Abby 7 Months

Yep, It's ridiculous all right...

Tonight was Seth's work Christmas Party. This wasn't just your average Christmas party. This was a "Ridiculous Christmas Sweater" party. So as a family we took a trip to Savers this afternoon to find the "perfect" sweater... Seth had a little too much fun, he turned this into a ridiculous Christmas outfit!








To answer the questions I know that you are thinking,

-yes those are his BCG's (glasses) from boot camp...
-yes they are attached to his head by a strap (I know you can't see it in the pictures but I am sure you were wondering anyway)
-yes that is a beautiful butt cut hairstyle...
-yes those pants have been hemmed for someone much shorter than Seth...
-yes that is a Christmas tree on his turtleneck!
-and yes that sweatshirt does say "I've been beary beary good this year!"

Merry Christmas to all!!!

OH NO!!!

It's official... Abby has one tooth that broke through! So watch out, the next time you see her beware, anything she can get her hands on goes straight to her mouth, only now she can cause pain/damage!!

Seth tried to get a picture of her but were not able to get a good one yet...

Can Someone Please Help...

Abby has begun to make attempts to be mobile. I am not in any big hurry for this. I can only imagine how much fun it will be to be chasing after her and the dog. Ready or not, she is starting to make her move. Only she seems to have a minor problem. Apparently she is stuck in one gear... reverse!! Luckily she doesn't travel far in this gear, but tonight she found herself in a tight spot that she couldn't quite get herself out of... All she could manage to do was roll over and look to mom for help. Of course before I could help her I HAD to run and get the camera!! I know, I know, mother of the year award here I come! Well, I guess there is always next year to earn that award... :) The pictures were worth it.

Yep, that is our ottoman that she has found herself under!

I can just hear her saying enough with the pictures, just get me out of here!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas...

With Seth's work and school schedule it was starting to look like we were not going to be able to decorate for Christmas. This was not ok with us! I LOVE Christmas and the thought of not being able to decorate was driving me crazy. So I asked Whitney to come over and give me a hand. We tried to get it done while Abby was sleeping, but she had other plans...

Of course it had to pass the taste test!!

A message from our bum to yours...

Belated Thanksgiving

So I know it is a little late, but it has been a crazy week! This is my favorite time of year! I love everything about this time of year. I love Thanksgiving dinner, I love Christmas decorations, Christmas music, Christmas lights, spending time with family, and on and on...

It was so fun to celebrate our first Thanksgiving with Abby. Next year will be more of an adventure since her food won't be out of the jar! Of course this is the time of year that we are encouraged to think about what we are thankful for in our lives.

There is just so much to be thankful for right now! I have tried so many times to start this list and I just have so much trouble putting it all into words. God has blessed us so much, where do I start?? I don't have time to list them all, but here are just a few things I am thankful for:

-God's presence in my life
-My amazing husband who is WAY too good for me!!!
-My beautiful daughter who is so fun to watch grow
-My awesome family who loves me no matter what
-My too good to be true in-laws! We wish we all lived closer. We miss you guys!
-My great friends who keep me sane as a new mommy…
-Abby’s giggles
-Beautiful weather in November
-My husbands job which allows me to stay at home with my baby

Hope you had some time to reflect what you are thankful for as we head into this amazing time of year!

Chores, Chores, Chores...

Everyone has chores to do!! For example, Seth has to take out the trash, and I have to fix all the meals. Well Abby is 6 months already so we figured it is time for her to start contributing to this family... Up until now she has been taking and not giving back!! Well she has officially been placed on the chore list! She is now in charge of the laundry and seems to be enjoying it!!

Abby 6 Months

We can’t believe we are halfway to her first birthday! This was a big month for Abby. She is rolling over all the time now, can sit up all by herself, and she has started eating rice cereal! She saw her Doctor this week and she is 13½ pounds and almost 26 inches long. The Doctor said her bottom teeth are ready to pop through any day now (I am not looking forward to that!!) She is such a happy baby! Enjoy the pictures!!

