Today, Jan. 17, 2009 is my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary!!!! I can't believe they have been married that long! I vividly remember them celebrating their 25th and Mom had specifically told Dad that she wanted to go to Hawaii!! Well, us kids took them to Red Lobster in Sioux Falls instead. Mom didn't get to go to Hawaii until a few years ago with some of their friends, but they had finally made it there and loved it! :) Next Sunday, the 25th, Kevin, Pat and myself (and our families of course) are taking them out for dinner at Whiskey River in St. Peter, MN. Mom and Dad didn't want a big program, didn't want any kind of get together for it. I however, wanted something different. My bummer is that I never even sent anything out to their friends and family to surprise them with cards. Hopefully their day today is a special one.
Today, Jan. 17, 2009 is also the 12th Anniversary of my Dad having his heart attack. I wouldn't expect you guys to remember that one, but I sure do. I remember very vividly where I was when I got the call from Kevin about Dad. My sister in law, Michelle said that that was the only time she had ever seen Kevin cry, was when he was on the phone with me telling me about Dad. And I was crying. The worst part was that Dad was so far away from us and he didn't have any of us there to help support him in any way except by telephone. And the nurses in New York made sure that he got to talk to us and they gave us full reports on his situation. See at the time, Dad was still driving truck full time and was in Syracuse, New York when he had the heart attack. He felt pain as he was driving to his destination and hollered on the cb. The car behind him (and in front of him if I remember right) had cb radios and heard his cry for help so they helped him pull off to the side of the road. By coincidence (and I don't believe in coincidence's anymore), an ambulance who was going to another scene also heard his cry for help and they pulled around to get Dad instead. Dad had called in to Marten Transport too and told them what was happening so they were the ones who called Mom and let us know what was going on. Dad literally had his heart attack in the hospital thanks to those great people that were there by his side on the road. There was a place for his semi and trailer to stay parked while he was in the hospital. I mean seriuosly here, how many times do situations like that present themselves?!
Angels were doing double duty that day for Dad and that will never be forgotten. Since then I cherish the times that we are able to spend with Dad. It was just Thursday night that Josiah wanted to stay at Grandpa and Grandma's house for night cuz he wanted to play games with Grandpa. That might not have even happened if Dad hadn't gotten that quick response 12 years ago. He might not have been able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding - something I was taking for granted until it happened. Appreciate your parents and let them know that you love them......everyday...... for you will never get another set of them!
I hope God blesses you with 50 or more wonderful years of marriage to your spouse.
I love you Mom and Dad!
love your daughter ~
Michelle Denise
Isaac, Josiah and Paton (Josiah's friend from school) all went sledding one day at Lawcon Park. There is a great place for them to slide down and just love it!
Josiah and Paton relaxing!
Josiah on his snow board and Paton waiting for Josiah to go down the hill
Cody all bundled up and ready to go outside for a ride on the 4 wheeler!!!
Cody all intent on playing the Donkey Kong game that Pat has had since we were kids!
My good friend Kim, whom I met when I went to Costa Rica in '87. We found each other on facebook and she lives 20 min. from Pat and Jenna's house in the Cities!! She came down to visit me/us while we were there and we had a blast together! That is her little girl, Maria with her and I'm holding April.
myself, Josiah and Jenna in the hot tub (PS - Martin and Isaac were at a sleep over at the Science museum for Cub Scouts while we were here)
Josiah with his most favorite cousin of all! ~ baby April, who now is an "official" Ratzlaff!!! She became official on Jan. 20, 2009!!!
Today, Jan. 17, 2009 is my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary!!!! I can't believe they have been married that long! I vividly remember them celebrating their 25th and Mom had specifically told Dad that she wanted to go to Hawaii!! Well, us kids took them to Red Lobster in Sioux Falls instead. Mom didn't get to go to Hawaii until a few years ago with some of their friends, but they had finally made it there and loved it! :) Next Sunday, the 25th, Kevin, Pat and myself (and our families of course) are taking them out for dinner at Whiskey River in St. Peter, MN. Mom and Dad didn't want a big program, didn't want any kind of get together for it. I however, wanted something different. My bummer is that I never even sent anything out to their friends and family to surprise them with cards. Hopefully their day today is a special one. 
Ok, so some of you are probably wondering what in the world am I doing putting a picture of some pink Calvin Klein underwear on here?! Well, there is a story behind it and I just thought it was too cute and too funny to pass up!
Josiah is the shepherd on the lft side of the manger scene in the blue robe
No Wonder! - the name of the Christmas program the kids did at church!
Here are Isaac and Josiah singing in the program. Sorry, could barely see Josiah from where we were sitting, so I only go this head on this one.
the back of the kids' shirts say "The church has left the building - No wonder!". Meaning that we should leave the church to minister to others. Not just stay in church.
The front of the kids' shirts. They all did a super job! :) It was great to finally see it after the first performance was cancelled due to the cold weather we had that night. And then last night we were in a blizzard warning and it didn't come til this morning. It was worth the wait to see the kids' perform - they did an awesome job! :)
Ahhhhhhh.........aren't they cute?! As I post this, I should've taken a before haircut picture as well, but of course never thought of it til after they got their hair cut. oh well....... Well, our vacation is officially over today. Darn. Its been a wonderful 2 weeks being off with the boys! Martin and I had an extra 2 days off before the boys were done with School, and that was nice, but these last couple of weeks have really been nice. I can't say we got on each other's nerves or anything. We all took our space when we needed it, and had a great time being home by ourselves. We have a lot of nothing!....... sleeping in (well, ok for us even sleeping wil 7 is sleeping in!), staying up late, watching movies, having LOTS of pj days and just some plain old relaxing. The only bad thing is that I know Martin and I could go for another week of this. Its funny cuz all of our friends have had to work during this time, but what they don't realize is that this is our down time. That when most other people enjoy their summers - we work through ours and its a tough season. Most weeks Martin puts in 60+ work weeks. I only put 40 hours in , but work is really crazy some days. So being off for 2 weeks during the Holidays is like a touch of Heaven for us! even if we are in the cold! :)