Finally into 2014!

I always have in the back of my mind that *someday* I will be caught up on getting our family photos online.  I'm not sure why it matters to me, since I'm the only one who really cares that they're there, captions and all, but it does.  It's the closest thing I have to a photo album these days and I'd like to get it captioned while I still remember what everything is. :)

Anyway, I've managed to get another 3 months done - Dec 2013, Jan and Feb 2014.  Yay!

Our "fierce" wrestlers

In the Nov-Dec 2013 album, the December pics include:

• The boys' performances at the OLP Parish Christmas Concert and the school's Christmas pageant
• Decorating for Christmas
• The Christmas holiday festivities

In the Jan-Feb 2014 album, the pictures include:

• Cub Scouts: Pinewood Derby and Polar Camp
• Zach and Alex's first wrestling tournament and their team pictures
• Celebrating Zach and Alex's birthday - a family celebration (also for Grandma's birthday) and an awesome party at Triple Play Sports
• Celebrating Cole's birthday
• Other misc photos - reading time, clearing snow, a talent show at school, etc

A few more to share

Our favorite Maverick!

I'm still plugging away at getting the family pictures up into Flickr to share.  The latest to the site are pictures from October and November of 2013.

In the Sept-Oct 2013 album, the October pictures include:

• Missing teeth
• Family Day at MSU
• A visit from Grandfather Dan
• Cole's band concert at MSU
• The Space Derby at the Cub Scout Pack Meeting
• Halloween

In the Nov-Dec 2013 album, the November pictures include:

• Karen and Joe's night out at the Taste of the Vikings
• Cole's Jazz band concert at MSU
• Celebrating Thanksgiving with family in Chicago

Hey, only a year behind on pictures...

So proud of our college graduate!

Well, things got busy again (surprise, surprise), so it took me forever to get another two months' photos uploaded to Flickr but the August and September 2013 photos are finally up.

In the July-Aug 2013 album, the August pictures include:

• A visit to the Vikings Training Camp in Mankato, MN, where we watched practice and Zach and Alex got to run drills on the field
• Moving Day for Cole as he moved into his dorm at MN State Mankato to start his freshman year
• Cub Scout Pack Camp, which was a "stellar" experience
• Fun at the MN State Fair

In the Sept-Oct 2013 album, the September pictures include:

• A belated birthday celebration for Papa
• Zach and Alex's first day of 2nd grade
• A very special day celebrating a huge achievement for Joe: his college graduation
• Family fun at the MN Zoo

Here's hoping it doesn't take another 7.5 months to get another couple months of photos done. :)

More photos posted - June and July

The photos from June and July 2013 have finally been uploaded.

At Cole's high school graduation

In the May-June 2013 album, the June pictures include: Joe's birthday, Cub Scout Rockets, Cole's high school graduation, Vacation Bible School, Squirts baseball (coach-pitch) and the Marriage Encounter group's camping weekend.

In the July-Aug 2013 album, the July pictures include: the 4th of July celebrated with friends; BBQ Days with the 5K and Kids Fun Run, parade and carnival; Z&A learning to ride bikes without training wheels; the Scott County Fair and demolition derby; and a great day at the park.

Cole as George Gibbs in "Our Town"

We also added a great picture from May, a picture of Cole that was in the Hopkins newspaper from his performance as George Gibbs in Hopkins High's production of "Our Town"

Catching up

The massive amount of photos to sort through from our last two big trips (Disney last Nov and Hawaii in May) got me really far behind on all of our normal family pics. I'm slowly working my way through all of them and am finally caught up through the end of May, plus a couple of fun events this summer!

Scouts and their Den Leader at the Pinewood Derby

Jan-Feb 2013 - Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby, Polar Camp, Blue and Gold banquet and a TV station tour, Cole's Honor Band performance (with video!), his Senior Pops Concert and Cole's 18th birthday
Zach and Alex's 7th birthday - birthday dinner at Osaka and a birthday party at the bowling alley!
Mar-Apr 2013 - a Spring Break trip to the zoo with a friend, Easter fun, and more Scout events including the recognition Zach and Alex got for earning their Light of Christ pins and religious emblems, community service on the City-wide Clean Up day and other fun Pack activities

Cole performs a solo at Hot Club

May-June 2013 - Just has May pictures for now - crazy kids driving the lawn mower, Cole's final high school band concert and Mother's Day brunch
Muckfest MS 2013 - Joe and I got mucky with some friends for the Nat'l MS Society, running a crazy muddy 5 mile obstacle course!

Crossing the finish line together at Muckfest

OLP Ladies Pilgrimage -Karen joined some lovely ladies from church on a pilgrimage and retreat in Eastern WI.

With the addition of the Scout pictures listed above, the Tiger Scouts album is complete with the full set of pictures from the various activities Zach and Alex did as Tiger Scouts

Celebrating 10 years of marriage – Kauai, part 3

A little piece of heaven at Polihale Beach

Part 3 is the last 3 days of our second honeymoon trip. Day 8 was a beautiful day, so we went back up to the North Shore to do some snorkeling at Ke'e Beach in Ha'ena State Park. We bought an underwater disposable camera when we rented the snorkel gear and got some pretty cool pics.

The highlight of Day 9 was a drive out to what I like to call "my happy place," also known as Polihale Beach, to watch the sun set over the ocean. It's a beautiful, secluded beach just south of the Na Pali Coast and is accessed by driving just about to the end of the highway and then driving through rough dirt roads for about 5 miles. Such a perfect way to spend our last night on Kauai - a bottle of wine with the relaxing sound of the waves while we watched a spectacular sunset. (I feel the stress lifting just thinking about it!)

Day 10 was our last day in Hawaii. Our flight left in the evening so we had just about a full day to head south to sunny, warm Poipu where we saw an endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal sunbathing right next to the tourists and locals. We also spent some time exploring Shipwreck Beach, known for its rough waters and some nice hiking, and the natural wonder of Spouting Horn. After once last mai tai at the airport, we were on our way back on a red eye flight home.

This link takes you to the beginning of Day 8, where we stopped at an overlook heading north out of Kapa'a on our way up to Ke'e Beach.

Mahalo and aloha, Hawaii - until we meet again!

Celebrating 10 years of marriage – Kauai, part 2

Part 2 is days 5-7 of our amazing 10 day trip. Day 5 was May 17th, the day of our 10th anniversary, and we celebrated it in style!

Celebrating our 10th anniversary

We started the day with a tour at the Steelgrass Chocolate Farm, where they grow a number of tropical fruits and vegetables, including, of course, the cacao tree. The tour includes a chocolate tasting (yum!) where you blind sample 11 different dark chocolates and try to identify their flavor notes - similar to a wine tasting.
From there, we drove up to the North Shore for a quick stop at the Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge and then on to the St. Regis resort in Princeville where we had a couples massage at the spa and an amazing anniversary dinner at the Kauai Grill, watching the sun set over Hanalei Bay from our table while we dined.

Proud owners of 2 beautiful pieces of art

Day 6 was a low-key day trip to the south side of the island. We shopped the art galleries in Hanapepe and picked out a couple of beautiful pieces as anniversary presents for ourselves. Day 7 was a rainy day, and we were back up at the North Shore where we drove all the way to the end of the road to Ha'ena State Park.

This link to the photo album will take you to the first picture of Day 5 at the chocolate farm. Enjoy - aloha!