Please Read Disclaimer First...

DISCLAIMER: ABSOLUTELY NO ANIMALS WERE INJURED IN THE TAKING OF THIS PHOTO!!!

Seth was being a great hubby and shampooing my carpets. They needed it BAD!! There is only one word to explain the reason they look so awful even though we have not lived here very long: AURA.

I love my dog. She really is a great dog. Before we ever got a dog I told Seth I refused to get a dog that sheds. Well as luck would have it, we didn't get to pick our dog, as I stated in a previous post, we got this dog when her owner joined the Army. Well she definitely didn't fit into my requirement of no shedding!! So after Seth had spent many hours working on making our carpets look decent again he decided it was time to do something about her shedding...

Yes, that picture is what you think it is. He is actually vacuuming our dog! Considering the fact that she hates the vacuum already, one would think that she would have been mad at Seth and would have stayed away from him. Oh no, there is nothing he can do to make her mad. She didn't enjoy her "cleaning" at all, but hey at least we had clean floors for a day or two!

By the way someone should tell her that she isn't a small dog... (I NEVER let her on the couch, but I figured with the trauma from her "cleaning" just this once it would be OK...)

I Loved that Show...

Do you remember that cool show with the cute little woodpecker? I used to love watching "Woody Woodpecker." I was willing to get up early to make sure I could watch that show. How could you not love that cute little bird and the lovely song/laugh he was famous for. I remember as a kid thinking the woodpecker was such a cool bird. Man I loved that little bird...



Well, Mr. Woodpecker pecking on my house, you are no Woody! You are not cute! You don't have a cute laugh, and I am no longer willing to get up early to see you! I no longer think the woodpecker is a cool bird. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, but I am grown up now and I am ready for you to move on, the sooner the better.

What a night

It was my year to plan our anniversary celebration. This is our 4th anniversary and the past 3 years we have celebrated in a different state. For our first anniversary we celebrated in North Carolina, for our second anniversary we went to Nevada (Vegas), and last year we celebrated here in Arizona. This year I wanted to be able to do something fun like go to California to keep up the "tradition" but I figured it just wouldn't be much fun to celebrate without a babysitter. I decided we were going to have to do a repeat. Oh well, we knew we couldn't keep up the different state celebrations very long anyway. I have been having some difficulty with Abby's feedings, so I decided the best plan was to do a final feeding then go for a late dinner. Aunt Whitney came over and played with Abby and put her down for the night and Seth and I headed out to the Compass Restaurant for dinner. The Compass Restaurant is in downtown Phoenix and is Arizona's only revolving restaurant. Neither of us had ever been there but I have always wanted to. At first Seth thought it was going to make him sick to eat while spinning, but you spin so slowly it wasn't an issue. We had great views of the entire city. It was a great night with excelent food and awesome company. Can't wait to see what he has planned for next year!

Abby had a blast with Aunt Whitney and left us a message on our camera.

Of course she had to taste it to make sure it was a good messgae...

Yep, that's a good one!!

Big Week Continues...

As I was looking at the calendar this morning making sure I put all Abby's new milestones on it, I was reminded of the importance of this week for Seth and me. Monday was the Marine Corps Birthday. I know that may not seem like a big deal, but as I have heard so many times from so many Marines or former Marines, "Once a Marine, Always a Marine." Seth had guys call him on Monday just to say Happy Birthday...

Today is Veterans Day. This day means so much to me now. I am forever grateful to all the men and women who have served our country. Three years ago this holiday took on an even greater meaning for me. It was three years ago today Seth returned from serving in Iraq. Words can not express the feeling that I felt the minute I saw him walking through the airport. You can tell by the smile that was plastered on my face! Thanks for serving babe, and especially thanks for coming home safe!!

