He must have been hungry....

A trip to Como Zoo

My mom and I love to take the kids on outings and we try to do a big one before the start of school. Once school starts, it seems they are so busy and it's hard to get away. :(

So, the Tuesday before school started, on "Grandma Day", I took the day off and we went to the local zoo.

I love spending time with the kids and love seeing their reactions to the animals. :)


Tyler and Peyton. Peyton seemed to have an attitude.


My mom, Tyler and Peyton by the ostrich. Even the ostrich was looking at the camera.


Jamie. Doesn't he have just the cutest smile EVER? :)


Peyton

Registering

The other day Mark, Peyton and I went to do some registering. We had so much fun! Peyton sure knew what a baby needed and kept telling us what we needed to get.


Here are Mark and Peyton in front of the store. Yes, I actually took a picture in front of the store :)


Peyton scanning for us. She loved that scanner!


And of course we had to celebrate by having a little ice cream. :)

It was fun and so great to be able to do it with Peyton. These are the times I cherish so much.

I just can't get enough of this sweet boy....

Bemnet turns 10!

I can't believe Bemnet is already 10! It seems like it was just yesterday she came home.

Here are some pictures from her party!


The grandpas playing water balloon toss


Grandpa Bruce in one of the games


Tyler playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey


Danielle, Peyton and Grandpa in the bouncy house....the adults were in there just as much as the kids :)


The birthday girl with her cake


Opening up presents


The sweet birthday girl

Sam turns 3!

These pictures are long overdue. :(

About a month ago, Sam turned 3...yes 3. It's so hard to believe!

Here are a few pictures of his birthday party:


My mom and dad with Sam and his new drum set. He LOVES drums! :)


Sam and his drums


Me, Sam and Mark


the birthday boy


Mark and Sam with his new bike


Sam and his birthday cupcakes


The family put on a skit before the party...very cute!

I'm still alive!!

I want to thank you so much for all the great ideas! I've been sooo busy getting things organized and putting these ideas into action. I've also been very busy getting the paperwork done and pictures collected for our profile. Things are really starting to move along!

Sooooo much to do.

Last night, we had a dinner we had to go to and looked pretty good so we had a photo shoot to get some pictures for our profile with the help of Tyler and Peyton. Bless their hearts, they tried so hard to take good pictures. It took awhile but we finally did get some.

Here are some of Tyler's pictures:


First, he cut off our heads


Then we were a little blurry


Then a little off center


Then Mark's trying to tell him that his finger is over the lens...

And of course, Peyton had her turn:

She cut off our heads


Not just once, but twice...


And 3 times with my head...

But the kids did get some good pictures too. :)

Tyler's:



Peyton's:


And then one I took that I like:

Celebrating our 10-year anniversary

On May 5, Mark and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary. 10 years ago we went up to the North Shore, specifically Superior Shores Resort, for our honeymoon. We go up there every year. This year we stayed for 5 days and it was soooo nice to get away. It was really hard to come back home.

We really didn't do too much. We had a lakeside view of Lake Superior with a jacuzzi room. We mostly stayed in the room and relaxed and watched movies. It was really nice.

The first day, we stayed inside mostly the whole day, being the day looked like this:

Rainy, wet, and miserable.

So, we stayed until it cleared up in the afternoon. Then we went into town and went through a few stores.

We also met a couple animals:



We spent a couple days just hanging out on the shore:

"Where's Tammy?"


"Awww, there she is! Isn't she so beautiful?"

We did go see the Split Rock Lighthouse which is a huge attraction at the North Shore. The last time I had been there was about 20 years ago and Mark had never been there so we decided to go. It was interesting.

We had fun, too:





Here Mark is trying to crank up the light. He's believable, isn't he?


Mark in front of the lighthouse


Mark eating at Betty's Pies, our favorite place to eat at the North Shore. We love eating there. We ate there 3 times while we were up there.

We also saw Chad and Ajay and the kids while we were up there which was really nice. It was great to see them and the kids. We don't get to see them too often so it was wonderful.


Me with Bemnet and Adelaide


Mark and I with Sam, Adelaide and Bemnet

Peyton's gymnastics show

Peyton had her first gymnastics show on Sunday. I was so proud of her! She did really well. :)


Here is Peyton on the bar with me spotting her.


Peyton waiting in line. The kids look like they are having a b-l-a-s-t!!!


Peyton's class. This is one of 5 classes I coach and love. :)


Peyton with her favorite coach...of course :)


Peyton and I on the beam. She's going to take after her auntie and LOVE the beam. :)


Peyton on the beam