Sunday, August 31, 2008

Groom's Dinner






Our friend, neighbor, former nanny, dog sitter.....she has many titles is GETTING MARRIED! We're so excited to join in the celebration. Last night was the groom's dinner at their house. Her dad grilled some of the best ribs I've ever had, along with corn on the cob and various other sides. The beer and wine were flowing, people were visiting, games were played it was so much fun. Today is the wedding, and we can't wait!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Two Words.....

Thanks Sharon!

A little tiny visitor



While grilling our supper tonight, I stumbled upon a tiny little snapping turtle in our driveway. I brought it in to show the boys, and they were fascinated. We don't plan to keep it, I'll take it to the river tomorrow and release it. But it was fun to see the kids reactions.

Pay it forward




I forgot to add this to my photo gallery, so better late than never. On our way home from Leech Lake and Brainerd, we saw this little red car waving at us. Joel asked if I knew who they were, I said no. The next car that came up next to us was waving frantically to get our attention, and once they had it-they pointed to the camper. Seems we had a flat tire....to put it lightly! Lucky for us the camper has dual wheels so we didn't do any permanent damage. The best part about the whole thing, was the gentleman who stopped to help us. He had been traveling behind us, and saw the chunks of tire flying off our camper. When we pulled over, he went passed us, made a U turn, and then another U turn and pulled in behind us. He volunteered that he used to work at a Sam's Club Tire and Lube, and "would we like some help". As he and Joel were changing the tire (with the equipment the guy had in his truck) he said he was on his way home from his uncle's funeral, but on his way there, his clutch went out, and a friend had to come tow his camper to a local campground. It sat there for a week, before he could get back to pick it up. He went into the office to see what he owed, and the campground owner said "nothing, just pass it on". When he saw our truck with all the bikes, strollers, trikes, etc in the bed he knew that it would be a tough chore to change the tire-I certainly couldn't help with the 3 kids on the side of the highway....need I say more? Long story short, he and Joel had it changed in less than 25 minutes, and we were on our way home again!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Duke the dog




We love Duke. He's a wonderful dog. But he's a scaredy cat. Any loud noise ie. thunder, fireworks, gunshots, etc and he's in your lap, or on our bed looking for comfort. He crawls into your lap if he can, and at 65lbs, it's not always easy. It's not so bad though, it's nice knowing he still needs his mommy and daddy!

A Big Thanks


A big thanks to Auntie Katje for finishing the paint job on the swingset. This task has been hanging over Joel's head for months, and driving him nuts that it wasn't finished. It took her all of 5-6 hours to complete what would have taken him 2 days with the kids and other distractions. We both thank you tons!

Tub time!



More shots from our vacation

The 26" northern I caught-not nearly as impressive as Bryce or Joel's but worth sharing anyway.
Smiles amid the chaos of our camper.
The little stud on his trike.

Ryan's First Fishing Trip






While on vacation, Ryan went fishing for his first time. He wanted a "big fish" lure on his pole like mommy's but I didn't have any to spare (or to lose). I tried to convince him the little rubber fish was sufficient, but he wasn't having it. He decided to find other ways to bide the time till we went back into the dock. Next time we went to town, I found a "big fish" lure on sale, took off the hooks, put it on his fishing pole, and he was happy as can be.

Pictures from a Visit to Granny and Gramps' House





Seriously...I thought my kids were cute! Debby emailed me these pics a long time ago, I just didn't get a chance to post them. They are from our visit a few weeks back.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

More Shots, and some impressive fish

The Shore line at Acorn Hill
Reading books with Gpa
Gpa Pete's Big catch
Almost as big as bubba
The walleye I caught....it inadvertently ended up as a catch and release. Oh well, something to strive for on the next fishing adventure.

Some Shots of our vacation so far

A stop for ice cream on the way up
passing the slow pokes...Bryce, Sharon, Gma Pete, and Ryan
Playing in the water with Gma
Me and the kids



I'm totally inept using a laptop, so these will be brief. Here're some shots of us starting out our trip.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

A rare sight

This is video of my kids playing together. There were no stunt doubles, it really is my two boys, playing together, laughing, and not inflicting bodily harm on anyone. It is so wonderful when these moments happen, and I was lucky enough to catch some of it on video. As you can see at the tail end, as soon as Jake saw the camera, he was not interested in laughing anymore.