Then tomorrow is our four year anniversary! It is amazing to think that it has been four years already. So much has happened in such a short time. I remember the day we were married and I would do it all over again! I am so blessed to have an amazing husband/soldier/ father and best friend. Wow, four years. We have only just begun!! I can't wait to grow old with you! I LOVE YOU BABE!

Big Week!

What a week!

This has been a big week at our house. Abby hit a few milestones all at once. It is so fun to watch her grow before our eyes!

First Abby started sitting up on her own. She still falls over some, but she is getting better and better. It has been hard to get a good picture because when she is sitting up she wants to look anywhere but the camera so this is the best I could get of the first time she really sat alone...

Then later that same day we FINALLY started her on rice cereal! I have had excuse after excuse to put it off, but finally I ran out of excuses, so we did it. She seems to love her cereal and is doing such a good job eating. We will be adding veggies next. It does add more time to her already long meal time, but I am preparing myself for a lifetime of slow eating. Apparently she likes to savor her food. Nothing wrong with that, unless of course you are in a hurry... She is teachin me to slow down...

In fact our child is so advanced she is ready to feed herself!

OK, so the reality is she is now grabbing EVERYTHING in her reach and everything she gets in her hands go straight to her mouth. Still, it was so cute to see her taking the spoon from Seth and "feeding" herself! She is keeping us on our toes because we are not used to keeping things out of her reach. We are getting ready to child proof our house, yeah, can't wait!

Then to top it all off tonight she FINALLY rolled from her back to her tummy. She has always hated being on her tummy. In fact she has hated it so much that she started rolling from her tummy to her back at exactly one week old! Recently she has started looking like she might give it a try, but she always stops trying once she gets to her side. I was beginning to think that she was never going to make it from her back to her tummy. She still doesn't like being on her tummy much, but tonight she did it. She wanted her toy bad enough to figure it out. (Sorry no pics of this one)

Such big milestones and happening so fast. I have to say I am a little scared because a couple of her next milestones are teeth (just one word OUCH!) and becoming mobile (can't wait to chase her AND the dog around all day!) I can't believe she is almost 6 months old already, where does the time go. We went to the hospital this weekend to see our friends new baby and it made it seem like it was yesterday that we were there!

It's finally here...

We voted today, did you??

We are so ready for today to be over. It seems like this election has been going on forever!!! I have to admit the thought of either of them winning scares me a little, so now it is time to just wait and see...

Abby is starting to giggle more and more. It is so fun. Seth had never heard her giggle until this week. We were sitting on the couch trying to make her laugh, we tickled her, blew raspberries on her belly, made all sorts of silly noises and faces, you name it we tried it, but nothing. She would smile and sometimes give us her lovely high pitched scream, but no sweet giggles no matter how hard we tried. After finally giving up she was sitting on my lap and Seth was sitting near us and he started playing with Aura. Well apparently Aura is much more amusing than us!! We got the camera and Seth played with her and the dog and this is what we got...



I just love to hear her laugh! By the way, she is finally starting to giggle at us more, but the dog still seems to be funnier than us...

Thanks Aunt Whitney!!

Today was a busy day for Seth and me, we both had places to be so we had to call our babysitter Aunt Whitney! Abby is still nursing, which means it is a pain for me to leave her, so we don't leave her very often. It is nice to have family always willing to help when we need a break. It was great to come home to a sleeping baby. Thanks Whit!!

Here is what happens when you leave your baby a camera and Whitney home alone...

it's not easy to take pictures of yourself with a baby :)

Thanks Aunt Whitney!!

I'M BACK!!!

I know it has been awhile since I have had a chance to post. I spent last weekend scrapbooking! Then I spent the next few days catching up on sleep!! I had such a good weekend. The last 2 times I have had a scrapbooking weekend Seth has had a MAJOR dental emergency. The first time he had an emergency removal of his wisdom teeth the day before I left.

(Seth is going to kill me for posting this picture, but hey I have worse ones I could have posted)

The next time I scheduled the first day I was there he sends me a text telling me that he is having an emergency triple root canal!! (sorry no pictures...) I was scared when I planned this one. I had my phone with me the entire time scared of what dental emergency he could possibly call me with... Well we made it. No dental problems this time!

