More Birthday Pictures

Here are some more 2nd Birthday Pictures.

Katelynn and Mommy sporting the Mickey Mouse ears!

This is probably the cutest picture even though she still has her pj's on because we didn't want to get her party dress dirty .
Yes - unfortunately this is my daughter's new smile she is sporting.
Katelynn and Daddy and the Mickey Mouse ears.

Nephews & Nieces

Here are a couple of pictures of our niece and nephews that were emailed to me. They are growing up so fast, each summer we go home we are in absolute awe of the changes in them, especially their height. They get smarter and smarter each year (which duh, I guess they should be huh). It gets harder on both of us being away from home, we are wishing we could have seen the boys play against each others team's at the Fargodome the other weekend, we heard it was something. One nephew is from Whapeton and one is from Breckenridge, I'm sure it will be a long lasting family rivalry, maybe one year will need to plan our trip home to catch a game. Our niece, Cassie, is playing volleyball and sounds like she is doing great and really enjoying the sport, I loved playing VB and wish I could be home to volley with her in the backyard, I've tried to teach Dan some control and play with me in our backyard, but he has a tendency to try and spike the ball with all of his force and ends up whizzing by my head, not the type of fun play that I was hoping for. Our niece, Macy was in the county pageant, what a beauty, we heard she got runner up and did an amazing job and was not scared of speaking in public, what a great confidence she has already at her age.

Birthday Girl

Here is the first birthday present that Katelynn got to open on the day of her birthday, it was her "big" gift, it's an inflatable bounce (like the castle's kids jump in) that is for the home, inside or outside. She loves it and the kids had a blast with it in the backyard for her birthday party.

Here are some pictures from Katelynn's birthday, me and my friends took a ton of pictures, so I'll just post a couple here and a couple there. She was a great birthday girl though!

Busy Weekend

We had just a great family weekend and all 3 of us were sad to see Monday morning come. We started out Saturday morning with Katelynn and I making a Mexican omelet bake for breakfast. Then all of us drove a couple miles down the road and went to the pumpkin patch just down from our house, it was just opening for the season so there were only a couple of people there and Katelynn had free roam of the place. She loved picking out different pumpkins and gourds and corn and we took a little adventure through their maze and let Katelynn leave the way, (we ended up coming out through the entrance!) We bought 3 pumpkins to bring home and carved one of them in the garage - she got a kick out of that, we put the tripod in the garage and videotaped some of it and she would look at the camera and say "Happy Halloween". We had some other exciting news on Friday, one of Dan's lowline cows had a calf, so we headed down to Erie to go see the little calf and show Katelynn. I have to admit he was a little itty bitty thing and pretty cute, both mom and baby seem to be doing fine.
Sunday we had a couple of friends over to watch football and Katelynn and I made food for the games and got the basement ready for some Vikings football, with pom poms and a megaphone and everything Vikings, too bad we still lost, Katelynn even sported her Vikings Cheerleader uniform. We also watched the Broncos get beat right after - not a great football weekend, but we had fun.
Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Congratulations Jeff & Tonah

September 8th, 2007

A couple more pics

Weekend Company

A few weekends ago my dad, nephew, Landon, and aunt Shelly drove out for a quick visit. We had such a wonderful time. The first night the guys went to the country club and hit the driving range. Shelly and I had a few beers and did some much needed visiting, it was so nice to be able to sit face to face with someone from back home and not have 20 other people around that you feel you need to visit with at the same time too. Dan and my dad had a golf tournament that next day, so Shelly, Landon, Katelynn and I had a Saturday of fun. Shelly's only requirement was "no shopping" (I was thinking "damn", this is the only time I get away with bringing "stuff" aka "clothes" home with no repercussions from Dan). We started off the morning with some breakfast and then took Katelynn to her favorite place, BOUNCE, Landon bounced in all of the castles with her and took her down the slides, I just love that place! Next it was off to Ft. Collins to Fort Fun, we had tokens for games and there was a little merry go round that Katelynn fell in love with. We played a half a round of miniature golf and Landon had 2 turns in the batting cage. We went out for supper that night and didn't stay up too late, the boys were tired from all the sun and fun. Sunday the guys got up early and went to the Mad Russian golf course that is only a couple miles from our house and hit 9 more holes, Landon got to go with this time, we visited some more and Katelynn got to open up a couple early birthday presents. She is so much my girl, it was all clothes and she loved them. My parents bought her the prettiest little dress for her to where on her big day too! So here are a couple of pictures from there visit and yes I caught hell already for not taking any pictures with or of my aunt Shelly - sorry.

Turning 29

Here are a couple of pictures from my 29th birthday. Dan and Katelynn did a great job, I came home and had flowers from our backyard in vases, a birthday cake with candles, and some sparkling champagne for Dan & I. They sang me happy birthday and I got a gift certificate for a spa day! I haven't cashed in the gift certificate yet, but soon, it's almost just as calming and exciting to know that I have it there whenever I want to use it.

