The Grandkids. . . . . . .

So its not very often that we can have everyone together for things anymore, so that's why a picture like this is worth a thousand words!! From left - Josiah, Cody, Travis, Isaac, Mike, April and Krystie.

For those of you who are wondering, baby April's court date should be coming up in January to make her an official 'Ratzlaff'. We are all very excited about this and Cody certainly loves his baby sister!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and have a safe and happy New year as well! :)

Our Christmas letter

Ok, so this year its my turn to write our Christmas letter!........this is Josiah, I’m 7 years old and I’m in 1st grade!!!! I love going to school, playing with friends, being in AWANA, helping Mom and Dad with chores around the house (well, ok, sometimes I like to help them), and the best thing this year? I learned to read!!!!! I am so excited about that! Mrs. Blomgren makes us bring home small books everyday to read with Mom and Dad and I’m getting better at reading! I’m always trying to figure what words are by spelling them out and then I ask Mom and Dad what word that is (well, my brain gets tired to trying to figure all that stuff out! – there’s a lot of words to see!)

Isaac turned 10 this year. Mom said that he’ll be in the double digits for the rest of his life now! – that’s a LONG time! WOW!!! He had some friends over for his birthday and I got to invite a friend too and we went bowling! We had a blast!! Isaac likes school, playing with his friends, he’s a Webelos in Cub scouts now, he’s in Chess club afterschool and he’s gone to a chess tournament too. He’s played Dad a few times, and Dad says that he can tell Isaac is getting better at Chess cuz he cant’ beat him right away anymore! Isaac also sold the most popcorn for Cub Scouts too this year! He sold $2,300.00 – that’s a lot of popcorn! He sold enough popcorn to get himself a Nintendo DS and he won an Apple ipod shuffle!!! Lucky guy!! He was so excited!!!

Dad started a new position at Bargen Inc. as Roofing Foreman/Estimator. He loves his job! He says he’s got a passion for roofing (whatever that means) and can’t wait to help build that division up!! He’s been home a lot more this year (versus being gone M-Th all summer long last year) and we love having him home more! Dad is still doing projects around the house, and I try to help him, but his list never ends!! His latest project is the bathroom in me and Isaac’s room – its almost done, but he needs to finish the plumbing in the sink. Otherwise its painted and has a new floor so its ready to go!

Mom is still Secretary for Bargen Inc. She told me she’s been there 13 years already! (that’s a long time!) This summer she took a vacation away from us and went on a “Wild Women” trip to Glacier National park in Montana this year. At first I thought she was going to see Hannah Montana, until she explained it to me (he he). She went hiking up Hidden Lake Trail at Glacier, sailing, white water rafting and then a high ropes course. She was gone for a whole week and we missed her, but she had fun! She went with a group from church and I think she said there were 13women that went. She had to find a name for herself, so she was “Mellow Michelle” and I wonder what everyone else had for names, but oh well. She showed us pictures from her trip – sliding in snow on a mountain, rafting, hiking, and she said she was in God’s country! Oh yeah, she also said they stayed at Flathead Lutheran Bible camp there and slept outside in tents! (that is NOT Mom at all!) They were told that they see bear out there, so Isaac gave her his whistle, a compass, his flint and some lint to help start a fire in case she needed it!

Isaac and I enjoy being with Grandpa and Grandma too! Whenever Grandpa isn’t busy, he’s picking us up from school, or at our house til Mom and Dad get home from work, he’ll take us with him in the semi when he’s hauling corn, or just making the rounds in the fields when its harvest time……

Just a few weeks ago we took a trip to Lubbock, TX to see Dad’s family. We got to go on the Polar Express there! Aunt Liz got us tickets, so we (Mom, Isaac and me) got on the train in our jammies, had hot cocoa, cookies, danced in the aisle, saw Santa clause and got a sleigh bell! We had a blast!!! We had Thanksgiving at Aunt Frannie’s house and ate lots of good food there! We had lots of fun playing with our cousins, playing with Shorty, Grandpa’s dog and going to the Mudd room to paint some projects – I painted a 4 wheeler and Isaac painted a pirate ship!

