In the Picture

brooke 31/52

2010-03-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

so it's pretty much been a year (or more), and I am only on 31/52.... boo me... I tried.

This next year, I want to copy a fav. photog of mine (http://tarawhitney.com/justbeblogged/) and do a family photo of some sort (all 5 of us) but only 1 time per month... manageable? hope so.. I will try to begin in April. I am thinking of continuing to post on here.. any one else game?

This photo... We are all at a nature center on one of these last BEAUTIFUL days... I ask, can we please all sit here on this nice brown grass and get a photo for mama in the picture??? Do you think they wanted to take the picture, or climb the trees?

Emily 35/52

2010-03-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

Baking Grandma Pat's Peanut Butter Cookies.... messy but fun!

Betsy, 51/52

2010-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 28, 2010

I was hoping to say that we took these photos outside of Thunderbird Lodge right after the U.S. beat Canada for the gold in hockey at the Olympics. But I guess we'll have to settle for silver, which burns a bit living so close to the Canuks. Oh, well... Joe got some chicken wings and beer and Ethan got this cool dude balloon out of the deal anyway. Still a great Sunday afternoon.

Emily 34/52

2010-03-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

The kids surprised me with a bit of dress up the other day. These outfits were gifts from "Griffin's Kim" from when she visited India.

Emily 33/52

2010-02-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Dreadfully behind - so I'm using a photo Rowan took for me to blog about a sewing creation. Just so happens that Griffin decided to "t-rex" himself next to me.

Betsy, 50/52

2010-02-21T11:58:00.000-08:00

Saturday February 20, 2009

Yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day in the 30's. So we packed up the truck with enough stuff for an afternoon of fishing and fun on the lake. In the end we got skunked! But we had a great time and even stopped by Thunderbird Lodge on our way home for drinks, french fries and lemon slices (Ethan's new favorite!).

Betsy 49/52

2010-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 14, 2010

Valentine's Day!!

We spent the weekend in Taylors Falls, MN because Alison and I hosted a baby shower for baby Wyatt, Ethan's 1st cousin on my side who's due to arrive April 4th.

My Mom grew up in Taylors Falls, near where my brother Casey and his Fiance Jeni (baby Wyatt's Mommy and Daddy) live now. Most of the Rivards (Mom's maiden name) still live in and around Taylors Falls, including her parents.....Ethan's Great Grandparents, Leland and Delores (Sellman) Rivard.

We went to church with them Sunday morning and then out to breakfast at the Chisago House, a long standing family tradition. I wanted to take this picture of the 4 generations for Ethan, but it wasn't easy....Ethan was NOT in a picture taking mood, he was far more interested in Grandma Rivard's ironing board. Ironing boards are his newest obsession and anyone who has one is on his coolest people list!

Betsy, 48/52

2010-02-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Monday February 8, 2010 We celebrated Miss Moxie Magnolia Roo's 2nd Birthday on Monday. Following the tradition we started last year she got a meatloaf Birthday cake frosted with mashed potatoes all to herself. I'm not sure who was more excited, Ethan or Moxie. Ethan helped us sing the Birthday song and then blew out Moxie's candles and said "Moc, Habby Birtday Moc!" Watching Mox dig into her cake was so enticing Ethan had to get his tasting fingers in their too and help Moxie share her cake. Here's to another great year with our family mascot, the best dog ever....Moxie!!

Betsy 47/52

2010-01-31T09:24:00.000-08:00

Sunday January 31, 2010We were out this morning for a ride around the lake on Daddy's snowmobile. It can be quite an ordeal to get snow pants, snow boots, hat, mittens, scarf, and jacket on. But once their on he doesn't want to go back inside. Daddy took this picture of us with a "cool" pine cone Ethan found! This past Friday was Ethan's 18 month well child visit in Duluth (where we got the too cute new hat he's wearing in the pic). He's at the top of the height chart...32 1/2 inches, and the bottom of the weight chart...24 lbs. 5 oz. Long and lean his doctor said. Hard to believe we've already hit the year and a half mark. I think now we measure time in half years instead of months.

Emily 32/52

2010-01-29T10:22:00.001-08:00

The kids and I excavated a Triceratops from a chunk of rock.... on a watermelon tablecloth :)

Woefully behind on these posts, but recommitted to the project again.

Betsy, 46/52

2010-01-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

Tuesday January 19, 2010 Post nap is one of my favorite snuggle times. Seems the world is full of sunshine and love when I see this little face look up at me and smile, so I held out the camera and snapped this one of us.

brooke 30/52

2010-01-14T21:35:00.001-08:00

Cashi took this...

