Welcome Bryson

Just thought I'd share a peek at my cousin Laura's little guy. Isn't he adorable. If my hotmail date is right, he was born on Easter Sunday, but I thought I heard about it on Saturday??? Anyways, here's the note from Auntie Cindy....

Hello everyone. Wanted to let you know the newest member of the family has arrived!! Bryson Joseph. He was born at 9:30 this morning and he is a real cutie. Tiny bit of hair only---hooray, we love our baldies! He is 20 1/2 inches and get this he is 9 lbs! Laura and baby are doing fine and she will be coming home on Monday (her home) We have little Iszak with us. Poor Bryson sure got his little head and face marked from delivery. But that should clear up soon. He has Shane's chin, but Laura's good looks. For 9 lbs he sure looks tiny, but it does not take long and your arm starts to hurt from holding him---ha ha! WE ARE VERY PROUD GRANDPARENTS AGAIN!!!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD LITTLE BRYSON---A TRUE GIFT FROM GOD

Happy Easter

Before we head out of town for the weekend, I wanted to wish everyone a Blessed Easter. This will be our first holiday without one of the kids. So I have to give a shout out to Levi and Zachery... "Happy Easter" to both of you and all the boys who are serving with you. We miss you and love you.

Back to the home front. Luke still wanted to color eggs this year, and when Meagan found out she came home to help. Just like old times. The girls were having a party at Meg's house but she had to stay and color eggs with Luke. Luke's friends were getting together, but he had to stay and dye eggs with Meagan. Between the two of them the cell phones were going off non stop. Then on top of it they were distracted by Wii.

We finally caught up with the rest of the world and bought a wii, used of course... Craig's list again. We had a wii fit competition to break it in. We were all doing a nice job getting our names on the leader board, then Bob had to join the fun. We spent six hours making and breaking records, Bob steps up and crushes us all! He takes all the fun out of competing. OK not all the fun. It was HILARIOUS watching him beat the Hula Hoop game. It was soooo funny! I had tears in my eyes. Priceless entertainment.

Enjoy your Easter.

Spring Break

How did you spend spring break? I got the privilege of having a sleepover at my niece and nephew's house. Boy do they have energy! I think Brewer is half kangaroo... he was bouncing on everything the entire time I was there.

Usually, I get to see them during the holidays, and they barley give me the time of day. At dinner Brewer shyly said to Mike, "I wanna sit by that lady." And Grace, who is now 5 continuously called me Loni (she's the other auntie). I think Mike and Amy don't come around enough if the children don't even recognize me.

We played every game in the house from card games to wii. In the morning we made a little craft and baked cookies. When it was time to leave they wanted to come home with me.... melt my heart.

So that night we had a sleepover at Auntie Nancy's house. We went swimming in the hot tub, watched movies, and crashed on the couch.

The kids were great, it was so fun to have little cuties in the house for a night. By noon the next day I was wiped! I think my life has changed, my battery definetly needs to be re-energized.

Here are the kids....

Enjoy

A Happy Sprite

Levi came home this weekend. He traveled 8 hrs. with his friends for his Dad’s steaks. You may think that seems crazy until you have had one of Bob’s steaks. For the price of gas and 16 hours on the road, I wonder if the boys thought it was worth it.

The ladies were down for another weekend of scrapbooking, so they had a chef (Bob) for the weekend. Usually, we "pot luck it" on our scrapping weekend. Many of the gals asked for steak sauce. NOT in our house. Bob’s steaks are soooo good, we are not allowed to ruin them with anything but mushrooms. Too funny…. Over the years no one has even asked for steak sauce on steak nights, I guess the rest of the world enjoys a little A-1 with their beef. Well, I’m not sure it Bob’s secret seasonings or the Holland grill we own. I think that grill can make shoe leather taste great. It was nice having a hot fresh meals from the guys.

Anyways, steak, fresh asparagus, salad… along with a cheesy noodle casserole Jessica made…. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm. For all the girls who couldn’t scrap this weekend, you missed out on a good time and good food.

My big brother Matt came down with Dalona. I grabbed my favorite picture from this weekend and scanned a copy to share.

Matt has always has been good for a laugh on vacation. The best was when we were in high school and just dating. The four of us were getting ready to swim and Matt walked out in only his swim trunks and cowboy boots. We laughed so hard we had tears in out eyes.

I wasn’t on this family vacation but the fairy wings on “big, bad, Matt” are priceless. I guess he’s a man secure in his masculinity. Or else his wife is just plain cruel. Either way, it definitely receives my favorite picture nomination!

Enjoy!

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LORDY, LORDY, LOOK WHO'S FORTY!!!

Yep, Bob is officially 40. We had a great weekend celebrating.

Saturday we headed to the casino with Jeremy and Ang. Hopefully they left with more money than us. We left them at 5:00 am money in the hole. Around midnight Tom and Dayna met up with us for "Cosmic Bingo"... loud music, an obnoxious Emcee, and disco lights. Dayna went home with the "Last Call Bingo". She left a winner.

