Amazing! From the moment we walked in the door to the beautiful house to all the time spent together in the sun and on the water. Great time with friends that we don’t get to see often since they live in Florida! So glad they invited us up to their beautiful place on Cross lake. You have to see the pics!
All of us: Chris and I took Danielle, Justin, Aaron, Lizzie, Brooke, and Brayden to a lake house in Minong, Wisconsin for Labor Day weekend. We also brought Danielle’s dog, Watson, and our dog, Gibson. The house was on 16 acres and had 70 feet of beach. The weather was a bit cooler than I was hoping for but we still got a bit of beach and lake time in with the pontoon and jet ski. We had a few bon fires and went on a hike on the Totogatic trail. Had a great time together. Have to check out the photos!
Had a great time celebrating Brooke’s 2nd birthday. We gave her a kitchen set, classic red trike, and a white rocking chair. Her party was on Sunday after Brayden’s dedication. He was so cute in his all white outfit and cap. Lots of friends and family came to celebrate both special occasions.
Yes, I am 50! Can not believe it but it is true. Celebrated well though. Chris and I went on the Minneapolis Queen on the Mississippi River for a dinner cruise. It was 97 degree which I loved. Once the boat left Boom Island, the breeze felt awesome. The views were gorgeous and the dinner was really good. Had a great birthday. Check out the photos.
Had two grandchildren for Easter this year. Lots of fun. Brooke seemed to enjoy her Easter baskets- no candy yet. Brayden was handsome in his little outfit only 1 month old. Chris’s mom had an Easter egg hunt for Brooke and she loved it. Danielle and Justin could not come home so we missed them but otherwise had a great time with family.
Brayden arrived on Saturday, March 19th at 8:00PM. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19″ long. Big sister Brooke is not sure about him yet. He is very quiet, has a very soft cry. Mom and dad are doing great and have a lot of time together before Aaron has to go back to work in 2 weeks. Check out the photos in the gallery.
Lots of snow and cold made this winter a bit longer and not as much fun as most. Didn’t get Brooke out to play much, not many beautiful walks in the marsh behind our house with Gibson. We celebrated a lot of family birthdays between Aaron, Justin, Lizzie, Chris’s dad, and Chris. Lots of family gatherings, times with friends, a trip to Milwaukee (always fun) and time taking care of Brooke and Gibson. I am really looking forward to the birth of Brooke’s little brother Brayden and spring :)!!! Watch for photos of Brayden. They will be here soon!
We began our Christmas celebration with a visit to my Dad and Vi followed by a 5:00 Christmas eve service. We had a wonderful dinner at Chris’s parents and gift opening there. Our kids were at their in-laws so it was just Chris’s parents and his sister’s family. On Christmas morning Dani, Justin, Oscar, Aaron, Lizzie, and Brooke came and we had gift opening and our usual breakfast strata. Some went out on a walk with the dogs before watching a movie. I got all the hors d’overves ready for Chris’s parents to show up at 1:00. Everyone left around 3:00 except Dani and Justin. We played Settlement, had dinner, took a hot tub, and played Settlement again. We ate too much, but had a wonderful Christmas with our family. Of course there are photos 
On Dec 10th our family met in Wisconsin Dells for a “winter get away.” We stayed at the Wilderness on the Lake which is part of the huge Wilderness Resort. We went to all 4 indoor water parks, took a wagon ride through the woods in the snow, enjoyed good food, games, and movies as the snow fells outside. We had a wonderful time together. We were also very grateful to get home safe and sound the day after the storm.
Chris and I celebrated our 30th anniversary by going to one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. Alaska is gorgeous everywhere you look. Photos can’t capture it and we tried. We took 532 photos! We cut it down to 200 for our photo album and the gallery here. We were so blessed with only a sprinkle of rain the first day. The rest of the 10 days we didn’t have rain any time we were out doing something. We flew into Anchorage and drove south to the ski town of Girdwood, then even farther to the port town of Seward, and finally up to Denali National Park. Check out the photos.