Busy, busy~!

Looking back the past few months have been busy.  I don't expect that to change anytime soon, as David is still preparing for deployment sometime around next spring.  That means it will be just the girls and I, but still a lot will be going on.  


Last week we spent four nights in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and had a really nice time.  We were able to relax, and not worry about looking at a clock so much; no deadlines, etc.  It is so beautiful up there.... We headed back to the U.S. on a beautiful day, versus the day we left all it did was rain, so no ability to make stops to look at scenery.  We stopped in my second-favorite city of the north, Grand Marais for several hours.  I love just looking in all the shops, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and of course, eating lunch.  We spent the night in Tofte, MN, which was quite eventful due to the fire alarm blaring, and having to evacuate the hotel.  Coincidentally at the same time a bad storm was going on; thunder, lightning, and hail, so the manager thought the storm caused the alarm to go off.  Luckily we we under the awning of the hotel, and not in the pouring rain! Prior to the excitement we enjoyed dinner at the Bulefin Grill at Bluefin Bay.  Not at all over-priced, as I would have expected; great food, great service, and a great view! 


Our trip up north could not be complete without a stop in Duluth.  We were also able to attend David's uncle's 50th wedding anniversary vow renewal.  It was so sweet.  They were remarried in the same church as 50 years ago, using the same vows, and even the same maid of honor and bridesmaids.  The celebration continued at the Proctor Moose; with dinner and dancing.  It was a great time!  Of course, our time with family in Duluth is always too short! 

WHERE does the time go?

Crazy long time since I've blogged! Spring is here, and Easter soon will be here, and again I wonder where the time goes!! Busy lives, busy kids; well, that's just a start.

Our girls are well and growing like weeds. Ashley is busy with school, her job, and a new beau named Jordan. Funny thing is his dad went to HS with David and I, and now they live here. Amanda recently obtained a prized "American Girl" doll, named Julia. The majority of the money came from it being a Christmas gift from us along with other Christmas money. Amanda's friend down the cul-du-sac also has an American Girl so they play with them often. She has only had to be reminded a few times about cleaning up all the "stuff", and to keep it out of Abby's reach. Abby is busy, busy, busy! She talks up a storm, and is always singing her own little songs, which are really different songs she puts together. It begins with "Veggie Tales", and ends with something like "twinkle star". She has grown so tall now, in the 50th percentile, which is strange considering neither David or I are tall. I guess his dad's genes and my grandma's are coming in there.

Above is a photo of how Abby decided to fall asleep one night with a bunch of her "buddies", as she calls them.

Deployment news; we just hurry up and wait on details. We know the approximate time frame and the "new" location supposedly. This destination is a welcomed change, let's just say that. I will post updates as the come. His job is fortunately still with the state, but with that, we hope every day for no budget cuts that affect it...We are grateful and feel blessed.

As for me, I feel like I spend the majority of my time...doing homework! I wish it wasn't that way, but I am a perfectionist. I'm exaggerating probably on how much time, I really try to do as much as I can during the day, while Abby plays, ect. At least I can be home with her. We try to get out for a walk or time at the library for story time. Now that it's nice out, we can walk. Nights are spent with the two little girls, with everything from homework to videos, and everything in between. Someday I will graduate, but like being able to do things at my pace. That pace and homework load will be lightened once David leaves, however. My girls are the number one priority, obviously, then.

Scrappin' Time!

My friend Stacy "kidnapped" me to go on a scrap booking weekend last weekend. We went to the Lady Slipper retreat house, located in Meadowlands, MN. I have been there one other time with her; but she gets there a little more often as it is closer to Duluth. There were 12 of us that stayed for a two-night weekend. I had an opportunity to complete one scrapbook, for Ashley. (Very long overdue!) It was especially fun to use the Cricut of a few different people, which is totally addicting! Lots of chick-flick movies were watched over the weekend, as they have a plasma t.v. in the workroom! The price of the place is not bad for a two-night weekend, if you get 12 people to go, and we split the cost of food which came to a whopping $10! The prices are even cheaper if you can go during the week, which is when I went last time. The "house" is absolutely immaculate, and has the warmest, most comfortable beds! The only downfall is the "odor" of the well water.

Everyone was more than happy to stay in their comfy clothes all weekend, including me; which consisted of my warm-up pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt. Talk about roughing it!

Birthday celebration

A few days beforehand, David informed me that he had to be out-of-town for work on my birthday...Disappointing, but at least he was just out-of-town rather than out of the country, as he so cutely reminded me. We had been deciding how to celebrate, and had been given a few dinner suggestions from friends; one was Kincaid's and the other Ruth's Chris. I coordinated dinner reservations for the evening on the Friday preceeding the 4th of July; which David has off. We voted on Ruth's Chris as our choice and were not disappointed. First we had a cocktail; I chose a pomagranate martini (after being carded) and David had a scotch, and shared some crab-stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. We each had steak, which comes off some crazy 1800 degree grill...and shared some augratin potatoes. Very good. Then we got to share a complimentary dessert of choice--we picked a banana cream torte; it had a white-chocolate vanilla bean custard and a creme' brulee top; spectacular! Many phone calls and of course, FaceBook messages on the actual day made me feel very blessed!

