Devils Lake Fishing Tournament

July 10th, 2010

What a great weekend to be fishing at Devils Lake! The boys (including Chad) are participating in the Adult Youth Anglers (AYA) tournament --- it's the first tournament for the boys! They are pretty excited, not only to fish but to stay at Becky & Gruffy's house as well! This tournament is amazing and it's all geared towards the kids.

Above is the setup --- Chad had to take a suburban off the lot that matched his boat! The boys went down Friday morning and us girls took off after work.
Good morning, sunshines! It's EARLY and they are ready to rock! Look at that cool gear they got at the rules meeting last night!

The water here is green with baby shrimp ---

After lining up, they TOOK OFF! Everyone headed to a "spot" they scoped out earlier in the week --- Chad was eager to get to his spot before someone else did.

They even had a stage with an announcer --- SO PROFESSIONAL! There were helpers to drop the fishermen off in the lake and then pick them up as well so they didn't have to mess with the trailers. When they were picked up, they followed a trail to the front of this stage, then the volunteers pulled their boat and truck out of the way --- COOL!

Here are my boys coming in after a HOT, cloudless day of fishing! I believe it was in the mid 90's today! One of the local stores even had lunches and bottles of water for the fishermen!

Here are my boys weighing in

Aiden with his catch!

Parker got some too!

Savannah and her darling cousin, Tenneil --- we were spectators, there were lots of people there cheering on the fishermen!

All of the fishermen! There were 40 teams of 3 signed up! There were even REAL professional fishermen entered with their kids!

The boys and Uncle Gruffy...he's the one that got Chad to sign up for this awesome tournament!

Savannah even won a tackle box! The spectators got tickets for drawings...she was SO EXCITED!

The boys with their winnings! They got limited edition fishing rods, tackle boxes with tackle, t-shirts and hats AND 12.0 megapixel digital cameras! What a LOOT!

It was a great day --- thanks Uncle Gruffy and Aunt Becky for EVERYTHING! You guys are AWESOME!

SlipNSlide, Root Beer Floats, Paints & Popsicles

It just wouldn't be summer without these fun times! We live in a wonderful neighborhood, we are very lucky! Thanks, friends for all the fun and memories!

Savannah & her buddy Logan

Parker
Aiden Lee

Time for a quick break --- Root Beer Floats! Yummy!

Now, on to being ARTISTS!

It's really hot today --- popsicles hit the spot!

Steve's 60th Birthday

June 27th, 2010

Today we are celebrating Grandpa Steve's 60th Birthday! Sweet Savannah is READY TO GO! She's been waiting ALL day for this suprise party.

These sneaky people are getting one of Steve's gifts out of the truck --- 60 different kinds of BEER! That Joey, she's creative I tell ya!

60 different bottles of beer from the adults and 60 cans of DEW from the kids! I'd say grandpa "scored" on his birthday this year!

Yep, he seems happy!

Some of these beers had unique names!

Steve with his brother Jeff and his mom, Mae & dad, Al --- cheers!

Joey and Steve...drinkin' out of crystal pilsners!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Steve!! We love you!

Savannah Pre T-Ball

This year Savannah gets to play ball "just like my boys"! She is in pre-tball which is where they learn the basics --- rules, how to catch, hit, ect. She had a good time, there were LOTS of girls on her team!

Gotta love a girl with a pink glove that's not afraid to get dirty!

Engagement Invitation

HOW EXCITING! My little sister is getting MARRIED on August 14th, 2010!!

Since the wedding is in Reno, we are going to have an engagement party for her at home, in Dilworth, the weekend she and Josh come back for Loco Daze!

CONGRATULATIONS MISSY & JOSH!

Mr. T-Ball

Summer, 2010

Aiden really puts all he's got into his ball playing! He wasn't too excited about having to play with a "T" again this year; however, he was just happy to be able to play! Here he is diving for a ball at first base...

Slugging away --- that's my little lefty!!

Parker the Pitcher

Summer, 2010

Parker was SO EXCITED to be picked to play PITCHER this year for his little league team! He did a GREAT job, striking out the other teams batters! GREAT JOB, PARKER --- I am VERY proud of you!

Golfer Boys

June 21st, 2010

The boys got to be together this year for golf lessons at Village Green! They really enjoy being out on the course in the morning --- so relaxing.

Miss Avery Turnes ONE!

June 20th, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!! We are SO EXCITED to be a part of this joyous occasion! Our little cousin Avery is turning ONE!

What a sweet little girl!
Her cake had puppies on it! It was REALLY cute! Avery had a sweet little cake JUST FOR HER as well!! She LOVED IT!

Now it's time to open presents!! YEA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!

Baseball Picture Night

June 16th, 2010: This summer all three of the kids get to participate in baseball! Savannah is in pre-tball, Aiden has t-ball (even though I feel STRONGLY that kids going into 2nd grade NO LONGER require t-ball --- they should be in coach pitch at this age!), and Parker is in Little League! It was pouring rain today, so the official pics were taken in the big gym...that's a LOT of bodies in a muggy gym!

Here we have Savannah, Benny, Aiden, Nicholas and Parker! These boys are our neighbors and good friends!

Savannah with her best buddy from across the street, Logan and Caleb --- aren't they cute?

Aiden and Benny

Look at this motley crew! Austin, Ethan, Nicholas, Parker and Tyler

GO REBELS!

New Chair

June 10th, 2010

I got the greatest deal of the summer today! I found this really cool double chair --- it has an umbrella, cup holders AND a cooler in the middle!! The best part is that I got it at about 75% off!! WHOO!

Our FIRST Family Garden

June 6th, 2010

For years I've wanted to plant a garden with the kids...this year, we finally did it! I had to take a picture of this truck on Chad's beloved grass!

Below you can see Chad workin hard making squares we can actually lift!
Aiden is such a good worker!

It was so fun to have everyone working together! We were all pretty excited to get this done!

Look at that!

Had to take a quick picnic break before going to purchase the plants....we did this a couple of weeks later than we should have so we couldn't plant seeds.

Parker and mom planting the peas!

The finished product! We planted tomatoes, zuccini, peas, carrots, banana peppers, green peppers, jalapino peppers, cantaloupe and a raspberry bush! Can't WAIT to watch it grow!!

Colors of the Sky

June 4th, 2010

I saw this outside my door tonight....

Aiden's Painted Room!

Poor Aiden! His room was supposed to be an office when we were building this house --- however, our family grew and he sort of "got the shaft"! The walls in his room are 10 feet high and they were painted an off-white, not to mention this room is about the size of a shoe box!!

One weekend I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to paint it! I actually used paint that was left over from other areas of the house and amazingly, it matched his bed set PERFECTLY!! Check out the finished product!