So, in less than a year I will hit the big "30", I have to say that I am not too excited about this milestone for myself. It seems to be the year that you are actually an "adult" in the sense of the word and are expected to act likewise. No more going out and having fun and then thinking I am still in my 20's give me a break, no more looking to the parents and going hey - I'm only in my 20's. Now instead of saying, yeah, in college or high school I did this and that, now it's in my 20's I did that and the young 20 year olds look at you and you think was that really me sooo long ago?! Well, I plan to give this last year in my 20's a hell of a go and make the most of it, at least all my girlfriends from my hometown turn 30 before me (sorry, ladies!) and I can go to each one of their 30 b-day parties and say damn you're getting old, (at least for a little while.)

The Art of Blowing Bubbles

Katelynn has learned how to successfully blow bubbles in the last few weeks. She gets so excited everyone time a couple of bubbles come out. It's exciting to see how proud she gets of herself!

County Fair

The Larimer County Fair was a couple weekends ago and Dan and I took Katelynn again this year. I think coming from small towns it's just something you have to take your kids to and go yourself to enjoy. We went into the 4-H building and looked at exhibits and into the barns to see the animals. We caught a magic act with Ronald McDonald and then hit the carnival. Katelynn played a couple of the little games for kids and we took her on 3 rides, the flying elephants, the choo-choo train, and of course the merry-go-round. She had a blast. Katelynn and I also went the following day and met up with a couple of my friends and her friends and did it all again, it was great weekend of fun at the fair!

Kitchen sinks, baby's, and baths

Dan and I never gave Katelynn a bath in the kitchen sink when she was a baby, I was probably too scared of dropping her or her sliding out of my hands and wacking her head on the side or the faucet, so we played in safe and had the little baby bath tub.

Well, the other week we had picked some green beans from Dan's little garden that he planted this year and Katelynn was washing them off in the sink, this lasted almost a half an hour (unbelievable for her to keep her attention that long). Then she decided to just start splashing around in the water and needed to wash her hands over and over and over again, with soap of course. At some point I thought I would let her have a little fun and through some dish soap in there and we washed her hands good and then after having been in the garden with bare feet and the water right there I washed her feet in the sink as well. All of this lead to the pictures below and our little family of 3 had a blast with all of the fun and laughs and couldn't wait to get our pics developed and share them with everyone! Now I can say that, yes, I gave my daughter a bath in the sink when she was little.

Mac 'n Cheese Soup

Okay, for those of you with kids that love Mac 'n Cheese here is a recipe from Pampered Chef that we've tried out and like. At least it's a little variety from the ordinary mac and cheese!

1 package (14 ounces) deluxe-type macaroni & cheese dinner
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups milk
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 cup cubed cooked ham (you can also substitute hot dogs and cut them up instead if you don't have ham)

1. Cook macaroni noodles according to the package directions, drain in colander and set aside.
2. Chop broccoli and onion
3. Combine broccoli, onion and water in casserole, bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, do not drain.
4. Stir in cooked macaroni, cheese sauce from pouch, milk, cheese soup and ham. Return to a bowl, stirring occasionally.

All done! It's easy, pretty quick and my kiddo loved it! Enjoy

Omelete Recipe

I'm sure some people have seen this through an email, but I think it's a neat idea and thought I would post if for everyone to see again and get the directions.

ZIPLOC OMELET
(This works great !!! Good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet !!!)
Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.
Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.
Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.
Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.
Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece.




Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready. And in 13 minutes, you got a nice omelet for a quick breakfast!!!
I think my kids are going to like this!

Katelynn's First Tractor Ride

Here are some pictures of Katelynn getting her first tractor ride.
She loved it, do you think you inherit that gene?


Uncle Sam and Katelynn on the tractor.

Katelynn on the Tractor at the Davids' Cabin.

Davids Cabin

Here are some of the pictures from our vacation time at the Davids Cabin. It was really great to visit with the family and see all the updates on the Log Cabin that they have done. I believe this cabin can sleep around almost 20 people, it's a massive place and they have done such a wonderful job decorating it and making it a cabin. Each one of the sons has one of their animals stuffed and on display from their various hunts. Dan's is the massive Elk Head that sits above the fire place, in these pictures it is hidden behind the bears. We actually have a spot picked out for the Elk in our house, but I have a feeling that we'll never be able to get it out of the cabin - it all goes together to well there! Also when looking at these pictures check out the furniture - it's all made by Dan's dad - he did an awesome job.

This first picture is of Katelynn and her 2 cousins, Macey and Tyler. Dan's mom took us to the Flea Market one afternoon and Katelynn found this Dora table and chairs and I got it for $20.00. We hauled this table and chairs around with us from place to place the rest of the vacation - she loves it.


Here the front of the cabin and everyone is taking a break for lunch - the project while we were home was putting in the sidewalk that you see, the cement was poured that morning and this is a round center piece that isn't shown for a fire pit or it would make a great dance floor! It was a lot of work getting the pea rock to show through - it took me and Faith all afternoon spraying it with water, but it turned out great!

Here's another picture inside the cabin, Katelynn just loved hanging out with her cousin Macey.

Blowing bubbles!