This was a super easy gift to whip up and Kraig seemed to get a kick out of it.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Father's Day
We spent Father's Day with Mitch's Dad Kraig. Kraig is an amazing Dad and I am so blessed to have him a part of my life. As part of his Father's Day gift we made him a candy card.
This was a super easy gift to whip up and Kraig seemed to get a kick out of it.
This was a super easy gift to whip up and Kraig seemed to get a kick out of it.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Mother's Day
I love our Mother's Day Tradition, and this year Mother's Day got even more special by combining my family with my future family.
Every Mother's Day we wake up and participate in the Susan Koman Race for the Cure. It is an easy 3 mile walk with all the proceeds going to help fight breast cancer. My Grandma who was such a huge part of my life died of breast cancer in 2005. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor her.
It is so awesome to see a kazillion people all gathering together to fight the same fight.
I can't imagine spending this day in another way.
Every Mother's Day we wake up and participate in the Susan Koman Race for the Cure. It is an easy 3 mile walk with all the proceeds going to help fight breast cancer. My Grandma who was such a huge part of my life died of breast cancer in 2005. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor her.
It is so awesome to see a kazillion people all gathering together to fight the same fight.
I can't imagine spending this day in another way.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Smitten List
My Mom and I have been going to Zumba on Saturday mornings pretty consistenly lately, and I am smitten with woking out while laughing and dancing.
Now let's get a few things straight....
~I have no rhythm....however I do remember how to spell the word rhythm from 7th grade English class where Mrs. Faith made us march around the room and spell the word rhythm to the rhythm of our clap.
~I make awkward arm motions when I attempt to dance
~My mom bites her bottom lip when attempting to "body pump"
~There are people in Zumba who take Zumba very seriously, we are not those people
~This class will in no way improve my dance skills, so don't be expecting me to pull out my calipso at the next wedding reception
So if you are in the Twin Cites area and looking to burn a few calories through dance and laughter stop on by Lifetime and check out Zumba.
Now let's get a few things straight....
~I have no rhythm....however I do remember how to spell the word rhythm from 7th grade English class where Mrs. Faith made us march around the room and spell the word rhythm to the rhythm of our clap.
~I make awkward arm motions when I attempt to dance
~My mom bites her bottom lip when attempting to "body pump"
~There are people in Zumba who take Zumba very seriously, we are not those people
~This class will in no way improve my dance skills, so don't be expecting me to pull out my calipso at the next wedding reception
So if you are in the Twin Cites area and looking to burn a few calories through dance and laughter stop on by Lifetime and check out Zumba.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Letter of Thanks
Dear Jody,
Thank you for raising an amazing son.
I came home tonight tonight to find him doing this...
shoveling snow off a roof....it wasn't our roof. It was the roof of the 90 year old woman who lives across the street. I have has so many moments of being totally blown away by his kindness and work ethic.
I give all credit to you, his Mom.
I believe a mother has the hardest job, teaching a child to be a good person. I am so lucky to reap the rewards of all the hard work you put in. You taught him how to be a wonderful man and today I was reminded of how lucky I am that I get to marry him.
Thank you for making my life so happy.
Love,
Rachel
Thank you for raising an amazing son.
I came home tonight tonight to find him doing this...
shoveling snow off a roof....it wasn't our roof. It was the roof of the 90 year old woman who lives across the street. I have has so many moments of being totally blown away by his kindness and work ethic.
I give all credit to you, his Mom.
I believe a mother has the hardest job, teaching a child to be a good person. I am so lucky to reap the rewards of all the hard work you put in. You taught him how to be a wonderful man and today I was reminded of how lucky I am that I get to marry him.
Thank you for making my life so happy.
Love,
Rachel
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Another Sweet Baby
I love that I am at the stage in life where I am surrounded by babies as often as I am. I have so many great friends who are having babies or have just had babies and Mitch's family is like a baby producing machine. Here are some pictures of Lamondre, Mitch's cousin Kayla's baby.
