Happy 60th Wedding Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!

We "love" a celebration of "love" in this family, so we did it right for Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Bud's 60th wedding anniversary- we sang a whole lotta' karaoke! Here we are enjoying ourselves at the American Legion in Baltic, along with Grandma and Granpa's good friends and of course, family!

Get ready for the Christmas posts...

We've been moving non-stop over this vacation... and hold your hats because we're not done yet! Here we are decorating the tree and celebrating our first Christmas in Sioux Falls with Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Bud. Sadie must think December is the month of presents, since she has celebrated her birthday a few times, and now has experienced Christmas with GGma J, Grandma and Grandpa and aunts, uncles and cousins, her dad and his family, the McDermotts, Phil and Mom, and finally, Grandma B. It's too much...

Outdoor Fun!

We had a little fun in the snow last week before it turned bitterly cold! Sadie learned the classic Minnesota winter tip, "Don't eat yellow snow!" and Phil and I watched her run around in the yard. Since this beautiful evening, we've had quite the week. Sadie went to Ryan's Build-a-Bear birthday party on Saturday, and Phil's been cooped up inside with the kids since they weren't able to go outside and play due to the weather. I asked the kids in my class if they remembered the year the great Governor Arnie Carlson allowed me to sleep in one day during my college career and called off school in the entire state due to the frigid weather. (The kids then told me they were one that year.) Oops. Anyway, we're staying warm- watching movies, coloring and reading by the fire, and drinking lots of hot chocolate. We're counting down the minutes until it's, as Sadie calls it, 14 stay-home days in a row! Woo Hoo!

The Christmas Card that Never Was...

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! (And all that other good stuff.) This is the picture that would have been on the Christmas card sent out to all of you. I just didn't have time to get it together this year. So... for all of you out there thinking I took you off my "list", here's your card! We wish you all good tidings of great cheer and love you so much! May the new year bring you happiness and contentment, and peace on earth to all.

"I'm five!"

"I want fabulous" seems to be Sadie-girl's mantra, as of late, so fabulous is what she got at her 5th High-School-Musical-themed birthday party on Sunday. All of her people were there and they brought her all of her favorite gifts, including a Gabriella bedroom set (from Auntie Cassie, Uncle Cam and Cousin Finn) some Barbie clothes (from Tara and Hannah) an HSM success kit (Kelly and Ireland) a camera (Grandma and Grandpa)a HSM wildcat cheerleading outfit (Troy, Julie, E. and Kellen) and a Camp Rock chair (from Mom and Phil) amongst other things. Sadie's BFF, Morgan, also brought her an HSM secret journal which has a passcode and plays a song while it opens! She was very thankful to everyone who attended (and those there in spirit, Hannah!) and Tara, especially, who drove all the way down from up Nort'! After we sang Happy Birthday, she blew out the candles atop the beautiful HSM cake that Grandma made, and yelled, "I'm five!" It was fun to see her so happy, and to see all the people there who have contributed to raising this amazing, not-so-little-anymore girl, Sadie Joy.

It's been a while...

I apologize. I have just a few more months left of my master's coursework, and I'll be much more on top of things as far as the blog goes... maybe.

Here are a couple of things that have been happening in our lives. Phil's still teaching at Kindercare. I'm still teaching at Hidden Oaks Middle School. Sadie's an amazing swimmer and is enjoying her friends and family at daycare and on her busy, fun-filled weekends. Phil and I just returned from Mexico (Riviera Maya) with my mom and dad. It was very relaxing. We snorkeled and saw some really amazing things (rays, sea cucumbers, sea turtles, star fish, flounder fish, moray eel, other weird, spotted eel, and lots of beautifully-colored fish). Phil and my dad went parasailing and golfed, as well. Sadie stayed with her dad for the week, and when I finally got to pick her up, she said, "Momma! I missed you in my dreams!" I cried. What a girl.

Quotable: Our garage door has been "acting up" and on Friday, Sadie and I arrived home from work/school/daycare to find that the garage door wouldn't go up at all. The first thing out of Sadie's mouth was "Grandpa. Call him. Now!" So of course, I did, because I knew it was just too cute not too. Grandpa got a big kick out of it!