From our hearts to yours~ Merry Christmas!

Josiah from all of us



You can always find us at www.thequinteros.blogspot.com

Our Christmas trees

This is our Christmas tree. I know, it doesn't look like a beautiful blue spruce or anything, but it came about in a different way. One of our cats (who passed away last year) decided to play with our old tree and he ended up breaking the stand of our artificial tree). So Martin put a big branch in a pail of cement and ended up drilling holes in the branch for the artificial tree branches. Thus came our Christmas tree! Personally ~ I love it! :) Its original and has a lot of character. Plus its our very own tree! This tree gets left up year 'round with only white lights on it so when we're in the basement and want just a little bit of light on, we plug it in.

This the boys' tree and we let them decorate it how they want it decorated. The enjoy it and can say that it is theirs! :)

This is a new little tree I got this year because we keep our Christmas trees in the basement and I wanted something upstairs in our living room to show the Christmas spirit. Oh yes, and there is another snowman family too! ;)

From our house to yours ~ We wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a very safe and Happy New Year! If you are travelling over the holidays, please have a safe trip!

My snowmen collection

I never realized until last year just how many snowmen I actually have. It wasn't something I set out to collect either, I just ended up getting several of them. So now I "officially" collect Snowmen! :) Last year Martin and the boys got me the big white guy on the left of this bottom picture, and Isaac made the "tin can snowman" at school (3rd one from the left in the middle picture). And actually last year for Christmas I had bought the boys' teachers all a snowman for christmas but ended up liking them so much that I kept them for myself! (I just got the teachers something else). But here is my snowman collection, and actually this doesnt' include the snowman ornaments I have on the tree either. I think there's atleast another 5 or so there. No, its not a lot, but I'm really enjoying this collection. Plus snowmen can be left out longer than christmas decorations and that's fun too!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long since I've put anything on here. Lately things have been pretty crazy around here. Work is finally coming to an end, which is so nice! Martin is still working, but as long as the weather is decent, he's ok with it. This week has been tough on him with the cold and winds, so he has come home at night pretty worn out and crabby, but that's how it goes.

Some of you may not know, but we are going to Lubbock, TX for a week over Thanksgiving! :) We will be seeing Martin's family and hopefully some Aunts and/or Uncle's that we haven't seen in a while. Its been 2 years since we've been to Lubbock and we've had additions to the family since then. Martin's baby sister, Frances had their 3rd child - a son named Aiden. He'll be 1 in a few weeks. Not too mention that the other cousins are 2 years older than we last saw them as well! :) Last year we did manage to see my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Liz and her boyfriend, Julio in Vegas, and we had a blast there, but that's not like seeing the whole family! So this time we are so excited to be going!!!! The boys are excited and can't wait to see their cousins!! I only wish we all lived closer so the trip wouldnt' be so far. Even with cheap gas prices now, its still cheaper to drive than to fly, and the shortest rout we've found is still 16 hours. UGH! We will leave Sunday morning the 23rd and come home on Sunday, the 30th (hopefully in time for Thanksgiving with my family that day).

In the meantime, I hope all of you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your families! If you are driving somewhere, please drive safe and enjoy your holiday! :)

Blessings to you all! ~
Michelle

Injury day at school

Ok, so you have to admit that these pictures look real don't they? Well, thankfully they aren't although the cast Josiah has on was really his when he was about 4 years old. It was injury day at school and of course Josiah LOVES dressing up for those events during Homecoming week at school.

Just had to share it with you cuz I think its hilarious! And yes, people really thought he had a black eye! (look what eyeshadow and eye liner can do!)

the knifty knitter

isn't amazing what a "knifty knitter" from walmart can do?! I've the 2 colors - sandstone and soft pink in my drawer for the past year wanting to make a scarf out of them but never got it started. This was until a couple weeks ago when my co-worker came in wearing a scarf that her 11 year old daughter made her. Granted it wasn't with this fun fur that I had, but still. So, long story short, Kaylee is still in the process of making me a scarf with more fun fur (soft pink and confetti), but in the meantime, I bought myself the knifty knitter and more yarn of course and made this scarf! :) Now, you can't see it from the picture, but I need to work on my ends. The instructions showed you how to knit a hat, but not a scarf, so the ends are different. And with the fun fur, that crazy stuff gets tangled up so easily so my ends aren't the greatest, but this was my first scarf so the mistakes will be on this one.