Here are the reasons I love this picture
1. Dre's super dark eyes
2. He is holding the taggie that I made him
3. He is staring right at me with that quizzical look
He can reach his toes right now, when I last saw him on Thanksgiving he couldn't quite get to them yet. Being the loving cousin that she is Eliana who is two months older was willing to put Dre's toes in her mouth for him since he couldn't get to them. That is some really family LOVE!
Look at how happy his Nana looks holding him!
He is at the perfect stage to snuggle with. He isn't walking or crawling yet so he is perfectly content to be snuggled up right on top of your lap. I also really like watching Mitch play with the babies...our future children are going to have a great Daddy!
He really is a wonderful baby. He got passed from person to person all night long and was totally content in any one's arms.
Katie even got the little guy to crash out for a quick power nap.
Is anything cuter than a sleeping baby?
Seriously?
Here are the reasons I love this picture
1. Dre's super dark eyes
2. He is holding the taggie that I made him
3. He is staring right at me with that quizzical look
He can reach his toes right now, when I last saw him on Thanksgiving he couldn't quite get to them yet. Being the loving cousin that she is Eliana who is two months older was willing to put Dre's toes in her mouth for him since he couldn't get to them. That is some really family LOVE!
Look at how happy his Nana looks holding him!
He is at the perfect stage to snuggle with. He isn't walking or crawling yet so he is perfectly content to be snuggled up right on top of your lap. I also really like watching Mitch play with the babies...our future children are going to have a great Daddy!
He really is a wonderful baby. He got passed from person to person all night long and was totally content in any one's arms.
Katie even got the little guy to crash out for a quick power nap.
Is anything cuter than a sleeping baby?
Seriously?
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Skol Vikings
Mitch and I spend a lot of time we our families. We spend lots of weekends on the road traveling from one family event to another. We spend lots of time trying to balance the time spent with each of our families. But we haven't spent a lot of time with both of our families together. And this is exactly what we did this fall we invited our families to come together and spend a crazy day tailgating and cheering on the Vikings. Here is proof of the meeting, the laughs, the jokes, and the beer drank.
Tailgating is a whole new concept to my family who has never participating in the Tailgating process. Since lived right up by the North Pole there wasn't many events to tailgate for. Mitch's family however is seasoned pros at the sport of tailgating and trained in my family just fine. As you can tell it didn't take much before my family had learned the most important tailgating rules:
1. Play as many outdoor yard games as possible.
2. Make sure you have a beer in your hands at all times.
As you can see in this photo above Scotty is clearly following both rules!
The United States of America was a little reluctant to let these two Crazy Cats cross into our country, and once they returned to Canada they had a whole new appreciation for our country. Uncle Jimmy's quote of the weekend was, "I'm so glad my country built our country next to yours."
Here is the spot where the brats were grilled, the bags were played, and the chit chatting was had.
Here is the view of the other side.
Scotty and Benny
A mother/son Bean Bag Team.
This was probably the point in the day where Uncle Jimmy began inviting Mitch's Family up to Canada to go to the Cabin. Mitch and I were feeling a little uneasy about this at first. This was our first large family gathering and we wanted to see how the whole day player out before we agreed to any international trips. By the end of the day we totally supported the idea of having our two families together. It was so much fun to see all these people we love all mixed together and having fun.
This is my Mom and Uncle Jimmy. They are actually cousins. Their Mom's are sisters. They grew up together, their Moms were best friends and they spent all family outings and holidays together. They grew up as siblings and my Mom loves him like a brother.
I realize that my Uncle Jimmy is not ACTUALLY my Uncle but something much more complicated like second cousin or something, but he has been such a special person in my life that he has earned the title of Uncle to me and my brothers.
Uncle Jimmy was so amazed by the whole tailgating phenomenon that he spent the majority of the day taking pictures of everything!