Poor me....



While out packing the camper, I had Duke off leash and with me. He loves to go camping and doesn't know yet that he's not joining us this time. Anyway, I thought I was pretty interesting to watch....that is until a stray cat wandered through our yard. Duke took off like a bat outa he** and chased the cat right up a neighbors tree. I wandered over to get him (without a leash) and when I grabbed his collar to walk him home, he did a great imitation of a flopping crappy. Unfortunately, my hand/wrist were still in his collar when he performed this new trick. Eventually I got him home, and put some ice on my already swelling wrist. Long story short, it's not a fracture like they thought at first, it's actually traumatic tendinitis, combined with ulnar nerve compression. Sounds serious...it's actually just a sore wrist. I've got a brace to wear, and I put ice on it when I can. But I thought maybe a little pity party for me might help the healing speed itself along.


It's been a busy week

Monday Jazmin came to our home for good. It's been very exciting having her back, but very busy also. We're adjusting to having nursing care in our home at all hours of the day and night, and also to having 3 kids again. It's been a bit challenging at times, but overall I think we're adjusting rather quickly. We're also packing and getting ready for our week long camping trip to Acorn Hill up in Walker, MN. Bryce, Sharon, Katje, Gma Pete, Linda, and Dan are all going to be there as well as our family of 5. (We're boarding the dogs) Getting ready for this trip, as well as having the extra people around has been busy, did I mention that already? But thankfully, it's a good busy, and we'll all be able to relax next week and enjoy time together with family.

A new park in the neighborhood



Virtually overnight, a new park went up within walking distance of our house. It's a nice little 2 mile round trip walk. Today, the boys, Jazmin and her nurse all walked up there and played for a while. I have some really cute pictures of Jazmin showing me her tummy on the slide, and playing in the swing, but for now, you'll just have to use your imagination, and settle for shots of the boys.

Little pirates




Ryan's friend Emily came over to play while her mom went to the dentist. They thought it would be fun to wear the "bandanadas" on their heads. It was too cute, of course we had to keep switching cuz they each wanted a turn with the red, then the blue, then the red, then the blue....Jake could have cared less.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The big day....

It's 12:04 am and I should be in bed. Tomorrow, Jazmin comes to live with us permanently. I'm so excited I can't hardly type...so thank goodness for spellcheck. I've gotten as ready as I can think of, tidying up the house, getting everything I have of hers put away, talking to the boys about her coming back, etc etc etc. Due to all this excitement, I can't even think about sleep. It's weird to think that this time I don't have to say goodbye. In the past, it was always just a matter of time before she left us and we had to get used to saying goodbye. Now she'll be here to stay, and it's hard to get my grasp around that. Jazmin is a really special girl, and we feel so privileged to have her in our lives, and our long term future. I suppose I better try to get some sleep, we've got a big day tomorrow, and I'm sure I could use the energy. Wish us luck for the move, and prayers for the transition once again, from 2 children to 3. We're going to need it, but most certainly wouldn't have it any other way.

Out on the boat






Happy Birthday Adam





Our friend Adam turned the big 3 this last week. We went over to celebrate his birthday on Sat evening. Suz and Dan have a gorgeous home with WAY TOO MANY toys, and great family. The kids (totalling 16) all got along very well. They had supper, made quick work of destroying the clean house, and really enjoyed the cake and the trampoline (not together thankfully). Adam looked really cute in his boot and cowboy hat we got him. His party was Toy Story themed, so we tried to run with it for gift ideas. Before we knew it 4 hours had passed, the kids were filthy, and unwillingly ready for bed. All in all it was a great time, and we're so glad we got to be part of it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

Family Visits

Bedtime stories
Ryan's looking for his green car which he KNOWS is behind the "movie"
Good morning snuggles
Our full time "baby sitter" (they were in there voluntarily I promise, and the door is not locked)
Duke, Duchess and Hound dog play together so well.


Auntie Kendall, Uncky Bobby, Cousin Maggie, and "Pound Dog" came for a visit this weekend. We hit some garage sales, went to a b-day party (pics will follow) went to Dad and Debby's house for pizza (when they email them, I will post pics of the visit), went out on the boat, played hard, slept-way not enough, and got ready to start the week with Miss Jaz joining our family.