Josiah has already put his order in for a "bee" scarf (black and yellow - he probably chose these colors cuz we've seen the Bee movie quite a bit lately!). Isaac hasn't said anything about a scarf yet, but I'm sure he'd take one if I offered it to him.

For now I'm impressed with myself that I was able to do this cuz if you know me at all, I am not a crafty type of person and I envy those who are. That was a gene I missed out on! Oh yeah, it took me one week to do this too, which I didn't think was so bad considering that I only spent about 5 hours on it.

My new Niece and little nephew!

Josiah and baby April - aren't they cute!!! After holding her, he made it known that he wanted to have a baby sister. Well, we all know that all dreams don't come true!
Cody and I - he was being so goofy and we could not get a good picture of him and I so we finally gave up!
Baby April and I - isn't she cute?! I held her practically the whole time! - it was my first seeing her!
Cody being goofy!
Josiah and April again. She eventually fell asleep on his lap!

We had so much fun with these guys yesterday! It was so much fun finally getting to see April who just turned one month old on Sat., Oct. 4th. Cody, is almost 22 months old and is just a little nut! he's talking so much and loves to play. He had us laughing so good when we were trying to take his picture and he moves so fast that I bet I took about 10 pictures of him before I finally got his full face in a picture! He is just a little goober! He can say just about any word you ask him too and he LOVES Thomas the train! Did I say that he loves Thomas the train? Whenever a movie comes on with Thomas in it, he sits very seriously in front of the tv to watch it! too cute!

As for Isaac in all of this? Well, he was there, but he chose not to hold April (maybe he was too afraid he would like her and want to have another sibling? he's told us before that he doesnt' want anymore siblings for fear they would be like Josiah!)

Challenger No. 3985

Ok, so the pictures didnt' turn out the greatest. It was getting too dark outside and with the train being all black - you figure it out! :) But this train was really cool - you'll have to see the link I posted about the train.

http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/media_kit/steam/3985/index.shtml

He Speaks To Me

Ok, so there are no pictures with this post, but I just HAVE to tell you about an awesome Bible study I just started at Church tonight. Its by Priscilla Shirer (www.goingbeyond.com). She is awesome! I have never been in a Bible study before, but since coming home from my Wild Women trip, I have longed to be involved in something more at Church. I've never felt like this before. Never. So a couple weeks ago, when one of our Pastors wives, Tanya mentioned a Bible study for women and then mentioned the name of Beth Moore in that same sentence (for all I've ever heard on Beth Moore is how awesome her studies were!), I told Martin that I was going to join that Bible study. I didn't really hear much more about it at that time, until this past Sunday when I looked in the bulletin from church. There it was. Priscilla Shirer, daughter of Dr. Tony Evans.

This is a 6 week study, but we're making it into 12 weeks and I'm super pumped about it! I came home tonight feeling so uplifted and good about things, and believe me, I haven't felt like this in years. I feel like God has put me here for a specific reason and I can't wait to listen to Him and see what He has in store! :) There are 11 of us there - some of my Mom's friends even, a newlywed, others my age and 3 others (besides myself) are Wild Women alumni which is cool too. I'm really looking forward to 12 weeks of this awesome Bible study and can't wait to tell you more about it as the weeks go by.

Thank you Jesus for putting this Bible study in my life, with all these great women to get to know. Only you knew what I needed and when I would need it. I am completely blessed!

A very special Tony Hawk backpack!!!!