Mitch and I playing some Bean Bags.
Some serious Vikings fans who were stationed next to us.
Father and Son.
Mother and Son
Did I mention that we played a lot of Bean Bags??
Scotty and I made a pretty unstoppable team at Bean Bags on this day. Here is an action shot of us beating Mitch's team and Scotty celebrating the victory.
The Vacek/ Johnson Gang
The Avis/Bowman Gang
Mitch and I loved this weekend and can't wait to get our families together again!
Tailgating is a whole new concept to my family who has never participating in the Tailgating process. Since lived right up by the North Pole there wasn't many events to tailgate for. Mitch's family however is seasoned pros at the sport of tailgating and trained in my family just fine. As you can tell it didn't take much before my family had learned the most important tailgating rules:
1. Play as many outdoor yard games as possible.
2. Make sure you have a beer in your hands at all times.
As you can see in this photo above Scotty is clearly following both rules!
The United States of America was a little reluctant to let these two Crazy Cats cross into our country, and once they returned to Canada they had a whole new appreciation for our country. Uncle Jimmy's quote of the weekend was, "I'm so glad my country built our country next to yours."
Here is the spot where the brats were grilled, the bags were played, and the chit chatting was had.
Here is the view of the other side.
Scotty and Benny
A mother/son Bean Bag Team.
This was probably the point in the day where Uncle Jimmy began inviting Mitch's Family up to Canada to go to the Cabin. Mitch and I were feeling a little uneasy about this at first. This was our first large family gathering and we wanted to see how the whole day player out before we agreed to any international trips. By the end of the day we totally supported the idea of having our two families together. It was so much fun to see all these people we love all mixed together and having fun.
This is my Mom and Uncle Jimmy. They are actually cousins. Their Mom's are sisters. They grew up together, their Moms were best friends and they spent all family outings and holidays together. They grew up as siblings and my Mom loves him like a brother.
I realize that my Uncle Jimmy is not ACTUALLY my Uncle but something much more complicated like second cousin or something, but he has been such a special person in my life that he has earned the title of Uncle to me and my brothers.
Uncle Jimmy was so amazed by the whole tailgating phenomenon that he spent the majority of the day taking pictures of everything!
Mitch and I playing some Bean Bags.
Some serious Vikings fans who were stationed next to us.
Father and Son.
Mother and Son
Did I mention that we played a lot of Bean Bags??
Scotty and I made a pretty unstoppable team at Bean Bags on this day. Here is an action shot of us beating Mitch's team and Scotty celebrating the victory.
The Vacek/ Johnson Gang
The Avis/Bowman Gang
Mitch and I loved this weekend and can't wait to get our families together again!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tommy
This past weekend we had family in town. On Saturday night my Uncle Jimmy, my cousin Scott, my Mom, my bother Ben, Mitch and I went to a Tommy Emmanuel concert. This guy was unbelievable. I couldn't believe how impressive his guitar skills were.
Check out this video of how great he is.
Not only was the music spectacular it was super fun to see how excited my Uncle Jimmy and Scott were over seeing Tommy play. Uncle Jimmy explained to us how any skill can be broken down like this:
Most people, about 80%, fit into the average category.
About 19% of the population would fit into the superior category for that skill,
and 1% are Jedi's. Jedi's just blow everyone out of the water with their awesome abilities. Tommy Emmanuel is the Jedi of the guitar playing world.
Check out this video of how great he is.
Not only was the music spectacular it was super fun to see how excited my Uncle Jimmy and Scott were over seeing Tommy play. Uncle Jimmy explained to us how any skill can be broken down like this:
Most people, about 80%, fit into the average category.
About 19% of the population would fit into the superior category for that skill,
and 1% are Jedi's. Jedi's just blow everyone out of the water with their awesome abilities. Tommy Emmanuel is the Jedi of the guitar playing world.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
My New Nephew
I have a new nephew....he is super cute, really energetic, and gives lots of kisses!