Grady took this...

Vada was sleeping :(

brooke 29/52

2010-01-10T21:02:00.001-08:00

too cold out to play... sick of the wii... vada is sleeping... time for a butcher block paper city!! complete with skyscrapers/stoplights/city fountain (Grady) a big tree with snakes and pigs in it (Cashen) and a farm (me)...

Betsy, 45/52

2010-01-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday January 9, 2010So even when it's FREEZING cold outside (22 below this morning!), you can still enjoy a good ol' ice cream cone!
Ahhh....what I admire most about being little is the ability to fully live in and enjoy the moment. I think Ethan's got it figured out here....it's the lesson he's taught me today, so I thank you little man for modeling it SO well.

brooke 29/52

2010-01-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

my lens (my good lens) is at the dr. for 6 weeks!! I am on about week 3 right now and I miss her soooo much! so here is a batch of self portraits with the lack of my decent indoor lens - a dirty mirror and a flash! yikes!

played with processing on these....

Here is Cash's turn at taking our pix... LOVE IT!

Betsy, 44/52

2010-01-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

Thursday December 31, 2009Good bye 2009!! This is our official last shot of the year....actually the decade. Little man didn't quite make it to the new year but we took this family photo at midnight anyhow. 2009 was Ethan's first full trip around the calender and I hope we are blessed with a lifetime of more. Happy New Year everyone!

Betsy, 43/52

2010-01-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Friday December 25, 2009

Christmas Morning!about to enjoy our hot homemade cinnamon rolls... a Mere's family Christmas morning tradition
So much excitement! Hard to believe you get presents in your socks and a whole candy cane too! Merry Christmas my little goose!!

Betsy, 42/52

2010-01-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Wednesday December 16, 2009Happy Birthday to me! Today I turned 34 and my wonderful husband made me my traditional birthday supper: marinaded wild grouse over a bed of wild rice with asparagus and brussel sprouts, AND a cheese cake with strawberries for dessert! Thanks to my boys for another great birthday!!

Betsy, 41/52

2009-12-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday December 13, 2009 Take two on the family Christmas photo....this one's a keeper. Too bad we couldn't take one outside but it was 16 below with a windchill in the negative 30's. Guess it's really winter now ready or not.

Betsy, 40/52

2009-12-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

Sunday December 6, 2009

So today we attempted a family Christmas card photo.... I think the getting ready part was too much for Ethan because this was out best shot...(notice not even the gum in this mouth could turn his mood around). Oh well, maybe the "perfect" family Christmas photo isn't in the cards for us this year.

Betsy, 39/52

2009-12-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Week in Maine!Picking out Lobsters for dinner.....

Enjoying a poo poo platter while out for Chinese.....

Meeting Auntie Karyn and Uncle Steve's chickens....
What a fun week we had with Nana, Pop Pop, Auntie Beth, Sam & Lucy!

Betsy 38/52

2009-12-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday November 21, 2009

Off to Maine for Thanksgiving with Joe's family!! Entertaining a little guy for a few hours on a small plane with no place to go can be a challenge... but suckers and cookies from wonderful flight attendants can make all the difference. I even brought gum for the take-offs (Ethan LOVES gum...not sure 16 month-olds are supposed to have gum) but he swallowed it every time before we even got off the ground. All in all he did great considering we had three flights each direction.

Betsy, 37/52

2009-12-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Wednesday November 11, 2009Before bed we read quite a few books if we're not too tired. This book is Ethan's favorite: My Little Fish House by Alice Palace about a little boy named Marvin who goes ice fishing with his Daddy. He LOVES "the Marvin book"!

Emily 31/52

2009-11-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Griffin talks with his hands - a lot. Here he is showing me just how big a t-rex was... or is. Seems that they are very much alive with how obsessed this one has become :) Rowan took the pic for us...

Emily 30/52

2009-11-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

Orchard take 2! I don't think Griffie loved me here. I ( Brooke) snapped a this shot of Em and her kidlets in the orchard.

Thanks for the fun day peeps!

Brooke 30/52

2009-11-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Brooke, Cash and Vada met up for a play date with us (the Thoms) and our friends Becky and Alice today. We spent a few hours at the Pine Wood Apple Orchard in Delwood. I (Emily) snapped a shot of Brooke and the kidlets in the orchard. She took some of us to post too - guess I got the better end of that deal :) BUT - they are so dang cute naturally that even I could not wreck the shot! Thanks for the fun day!

brooke 29/52

2009-11-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

Can you guess what we all are?

