Easter Weekend/Spring break

I had a very short spring break this year, consisting of just one day, Good Friday, so Chuck and I took advantage of the my big day off and went to Macy's flower show in downtown Minneapolis.

We ran into some friends of Jenna's, so Anna took a picture of us in the middle of all the beautiful spring flowers.

The colors were gorgeous.

And the smell was very sweet.

Made me want to go home and start planting!

Still too early in Minesota, though.

Our next stop was the new Twins stadium , Target Field.

There was a pre-season game in progress, so there were lots of people out and about.

We'll have to go back another time when we have tickets for a game.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get Chuck to go to at least one game this year. If not, I'll be going with our kids - they have all become committed Twins fans.

Easter Sunday was warm and sunny - a perfect day to be outside! Everyone came to our house for a delicious ham dinner (I ran home after the first two services to make the glaze and throw the ham in the oven, then went back church to play for one m0re service - busy morning!)

Andy and Jenna in their Easter finery.

Turn sideways, Jenna!

Chuck and Paul showed up in the same outfit.
Their hair is opposite though - ha!

Joyce brought some fun toys for Maddox and Matthew.

We had an Easter egg hunt for them in the backyard. Maddox had to find the plain ones, and Matthew went for the polka-dots.

Are there more??
Keep looking!

Eggs in the wood pile.

Eggs under the bushes. Ahh, there's a polka-dot one!

After all the eggs were found, this big rock became much more interesting.

Let's jump!

Both boys became super heroes with their dish towel capes (I think I have the same picture of Kyle and Corey - some things never change!).

Thanks, everyone, for helping us celebrate! The food was good, and the company even better!

Easter Eggs

Corey and Maddox came down for dinner about a week before Easter, and we decided at the last minute to color some Easter eggs. I threw a dozen eggs in a kettle and took off for the store to buy the dye, and we were in business before we knew it!

After a few instructions from Corey, Maddox gave it a try.

He was a pro in no time!

He and Corey got pretty creative with mixing colors.

What great eye-hand coordination!

Oooops, one fell and cracked, so Maddox just had to eat it.

Mmmmmm, good, although I'll have to admit I prefer the chocolate variety!

Shower for Jenna and Baby Held

Some of Jenna's friends from her church threw her a "friends" shower on Saturday, and it was so much fun to see her old friends from high school, college, first job, and church (plus Maddox and a few babies). The food was fantastic, the games were fun, and the presents were great! I sure don't remember having so much "stuff" when we had babies - how did our kids ever survive without such necessities as wipes warmers, tummy time mats, boppies, etc.?

Maddox was definitely the entertainment for the afternoon. His question for each person was "Do you have a problem?" And then, depending on the answer, he would try to offer suggestions for solving it. What a kid!

He loved all the presents, especially the lotions. He was also a great help at picking up all the wrapping paper.

Future Auggie??

I'm working on this quilt to coordinate with the forest animal theme in the baby's room. The top is done, so I wrapped it up even though it isn't finished yet. It's now off to be machine quilted so I can bind the edges and wrap it again for the next shower.

High school friends, plus one and a half.

Hear anything in there?

Jenna had fun practicing her baby-holding skills.

Alexis is only 3 weeks old.

Kallie is 3 months old.

Here's the whole group - what a great bunch of friends Jenna has!

It won't be long now!

Happy Birthday, Jenna!

Jenna's 27th birthday is March 15th, so we celebrated today by having a family dinner at Spaghetti Factory. After a great dinner, we headed to Corey's for DQ cake.

We forgot spumoni ice cream is included with your dinner at Spaghetti Factory, so no one was too hungry for more ice cream. However, we managed to eat 3/4 of the cake - it was good!

Sorry - we forgot the candles, too. Oh well...
Jenna is due May 7, just 7-8 weeks from now! She looks great and is feeling really good. Can't wait to celebrate another birthday in just a few weeks!

Mid-winter Vacation

We celebrate birthday dinners every year with our good friends, Sandy and Ray. Sandy's dinners for us are always true "gourmet". My dinners for them are true "quick and easy" (but still tasty). This January, Sandy celebrated a big one - 65!! We decided during dinner that we needed to do a bit more to celebrate this milestone, so by the end of the evening I had booked a February trip to Vegas for the four of us.

Happy Birthday, Sandy! Lookin' good!

Ray will join her next October. Hmmmm, I wonder what we'll come up with for that one?


The end of February arrived before we knew it, and here we are on the airplane.

We made it! We took a 5:00 pm flight on Wednesday from MSP and arrived at Las Vegas in time for dinner!

Sandy and Ray took a Hoover Dam tour the next morning, but since Chuck and I had been there several years ago, we set off on a mission to M&M World to buy some "stuff" for the grandkids.

We couldn't resist a few pics with my favorite characters!

Cute, huh? We even went to a 3-D M&M adventure movie.
Now that's really living it up in Vegas!

We hooked up again with Sandy and Ray and started our wandering . We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.

The margherita pizza was almost as good as in Italy!


Chuck and Ray just had to pose in front of a NASCAR display. 100,000+ people were expected to be arriving for the races over the weekend.

The Arboretum at the Bellagio was celebrating the Chinese Year of the Tiger with a beautiful flower display.

This is the glass sculpture display on the ceiling at the Bellagio. The artist, Dave Chihuly, has work throughout the hotel. It's beautiful!

We explored the new City Center designer shops at the Crystals Mall, but needless to say, we did NOT buy anything here. M&M World is more our speed. That's a restaurant inside the middle of that huge sculpture - we didn't eat there, either. :-)

These water cyclone tubes were fascinating!

Chuck and Ray relaxed in front of a wall of waterfalls in front of the new ARIA Hotel and Casino.
Wake up, Ray!

Sandy debated buying some gourmet chocolates. The displays were amazing, and so were the prices. She ended up buying some half-price Valentine truffles at a Godiva shop instead.

They were great at a fraction of the price.

Remember typewriter erasers like this sculpture?

This is the entrance to the City Center area from Las Vegas Blvd.

Ahhhh, $3.00 margaritas at Diablo's on a Friday afternoon - can't beat it! And no snow or winter coats!

We went to two shows (Tony n 'Tina's Wedding on Thursday night and a Cirque du Soleil show on Friday night), and we spent the rest of our time relaxing and enjoying the 60+ degree weather! Chuck even put on his shorts on Thursday afternoon.

We had a 10:00 dinner reservation after the show on Friday night. Funny how you have more energy on vacation. We're usually snoring by that time at home (or at least Chuck is)!

So....I'd say Sandy is about done with her birthday celebration, and we'll probably be back to a ski vacation next winter. Red Lodge, here we come!