The Wheel has become Real!

Our hopeful ambitions for being contestants on the Wheel of Fortune have now become reality!! Just a week before Christmas, Jimmy and I were pulling into the driveway as I received an incoming call from Culver City, CA. Having prior knowledge that the Wheel is taped in Culver City, I immediately knew who was calling. I quickly jumped out of the car to ensure no screaming or crying would occur during this phone call (from my boys in the backseat) and motioned Jimmy to bring the boys inside. 

I remained calm as I talked with the contestant coordinator but was completely freaking out in pure excitement and disbelief! Immediately after hanging up, I ran into the house and proceeded to jump up and down as I informed Jimmy of the news! “We’re going to be on Wheel of Fortune!! We are going to be on Wheel of Fortune! We’re going to be on Wheel of Fortune!!”

Charlie started laughing and giggling so hard because I’m sure he thought I was just so ridiculous! This I do wish I had on video. Jimmy obviously was in disbelief but completely thrilled as well!  We both couldn’t believe our “What if?” had turned to “What now?”

After laughing so hard together and calling our parents and close friends, we began making plans for our trip to LA. We are by far the most excited to be contestants on America’s #1 Game show, but we are also so thankful to have the opportunity to take a little warm vacation together in the middle of Minnesota cold! J  And are grateful my little brother and mom will be joining us to share in our excitement!

We will be taping on January 15^th and our show will air on TV the last week of April. We’ll be sure to keep you updated and share however much we are able! 

Our excited expressions when we received our packet from the Wheel! 

Family Pictures

Whoa... hello winter, goodbye fall!

Fall was full, fun, and fast! Full of multiple family photo sessions, youth group activities, a birth, an anniversary, a second birthday party, and double the diaper duties now with two...our annual fall family pictures turned into winter family pictures this year! Regardless, I am grateful to have captured a few pictures of our growing family in this crazy season of life!

And of course, I'm saving my favorite for Christmas cards! :)

A Birthday Letter to Charlie

Happy two years of life Charlie!

Today marks your 2nd birthday and I am so grateful to celebrate your life! This past year you made so many changes and saw so many changes. 

You've learned not only to walk but also to run and to jump. It brings smiles to my face watching your little legs run after your daddy. You've learned to talk and to communicate. I love listening to you learn new words as well as trying to figure out what you are attempting to say with those new words. I love watching you express how excited you are to see the "tweet-tweets" (birds) or tractors outside. Your little ways of communicating make me laugh. 

You also have seen so many changes.  We have moved to a new town with a new home and new church with all new faces. Although it took you about a month to adjust, I think you are enjoying your life in Willmar and are making lots of new friends. You also saw a big change in our home with your little brother Owen joining our family! This, too, took you a few weeks to adjust. You sure didn't love sharing your mama and daddy! However, you do love "baby Owen". You love helping out by throwing away his diapers and giving him lots of kisses on the face. 

Thank you for making being a mommy so enjoyable. I look forward to watching you grow as a little boy and as a big brother this next year. And our prayer continues to be that you would come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior at a young age. I am blessed to be your mom. 

I love you Charles Michael! 

Love, 

Mama

A few days after birth

1 year old

2 years old 

Wheel of Fortune Final Auditions

Waiting for the auditions to begin...

The only picture I could really take since
they didn't allow cameras in. 

Just two weeks ago, both Jimmy and I received an email congratulating us that we had been selected to attend the Wheel of Fortune final contestant auditions. Filled with lots of excitement and much laughter, we made our way to the St. Paul Hotel on Wednesday to attend this fun, once-in-a-lifetime audition that we have jokingly “dreamed” about for so long.

Auditions began at 10am with a conference room filled with about 70 want-to-be-Wheel-contestants! We all took a seat and filled out an application asking us basic information about who we are and if we would be interested on being on any “special weeks”. The contestant coordinators made a sitting chart so they knew who was who and explained how the auditions would work.

The first round consisted of them randomly calling out someone’s name.  That person would stand up and then call-out letters of the puzzle until they got one incorrect or would land on a bankrupt (just like the actual show).  Since Jimmy and I were there together, we were able to try-out as a pair. So when they called our names, we stood up with lots of enthusiasm.  We took turns calling out letters and were doing great until we got bankrupt. However, the staff were the ones “spinning” the wheel and we noticed once a person/pair had been calling out letters for awhile, they would just land on bankrupt to give the next person a chance. 