I realize he is a puppy but he is the closest thing I have to a real nephew so I am taking what I can get.
I realize he is a puppy but he is the closest thing I have to a real nephew so I am taking what I can get.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Torchlight
For our second 5K my mom and I decided to run in the Lifetime Fitness Torchlight run and my friend Kristen decided to join us. This run started by the Basilica in Minneapolis and ended on Nicollett Island. It was a fun route and we had good weather for running. The race had about a kazillion people run in it. When we ran in the last race the runners really spread out after the first mile and you had lots of room to run but in this run we ran in a huge pack of people the whole 3.1 miles dodging and weaving in and out of groups.
See if you can find us in this pack of runners....this is kinda like Where's Waldo.
After the race...a little sweaty but totally happy with our performance. My mom and I knocked off 2 minutes off of our last 5K time.
This was a fun race to participate in because it was in the evening and after you were done running they had a beer tent and live music. We found a comfy spot in the grass and hung out for a while.
I have to give a TON of credit for the best "pit crew" ever to Mitch. Mitch has been the greatest help with doing these races. Before the race he drops us off right at the starting line and then searches out a parking spot, which is not an easy thing to manage. During this race he jumped on a bike and took pictures of us all along the route. And after the race he gives out hugs and high fives to support what we have done. You are the greatest Mitch...THANK YOU!!!
See if you can find us in this pack of runners....this is kinda like Where's Waldo.
After the race...a little sweaty but totally happy with our performance. My mom and I knocked off 2 minutes off of our last 5K time.
This was a fun race to participate in because it was in the evening and after you were done running they had a beer tent and live music. We found a comfy spot in the grass and hung out for a while.
I have to give a TON of credit for the best "pit crew" ever to Mitch. Mitch has been the greatest help with doing these races. Before the race he drops us off right at the starting line and then searches out a parking spot, which is not an easy thing to manage. During this race he jumped on a bike and took pictures of us all along the route. And after the race he gives out hugs and high fives to support what we have done. You are the greatest Mitch...THANK YOU!!!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
First 5K
This spring I decided to give a program a try called "Couch to 5K." The name of the program "Couch to 5K" pretty much summed up what I needed to change about my activity level and what I wanted to accomplish. I needed to get my butt off the couch and I wanted to run in my very first 5K ever. So I laced up my Nikes and hit the road. I stuck really closely to the training program and on the eighth week we ran in a 5K.
I was very nervous before the race started, I kept thinking "Whose stupid idea was this" and "Why am I doing this" so as the start signal went off for the race to begin I decided to slow my normal running pace down and just plug through these three miles. As we got through the first mile my mom was pulling away from me, and I just stuck to my nice slow pace but my wonderful mother would slow down, wait for me and then keep going.
As we neared the three mile mark I could see the finish line and the GIANT clock tick tick ticking I get a burst of energy and start to sprint. I catch up to my mom and yell "MOM, WE GOTTA GO" and continue to sprint by her. Now I have to say that my mom could make grocery shopping a competitive sport. She LOVES to win. I on the other hand am not competitive, at least not with other people. I like to set goals for myself and I like to conquer them but I don't get a competitive bug with other people. My mom loves to win but she was out of steam to keep up with me and I ended up crossing the finish line 14 seconds before she did. As she finished I walked over to her feeling so proud with what she just accomplished and she looked at me and said "What the HELL was that?" I was totally caught off guard and was like "HUH?" She replied "I waited for you like the whole race and then you blow past me with the chariots of fire going at full speed!" At this point I start laughing because I realize how upset she is because in her mind I BEAT her, when I knew full well she could have finished ahead of me if she didn't wait around for me. It did take a LONG ten minutes before she was able to laugh about her reaction, however 6 weeks after the race I still hear her grumbling about how I left her in the dust at mile three when all she really wanted was to cross the finish line holding my hand.
