July Birthdays!

July is when Scott and Mark's birthdays are. We celebrated Mark's by going to dinner and coming home to a small cake I picked up from the store. It was the perfect size. Of course, this year was not half as fun as last year!

We celebrated Scott's birthday (again!) when we got home from vacation. We had Mark's siblings, parents, my Mom and brother Steve with his family over for some hamburger and dogs. The Seymours were still on vacation. This year was a little more exciting since Scott turned 13 on the 13th (Golden!). The cake was a yummy fudge frosted cake that Mark picked up for me!

Scott was sweet to let his cousin Seth sit on his lap while we sang happy birthday.

Scott also had his friend, Jacob over for the festivities. Note no decor this year. Scott asked me to keep it simple. I love that boy!

Vacation (Part 4)

The Seymours stopped by on a beautiful day! We had fun tube'n and stopping on a sand bar to swim. (Doesn't Mike look like a tourist in this picture? LOL!)

The rest of the week flew by, but we had fun. The big boys decided it was time for them to ski and we were all so impressed.

People often ask when we come back from vacation if we caught any muskie. This year we can say "Yes". Of course the true answer is "Yes, we caught a musky sleeping on our beach!". This poor guy was injured by a boat prop and washed ashore over night,. Let me tell you that bad boy stunk! Thank goodness the guys had trash duty. They actually took it out on the boat and left it on an island for the other birds/animals to feed on.

All and all we had a fabulous vacation and can't wait to do it again!

Vacation (Part 3)

During week two we were joined by the Brackin family and the Kevin Pries family, minus their sons. We had some more fun while the Erickson's went off to Minnesota to finish out their vacation.

Kayaking was the sport of this summer vacation. Uncle Mike lead the way and everyone who tried it loved it. Catie drove up from Madison for an afternoon. It was a great surprise!

We had a lot of firsts this vacation. Besides Grace's first time minature golfing and go-carting, Scott did horseback riding (Grace too), kayaking and he tried water skiing. He did really well for his first time trying. Thanks to his uncles who were a great help and source of knowledge!

Of course, not all of the wild life happened on the lake. We did see some beautiful eagles, loons and deer. (Yes, I know the middle picure is a butterfly - I couldn't find my loon picture!)

Oh vacation is not over yet! The Seymours were up North too.

Vacation (Part 2)

We were so happy that the Erickson family was up in the North Woods with us our first week this year. Well, until Grace showed us all up by catching more than 40 fish in one afternoon. No joke, this girl has the touch!


Grace with one of the many fish she caught. She caught them so fast that we had to tag team to keep up with her. I would bait her hook and Scott would remove the fish. We did this, while Annabelle was trying to keep up. Same spot but Grace just had the touch, or was it her lucky Barbie fishing pole? (I can see it now, Mark shopping for a Barbie pole his size!)

Of course these cousins had fun hanging out too! For Scott's 13th birthday we went minature golfing and go carting! It was Grace's first time doing both and I'd have to say she had a great time.

Vacation (Part 1)

Another great year in Minocqua, Wisconsin. I could really live there. We had two weeks of fun and family time.


We all did some fishing, but of course Mark caught the most and the biggest! I personally enjoyed lounging in the lake. Weather was beautiful with boughts of rain, but really no complaints.

Mojo even got to have some fun in the lake. He never got so far as actually swimming but at least we got him to go and stay in the water this year!

Travel to/from Iowa

Traveling to and from Iowa, our kids experienced some firsts! We love when we discover that they've never done something or remember it from when they were younger. So here are some experiences we had over the weekend!


First time up close to one of these wind mills. We've seen fields of them on our way to Wisconsin every year, but never realized how big they really were until this trip. First time being able to touch the roof of a parking garage! I thought the top of our explorer was going to scrap!

Here we are crossing the Mississippi River. Scott and Annabelle have never been west of Illinois! They could not believe how wide the River was. Impressive bridge too!

Here we are at the World's Largest Truckstop in Davenport, Iowa! We stopped both on the way to Des Moines and on the way home. The kids thought it was amazing. Several restaurants inside to choose from, an arcade, gift shop, quick mart, nicest bathrooms we've ever seen at any stop and of course BP gasoline! We were amazed what a difference a day makes. On Saturday there were not so many people at the stop, but on our way home on Sunday - Wow, we had to wait a while in lines before we could even order our food! There were loads of people and groups of kids.

All in all our trip to DesMoines was a good one. Wish we could of spent more time there. Very nice people and a very clean city.

Dr. Catherine Brackin

We are proud to introduce to you, our niece, Catherine Brackin, PharmD.

Catie with her folks and grandparents after the hooding ceremony. We are so proud of Catie. She spent the last 6 years at Drake University in Iowa, studying hard to be a pharmacist. She's accepted a position in Madison Wisconsin - I believe at a hospital, where she will continue her studies. She must like school! :)

We took the kids with us to Des Moines and they really enjoyed the graduation and the celebrations that followed. This family knows how to party! :D We partied in the hotel before going to dinner and some partied after dinner so more! As for me, I went to bed, I was tired and so were our kids who were falling asleep at the restaurant.

It was a very nice quick ceremony - 1 hour! Who knows maybe Drake in in the future of one of these bright minds! (Okay, maybe not - too much $$$) :)