I started working on Abby's baby album. I am loving it so far. I didn't get done as much as I would have liked because I had to take care of Abby all weekend, but I am happy with what I did get done. It was a great weekend of hanging out with good friends and family. Abby seemed to enjoy helping Aunt Shawna with Trevor's scrapbook!

Abby 5 Months old

Surprise #2!!!

Today this is what I saw when my husband walked through the garage door :)





Sure loved my Caramel Macchiato!

Surprise!!!

So my husband came home from work this morning and walked in the front door. This was the first clue that he was up to something, he NEVER comes in the front door. He walks in and says "I brought home a surprise for you!" This was the second clue that he was up to something, he NEVER brings home surprises. He tells me it is in the back yard and to come look. As I am walking to the back door our dog goes to the door and starts barking. Clue number 3, Aura NEVER barks. I timidly look in the back yard and don't see anything, so I open the door and lean out and over by the back gate this is what I see...






















I guess one of his buddies found the dog this morning and they couldn't take it to the shelter at the time. So, my husband who used to bring home coffee from work, now apparently has moved on to bringing home dogs!!

The dog is a great dog. He got along great with Aura. They had fun playing together. Here is a short video of them playing.




He has a new collar (no tags though) and is well taken care of, so we are hoping that his family is looking for him. We took him down to the Animal shelter and got his information so we can call and check up on him and make sure someone comes to pick him up. We would love to keep him if nobody claims him, but I don't think I could handle another dog in my life. I guess we both have a weakness for being dog rescuers. (We got Aura when her previous owner joined the Army and since he couldn't take her to boot camp, He had to find someone to take her. She would have made a great soldier don't you think). So if nobody claims him we will work hard to find someone to adopt him because if we can't I might go crazy...

Thanks for the surprise babe, maybe next time you could bring me home a nice tall decaf Caramel Macchiato stirred!

Atempt #1

I don't know how I did it, but somehow I turned off my coment link for my blog. Since I don't know how I turned it off I am not sure how to turn it back on... Since I LOVE to get coments I decided I needeed figure it out. So here is my first attempt.

I am so Lucky!

Tonight I was reminded of one of the reasons I love my husband so much. He is an amazing father! The past couple of days Abby has started putting up a fight before her evening nap. Seth was sleeping but it was time for him to get up anyway so I took her in to see him and told him she wouldn't let me put her to bed. He got up took her in her room and she stopped crying. I went to see what his secret was and he was in there with her music playing and just swaying side to side with her and she went right to sleep. It was so precious! Fast forward to the end of that nap and I was fixing dinner for us so I asked him to go wake her up and bring her down. She was still swaddled and he brought her down and sat on the couch and just cuddled with her. I just love to see him spend time with her and just loving her. She is such a blessing in our life. Tonight I had to hold back the tears as I thought about the special relationship they will have as she grows up. There will always be a special place in Daddy's heart for his "Little Girl."

Free Haircuts!!

After 8 years in the military Seth has come to love his Marine style "high and tight" haircut. This is a haircut that requires a weekly trip to the barber. Well paying for the haircut and leaving a tip every week really adds up. We decided approximately 6 months ago that we needed to save some money and I would learn how to cut and fade his hair myself. This was a very brave move on my husbands part considering, as most of you know, I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. Well more than 6 months later we don't cut it every week like we should, but we do usually get it done every other week, and I have to say it's not that bad. It was a pretty scary learning curve, there were days that I had to remind him how much he loves me, and how they are after all FREE :) but we have come a long way and I am proud of myself. If I get any better I am going to have to start charging him!!

New Leaf

This week I am turning over a new leaf... I have decided that I need to be a better wife, so I have been working on my meal providing skills. After all I am a stay at home mom now. I can't use work as my excuse... So I am turning over a new leaf.