Wednesday night Isaac, Josiah and I were at Kohls' in Mankato shopping. Josiah really wanted a Tony Hawk backpack and he talked to Martin about it on the phone who had told him no. That if he wanted the backpack, that he would have to bring his brand new bike back to the store. So very reluctantly, Josiah threw the backpack on the floor and went to sob by a rack of clothes. There was a gentlemen in front of us at the check out who saw the whole thing and he asked me how much the backpack was and I told him it was $25., but it was a matter of priorities, and getting the backpack wasn't a priority over his brand new bike at home. This very kind gentlemen went over to Josiah and spoke to him a little bit and Josiah came back to me with $20.00. I tried telling this gentlemen as he was walking away that he didn't have to do that, but he walked out of the store without looking back. He told Josiah that his Mom had just passed away a couple days ago and that Josiah should be nice to his Mom. Josiah got his Tony Hawk backpack, thanks to this very kind gentlemen.

This kind stranger showed us that Good Samaritans are still out there and that we should spread kindness wherever we go.

I pray that Josiah will NEVER forget this story, and that he will be kind to others as a result of this man being kind to him.

Our last "hooray" before school starts

Martin and Josiah acting goofy in Old Navy. Of course Martin would tell you that Josiah put him up to that, but we all know differently don't we?! wink wink

The boys both got brand new bikes this weekend. Josiah got his on Sunday and Isaac just got his today. And yes, you are not seeing things, they are identical. Well, there will be one difference for sure - that will be the height of the seat on Isaac's bike - it will be higher than Josiah's bike. That and Isaac says that Josiah's bike already has a scratch on it.

In front of the MN Institute of Art
Josiah in front of the cute puppy


the boys at the Mall of America trying their hands at getting some stuffed animals (like they need any more of those?). Needless to say, they didn't win anything and walked away disappointed - atleast for a little bit.

What started out as a nice weekend away ended up being just barely an "ok" weekend away with the boys. Our hotel was junky (no need to go further than that, since it doesn't matter anymore anyways other than we will NEVER be staying at a Holiday Inn again!!!), which made the entire weekend basically really upsetting.


At any rate, we decided to go to the Minnesota Institute of Art (none of us had ever been there and given our shorter period of free time due to the horrible hotel situation, we opted for this alternative versus the Science Museum or the Zoo). The boys did good here considering that this Art is way over their heads, however they got involved with some of their interactive learning centers (or short videos of the art) and they enjoyed that. For Isaac that was the key thing to do because after that he understood more of what we were seeing.



After that we ate supper at Don Pueblo's which is our favorite Mexican restaurant (outside of what we make at home of course!) and then headed to the Mall of America. Now for those of you who haven't heard, its no longer called Camp Snoopy, but rather the Park at MOA. Crazy. So now there theme is Nickelodeon. The "first Nickelodeon themed park" they say. So we got a few pictures of that too.

Bad weather

these were clouds to a bad storm Martin and Koum came through on their way home from work one day. They were on a roof this day and they finally got off when one of the workers at the School told them that the tornado siren had gone off. So on their way home that night, they came across these crazy looking clouds.

Wild Women 4.2 trip

Me at the helm of the sailboat on Flathead Lake

Our Wild Women 4.2 group (4.2 stands for 4th year, 2nd group this year).

Wild Women are as follows: (back row)Heather Frederickson, Erica Campbell, Kris Cross, Marilyn Stoesz, Kendra Grev, Michelle Caravatt, Me (front row) Asha Wyatt, Dawn Matejka, Vicki Eatwell, Brandee Jepsen, Dawn Dederman. Missing is Kristina Nelson whom we picked up on our way in Jackson, MN. (sorry if I misspelled any names)

One lovely person who is not in this picture either is Bernice, who was on bended knee for us while we were in Montana. Bernice Wall is 73 I believe and went on this trip last year. She is a ferocious prayer warrior and we brought our concerns, fears and adventures to her so she knew how to pray for us. I know for a fact, that the concerns I gave her were brought to the Lord and He got me through this trip. The things I was concerned about were completely washed away - literally. Once we were there, I had no fears about being in Montana and doing the things that we did. Amazing how God handles things when you put your trust in Him!!


Our sleeping quarters at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp (we did have mattresses to sleep on which were about 3" thick and actually weren't that bad to sleep on)

This was our sailing vessel. They split us up into 2 groups, but this was the sailboat that I was on

The high ropes course at FLBC. This is about 34 feet in the air and I was the only one that didn't do this. I ended up with a very bad sleep-deprived headache this morning and slept in. I managed to watch some of the gals up there, and I think that if we would have been able to go up in the afternoon, I probably would've tried it just to say I did it, but as it was, I didn't.