Ok, I will tell you... Since I didn't get the kidds any costumes early this year, and then we got ~~swined~~ H1N1 a week before Halloween, and were still ~~swined~~ sick ON halloween, we decided to get creative...

Vada was borrowed her costume from her God-mama, and it fit her sickly grumply mood on that night...
Cashi REALLY wanted to be the black spiderman? Lucky for me, he was tickled with the black bat-boy costume I came up with...He wanted to sleep in the headpiece, but since the ears and chin were secured with pins, we decided just the mask would have to do... and yes, the bat he is holding is a glow in the dark bat toy that we mask-taped to his shirt..
Grady decided a 'Zombie Hunter' would do...
and I went with the theme of the week... H1N1. oink oink

Betsy 36/52

2009-11-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Thursday November 5, 2009

We took one last boat ride of the year with Grandma and Grandpa out to the island property today. It was sunny and beautiful but still chilly enough to require some bundling up. Nothing like a morning of fresh air and cold noses to remind you how wonderful fall is! Thanks for the cute pic Nana!

Betsy 35/52

2009-11-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday October 31, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!We took our little beaver into town to go trick-er-treatin' for his first time. He was amazed that people kept putting candy into this plastic pumpkin Mom was having him carry. So many suckers it was over whelming huh little man!! It was awesome fun even though we only went to a few houses. And except for the one package of animal crackers and the suckers, all of the rest of the candy mysteriously disappeared overnight....I wonder where it went....... Daddy??

Veronica - 33/52

2009-11-02T20:00:00.000-08:00

29 October 2009

Again with the crazy stuff on our heads. I really don't know how this started, but I was happy to join in the fun.

Veronica - 32/52

2009-11-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

18 October 2009

Jake and I celebrated our 7th anniversary today. Jake's parents watched the boys yesterday so we could take a drive to St. Croix Falls for lunch and enjoy the fall day together.

We laid low on our actual anniversary. I think Sundays make great nap days. Before everyone crashed, we spent a little time reading.

Veronica - 31/52

2009-11-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

13 October 2009

Somehow, the buckets we were playing with ended up on our heads.

I think Lincoln looks like he belongs in the marching band in this picture.

Finally, here's my budding photographer. We're working on camera position :)

Veronica - 30/52

2009-11-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

8 October 2009

Fall trip to the park. I forgot my "regular" camera, but was reminded by two teenagers who were taking pics with their phones that I had a backup in my pocket.

Betsy 34/52

2009-11-01T15:45:00.000-08:00

Monday October 26, 2009

We were in Duluth Monday for Ethan's 15 month well baby visit with his pediatrician and we decided to have lunch at Old Chicago on the canal. So here we are having a good time, waiting for our pizza.

brooke 28/52

2009-10-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a memory - it's called 'we can't go trick or treating, so we will just carve a million pumpkins with our masks on'... go away stupid H1N1!!

brooke 27/52

2009-10-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

family in town called for a picture :)

Emily 29/52

2009-10-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

I do love fall - it is my very favorite season. All sorts of good things happen in the fall -my birthday, both kids' birthdays, bon fires, high school football (which I have not attended in years, but still love the thought of), back to school, apples ready to pick, halloween... and falling leaves! The kids and I raked the front yard today. Well, to be more precise, I raked and they jumped in the leaves. Then I jumped around in the leaves a bit too!

Emily 28/52

2009-10-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

We celerated Rowan's 7th birthday in Duluth at Boo at the Zoo this past weekend. Here is Rowan in her Gypsy ensemble getting ready to trick-or-treat.

Betsy 33/52

2009-10-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday October 18, 2009Today was possibly the last decent day before old man winter really clamps down on us. So this morning Joe headed out to his deer stand in hopes of some meat for the freezer with his bow and Ethan and I canned some applesauce and made a crock pot of venison stew to bubble all day long. Joe came back skunked and so we spent the afternoon outside putting the gardens to bed and pulling the boat and generally getting the outside ready for winter. We carved pumpkins yesterday and so here we are by the pumpkins on the deck of the lodge.

A side note: the tiny "pumpkin" Ethan has tucked in his jacket is from the plant we bought at the greenhouse in the spring and had such high hopes for....I don't even think it was a pumpkin but instead some kind of gourd, and unfortunately too small to carve! Maybe next year E!!

