Chuck is turning 60!

Chuck's 60th birthday is on Monday, the 14th. One of his favorite lines as our friends have celebrated this milestone has been, "I don't know ANYBODY who is 60." Well, guess what - now he's joining the club!

He also says, when he looks in the mirror, that he doesn't see any gray hair.

I think this is what he still sees:

YIKES!!
Do you think he needs an eye exam?

He'll be doing lots of celebrating this weekend: Friday with his poker buddies, Saturday with friends, Sunday with family, and Monday with just the two of us at his all-time favorite restaurant, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Sounds like rest and diet time on Tuesday!

Happy Birthday, Chuck!!

Thanksgiving

We had a houseguest over Thanksgiving - Jenna and Andy's dog, Crosby. They left him with us while they spent the weekend in Pittsburgh with Andy's family. They gave us a truckload of equipment and a long list of instructions on care, feeding, etc., but I think it was a test to see if we can be trusted with their baby in the future. Did we pass???

We took him with when we went to Ted and Pat's for dinner. He loved their fenced-in backyard!

The dogs next door gave him a real work-out as they chased back and forth along the fence. Chuck and I did the chasing for the rest of the weekend!

When we weren't watching the dog, we played with Maddox and Matthew, my nephew's 3-year old son. The boys are only a few weeks apart in age, and they are really starting to play well together!

Play dough was a big hit!


Matthew brought his own CARS table, and it was just the right size for the two of them.

Corey and Ted and their boys (kind of different than the Thanksgiving picture from 3 years ago when they were both newborns).

Since Pat babysits for Matthew one day a week, they have lots of toys, and Maddox had a good time checking them all out.

Teddy carved the turkey, as usual. It was great!

I decided I needed a picture of me with my "baby" Kyle, and somehow Corey and Maddox snuck in behind.

Time to eat!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Now, on to Christmas preparations!

Cookies

Maddox is a great helper in the kitchen! Last week, when he spent an evening with us, we decided we needed to make chocolate chip cookies.

He had a little trouble stirring after all the "ingredients" (his word) were mixed in.

However, he didn't have any trouble eating the cookies. Looks like he's a "dipper," just like his daddy.

Mmmmmmmm! Good!

Gotta wash that down with some milk.

Now time for a little relaxing on the couch with grandpa.

They both had full tummies after eating those fresh cookies!

Coming soon....Christmas cookies??

Happy Birthday, Phebe!

Today is Phebe's 7th birthday!

We all love you and miss you!

Happy Birthday!

Crazy Minnesota

I think every Minnesotan would agree that this has been a really strange summer and fall. Summer temps were very cool, and then suddenly we had a gorgeous September with warm, sunny days and no rain. Then October hit and it was cloudy almost eveyday, and we had four snowstorms (well, not really storms, but snow on four different occasions). Now it's November and the temps have warmed up and it's beautiful again! It's been in the 60's the last few days, with clear skies and bright sunshine. I had a chance to get out and finish up some yard work this afternoon, and discovered my last geranium is in bloom, and it has buds all over it! I haven't watered it since September, and I've never brought it inside or covered it to protect it from the nighttime frosts and snow. Go figure.

Looks good, doesn't it?

Look at those buds!

Just had to try out my zoom!
I wonder how much longer it will last?

As I was cleaning up the garden beds, I found this plant in bloom, too. The one right next to it was laying on the ground, totally dead from the frost. Very strange!

Lake Pepin in November

Chuck and I took our annual fall drive to Lake Pepin on Sunday. We've been waiting for weeks to get a sunny, warm, weekend afternoon, and it finally arrived on Nov. 1. It could have been a bit warmer, but at least it was partly sunny. We visited an apple orchard/winery/cidery just south of Maidenrock, and then headed on to The Pickle Factory in Pepin. We were disappointed to find it closed for the winter so had to return to Stockholm for our onion rings and Bloody Mary's. Mmmmmm!

We missed the beginning of the Vikings game, but because of the 3:15 start, we returned home in plenty of time to watch the Vikings beat Green Bay. Yeah, VIKES!!

Happy Birthday, Maddox!

Maddox turned 3 today!

It was so much fun to help him celebate! Since Maddox loves to dress up, Corey and Heidi have planned costume parties the last two years, and we all join in the fun. It was almost cancelled when he was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday, but he rallied and the party was on!

This year, Maddox was Buzz Lightyear. Corey had to assemble the wings and add batteries for sound.

Almost done. He didn't want me to take a picture of the finished costume, and then he got tired of the whole costume thing and wanted to take it off. Oh well. I'll try again on Halloween.

Kyle just came as himself, and Corey was a basketball player. That's Princess Fiona (Grandma Michelle) in the background.

Jenna and Andy wore masks that Andy got in New Orleans - they're all set for Mardi Gras. We thought they should be going out on the town after the party, but they were just heading home to crash after all the party excitement :-).

Here's Corey in his mask. That's a full basketball on his head - pretty funny.

I was a dalmation and Chuck was a deer hunter. I think he should have been a fireman!

Grandpa Rob came as Shrek. I was busy cutting up fruit when everyone arrived so I missed all the photo ops of everyone else, but the costumes were awesome and Maddox had so much fun checking out all the characters!

Maddox got to talk to Phebe, although it was a pretty short conversation. The presents were calling his name!

He got some really cool gifts! We went with a car/truck theme this year and got him this city/road mat and some vehicles to go with it.

Kyle got him a video game system that has old-time games on it.

This Tonka fire truck was the only "noise toy" - gee, I wonder who got that one? Blame it on Grandpa Chuck!

It didn't take Corey long to hook up the video game system. I think Kyle and Corey were definitely more excited to see PacMan than Maddox! He figured out the joy-stick right away. Must be a guy thing....

Time for cake! Heidi and Angie decorated Halloween cupcakes.

Maddox had a ghost.

Mmmmmmmm! Good!

Jenna and I ended the evening with a rip-roaring game of Candyland while Andy helped Maddox assemble a Legos vehicle.

Happy Birthday, Maddox!

Fall in Minnesota

We have a beautiful maple tree in our back yard, and when it turns red, my whole kitchen picks up the rosy glow.

This year, it turned a bit earlier than usual, and then...

I woke up to this! We've already had 3 mini-snowstorms this fall, and we're only half-way through October! What will January be like??

Family Golf

We had our 3rd annual family golf tournament on Sunday, which is a guarantee for a cold, damp Sunday. It rained the first year, but stopped long enough for us to golf, the second year was a total wash-out, although a few of the guys went out regardless, and yesterday was dry, but cloudy and COLD! Chuck, Ted, Pat, and Maddox stayed home to watch the end of the Twins game (and nap), while the rest of us headed to the executive course at Gopher Hills. With just six of us golfing, we decided to do best-ball with 3 teams, and we all went out together (it helps when there's no one else on the course!).

Great form, Corey!

My 4 layers of clothes made it pretty tough to get in my "groove."


Looking good, Jenna!

Smack it, Andy!

Go for it, Joyce!

Way to go, Paul!

High-five after an awesome putt.

Corey had a couple of great, long putts, too.

Team 1 - Joyce and Paul

Team 2 - Jenna and Andy

And the winner is ....Team 3 - Corey and Jane - with a score of 35 (4 pars and 5 bogies)!
My goal was to at least contribute with a few shots, which I did, but most of the credit for that score goes to Corey. He did admit that it helped to watch what my putts did before hitting his own, so I guess I was good for something! :-)

Some year, we'll get a beautiful, fall afternoon, but actually, the weather doesn't matter. It's just fun to get together. Someone suggested maybe we should try a winter bowling tournament. What do you think?