Saturday, August 24, 2013

"Working at the Car Wash, yeah!"

Mama is one lucky lady!  Grandpa and Matthew washed my car inside and out for me yesterday! 
 
Grandpa loved having his car washing helper!  Mr. Matthew was in heaven the whole time - loving to learn how to wash from Grandpa and being the one who operates the hose.  If there is water involved, pretty sure this little guy is going to jump right in and participate.
 


 
It's so fun right now, and can be challenging, to see how much Matthew is taking interest in doing what we do.  Becoming more and more Mr. Independent.  He's also been an observer, nothing gets by him, and now he asks to do the things he's been watching us do over time.  He's definitely growing up!
 
 
He then decided he wanted to wash his tri-cycle, too!  He soaped it up, rinsed it off, and then dried it.  Perfect!  Just how Grandpa showed him!  He now has a shiny trike!
 


 
Helping wash Mama's floor mats and hanging them up to dry.  Such muscles!
 
 
It was fun to watch the boys outside together doing "man things". :)
A big thank you to you both for making my SUV squeaky clean! Nothing better than a clean car!
 

Friday, August 23, 2013

Foto Friday

The twins and I are back in Iowa for the week while Daddy is busy 'crunching the numbers'.  Yesterday we made a trip to visit Great-Grandpa Jim.  The twins enjoyed playing with Great-Grandpa, and I think Great-Grandpa Jim enjoyed it just as much as them!

Love you Great-Grandpa!

Monday, August 19, 2013

Happy Birthday, Grandma Carol

Happy Birthday to...

the BEST mom, 

a SUPER fun Grandma,

the best reader of kid stories,

someone who loves unconditionally, 

will help and save the day by fixing any problems we may have,

the person we can always count on,

a wonderful friend,

someone with a giving heart,

is full of silly stories and fun memories,

But most importantly... 

Happy Birthday to a mom and grandma who mean the world to all of us!

Love you, Mom! xoxo

* and I noticed afterwards that two little people must have moved some letters around and the "n" and "d" got switched. :)

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Three Decades Old

Last Thursday, I turned another decade old.  I'm now 30!  The BIG 3-0.  Bye bye 20's!

I couldn't have asked for any better way to ring in my 30's than the many celebrations I had and the fun trip to Florida!

My sister, Kelly, turned 40 about a week before I turned 30.  We thought a trip with us and just our husbands sounded like a fantastic way to celebrate together.  A trip to Florida was planned, babysitters booked, and before we knew it we were off!  Kid-free!!  It was a quick trip - two days and two nights.  But it was perfect!  We went into the trip without a set schedule and decided to roll with it.  While we were there we ate at so many yummy restaurants, went to a Giants vs Rays baseball game, relaxed at the beach, ate supper watching the sunset along the bay, and did some shopping.  And oh yeah, most importantly, slept in each morning!  Perfect!  Just what us old ladies needed. :)  We really loved Tampa, FL and are already talking about our next trip back!

And we're off!  Who are those crazy photo bombers behind us!

We enjoyed a dinner and happy hour at a cute restaurant before the baseball game.





Tropicana Field - Tampa Bay Rays

My brother-in-law, Brian, is a SF Giants fan.  He was happy his team was playing while we were in town.

Not feeling the love for the Tampa Bay mascot.

Go Giants!

We had the best time at the game thanks to the great group of Tampa fans around us.  They definitely made it so much fun and were great sports since we were rooting for the away team.  Love making friends!


Enjoying breakfast at an amazing local restaurant.  

I had a breakfast quesadilla and it was the best breakfast I've ever had!

Saturday we spent our day at the beach.  It was gorgeous!  Kelly and I were in our "happy places" soaking in the sun, relaxing by the water, and swimming in the warm ocean.  And having no one else to worry about but ourselves.





Love ya, sista!

Saturday night we went out to eat at a nice restaurant, The Rusty Pelican, recommended to us by a Tampa local whom we met at the baseball game.  We made reservations for us at sunset so we could enjoy the beautiful scenery along the bay.  The seafood we had was amazing!  





On our way back to reality, but we did miss our kiddos and were happy to get home to see them!

Waiting in the airport.  Could this picture explain our different personalities any better? ;)  

Those crazy photo bombers just keep following us all the way to our flight back home!

August 8 - birthday!  On the day of my birthday I got to spend the morning/afternoon with my old co-worker buddies whom I used to teach with up here.  It had been too long since I got to see some of them and all of their children!  It was so much fun to catch up, enjoy some fun adult conversation, and watch our kiddos all play so well with each other.  The sandbox was a big hit!  

Love this group of ladies!  Miss seeing them everyday at work!


Michelle was awesome and brought some frozen drinks for us to "cheer" and celebrate with one another.  



Michelle's daughter in this picture makes me laugh.  As you can tell, she didn't want to cooperate and have her hair brushed that morning.

Picnic Lunch







That evening, Kevin surprised me and managed to leave early to make it in time to take me out to supper.  And he also surprised me with flowers!  I picked Famous Dave's for my night out.  Was craving some BBQ!



Matthew was all about my ice cream!



Kevin planned a "surprise" party for me with all of our friends at our house on Saturday.  I ended up finding out about the party but it ended up being okay so this way he could run any party questions by me if he needed.  He did awesome and sent invitations and organized it all himself (with some help from our wonderful friend, Lindsay!).  Made me feel pretty special that he went to all of the work and went out of his comfort zone into the world of party planning!

Kevin did all of the grilling and our friends brought over some delicious sides to share.  Later in the evening, we enjoyed a bonfire in the backyard.  We couldn't have asked for better August weather to be hanging out outside and for all of the kids to play.

I have awesome friends who also know how to make a 30 year old feel special.  I received some beautiful flowers, balloons, my favorite candies, and a carrot cake birthday cake, my favorite!  Celebrating with all of our friends really made me feel blessed for all of the people God has brought into our lives living here.  They feel like family to us and I don't know what I would do without all of their love and support as well.


(L to R) Friends Kelly, Rachel, and Allison - we are flashing the 30 sign.

Who are those cute kiddos? :)

Twins Julia and Fiona and Baby Joshua

The Kopp Family!  Matt and Kelly and their son Joe.  And we are so excited for them to welcome their second child in November!

The Power Wheels car was a very big hit for all of the kids!


Thank you Lindsay for helping my husband put together the party!  Love you!


Yummmy!  Cake time!





As I look back on the last decade, I have to say it was a great 10 years in my 20's.  I graduated from college, married my better half, got my first teaching job, found our own way in a new city by ourselves, and we bought our first house.  And most importantly, it provided me with a family...

the sweetest little girl....

and busiest little boy with the cutest dimples....

two of my greatest accomplishments....

and the three best decisions I ever made!