Betsy 32/52

2009-10-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday October 13, 2009

Joe's folks; Ethan's Nana and PopPop came all the way out from Maine to visit us for a week! They even towed out a trusty old Saab that Joe's dad had been working on and gave to us so Joe could use it for his commute to work instead of the old Dodge pickup he had been using. Hopefully we'll go from about 15 miles per gallon to around 25! Any how we had a great time hanging out with them while they were here....Ethan even said Nana? Pop Pop? for a week after they left wondering where they went to.

Betsy 31/52

2009-10-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 3, 2009

So This is going to be a weird post until I get the photo.......

My new sister in law to be (YEAH!) who also found out recently that she and my brother will be expecting a baby in April (YEAH!! YEAH!!) has yet to send me the photo she took of Ethan, Joe and I out to dinner with "the annual duck hunting opener party/ Grandma's 60th Birthday party" at Thunderbird Lodge. So this post will be updated!

Emily 27/52

2009-09-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

Excuse the messy house. We are real busy. We are playing with dinosaurs today - although "playing" seems to be code speak for his dinosaurs eating mine and lots of roaring!

brooke 25 and 26/52

2009-09-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

pumpkin patch :)

Veronica - 29/52

2009-09-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

27 September 2009

I know this post is close to the 28th picture I posted, but technically they were taken in different weeks, so I'm just going to go with it. :)

We were invited to our friends' house for dinner on Sunday night, so we said we'd bring dessert. Nolan was a big help - he cracked eggs, stirred the brownie batter, and helped scoop it into the pan. I really hope his interest in helping in the kitchen continues as he gets older!

Veronica - 28/52

2009-09-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

25 September 2009

Just a tired mom hanging out on the porch watching Sesame Street with my boys.

Veronica - 27/52

2009-09-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

22 September 2009

Lincoln recently discovered the Garfield slippers I received from my brother many Christmases ago. (They were tucked in the back of my closet just waiting to be found.) After the kids took turns wearing them, I was talked in to putting them on as well. We had fun racing around the house chasing each other before bedtime. Poor Maverick didn't know what to think of all of the commotion.

Betsy 30/52

2009-09-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday September 27, 2009

I gave Ethan his first haircut Sunday. Here's the before and after....despite his semi-grumpy look, he actually held very still and closed his eyes while I did the snipping. Kind of an emotional moment for me. One more step in becoming a little man!

brooke 24

2009-09-28T09:53:00.001-07:00

our last nice day of the year??? it was a beauty - saturday, we spent the afternoon on the deck and in the yard... here the boys had made a pirate train with the deck chairs (they were actually both in time-outs in the chairs and it turned into a imagination game of what to do in the time-out chairs because me and B were busy with yard work and kinda forgot to let them out). Vada and I joined in on the fun for a little.

Emily 26/52 SURPRISE!

2009-09-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Em didn't know I was posting this, hope you are happy I did :)

I got the pleasure of a family session for Em and her family this past weekend and although these shots won't be in her album, I thought they were 'in the picture' worthy!

I will blog a few more from their session later this week on my photo-blog: http://www.tadpolephoto.blogspot.com/

Here is Em wrangling the troops for me...

Betsy 29/52

2009-09-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday September 19, 2009

What would summer be without a good ol' hot dog roast I ask?!? Since we've been blessed with such warm, beautiful late summer weather up here, we decided to finally take advantage of it. So we packed up the old boat and headed out to the family cabin at the end of Stop Island and enjoyed Ethan's first campfire hot dog experience! After dinner we putted home in the dark and stared up at a sky loaded with brilliant stars. What a lovely evening. Ethan is still walking around the house saying: HHHOT DOGGGG!!!

Betsy 28/52

2009-09-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday September 13, 2009 Sunset at city beach in Rainer after an evening cool-down swim.

2009-09-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Betsy 27/52

2009-09-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

September 4th-7th, 2009

Ethan's Labor Day weekend adventure!

Thursday.... I had a photo shoot with Brooke, who is an old friend

of Momies. She is the best photographer in all the land!

Friday..... My 1st trip to the State Fair!

We rode the early morning free church shuttle bus..

Petted pigs, goats and sheep..

(I really took a shine to the goats!)

Ate my 1st fried food on a stick with Daddy, hit the giant slide

and even rode the rickety old gondolas!

Saterday......Visited the Garbe homestead on the St. Croix River

for maybe the last time before it is sold.

Mommy spent her summers here when she was a little girl.

