Kaitlyn's Bday Weekend

Happy 12th birthday Kaitlyn! We had a great weekend celebrating the big 1-2. :)

We started on Thursday night with Tasty pizza and DQ ice cream cake. The girls played video games and each decorated their own canvas bag - lots of cute and creative ideas!

From there some of the girls spent the night and we made no sew fleece blankets to donate to the dogs and cats at the Humane Society. The girls had a great time donating their blankets the following day and seeing that EVERY single cage had a blanket in it. They were happy to know their hard work would pay off for some sweet, little animal.

The girls also went to MagiQuest at the Mall of America and had a fun filled time working their way through clues in a fantasy world filled with wizards, dragons and pixies. Each girl got a want to track their progress on the computers and made their way through the MagiQuest clue book. A neat experience!

A Busy Weekend

This weekend was a busy one! With the great weather we were outside as often as we could be. I took Mila for a bike ride to get her running. We played softball... practiced catching grounders and pop flys to prep for Kaitlyn's softball tryouts Sunday night. Tryouts went well and we'll find out how she did soon. I cleaned up the old holiday spruce tips in the planter and got the front porch ready for spring flowers!

We also went shopping to prep for Kaitlyn's birthday! We got supplies for invites, all kinds of crafts and materials for two fun projects:

1. Making fleece blankets to donate for the dogs and cats at the Humane Society

2. Canvas bags with fabric markers, jewels and goodies for the girls to each make their own, personalized bag

Can't wait for a fun filled birthday...

Enjoy!

each invite was hand crafted to fit each girls personality :)

both the outside and the inside...

the birthday girl holding her invites

playing catch with dad in the driveway

mila, enjoying the nice weather

Such a bad poster...

So I haven't been on the blog in a couple months... bad, bad, bad. Shanon's sweet persuasion has pulled me back! Thanks, Shan.

Here are some posts from events over the past few months. The holidays were great! I love spending time with family and friends.

I started a new job as of the new year and it's been so much fun. I'm back in HR, in Benefits and working on creating a "culture of well-being" for our employees.

We've started working on the lower level, Troy's framing up the additional bedroom. That'll be nice to have finished storage space. :)

We celebrated my birthday in Jan with dinner at Benihana. YUM.

Enjoy the next few posts... cheers to a blessed and happy 2010.
XOXO

New Years Eve

Happy New Year! Couldn't ask for a better night...

We started out the night having dinner at 508 downtown with Tracy & Jeremy, Shane & Sheila and a few additional couple friends of Shane & Sheila - great chow!

From there we went to the Loon for a few drinks and then headed to Glueks where we spent the rest of the evening. Throughout the night Sarah, KJ, Janelle, Amy, Jen, Tanya... tons of friends kept on showing up. The more the merrier. It was a fantastic night!

Just before dinner...

The gang at 508

Me, Jen & Amy

Sarah, Troy & KJ

Janelle, KJ, me & She

Glueks Holiday Party

Every year Glueks hosts a holiday party for all employees and family. With the bar closed on Sundays, we have the whole place to ourselves for some good chow, great music, drinks and fun company.

A few shots from the night:

Jenny, Kiya, me, Troy, Brent & Matty J

Troy & me

Most of the Glueks crew

Troy & Brent w/ part of their gag gifts

Carl, Troy & Jen (in their ugly sweaters) :)

Christmas

A few pics from Christmas with the little monkey... this year she got a new cell phone! That's the ONE and ONLY thing she asked for and really, really wanted. After we got the phone, we downloaded a ringer, wrapped the phone and hid it (not under the tree). After we were finished opening gifts, Troy called the phone. She kind of looked around at us like, hmm... what's that? She didn't really get it until Troy said, "Well, find what's making noise." Still, after finding it and starting to open it she was in suspense. Once opened, she screamed and jumped for joy - it was GREAT. Can't beat a beautiful snowy day filled with love and joy and thanks.

Playing out in the snow - she was catching snowflakes on her tongue

Mila playing with ribbon and wrapping paper

Finally opened the phone!

On the way to the phone...

Found the package that made noise.

Christmas on Mom's side

This year we celebrated Christmas in Eagan, at the party room in a hotel. We have so many people that attend, it's gotten rather big for people to host at their house. :) Each year the location rotates as the siblings take turns in ownership.

Always a nice day and it's great to see family. This year was tough b/c Dante & Nichole moved to Georgia this fall with the kids and weren't able to make it back for this weekend (they were home the weekend prior to celebrate with immediate family and their other side). We definitely missed Riley & Addi.

It's so nice to have Grandma down in the cities now; she's able to make it to these celebrations b/c there's no need for a long car drive (previously coming from Duluth).

Merry Christmas and we love you all!

The great-grandkids w/ Grandma Ann

The grandkids w/ Grandma Ann

Grandma Ann & her kids

Shana Lea & me

Me & Troy

Marcia's Annual Holiday Party

Every year Marcia hosts a GREAT annual holiday party and we always look forward to this throughout the year. It's a time to celebrate the holidays, give thanks for what we have and enjoy the loving company of friends.

An annual tradition is to donate money that helps others in need. This year we gave donations that went to cancer research for kids... always a great cause.

Thanks for a wonderful night, Marcia. We had a blast! Here are some pictures from the evening.

Sarah & Kiya

The big shot bartenders (a little brother and his friend) :)

Brent, Troy, Jeremy & Tony

Some of the girls

Our annual pic in front of the tree