Since Seth started his new schedule I have been making his lunches for him. For about a year now he has had the same lunch everyday, ham and turkey sandwiches. There were a few exceptions when he was able to take leftovers, but that is not an option right now, so it was back to the usual... I have to say I am proud of him, he really didn't complain about it very much. His buddies would all go out for lunch and he would just bring in his sandwiches and eat them. The guys would sometimes make fun of him and his daily sandwiches, but he just ate them and never complained. Well this week I decided it was time to venture out. I really don't have many options since he really can't take anything that needs to be heated up, so I decided to just spice up what I can do. I started making him wraps. For the first time he had guys jealous of his lunch!! The extra added bonus is that they are so much healthier for him too! I want to venture out with more options, but I am not sure what else I can come up with so for now it is different types of wraps.

Along with his lunches, I knew I needed to step it up with our dinners. This week so far we have tried two new recipes and they have been a huge success!! Last night I needed something quick and easy because I didn't have all the ingredients for the meal I planned to make so I got on a blog my sister in law found with cool recipes and we had Black Bean Quesadillas. One word... YUM-MY!! They were so easy and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. Tonight I made my first ever attempt at lasagna. I got the basic recipe from a friend in our small group then I did something I NEVER do... I changed the recipe!! Yep, you read that right, I changed a recipe. I am usually the one who is yelling at Seth because he wants to change EVERY recipe and I always say that there is a reason it is the way it is, they found this to be the best way to make it, so just follow the instructions... Well apparently my lasagna rocks!!!! Seth's buddy Rhett was over for dinner and told me that it was the best lasagna he had ever had. Wow, that was a compliment. I have always been too scared to take on lasagna, but hey it is this new leaf. I have an entire week of new recipes to tackle. Some are easy, some are a little scary for me, Seth is either going to love this week, or he will smile and keep eating and say "no honey it is good, really."

Daddy's Idea of helping...

Today I was fixing Seth's lunch to take to work. Abby woke up from her nap and was crying. I asked Seth to please get her and bring her down so as soon as I was done I could feed her. I was busy so I wasn't paying attention to what Seth was doing when he came downstairs with her. I heard him say "Daddy knows what you want..." I looked up from what I was doing in the kitchen and this is what I saw...

In case you can't tell, yes that is Les Miles, the LSU football coach! The scary thing is she cried during the commercial and stopped when the game came back on! Don't worry, she loves ASU just as much! :)

Still Swaddling????

Sometimes I think I need a support group. I feel like I should stand up somewhere and say "Hi my name is Lisa, and yes my 4 month old still needs to be swaddled..." Seth and I have tried to stop, but Abby just won't give it up! I have been blessed with a child who has never had trouble sleeping through the night, but the few times we have tried to let her not be swaddled, or the times when she pulls her Houdini act to get out of her swaddling blanket that has Velcro tabs, she wakes up in the middle of the night and won't go back to sleep easily. Seth laughs at me, but I keep telling him that we need to start weening her off being swaddled or she is going to be in college still needing to be swaddled! All my mom friends can't believe we still swaddle her, but hey, it is the only way she will go to sleep or stay asleep! Well tonight just for fun I decided to try to put her down without it for her final nap of the day, and so far so good!! I think I will try to keep her unswaddled (is that a word??) for her naps if she will let me, and eventually maybe she will be ready for an entire night!! Meanwhile if anyone knows of a swaddling support group let me know :)

How Big is your God???

You have to love the adorable things kids say, and the lessons they can teach you. Here are two recent conversations I had to post...

Situation #1:
A few weeks ago when we were in Kansas Seth, Abby and I had the chance to hang out with our good friends Rich & Allison. They have 3 very cute children. We got to spend time with their oldest 2 before we moved, but Camryn was born after we were gone. It was so fun to see how cute she is. She is full of personality and says the cutest things.

