Kelly's 50th Birthday

Cory's sister Becci planned a 50th birthday party for their mom.  We had a wonderful time with friends and family.  Kelly got some very interesting gifts.... :)

This is our 5 year old nephew Loki.  He is Cory's sister Becci's son.  He was being silly with this hammock chair contraption.

 LOVE this little guy.  He is such a sweetie!

 Loki playing bags in Kelly and Bill's backyard.

 Loki took a break from the game to take a picture with Uncle Cory.

 Our niece Onnicah and 2 of our nephews (Loki and Elijah).  They found these eye patches and I just had to take a picture.... They are saying ARGH!

 Cory and his mom! 

 Kelly is becoming quite good at this game.  She is giving us a run for our money!

Onni watched the game from the sidelines.

Happy 50th MOM!  We look forward to celebrating many future birthdays together!!!!

The Cabin!!!

We were invited to our friend Nikki and Jason's cabin in Redgranite, WI this weekend.   Our friends Andrea and Brian, Chris and Tiffany were there too.  M.J. teaches kindergarten with Tiffany and Nikki and Andrea teach 2nd grade at Union Grove Elementary.  We had such a wonderful time with our friends and their daughters.  We are truly blessed to have them all in our lives!

 They had these amazing 'air chairs' on the front porch that were SO comfortable.  Ava and I had a little bonding time on one of the chairs before Ava's bed time.

 We had pizza the first night we were there.  As you can see Ava really enjoyed it. :)

 This is Cory with Nikki and Jason's dog, Wrigley.  Wrigley fell in love with Cory and Brian during the trip.  Cory is trying to imitate Wrigley's face in this photo. 

The resemblance is uncanny don't you think?!?!?!?!

 On Saturday morning, Chris and Jason made pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast for all of us.  It was delicious and got us all set for the day's fun activities.

 This is Cory's first attempt at driving a 4-wheeler. 

As you can see, my face is a mix of excitement and fear....

 This is Addy.  She was being silly with a bubble wand.  She loves being at her cabin.

 These girls keep me SANE!  I am blessed to have their laughter and unconditional friendship!!!

 Geez....we need a shower...BAD!

 We ate yummy S'mores on our last night there.

 ?!?!?!  Tiff said she had to rest her eyes for a minute :) 

 Cory had a busy day of 4-wheelin' and wave runnin'.  He took a little siesta by the fire.

How cute is this crew?! 

THANK YOU JASON, NIKKI, ADDY, and JAYDA

for inviting us to the cabin we hope that it will become an annual trip!!!!!

Food, Friends, and Fun!

On Saturday we went to Amy and Matt Hegeman's (M.J.'s teacher friends) new home to celebrate their housewarming and the fact that they are having triplets!!!  It was great to see our friends there along with their adorable daughters.  We had a great time as always!

 This is M.J. with Sadie.  She is such a happy little girl....

 ....and as you can see ADORABLE!

 This is Sadie with her friend Jayda. 

 Gotta love the bubbles!

This is Ava.  Ava is letting me play with the baseball she found at the party.  Ava is Tiffany's daughter.  M.J.'s classroom is attached to Tiffany's at school. 

We wish lots of luck to Amy and Matt and their son Mason with the arrival (sometime this fall) of their triplets (all girls)!  Good thing they built a beautiful new house to accomodate their new angels!

Team America - 6 Year Reunion!

On Thursday, Aug. 4th the girls of 'Team America' gathered in Chicago to celebrate our 6 year anniversary of our trip to New Zealand/Australia.  The 4 of us met when we participated in a graduate school course geared toward learning about a different cultures and teaching in schools in New Zealand and Australia.  We had the time of our lives on that trip and in those 4 weeks became great friends.  We try to get together a few times a year to reminisce and spend time together.  These girls are true friends and are an absolute BLAST to be around!!!!

Bridgette and Jodie - We are on the train headed into the city of Chicago.

Dawn and me also on the train!

The first thing we saw as we got out of the train.

We walked to Millennium Park when we got off the train.  There are many sculptures and architectural pieces around the park.  This one in particular is made from glass bricks and has random faces displayed on it throughout the day.  It also has water pouring down each side and as you can see there were kids and adults running and jumping in the water!

The back side of the glass column.

The other column (there were 2). Every 5 minutes or so the faces look like they are blowing air out of their mouths and then a steady stream of water comes out of their mouths like a waterfall.

Then we walked over to the 'bean' sculpture.  It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Can you see me and Dawn?  We are standing about a football's length away from the bean, but I zoomed in the camera and it looks like we are really close to it.

We're in this one too! Can you see us?

Same photo as above, but zoomed in.

I walked under the bean to get this photo.

I had to get a picture on the other side so you could see the skyline of the city along with the beautiful early evening sky.  I loved this place and want to go back soon!

We decided to eat at a restaurant on Navy Pier.  We took the water taxi instead of the regular ones.  It was only $4.00 and SO worth it!

This is Trump Tower.  Dawn said to stay there for a night it is almost $500.

Is there a city more beautiful than Chicago??

We decided to go to Margaritaville for dinner!   Heaven :)

Of course I had a 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' complete with a big kosher pickle,

Heinz 57, and french fried potatoes :)

Bridgette is preggers so she rocked an O'Douls. :)

Chris and Amy's Going Away Party

Chris and Amy are two of Cory's friends from UW-Madison.  He lived with them for 3 out of his 4 years there at school.  Chris and Amy have lived in Madison ever since.  Chris just finished his doctorate at UW-Madison and they are in the process of moving to Cincinnati where he will be a professor at The University of Cincinnati.  They will be missed.... We look forward to the next time we will see them and wish them all the very best in their new adventure in Ohio!!!!

 Cory with Chris (right) and Joe (top).  Both of them are great friends from UW-Madison.  Joe lives in Chicago with his wife Jaimee.  We hope to have their place be a meeting place for everyone once Chris and Amy move...

 It is great seeing them get together.  Time may pass, life events happen, but no matter what they continue to be friends and pick up right where they left off.  True friendship!!!!

One more for the road... We wish you the best Chris and Amy and love you lots!!!!

Game Night with the Lubies!

Our friends Andrea, Brian, and their daughter Sadie came over to play Euchre!  We also ended up playing bocce ball and sand volleyball on the Kinect.  Great times with great friends!

 This is Sadie!  She is such a happy baby and could she be any cuter?!?!

 Our two 'babies'!  Buffett really liked Sadie and he was really well behaved around her. 

She smiled at him and waved her arms and legs when he was by her.

 Let's just say...the wives kicked the husband's butts!!! 

 This is why I love Andrea! 

She just beat Cory on a game of Kinect bocce ball!

 Andrea is serving in a rousing game of sand volleyball on the Kinect.

Bumping the virtual ball! :)