Here Fishy Fishy

The Schriebers came up to the cabin for Labor Day weekend.  It was nice to have them up here finally.

The kids enjoyed hanging out and they were super stoked to try their luck at catching some fish.

 The boys each got to drive the boat.  Their personalities are so different and it showed as they were in the drivers seat.  Justin paid attention sitting down the whole time.  Hands were on the wheel as he looked around and assured we were all safe.

When it was Adam's turn he was all over the place.  Standing, sitting, looking behind him, looking over the side of the boat,

  

 

 

 

No Don't Go!

Today is the day.  Kari, Andy and the boys will leave the cabin and after a night of packing they will be heading back home.  Even knowing they will be back next summer, this never gets easier.

In fact, it's almost a little harder each year because the kids actually know what's going on.  They understand that they won't see us for another year and they actually miss us as much as we miss them.

We will miss you.  We will miss your stories, your drawings, and your smiles.

He is at it again!

Seriously, it's amazing to me.

"Honey, I want some shelves for the bathroom that look something like this (showing picture from Pinterest)"

Come home from work to find this!

Buffalo Princesses

Tonight was an Open House at CBPA.  Even though we moved, we open enrolled Hannah into CBPA (Champlin Brooklyn Park Academy) so that she can stay in the same school.  She loved it there and although I know she would do well at any school, it was nice to be able to stay at the school.

I got a text from Samantha's mom today wondering if we wanted to join them at Buffalo Wild Wings for Kids Night.  It was the perfect surprise!

It's almost time

These guys are heading home next weekend.

It's always so hard to say goodbye but I am also so thankful for the time that we have together.

It's hard not to have them around to spend every holiday together.  It's hard not attending their birthday parties or having them at ours.  It sucks not being able to schedule regular playdates and the thought that they have grown into little men and I wasn't able to babysit them on the weekend sucks too.

I appreciate the time we do have together and am so thankful that these kids have grown up together.  They don't notice the miles and although they ask about their cousins on holidays and birthdays, they don't know it any other way.  This is normal for them and at least they have a normal. 

Two Become One

Mom was at Kari's in the morning to pick up her 5 girls to head out to our hair and makeup appointments.

Lacey found a place in Woodbury for us after we had all exhausted our options of trying to find someone to come out to Kristin's house.  As nice as it was to have someone come to us for Jennie's wedding, this worked well too.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves.

It was the longest hour EVER waiting for the Staples next door to open so I could finally get my Diet Coke. 

 Kristin looked absolutely gorgeous!  When we got her to the house to get her ready it was pretty tricky keeping her and Bobby apart.  The house is only so big and there was a lot going on.  Bridesmaids and groomsmen everywhere.  Getting ready, doing last minute set up for the party, etc.

Pictures started around noon and finally the two would see each other.  Bobby stood backwards in the orchard and Kristin walked down to meet him.  They stood back to back for a few minutes while the rest of us stood in the driveway stalking out their moment. 

 

  

The ceremony was perfect.  Short and sweet and within 20 minutes, it was official!

Introducing Mr and Mrs Gotch!

These two were surrounded by loved ones today.

The day was full of kind words, speeches and well wishes for these two.  

Just like it should be.

They are going to have such a great life together and we couldn't be more happy for them.

 

Twas the night before the wedding

Today we will spend the day getting Kristin and Bobby's house ready for the celebration tomorrow!

Kimmy and I made an appointment to get our nails done and also made an emergency trip to the tailor (turns out my dress fit all along- whew!).

After the church rehearsal we headed back to the Miller-Gotch residence to hang lights and set out tables.

Tomorrow is the big day!

We talked Kristin into spending the night at Kari's with us. 

We had a great night laughing while drinking wine and Beer-garitas.

Mom will be here in the morning to pick us up so she can pile all of her girls into her van to get us to our hair and makeup appointments. Probably won't be getting much sleep tonight :-)

Ice Bucket Challenge

It's all the rage.  Spreading across the internet as fast as celebrity gossip.  The Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.  Everyone is doing it.  And I mean everyone.

It started on Facebook with friends challenging each other to dump a bucket full of ice and water over their heads.  The thought was if you didn't want to accept the challenge you were suppose to donate money to ALS.  Soon the focus shifted and as you challenged your friends to the Ice Bucket Challenge you would challenge them to not only dump the ice and water on their head but to ALSO donate money to ALS.

In the few months during this internet rage, the ALS Foundation raised over 100 million dollars

It was fun (at first) watching all of the challenged come across Facebook. Some people had pretty creative 'dumps'.  Jumping into pools, dumping inflatable pools off of garages, standing in the middle of the state fair....they were good ones!  When I was nominated by Kristin, Hannah and Hailey wanted to get in on the action.  Hailey and I sat together and Hannah wanted to do her own.

I knew it was going to be cold and I knew that Hailey would not be a huge fan once she felt how cold it was.

Brian dumped the bucket full of ice and water on our heads and then the screaming started.  Hailey hated it.

She recovered pretty fast but for about 3 minutes she was pretty upset.

Take One:  our neighbor Noah wanted to tape Hannah's challenge.  After she was drenched, we tried to watch the video and he hadn't recorded it so it didn't turn out.  She was SUCH a trouper and decided that she wanted to do it again so she could get it on video and challenge others.

And they are done!

I finished Krisin's flowers today.  It feels so nice to have them done.  I also got the wedding programs completed.  I made them into fans- they turned out pretty cute!