Conversation 1:

Camryn: "I am small right now"
Seth: "Yeah but you are going to be big"
Camryn: "Yeah, right now I am this little" (holding her finger & thumb approx 1/2 in. apart)
Lisa: "oh"
Camryn: "Yeah but I am going to get bigger and bigger until I am as big as God"

HOW CUTE!

Situation #2
I think I have the cutest nephew in the whole world. He loves his uncle Seth. He wants to grow up to be just like him. A couple of weeks ago his grandma (my mom) was watching him and that is when this next conversation happened.

Conversation 2:

Trevor: "Grandma, You know God is bigger than the tree."
Grandma: "Yes, Trevor God is bigger than the tree."
Trevor: "and Grandma, God is bigger than the airplane."
Grandma: "Yes, Trevor, God is bigger than the airplane."
Trevor: "And Grandma, God is bigger than the sky."
Grandma: "Yes, Trevor, God is bigger than the sky."
Trevor: "But Grandma, God's not bigger than Uncle Seth."
Grandma: "Uh... no Trevor, God IS bigger than Uncle Seth."
Trevor: "Oh… Grandma, God is bigger than Uncle Seth."

(I just love that apparently in my nephews eyes Uncle Seth is bigger than a tree, airplane and the sky!!)

I laugh every time I think about these two stories, but last night it really hit me. How big is my God? I don't usually post my "deep thoughts," but right now Seth and I have a few friends going through some really tough times. They are all going through very different challenges, but they all are in a place where they have to ask themselves that question. Is God really bigger than what they are facing. It breaks my heart to hear about their struggles, but as I pray for each of them daily, my prayer is that they will see that God IS bigger than what they are going through.

Whether it is problems in your marriage, your job, your health or a struggle with your children, lucky for us, God is bigger than Camryn is ever going to be, and yes believe it or not He is even bigger than uncle Seth! I just love when God uses two 3 year olds to teach such a big lesson.

The Sweetest Sound on Earth!

Today has been a rough day. My poor baby is sick. She had a rough night last night that led to a rough day today. She isn't sleeping well because she is all stuffed up, so needless to say I am not sleeping well either. Just when I thought I was going to loose my mind, I heard it... the sweetest sound on earth. That sound of a baby giggling! Abby had her first real giggle tonight! She has been smiling for awhile, and boy does she like to make noises, but this was the first time that I heard a real giggle. It made all the screams and crying worth it. I worked hard for that giggle and only got her to do it one more time before I put her down for the night, but it was worth it. Now it is off to bed to try to get a little sleep before she wakes up...

Abby 4 Months Old

Yesterday was her 4 month check up and she weighed 11 lbs and she is 25 inches long. That puts her in the 10-25% for weight, and 75-90% for height! She is getting so big! It is fun to see her begin to take on more and more personality. She loves to talk (We have no idea where she get that :-) ) and she loves to smile. She still sometimes gets a little wide eyed when you start flashing pictures, but we just can’t help it. Enjoy!

Let the training begin!!

Last January Jill, one of my good friends, came out from Kansas to run in the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon. Jill is amazing, this was only her second marathon ever, she has done a few more since then, and is now about to run in the Boston Marathon! Anyway, last year we had so much fun driving around to all the spectator locations to cheer her on. I was 4 months pregnant at the time and apparently that was clouding my judgement. I let the excitement of the day lead me to believe that it would be fun to run the following year. Anyone who knows me, knows that I HATE to run. I married into a family that LOVES to run, and I really want to love running, but well, I just don't. I allowed my excitement to get the best of me and said I wanted to run in the half marathon in 2009. Seth decided he wanted to run it also, and we have even convinced others to join us. Now I have to run! AHHH what was I thinking???

Well I wasn't able to train because I was pregnant, but now that my daughter is 4 months old, that excuse is no longer working. I had to come up with a new excuse to not start my training. Living in AZ gave me my next perfect excuse "IT'S TOO HOT!!" Well yesterday my husband took some of his bonus money and bought a cheap used elliptical machine to use when it is too hot to run outside. Now I guess I am out of excuses. So, I did it! I started my first day of training today. I have a LONG way to go and can use all the encouragement I can get! I can't believe how out of shape I have gotten.