Sunday we went out to Stella's with Meagan and more of Bob's friends. Dayna and Sue convinced Bob that oysters are delicious. Meagan and Bob gave it a try. I thought for sure Meagan's was coming back up. She took the shells home convinced that it was a once in a life time experience.

Tonight we plan to celebrate with Luke, maybe we'll go bowling.

One last thought. Yesterday was our nephew Zachary's 21st birthday. He's over in the trenches in Iraq. He said, "the first thing he's going to do when he get off the plane is head straight to the bar." Kinda takes the fun out of turning 21, huh? Happy Birthday Zach!

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Beach Glass Kit by Ginger Scraps
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Perfection???

After a weekend of snowmobiling up by Mille Lacs Lake I received this email from my mom. She just returned from Mexico. If you live in Minnesota, you’d understand the excitement of “Spring Break”…

“Wow! Let me tell you about this crazy dream I had. I dreamt I got off a plane and felt the warm breeze coming off the ocean .Nice warm sunny weather. Saw the bluest water that you ever could see. Saw the ocean waves. Ate the yummiest food. Real Mexican tacos, fresh lobster, lime soup, papaya. There was many kinds of beer, margarita’s, sex on the beach, piÑa colata's , mohito's, tequila ....and so much more . Bull fights...beaches...beaches, beaches.... bar after bar .Many little shops selling everything you never need. It was all good. Then this morning I awoke..looked out the window and saw 11 inches of snow . What a terrible ending to a beautiful dream…We are back and it was WONDERFUL. There is a "God" and his design of Mexico was prefection.”

It’s funny I was thinking the same thing about Minnesota. We barely take the time to enjoy the beauty of our Minnesota winters. This past weekend we took our snowmobiles up north for an adult weekend of sledding. While they were soaking up the 80* sun in Mexico we we’re bundled up in layers, excited to get out and enjoy the rarely seen Minnesota winter sun with the temperature below zero. The “snow” my mother referred to was still pure and undisturbed. As we cut through Jack Pines, Birch trees, Native Grasses, I was filled with the same awe I can assume my mom was enjoying in Mexico. At one point in the day after traveling miles down the trails we chased a couple of deer back into the woods. When evening came we journeyed through the same scenic paths with the fresh fallen snow glistening in the moonlight. It was such a beautiful day. I could easily say, There is a God and his design of perfection is off the beaten track in snowy Minnesota.

I wish I had my camera along for the ride, so I could share the view with you. I guess you’ll have to take advantage of the Minnesota snowmobile trails yourself, I recommend a sunny day right after a huge snowfall. You won’t be disappointed.

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Dec 20th, 2004 Freebie Word Art Winter/Christmas Titles
Created by Tina Chambers
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Happy Birthday Levi

Happy Birthday Levi!

Here are the kid’s ….Luke- Levi- Meagan

When the kids were little we started the tradition of letting the children choose their favorite restaurant to celebrate their special day at. Over the years we’ve formed the “tradition” of a special meal with just us on THE big day, followed by a party for friends on a weekend close to their birthday.

It’s funny looking back over the years to see how their tastes have changed. McDonalds used to be a favorite… happy meal toys. Then we went through the “Circus Pizza” phase, depending on the type of party they chose to have with their friends. For a few years I remember the ChiChi’s phase, I think I had a little bit of influence back then.

Eventually we wound up being invited to Benihana’s for dinner with friends and the rest is history. Every birthday request is now Benihana’s. Here we are celebrating Levi’s 19th birthday at Benihana’s in Chicago. I’m not sure if the kids even watch the “table show” anymore. This year the kid's even tried some spicy tuna sushi rolls. They weren't fans but then again they're not even fans of the green tea ice cream. Outside of the extras, one thing hasn’t changed, the food was great!

The last time we were in Chicago, Levi wanted steak, I know...what’s new. We found Ichiban’s. I remember my Dad talking about the restaurant when I was little. It was put on my wish list - of things to do when I grow up.

After Eating at Benihana’s the first time, I knew what he was talking about. We have both restaurants in Minneapolis, but I’m a creature of habit so I never ventured out to the “other’ Japanese steak house. It was our first time to Ichiban’s. I have to say the chef was fun. He did tricks we have never seen. We’ve seen them juggle shrimp tails, build the onion volcano, and catch the last tail in their pocket. This chef was very talkative, funny, and he made a train for 5 grown adults. We were definitely smiling at the table. The food was another story, it didn’t compare to what we love at Benihana's. First of all the sauce was missing. Itchiban’s sauce tasted like ranch dressing, we were not impressed. And the portions did not compare. Maybe we were hungrier than usual, but we left unsatisfied. After Levi’s birthday celebration at Benihana’s we all had food boxed up to take home because we were stuffed, or maybe because Bob and Levi ordered a double order of fried rice!

My last thought. His birthday was actually on Fat Tuesday. I wonder when that will happen again. I think it would be great to choose a nice quite place on Bourbon Street for that birthday. I hope he invites me.