Sunday..... We loaded up the truck and headed for home but we
had a tire blow-out on 35w near Barnum and consequently we had
road-side picnic with Nana while Daddy worked on the truck. Mommy stapped
a nice wet towel to my head with her headband to keep me cool!

Veronica - 26/52

2009-09-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

11 September 2009

Birthdays have a tendency to get celebrated slightly late in my family. (Not the kids' birthdays, just the adults.) My brother's birthday was back in March, but we just got around to celebrating it today. Guess that makes it his half-birthday party. The kids loved helping their Uncle Tony blow out candles and open presents. Nolan especially enjoyed showing Tony how the Nerf gun he gave him worked. My mom is going to be finding suction cup darts in the house for a while...

Veronica - 25/52

2009-09-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

7 September 2009

Just goofing around with the kids' sunglasses. Lincoln has his on and I'm wearing Nolan's since he didn't want to have his picture taken with us.

Veronica - 24/52

2009-09-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

28 August 2009

Jake came home from work and noticed the wagon train we were making in the backyard. Nolan's the engine, Lincoln is the box car, and Maverick is the caboose.

Veronica - 23/52

2009-09-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

21 August 2009

We were going crazy after being cooped up inside for too many rainy days, so we met Nana at the Maple Grove Maze. Turns out we weren't alone. It seemed like everyone had the same idea we did!

Veronica - 22/52

2009-09-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

15 August 2009

Family wedding in Faribault. While we were waiting for the wedding party to arrive at the reception hall, we pulled out our folding chairs and watched for trains in the American Legion parking lot. (We actually saw one come by. The engineer waved at the kids - they loved it!) Here, Nolan is sitting in my lap while we talk to my dad about the components on the electrical pole in front of us and Lincoln is picking at the asphalt.

Emily 25/52

2009-09-08T06:59:00.001-07:00

We spent Labor Day at the lake. My mom snuck a quick shot for me of the monsters and their mama relaxing. I think my sun glasses went wonky when I smiled. Notice Rowan and I have freakishly similar hand placement in this pic? And Griff must be sad because he is not wearing a tux.

Emily 24/52

2009-09-08T06:57:00.001-07:00

My mom and I brought my monsters and niece to the State Fair last week. Here we are BEFORE we ate our weights in deep fried heaven. Sad (for me) that my niece is almost as tall as me now...

Betsy 26/52

2009-09-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 29, 2009

Saturday we took Ethan to the Northern Minnesota District Fair in Littlefork. Now, let me tell you, I was expecting a small fair, but this one takes the cake for the smallest fair we have been to yet! I think there were maybe a whole half dozen of us fair-goers browsing around looking for something to look at. The poultry barn had a total of 5 birds....one cage of 2 chickens and one cage of 3 ducks. I had to ask the corn dog man if he could make us a corn dog (he wasn't set up yet and it was noon!) Needless to say we found a goat for Ethan to pet and a Lion's Club beer garden for Joe....which made both my boys happy in the end.

brooke 23

2009-08-31T20:23:00.001-07:00

Trying to do all the 'fun' stuff we haven't gotten to yet this summer, quickly, as my big guy starts school next week and my little guy starts preschool the following week!! Summer always goes too quickly! Here's a few from a fun day at the MN Zoo. My sis came too, it was a lot of fun - especially since Vada was free and I scored 2 free zoo passes from the library!! WOOT WOOT!

LOVE this one of my sis, G and miss V's rear end :) She really wanted to do the pix thing with big bro and auntie!

Betsy 25/52

2009-08-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

Friday August 21, 2009

Friday was the Elk's annual all-town brat and corn feed. We showed our support by feasting on my little man's favorite....CORN!!

Betsy 24/52

2009-08-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday August 12, 2009

This was a gorgeous day... a rarity to have the sun, heat and no-wind tri-fecta up here this summer and so we hit the lake for an afternoon of fun with Aunt Ali and Daddy who played a little hooky from work. This was Ethan's first swim in Rainy Lake and he LOVED it! I think he's going to be a water bug!!

brooke 18, 19, 20, 21, & 22/52

2009-08-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

catch up - AGAIN!!

can you tell how excited Cash is to have his pix with mom??

Like mother like son:

Hike at Joseph E Wargo Nature center - cool place! Thanks for the great photos Gray!

BBQ with the Tinks, crafts, playtime and TOO MUCH WINE!!