This is beautiful Flathead Lake

And Devils Tower in Wyoming.

I thought I would be ahead of myself and get these pictures put in here in order, but as it turns out they aren't, so I apologize for that. Also, I ended up not taking that many pictures because when we went hiking at Glacier national park, I forgot my camera at camp, so I only had my phone camera to take pictures with. And I need to figure out how to download those yet to the computer. Also, we figured that we would combine all of our pictures and give everyone a CD with all the pictures on it so we would have a big assortment of pictures for everyone. And we haven't got the CD yet.

We took off on Tuesday, the 29th and got to FLBC on Wed. afternoon. Thursday we went hiking on beautiful Glacier national park and went on the Hidden Lake trail. Its about 3 miles total (1 1/2 miles one way) to get to the Hidden Lake that is in the mountains there. Its absolutely gorgeous and we actually hiked through snow. None of us were expecting that as the previous group said there was a little bit of snow, but this was more than a little bit of snow. It was a beautiful cool day to hike as most of us were in long sleeved tops or light jackets. Last year the group said there was no snow up there and they roasted going on the trails. It was very hot. So we were fortunate to have it be cool out. The highlight of this day was actually sliding down the mountain on garbage bags (supplied by Kendra) in the snow. We had a blast doing it and it was something I definitely think I would do at the age of 38 (maybe when I was 20 or so, but not now!) That was the point that I decided that my life needed to start changing.

Friday we went sailing in the morning and then white water rafting in the afternoon. Sailing left a lot to be desired for me only because of the winds we had out there. I was made "helmsman" and didn't like handling the wheel when the winds picked up even more. Katie, our captain was trying to get the sails down and really wanted to relinquish my position at the wheel to someone else, but no one else knew how to steer the boat, so I was there til Katie could take over. The other group had their sail tear and they headed to shore early. The rafting was awesome and I would strongly encourage anyone to do it if they possibly can. If you are familiar with "stages" or "categories" for rapids, the first 2 we went through were about 2 or 3, but the final rapids were a stage 4. Those were pretty good rapids and our guide told us that if we'll flip, those will be the rapids. Well, needless to say, we didn't flip and neither did the other 1/2 of our group. Thank goodness. Although another raft with a couple families on there did flip and the kids were in the water, but the kids did surprisingly well considering what had happened. We had a fabulous time and I remember feeling very invigorated after that! It was a lot of fun and I would do it again in a heart beat!

Saturday was the high ropes course there at camp, and because I had a sleep deprived headache (I wasn't used to staying up past 10 every night, waking up around 6:00 or so and then being on the go so much every day, plus sleeping at night wasn't exactly an easy 8 hours of good sleep). So I knew I needed to just sleep a little bit and then I would be ready to go and that's all I needed.

Going to Montana was definitely a life changing experience and the Wild Women I went with were certainly some of the most special women I have gotten to know in a long time. All of us had different reasons on going on this adventure, and we ended up getting some great friendships on the way.

One of the biggest things I learned (which I have always known, but have not always been able to see for myself), is the power of prayer. We had keys lost, fanny packs lost and numerous other things or ways we needed prayer. Everytime we got on our knees to pray, our prayer was answered. Almost instantly. It was amazing what God was trying to teach us out there! To put our trust in Him and He would show us the way. How cool was that?!?!

While I was out there, I was challenged to what would be in my bucket list and I decided that my bucket list wouldn't consist of things I would do before I die, but rather the things I would accomplish in my lifetime. Needless to say, those things are being written down, changed, crossed off and added too all the time. The list will be never ending, but my life will be changed because of this fantastic trip!

Thank you for all your prayers! I definitely felt them while I was there!

Wild Women Anxieties!!!!