For a long time now I have wanted to say that I have run a marathon, so whatever it takes I want to make this happen, even if it is only a half marathon. So every time you see me check on me and give me some encouragement. If you are up for a challenge come join us on that day and run the marathon or half!! If you are a good runner that is great you can run with Seth, if you are a slow runner perfect, I am going to need all the running partners I can get!

Abby has something to say...

My Baby Loves Cross!!

I have been blessed with a child who loves to ride in the car. The only time she seems to cry in the car is when she is too hungry to fall asleep, or if someone is in the back seat with her. When someone is back there with her she doesn't understand why they won't pick her up! Just yesterday we took her aunt Whitney to work and she was in the back with her. She cried most of the way there, once we dropped Whitney off and she stopped crying before we even left the parking lot! She is also famous for crying at red lights, but as soon as we start moving again she stops.

The other day we were driving across town and out of the blue she started crying about 25 minutes into the drive. This was totally out of the ordinary for her, she had just eaten, we were moving on the freeway and she was back there alone, so I had no idea what was wrong. Seth on the other hand says "fine, I will give you what you want." I had no idea what he was going to do, but the next thing I knew he picked up the Ipod turned off the sermon we were listening to and turned on "Cross Canadian Ragweed." She stopped crying right then. We both just laughed. She was done listening to a sermon she wanted to hear Cross!

Otto Open

Like I said before, we just recently got back from our annual trip to Kansas for the big Otto Open. Every year Seth and his brothers take on his dad and his brothers in a BIG golf tournament in the name of his grandpa Otto. This was the 6th year for the tournament. Going into this tournament the "Young Guns" had won 4 years and the "Old Guys" had won once, back in 2005. It is always such a big deal with a lot of trash talking. Last year the "Young Guns" had the tournament of their lives and won the tournamnet big time. Well this year I guess they had some difficulty putting and the trophy made it's way back to the "Old Guys!" Seth has already warned me that he has to play a lot more this year and he has to go better prepared. Any excuse to go play right??

THE CHAMPS!!

This tournament has become sort of a family reunion. It is always so fun to get the whole family together. You never know what is going to happen, but you can be sure at some point "The Band" will make an appearance. This year the band made an early appearance so not everyone got to be there, but Seth's buddy Kris got to join in for the final song. Here are a couple of pictures of the fun. Don't worry, we have videos also!


Uncle dave on the mandolin!

The big encore!

It is so fun to see how the family seems to grow each year. This year it grew by one (Abby) and next year we look forward to having 3 new additions!!

This is always such a fun trip for us, lots of golf, good BBQ, great memeories with family, Hy-Vee cake (yum), time with old friends, and many trips to Sheridan's for frozen custard. What more could you ask for?? Until next year...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Last night we celebrated Seth and my brother Kevin's birthdays. Their birthdays are exactly 2 weeks apart so we try to celebrate them in the middle. We decided to go to Ryan and Shawna's for a "pool party" this year. The water was colder than we thought it would be so it was beginning to look like we were going to have to pass on the "pool" part of the party, but my niece Madison wasn't about to let that happen! She jumped right in and convinced her daddy and uncles to join her!

Trevor gave it a shot, but after jumping in he decided he wanted nothing to do that cold water. Who could blame him! It was so much fun. Madison was on a swim team this summer and she learned how to swim all the strokes and has turned into quite the fish. She challenged her dad and Uncle Seth to a swim "meet" with Uncle Kevin as the official. Madison was so excited when she won all 7 events!

Seth got his XBOX 360 (which he has been playing for a few weeks now!) and money for clothes (he desperately needs a new wardrobe). Kevin was surprised when got his Playstation 3, Madden '09 and money for accessories and games!

What a night.