Emily 23/52

2009-08-20T15:15:00.001-07:00

Rainy days make for antsy kids. I dragged myself away from the sewing machine so the kids could have a restaurant experience for lunch today. We had menus, a tablecloth, candles, wine glasses with Kool-Aid... what more could you ask for? I let them go and get themselves all gussied up. Rowan even wore perfume :) Notice the waitress/chef is still wearing her jammies!

Emily 22/52

2009-08-16T09:47:00.001-07:00

Dave's band played last night for another Breast Cancer benefit... so we are a bit tired today and decided to be lazy. I was up way past my bed time and a few drinks really kick my butt the next day these days, old lady that I am :)

Here is our picnic lunch in the frog tent. Well, their lunch, my 32nd coffee! Griffin could not be bothered to stop chewing long enough to snap a shot, so I apologize in advance for his full mouth. Oh, and my make-up less self as well!

Emily 21/52

2009-08-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

The kids and I filled up the pool in the yard and relaxed a bit last week. Here we are trying to keep cool and chill-axin' Thom style...

Betsy 23/52

2009-08-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 8, 2009

How do you make a fussy guy into a happy one?? Have a tub bath in the living room of course!!

brooke 15,16&17/52

2009-08-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

so you caught my horrid attempt to catch up... I figured if I posted 3 pix, with different amounts of kids, we could call that 3?!?

These are from last week - on my annual Grady day... just before we left for Comotown, Chinese buffet and G-Force (the talking guinea pig movie).

my very handsome date and I at the butterfly garden...

Betsy 22/52

2009-08-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 1, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday to my little man Ethan!!hangin' with the ladies in our party hats...

Enjoying my favorite corn on the cob...

Mom ending my cake-time fun!

taking a spin on my new tractor!

I love you sooo much little goose, can't wait to take another trip around the sun with you!!

Veronica - 21/52

2009-08-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

4 August 2009

We spent two days up north this week. It was the first "vacation" type trip we've had in a while...maybe ever (with all 4 of us, that is.) The sun was out, but the lake was chilly. The second day we were there we took a bike ride with the boys. Here are the kids are all decked out in their helmets.

brooke 14/52

2009-08-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

B took Grady norte for the weekend, and pretty much everyone else that we would typically hang with on a weekend was away or busy... so it was me and my wee ones... we did some serious playing - Lego's, reading, little people, forts, parks - you name it... it was great :)

Here we are before church reading the Lego book (the little catalog that comes with Lego sets) for the millionth time... We didn't make it to church until the 11 am service because we all slept (the 3 of us all in my bed) until 8:17 am - RECORD!!!

Betsy, 21/52

2009-07-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

July 24th-27th.... Last weekend in July 2009!!

Summer Vacation to the Chequamegon Bay in Wisconsin

A whole bunch of firsts......

first night in a tent,

first time picking blueberries at Blue Vista Farm,

first "swim" in Lake Superior! Brrrrrr!!!!

(and my first time caught on camera picking my nose! oops!!)

Emily 20/52

2009-07-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

Funny how thrilled the monsters are with a few poles, some rope, tent stakes and my favorite vintage thrifted sheet. We've used this sheet for many things this summer - beach blanket, picnic table cloth and now as a cabana. They played in here all day today. Here we are in their somewhat pathetic little cabana...sorry for my dirty bare feet.

They had a picnic lunch in here, which I was not invited to. I guess part of what makes this cool is being able to have a spot that is just theirs. They had some root beer in these cups - but they kept calling it their coffee.

Emily 19/52

2009-07-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here are Rowan, Griffin, and I at the Corn and Clover parade in Hinckly. I'm not sure why Griffin is flashing his belly - he is 4 though, so there may not be a real reason. Just 'cause, probably.

Betsy 20/52

2009-07-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 18, 2009

Strawberry Time!!!

So we took our little goose a pickin' and boy did he think he had discovered berry heaven!!

He just sat on the straw in between the rows and shoved as many berries into his mouth as his little hands could grab!

We were all covered in red stains by the time our buckets were full but it was SO worth it!

Veronica - 20/52

2009-07-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

18 July 2009

Saturday was the 2nd Annual "In Nissedalen I Like to Be" gathering at Jake's grandparents' cabin up in Nisswa. And for the second year in a row, all of the cousins lined up on the dock for a group photo. What a crew!

Lincoln and I also did a little fishing off the dock. (This shot is compliments of Grandpa Dave way up on the lawn.)

Veronica - 19/52

2009-07-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

12 July 2009

We take freezies very seriously in the Sheck household.