Ok, so if you've been reading our blog, you'll know, or atleast remember me mentioning that I'm going on a Wild Women trip through Church. We go July 29 - Aug. 4th, and we go to Glacier National park or basically Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp. All our activities are through the Camp, but we're not staying at the Camps facilities. We eat and shower there, but that's basically all. Oh yes, and they do "supply" us with our very own Guide who actually stays with us at our camp and goes on our activities too. It should be a blast, and I really am looking forward to it, but now as I've gotten my bag together, I'm having anxieties about going. About the whole thing really, not just one particular thing, like white water rafting, or the high ropes course, or being out in hot sticky weather all day and then sleeping in it at night too - none of these things are anything that I've ever done before. Honestly, I've camped before when I was little, my family would go to Paynesville every summer for a week and we tented until one year we got completely soaked. After that we had a cabin. I can handle the head even in a cabin, but not outdoors 24/7. I'm too used to being in an office everyday during the hottest times of the day - but in looking at the temperatures for the coming week, mid 80's and lows in the 50's, things should be comfortable. And mind you - no humidity and no bugs. But we do have bears there. We do have running water so we can take showers there and we have a porta-potty next to our camp ground so we don't have to walk like 1/2 mile to the "real bathrooms". And of course, I'm a pop drinker - Dr. Pepper to be exact, and I'll have to go cold turkey on that this week too. Although I've kinda thought to myself that maybe catching a cup of coffee now and then would be as good as Dr. Pepper, except that it'll be hot and it won't taste like Dr. Pepper.
I am bringing Crystal light to go packs (plenty of them) along to "sweeten" up my water as we have 32 oz jugs to bring along.

Then I wonder what Martin and the boys will be doing as I'm gone? Martin is off the same time I am, so they can go wherever and whenever they want too. I guess that's ok, but that worries me as well. Martin has mentioned that he'll be home trying to fix up the house, and that would be great!! So I'm anxious to see how much gets done while I'm gone. I know how easy it is saying those words rather than actually doing them (no offense honey!).

Must get going though. I know I'll have tons of pictures to download when I get home and lots of stories to tell! Wouldn't it be nice to drop like 20 lbs. while I'm there and get a great tan?! One can only wish!

I'll be back the 4th, but give me time to process everything! :) Til then - hope you have a great week!

Michelle

Mowing Lawn

If you are a boy, I would imagine the task of mowing lawn gets strated early in life as it has for our boys. Since our lawn mower needs to be fixed (and we have the belt for it, but we need the time to fix it - I'm sure you know how that goes?!), we've been using Grandpa's push lawn mower which really isn't much of a push mower. But the boys have now started taking the task on of mowing the lawn. Josiah hasn't mastered being able to start the lawn mower yet, but Isaac has, so the two can basically mow the lawn themselves without much guidance from Martin or myself. And it seems strange saying that too - knowing that they are 10 and 7 - not grown up yet to do other things, but mow lawn they can. They do quite well too - Martin is giving them $7 each and I took them to the DQ for a treat cuz it was a muggy night to be mowing lawn. Money or ice cream? They didn't seem to care which one they got - both are equally as nice (especially since we hardly go to the DQ).

I just find it hard to believe that our boys, my boys, aren't babies anymore, and can start doing some "adult" chores. Seems so hard to believe that they've grown up that fast already!

Down on the farm at Todd and MK's

Ok, so this picture was suppose to be last, but you can tell this was the highlight of their evening at the farm - a waterfight!

The boys looking over the sheep as they are eating
You should've heard the rumble of their chewing - it was cute to hear them eat
This is one of the babies - and they haven't docked his tail yet. They do it in the most humane way - tying a rubber band of sorts to the very beginning of the tail so it will eventually lose all circulation and just fall off on hits own.
The boys are trying to manipulate themselves for a nice photo opportunity for the local newspaper!

Ah yes, the blessed water fight! We only had 3 cub scouts show up to go to Todd and MK's place tonight but that was a perfect number. Isaac, my son, of course chose NOT to participate in the water fight and chose to be by my side or behind me the entire time so he wouldn't get wet! (stinker!) We had a blast there and definitely learned a thing or two about sheep!!