R & R time!

The "couples" vacation we planned with our friends way back in December finally happened! For years, the "boys" of our National Guard friends have been going camping at Birch Lake in Babbitt. A few years ago, some of the "veterans" voted to start staying at the resort, Timber Bay Lodge.

The largest cabin, which we stayed in, sleeps 12-16 people, has a large plasma tv, air conditioning, 2 fridges (plenty of room for beer, etc.) and very comfortable beds. Certainly not roughing it, but certainly more my style... In the large cabin, we had 6 couples and one very adorable Golden Retriever, named "Chief". In two other smaller cabins we had more couples, along with 2 chocolate labs. The dogs were all very well behaved and hilarious to watch on the boats...One of our friend Jack's two chocolate's is still a puppy ("Guiness), and liked to jump in the water after Jack's bobber...sure that scared the fish away! Guiness' big brother, "Chip", was not impressed by the water or floating "ball" at all.

The first day we got there we were suddenly greeted - right behind our cabin, by a black bear cub. Pretty cool! The resort owner has a HUGE NewFoundland dog, which they then used to scare the bear up the tree until the DNR could get there. The dog, known as "Timber", could be more of a bear than a dog at a quick glance! On day two, they ladies drove to Ely, only 15 miles from Babbitt. We had breakfast at the Chocolate Moose; yum! We just strolled around town looking at all the giftshops and then went to DQ for ice cream. The boys were almost always fishing in both the morning and evening. The ladies opted for a little less fishing time, and usually only went after dinner. Every day we had a "pool" for the biggest walleye caught; just $1 to put your name in. Very serious competition, however; more about the bragging rights than the size of the prize! On Friday, the rookie fisher of the group (ME) caught the winning fish, at 16". I think I was so excited, because I got to beat Jack who is very competitive about the fishing. It was all in good fun.

The rest of our time was spent playing Cribbage, cards and just visiting. Oh, and did I mention drinking?! Many people woke up in the morning and made a bloody mary; which I now like if the proper mix is used, and needs to have seasoned salt on the rim.

We had so much fun spending time with our close friends who we don't get to see often, along with some new friends as well. The boys have officially invited the girls back for next year. In Sept, the boys have their annual trip planned, which I guess the really big fish are out for. That trip can include two of our friends who just returned from Iraq.

I have a picture of my winning fish below: To my right is our good friend, Glenn. I was in Glenn's boat, with him and his wife Deb.

Confirmation

The past two years of preparation towards Ashley's Confirmation has come to a close. It is so hard to believe she is this grown up... (tear). The ceremony was held at St. Paul Cathedral; which I had only been inside once to look around. It is so beautiful, I could have spent hours looking at all the details. Our church is gigantic, having 150 of the 200 Confirmation candidates for the service. I was truly impressed at how well they "ran the show" with so many candidates and observers (the place was packed). The service lasted about 1 1/2 hours, and then they had time afterwards for group pictures with the Bishop. Pretty cool. Pictures outside were difficult due to it being extremely windy and cold, but Ashley was a trouper. I love this photo; thanks to my dad-he had the capitol as the backdrop.
Inside the Cathedral - Sheila (sponsor) and Ashley


One-third of the St. Ambrose of Woodbury group-(Ashley 4th from L)

After the service we had a small lunch reception back at our house, there were about 12 of us. We had ham, turkey, cheese, harvest potatoes, fresh fruit, and mini cheesecakes for dessert. It was a long day but a beautiful service which we were able to share with family and friends on such a special occasion.

"The Nook"

It's kind of funny that our friends who live in Duluth actually highly recommended a fabulous burger place in the cities... It's called Casper's and Runyon's Nook. Located in St.Paul, off Hamline and Randolph Ave's. Then David asked one of his "local" co-workers about it, and her response was "yeah, really good burgers!!! To my surprise, David asked to take today off work so I decided we would go on an adventure and find it. We get there at about 5 minutes before opening and there's already a line forming outside the door... The burgers were spectacular....I had something called the Triple-B; cinnamon-brown sugar bacon and cheddar cheese. The fries were also very good; not overly greasy, skin-on fries and really crispy. Not the biggest place in town by any means, but darn good place if you're in the mood for a realy good burger. David had the Paul Molitor; a pepper-jack cheese stuffed burger. Speaking of stuffed, I am very stuffed! A fun way to splurge at a local favorite!