Emily 18/52

2009-07-20T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here are the monsters and I last weekend in Canal Park. Brrr... it was cold up there!

Betsy 19/52

2009-07-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 12, 2009

Sunday we decided to take a drive down to check out Kabetogama's Lady Slipper Festival for the first time. Here we are pointing to said Lady Slippers in a small patch just off the main festival area.....they were nicely labeled as you can see so everyone could get a close photo opp with what we were all celebrating.
The whole festival took place in a mowed out area on the side of a county road across from the township hall. Despite the small size of the event (about the size of an average yard) it was fun to get out and see some stuff like this awesome group of three half-deflated balloons that were Ethan's favorite!

.....still pointing at the balloons!

brooke 13/52

2009-07-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

SOOOOO behind :(

I need to catch up! Here is from the 4th of July - me and my sissy straightened our hair... Weird looking I think, couldn't believe how long it was! Anyway, so I included her in one of the pix with one of my kiddos too :)

Veronica - 18/52

2009-07-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

4 July 2009

4th of July weekend was another rough one at our house. This time Lincoln was the only one sick, and we found out on Sunday (via a trip to urgent care b/c of a high temp) that he had an ear infection. We had planned on going to the 4th of July parade in Forest Lake as a family (and joining in on the fun at Brooke's parents' place) but instead, Jake stayed home with Lincoln, and I took Nolan and two of our friends. Nolan had a great time - he danced to the music that was playing from the floats, enjoyed the tasty treats people brought to share, got to see his buddy, Cash, and scored a few handfuls of candy that were thrown his way. Unfortunately, I couldn't get him to smile for the camera as my friend, Marlene, tried to take our picture. This is about as good as it got!

Veronica - 17/52

2009-07-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

27 June 2009

My cousin, Amy, is in the color guard at Virginia High School. They came to Osseo to march in a band festival, so we headed over to watch (and cheer as she walked by.) It was Lincoln's first parade. Here we are eating lunch and waiting for the bands. Jake took the picture as we were all mid-bite :)

Emily 17/52

2009-07-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here are Griffin and I doing our Interpretative Dance for the family talent show! HA!

Betsy 18/52

2009-07-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 4, 2009!!

Memories from my 1st Independence day parade....

Pre-parade.... Me, Mom and Aunt Ali

Beginning of the parade.... Me, Mom, my flag and lots of noisy trucks!

Middle of the parade.... I got a little sleepy

End of the parade.... taking my afternoon snooze

HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE!!

Betsy 17/52

2009-07-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday July 1, 2009

A little pre-bedtime reading of Ethan's favorite book "Millie Moo" while working on perfecting his sea legs. (p.s Happy Canada Day Canadians!)

Emily 16/52

2009-06-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

Getting caught up on my pics this week... but that meant I only had mundane boring old "in the house" lazying around pictures. So... I funked them up a bit. Nothing exciting, just some posterization. But they are more fun than when we started. A quick nap with the G and a cuddle with Miss Rowan.
Miss Rowan was the photographer for the nap... btw...except only looks like it was me napping!

Emily 15/52

2009-06-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here are Rowan and I and a Luna moth. Well, she called it that, I did not verify. Sounds right, huh? All I know is that it was HUGE. I got Rowan out of bed to move it out of my car. It was a stow-away from my mom's house up north all the way back to the cities. Rowan was so sad I wouldn't let her keep it.... I know - mean mom.

But for reals, would you have let her? It is kinda freaky!

Veronica - 16/52

2009-06-25T12:26:00.001-07:00

20 June 2009

Recovering from our week on the road has taken quite a while. Part of me still feels less than 100% back on track. The weekend was pretty rough. 1 sick husband + two sick boys = 1 tired & worn out mom. Jake was fighting a sinus infection, Nolan had a 102 degree temp from Friday - Monday, and Lincoln started teething again. (Poor kid only has 4 teeth to show for all of the pain and number of times he's endured a goobery nose.) Jake took this picture Saturday night after Lincoln woke up around midnight. He's so snugly when he's not feeling well. This is the look that makes me wish I could just make everything better!

Veronica - 15/52

2009-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

10 June 2009

We took a trip to St. Louis to attend a friend's ordination. My friend, Michelle, and I flew down and Jake and another friend, Gary, drove. It was Lincoln's first trip on an airplane. Both he and Nolan did great! While we were there we took in a few sights including the St. Louis Zoo. We'd highly recommend it if you're ever in the area. For one, it's FREE! And the animals living there are pretty amazing.