My 20th class reunion - class of 1988

Ok, so forget about the date on the picture here, this was taken on Saturday, June 13, 2008
myself, Marjorie (Stoesz) Peterson and Lona (Nelson) Baumann
Lona and I


We graduated on June 3, 1988. Our Class song was Here I go again by Whitesnake - does anyone remember that song?! However, don't ask me for many other details from that great day in my life, because I don't remember them. Our class colors were something like gray and pink as I remember our robes were not very flattering for color at all, but who cares?! We were there to get out of High School right?!?!?!?!?!?!

We graduated with 56 in our class and of those, 25 actually showed up for our reunion. And I have to admit, that this was the first one I have ever attended. We had our 5, 10 and 15 year and honestly, I was very disappointed to see that some of the girls in my class are still as judgmental 20 years later as they were back then. They formed their "click", sat and talked about the rest of us that were there. How grown up is that?! I mean we are almost all 40 years old by now and you would think that maturity has set in after all these years. Oh well. I had a great time seeing people I hadn't seen in years. They said that most of us live within 3 counties of Mt. Lake which is surprising to hear since of course, once you graduate, your hometown is the last place on earth you want to end up at. In reading about the classmated that sent in their information, I would say most of us live in smaller towns and have kids. Very few dont. Only one person that I read has been married for 19 of those 20 years we've been out of school. That's a long time - especially thinking that she is my age and I've only been married for 10 of those years.

We had a great night to get together - the weather held out most of the evening very well. Only once did it get real windy and then eventually it started to sprinkle, but by then most of us were inside the garage talking anyhow. (by the way, one of my classmates volunteered to have it at his house so we only had to go a few blocks from our house to get there - how nice is that?!) It was funny telling people where we lived, cuz about 10 of us lived within walking distance of where the reunion was held. Crazy stuff.

Over the years, my memories of High School are distant which is sad cuz I know there were many good memories to be had there. I'm sure if I looked in my annual, they would come rushing back to me, but for the moment, they are locked away - somewhere. I sang at 2 of my classmates' wedding back in the day. That was something Martin learned about me while we were there. He had no idea I did that. My classmates husband told him that and said that his mom gets out the tape of their wedding to listen to the music they had because she's never heard anything like that since. Now, I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I thought that was really nice to hear. Of course there was an organist and piano music there too, so it wasn't just me singing, but still.

Mom said she was suppose to have her 50th class reunion this year, but so far she hadn't heard a word from anyone about it. You would certainly think that that would be a milestone you would want to recognize. Oh well.

All I know is that I had a blast at my reunion and from what I've heard and others have said - everyone had a good time. And that's what it is all about!!

Go Class of '88!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cadillac's new haircut!!!

Ok, so it was the very first day for summer vacation and Josiah decided to do something to prove to us that he still needs to mature a bit. Poor Cadillac was sleeping so quietly and peacefully and Josiah thought he needed his whiskers cut. He clipped one side and saw they were lop-sided so he clipped the other side. The next thing you know, his whiskers are off - almost completely. You can see in the picture that they basically gone - down to stubbles. Poor Caddy!!! He's doing fine and they have grown back quite a bit since this haircut.

our 10th Anniversary

Ok, so I have no pictures to document this momentous occasion, but we did celebrate our 10th Wedding anniversary last week - June 13th. And no, we did not get married on Friday, the 13th. We actually got married on a Saturday at 2:00 if I remember right.

Because of high gas prices we weren't even going to go anywhere to celebrate, but at the last minute, Martin decided to take me out to Jackpot for supper. They have just remodeled their buffet there, so we were anxious to try it out. They were having "authentic Mexican cuisine" so we thought it would be a treat. Although it was late before we even got there (almost 8:00 and I was tired on the way there!), it was fun, but the buffet was disappointing to say the least. It was Mexican night there, along with Italian, fish and chicken, stuffing and gravies. They had totally revamped the eating area including shrinking where they actually serve the buffet. So they can seat a lot more people, but now their food choices are more limited. The prices stayed the same - $25.00 for both of us, but we walked away from there thinking that we probably wouldn't eat there again. Afterwards we played some slots (or rather I did as Martin played black jack) and then we went home. The boys ended up staying for night at Mom and Dad's house so we could actually sleep in in the morning. That was nice! :)

Happy 10th Anniversary to us!!!

stormy weather