What they were looking for were to see if you could call logical letters, if you could project your voice, if you were enthusiastic/happy and if you remained calm under pressure.  All which make for a good contestant on the actual show! J

Next, we all took a 5-minute written test. The test consisted of 16 incomplete puzzles where we were supposed to fill in as many as we could in the time allowed.  This was challenging! When finished, I think I only fully completed 4 or so of the puzzles and Jimmy thought he had about 9 completed.  So I informed Jimmy if we didn’t make it to the next round, I would be the one to blame! J  

The contestant coordinators left the room to grade the tests and to decide on who would continue on to the final round. When they came back, they announced 25 people they wanted to stay and continue to play. Everyone else was asked to leave.  Jimmy and I were the very last ones to be called! Wow, were we pumped and a bit shocked! Now it became more serious and intense.

The final round consisted of us going up front with the other three pairs to play a mock version of Wheel of Fortune. We interviewed like they do on the show and then played a couple of puzzles. Once again, all the letters we called were in the puzzle until we landed on bankrupt. However, on our next turn we were able to call letters and solve the puzzle!  The category was “Same Name” and the puzzle was “Relief and water pitcher.” It was a good way to end our auditions! J

Now we just wait to see if we are selected to be on the show! If they would select us, we would be notified by mail in the next few weeks.  How CRAZY would that be!!

Yes it would be disappointing not to receive a letter, however, this process has been tons of fun. It has been a wonderful experience to share with my best friend and have given us lots of laughs! Regardless of what happens, it’ll be a good story to tell our kids someday as we all are watching The Wheel some night after supper! J

Thus if you don't hear a follow-up, you'll know our Wheel of Fortune dreams end here! 

Introducing Owen James Buehler.

 We are beyond blessed to announce the birth of our second son, Owen James Buehler. Born just one week ago today on September 18th at 7:24 PM, he weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and measured a long 22 1/4 inches! Although he is our second son, this week was still filled with many first for our little guy! 

Our 1st Family Pictures

 

One of Owen's 1st Pictures in the Hospital

 Owen's 1st Visitors 

1st Snuggles                                                     1st Bath

                               

Owen's 1st Week of Life (outside of Mama's Belly)

 Welcome to our family Owen James. We love you to pieces and are blessed by your lil' life! 

The Latest.

What’s up with the Buehlers these days:

Baby Prep: We hit the 39 week mark! Yea! No signs of labor yet but this time last pregnancy, I had been in labor for over a day already. However, I hear every pregnancy is different so we’ll see when this baby decides to come! We don’t mind waiting a few more days as we still try to decide on a name for this lil’ life!

Home Projects: We’ve learned owning a home brings many home projects. Last Friday, we had a lightning strike the street right in front of our house. Other than making us shoot out of our beds, we had a series of minor things that needed fixing. From fixing the water softener pipes that were loosened to smelling a burnt lamp to discovering a fried outlet in the garage, our Friday quickly became filled with home projects! Needless to say, we were so grateful for God’s protection as it could have been much worse.

Bonding Time: We’ve been thoroughly enjoying our bonding time with Charlie. He definitely loves his daddy and mama time, and we are curious to see how he will do with the transition of the new baby. Although he does love giving the baby in mama’s belly hugs and kisses… so I think he’ll do just great being a big brother!

Ministry Prep: Jimmy has been loving his new position at the Evangelical Free Church of Willmar as the youth pastor.  As summer activities have wrapped up, he has been putting lots of time and energy into prepping for this fall’s ministry. From redoing the student center to prepping lessons to leader’s meetings, he has kept plenty busy and now is anticipating kicking off student ministry’s in just a couple of weeks.

Photo Taking: Relocating to Willmar has given us the opportunity to discover new photo taking places and new faces! We love learning more and more about photography all the while having a lot of fun doing it! As well as not forgetting to snap a few pictures of our own family along the way :) 

Lordwilling, the next update will include a baby in arms :) For now, farewell from the Buehler bunch!

Playtime and Picture Time in the Park

Since starting our small photography business last year, I have realized we take less pictures of our own family. Thus, I convinced Jimmy and Charlie to come play in the park for an evening of family fun, fishing and pictures. Well, since one of us is always behind the camera, this is as close as we get to "family" pictures these days. 

      

35 Weeks

   

Gotta love that smile. 

And I'm glad to grab some pictures before he gets too big :) 

However, I'm so thankful for our growing son and our growing family!