From St. Louis, we drove to Mt. Home, AR, to visit my Grandpa Cal. He hadn't seen Nolan in person for quite some time and had yet to meet Lincoln. Needless to say, he was pretty happy to have us visit. The trip home was a long 13 hour drive - straight through. But the boys did fantastic! Can't say I want to hop in the suburban again for a road trip any time soon though...

Betsy 16/52

2009-06-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday June 17, 2009

Last week we were briefly down in the twin cities area for my husband's annual Mayo appointment (all clear, YEAH!) .....it was HOT! HOT! HOT! down there and the truck we were borrowing currently has no air conditioning! Consequently this can make an eight hour drive with a baby and a dog quite trying so the only remedy was frequent stops. Here we are for a quick stretch and a root beer near Zumbrota, MN.

(p.s. Ethan is just learning to point as you can see - now pointing at everything is his new favorite!)

Emily 14/52

2009-06-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Snail lake with the kiddos - yes there really are snails in there... bucket-loads!

brooke 12/52

2009-06-17T12:41:00.001-07:00

beachy days :) thanks for the fun morning and the shot Em...

Betsy, 15/52

2009-06-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 14, 2009

ETHAN'S 1st TRIP TO CANADA!!!!

Here we are at Sandy Point Beach on the Canadian side of Rainy Lake for an afternoon at the only "beach" within a reasonable boating distance on the lake. The water temp up here is still in the upper 50's so Ethan didn't particularly enjoy putting his feet in the water just yet, and he still hasn't decided what he thinks about sand....but he likes crawling around in as few clothes as possible!
Feels like summer has finally arrived up north!!

Betsy, 14/52

2009-06-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 13, 2009

We finally got the swing up for Ethan that Jenny found for us at a garage sale (thanks Jenny!). He still likes a nice slow leisurely swing at this point until he gets used to the movement...then I'm sure he'll want to go faster!! Wish I had a swing like this one so I could kick back with a glass of lemonade (or a gin and tonic depending on the day!)

Emily 13/52

2009-06-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

The kids and I set up a tent in the back yard last night. We roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores...but I was in a hurry so our hot dogs were microwaved. Both kids ended up taking turns jumping into my sleeping bag in the middle of the night...guess it was the scary ghost stories that they were telling each other. Mind you it was still light out during the telling of these "scary" tales and they all seemed to all end up with either Griffin "beating up all the bad guys with my big muscles" or Rowan "realizing that the bad guy was really not hungry for people after all". They were cracking me up! Here we are roasting some marshmallows...with my very smoky fire. Boy scout, I am not.

Fast forward to when we were leaving the house today and I could not find our dog, Tupelo, anywhere. Griffin was the one who found him all snuggled in the still set up tent...

Don't let the big old puppy dog eyes fool ya - he is a player :)

Veronica - 14/52

2009-06-06T21:05:00.001-07:00

6 June 2009

Today we spent the evening in Hastings celebrating Grandma Lois' 75th birthday. (This is Jake's grandma & the boys' great-grandma.) We attempted to get the great-grandbabies in a picture with her, but the 6 boys weren't having that. So we did our best to get all of the grandkids, great-grandbabies (and a couple of in-laws) who were at the party in one picture. We were still missing about 10 more people here. Quite a size difference from the picture my side of the family took in Hermantown a couple of weeks ago!

We also took a family picture with Jake's immediate family. Two of his sisters currently live out of state for school & work, so we try to get at least one "complete" family picture each year. This may be the 2009 version.

Stacie is standing next to me, then Jake, Jason, Larissa & Kari. Dave & Patti are holding Lincoln & Nolan. Surprisingly, both boys were looking in the camera's direction!

Thanks to Jason's girlfriend, Bri, for taking the picture.

Veronica - 13/52

2009-06-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

28 May 2009

The boys' grandparents (Jake's mom & dad) met us for our first visit of the summer to Como Zoo. Our last stop was to see the tropical flowers and fish. Nolan told his Grandma that he forgot to bring his fishing pole. Lucky for the fish :)

Lincoln was on his last leg here; you can see it in his eyes. We hardly made it out of the parking lot and he was zonked out in his car seat.

Betsy 13/52

2009-06-02T09:35:00.001-07:00

Monday June 1, 2009

Although he has been scooting and dragging and rolling himself where he wants to be for a while now, Ethan is just on the cusp of putting together his crawl in the traditional sense.....here we are taking a break for a few photos courtesy of Jenny my brother's girlfriend.