached by Dave Ostercamp and Matt Ostercamp. One of their captains and talented player was Emily Ostercamp! It was a fun season and wonderful effort by all!

Back Row: Dave, Chichi, Marissa, Mercy, Katarina, Taussin, Isma, Emily, Andrea, Matt

Front Row: Hannah, Reagan, Sophia, Emily, Amena, Amira

Posted By: Anita O.

Awana Contest

Wacky Hair Night at Awana proved to be a success for Luke and Natalie! Natalie won the girl's division with a large ring as her prize. And Luke won the boys division with a toy car prize (of which he gave away to a boy that cried really hard when he was not the winner).

Of course, it helped that they were boosted by each others vote because who wouldn't vote for your own sibling? :)

And as usual, Natalie always has a silly pose to give.

I needed to post our trip to Kentucky, but I thought that I would slip these pictures in quick so be looking for Kentucky pictures tomorrow or the next day!

Posted by: Anita O.

Time to Update!

Dear Friends and Family that are so kind to check our Blog every once in a while!

We have been terrible Bloggers lately!! There is not much to report from here, but I will try to give a summary:

Emily: Playing basketball with great leadership and skill! Still gets herself up early in the morning for band and basketball practice on most mornings. Enjoys youth group at church and hanging out with her dad at home.

Alise: Learning Spanish after school 2 days a week. Can't wait for running club to start. Patiently teaches her sister,

Natalie, all that she can. Loves hanging out with her friends and wishes for 3 dogs. Shopping is her favorite activity!

Luke: Needs more space to run and sport around. Loves his time in the gym after church every Sunday where we usually drag him out of all sweaty and happy. Has a talent for drawing! Is a super North Park Vikings fan! Still talks a lot!

Natalie: Loves anything that her sister, Alise, enjoys. Is learning how to read and write better. Loves to make friends, especially friends above the age of 18. Knows how to make her brother yell. Will gladly clean anyones kitchen floor and dust the whole house - busy work is her forte!

Dave: Finishing up his last semester with gusto! Looking forward to May 14!

Anita: Loves the warm weather this week! Financial Aid is still the best job!

All for now! Hopefully the next Blog Update will be soon and exciting. :)

Seminary Friends: Natalie, Emily, Luke, Ethan, Karsten, Alise, Kyra, Amara

The Great Viking Fan!

Looking Fancy

Emily #12

The kids

Birthday present to add to her dog collection

Posted By: Anita O.

Happy Birthday Grandma Pizza

Happy Birthday to my Mom! I hope you are having a fantastic day and I wonder if you can figure out the meaning behind these pictures?

Kid Update

Mya Williams came to Chicago in October for a visit. She did come with her parents and we all had a really great time. Natalie loved having her turn to hold Mya. Natalie is my busy girl. She loves a task whether it be cleaning floors, putting away groceries, or holding a sweet baby. She is eager to help. Today while I was cooking dinner, Natalie declared that she was "usable". I questioned her definition and sure enough, she said that she was bored but that she could be used to help out - usable.

Alise had a 4th grade project due a few weeks ago. She was to research Harriet Tubman and write facts about her, make a puppet, and then dress as Harriet Tubman to do a presentation before her class. Alise was very impressive! Of course, I am a bit bias. I tried to put the video of her on this blog update, but it didn't work. I'll work on something for you, Mom! :)

Emily and I went to Minneapolis to visit my sister and meet her new baby girl, Hannah. What a joy it was to spend some time with my sister and her family. Emily was a great help and she was a joy to travel with!

Luke has often said that he would like to be a professional colorer when he grows up. I have talked him through this and he agrees that being an architect would be fun. So I think that it's all settled. Luke is going to play professional baseball and then retire and be an architect. :) Well, wouldn't ya know! Luke entered a fall coloring contest at a local park and today we found out that he won! His winnings: big pack of DOTS and a gift card to Dunkin Donuts! I'm just sad that I never took a picture of his coloring exhibit.

Another festive Halloween: Emi and Alise are dice, Natalie is a Home Depot worker, and Luke is Darth Vader.

Posted by: Anita O.

Chicago Marathon

Hurray! I had a goal to run the Chicago Marathon this October. I had decided that training for the marathon would give me a chance to have more discipline and fitness in my life. I knew that if I was going to run a Marathon, I would have no choice but to routinely exercise. I had a rough last month of training because of a pulled leg muscle, but I just wanted to finish what I had started. I finished the marathon in 6 hours and 48 minutes! It took longer to finish than I would have liked, but my goal was to finish so I am very happy! I am so thankful to God for getting me through it! I can't tell you how many times I called out to Him. :)

My running buddy! Dave ran with me the last 5 miles and what a great help that was to me!

I was told that after they saw me at mile 5, Natalie announced that they were finished and it was time to go home. Good thing she had no idea how long she still had to wait. :)

This is my cheering section. I should have a picture of all of you cheering for me from home too! Your words of encouragement and prayers are greatly appreciated. Thank you all!