Whether we are holding hands at the finish line or I am fourteen seconds ahead of her there is no one I would have rather had by my side to cross this item off my bucket list. Thanks for waiting for me Mom, this is me publicly admitting you are a faster runner than I am! ha ha....I love you!!!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Best Families Ever!
Mitch and I have the best families ever...without a doubt, no questions asked! As our Extreme Make-Over Home Edition has started on our new house they have been there for us every step of the way. Without our famiies stepping up to the plate we would be no where near where we are on the progress on our home. We love them and thank them all so so much!
Teamwork, Teamwork, Teamwork! Katie and I tackling the huge job (it takes a lot longer than it looks) of painting the trim.
Me putting up tile and Mitch checking over my should to make sure it is up to his standards..ha ha!
Jody and I in one of the dirties jobs to date...taking out the ceiling of the bathroom to be rained on my old, nasty insulation. YUCK!
My beautiful mother painting like crazy!
In this picture it may look like Mitch was painting but don't be confused he was never caught within 10 feet of a paint brush!
Kraig was the go to man for all plumbing and electrical needs. We have only had one shock to date!
Oh wall paper how I hate you! When we bought the house we thought we only had one wall of wall paper but as we looked around the house closer we started to realize we had lots and lots of wallpaper in our house that had just been painted over. We spent hours scraping and peeling some of the most interesting patterns off of our walls.
Aly could go into wall painting professionally. I have never in my life seen anyone with such a steady hand. Our paint job would look nothing like it does if it hadn't been for her.
We hope to actually finish a few rooms in the next few weeks and are excited to share before and after photos!
Teamwork, Teamwork, Teamwork! Katie and I tackling the huge job (it takes a lot longer than it looks) of painting the trim.
Me putting up tile and Mitch checking over my should to make sure it is up to his standards..ha ha!
Jody and I in one of the dirties jobs to date...taking out the ceiling of the bathroom to be rained on my old, nasty insulation. YUCK!
My beautiful mother painting like crazy!
In this picture it may look like Mitch was painting but don't be confused he was never caught within 10 feet of a paint brush!
Kraig was the go to man for all plumbing and electrical needs. We have only had one shock to date!
Oh wall paper how I hate you! When we bought the house we thought we only had one wall of wall paper but as we looked around the house closer we started to realize we had lots and lots of wallpaper in our house that had just been painted over. We spent hours scraping and peeling some of the most interesting patterns off of our walls.
Aly could go into wall painting professionally. I have never in my life seen anyone with such a steady hand. Our paint job would look nothing like it does if it hadn't been for her.
We hope to actually finish a few rooms in the next few weeks and are excited to share before and after photos!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Relaxed and Calm...
I just got back from a relaxing spa weekend. To celebrate my brother's wedding the girls took off for a bachlorette spa weekend in the Wisconsin Dells. I have never been to the Dells before and had always just thought of it as a water park place for kids to go to but this spa was amazing!
We spent the day at Sundara spa where the 7 of us who made the trip (Aly, Aly's mom, Aly's sister, Aly's friends Megan, Kristina, Kelly, and me) enjoyed differ net spa services. I decided to have a massage but the really awesome part of this spa was the routine we did before we even had our massages. When we first got to the spa we were shown to the locker room where we got changed into our bathing suits and big cushy robes. They brought us into the pre-treatment area where they instructed us to first take a rainfall shower and use a salt scrub to exfoliate our skin, step two was taking a crazy hot sauna after we sprayed ourselves done with eucalyptus spray, step 3 was a luke warm shower, step 4 was a hot hot hot hot tub, followed by the last step was a dip in cold cold water. We did the last two steps hopping from hot water to cold water 3 times. Once we completed this five step routine we moved onto the meditation area where we waited until our massage started. My massage was wonderful, time always goes so fast when you are getting a massage! After our massages we were able to go outside and soak in the hot tub out there. I am not sure if I have ever been so relaxed in my life!
We had a great time at the spa and got to stay in a beautiful condo as well.
Here is a link for the spa and the condo...I recommend weekend to anyone who needs to take a few deep breaths and relax!
We spent the day at Sundara spa where the 7 of us who made the trip (Aly, Aly's mom, Aly's sister, Aly's friends Megan, Kristina, Kelly, and me) enjoyed differ net spa services. I decided to have a massage but the really awesome part of this spa was the routine we did before we even had our massages. When we first got to the spa we were shown to the locker room where we got changed into our bathing suits and big cushy robes. They brought us into the pre-treatment area where they instructed us to first take a rainfall shower and use a salt scrub to exfoliate our skin, step two was taking a crazy hot sauna after we sprayed ourselves done with eucalyptus spray, step 3 was a luke warm shower, step 4 was a hot hot hot hot tub, followed by the last step was a dip in cold cold water. We did the last two steps hopping from hot water to cold water 3 times. Once we completed this five step routine we moved onto the meditation area where we waited until our massage started. My massage was wonderful, time always goes so fast when you are getting a massage! After our massages we were able to go outside and soak in the hot tub out there. I am not sure if I have ever been so relaxed in my life!
We had a great time at the spa and got to stay in a beautiful condo as well.
Here is a link for the spa and the condo...I recommend weekend to anyone who needs to take a few deep breaths and relax!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Fabulous Lady on a Boat at Eighty!
My Auntie Shirley turned 80! Auntie Shirley is my Grandma Marion's sister and really is an amazing, loving woman. For the weeks before her birthday she kept telling us she didn't want a party, didn't want any big fuss for her. So we decided to have a "non-party" surprise birthday party for her. My Auntie Andrea planned a wonderful night for her, where we went on a boat cruise in a fifty foot wooden boat and had dinner at the Thunderbird Lodge. Auntie Shirley didn't know any of these plans were in the works but on the sly Andrea planned for Uncle Walter and Auntie Shirley to go out to dinner with Andrea and Uncle Jimmy. Then my Mom, my Grandpa, Scott and Nicole and I all meet them at Thunderbird for the surprise boat ride and dinner. Auntie Shirley was so surprised and had such a wonderful time.
This fifty foot wooden boat was our ride for the night and the history that this boat has goes way back to 1929 when the boat was built. When Auntie Shirley was a young woman living in Fort Frances she worked in the local jewelry store and often found herself selling jewelry to the wealthy men of the area on rainy days. On these rainy day occasions Auntie Shirley got to know a man by the name of Major Roberts who summered on an island on Rainy Lake and owned a large wooden boat named the "Virginia." This man got to know Auntie Shirley and invited her to his island to have dinner with his family as a thanks for her help in the jewelry store. Fast forward to the year 2009....a man named Jim Hanson whose parents were the care-takers for Major Roberts island, now owns the boat the "Virginia." Jim found out Auntie Shirley had been to the island and had known Major Roberts and loved that she knew the history of the island! Jim had restored the boat the "Virginia" and agreed to take us on her birthday cruise. It isn't every day you get to cruise the lake in an awesome boat like this but for a special birthday anything is possible!
The location of our birthday dinner the Thunderbird!
My beautiful mother and I enjoying the night on the water.
Auntie Shirley and her only Grandson, Scott.
Scott and his girlfriend, Nicole.
Nicole, Auntie Shirley, My Mom and Me.....beautiful scenery, beautiful company!
Auntie Shirley opening birthday gifts.
Cheers to Auntie Shirley!
Jim had us drinking out of real silver champagne glasses so we really felt the day was special.
Uncle Walter, is one of the funniest people I know. You can't have a bad time when Uncle Walter is around!
This was such a nice night with family. Even with how much Auntie Shirley told us she didn't want a birthday party she was very pleased with her "non-party" party and told us we could throw a big party for her 100th birthday!
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