8 Years

Yesterday was our 8 year anniversary! Those 8 years flew by! Luke and I celebrated together on Saturday night with dinner at Travail, which was amazing! My parents watched the kids (as we had a couple babysitters back out)--thank you SO much, mom and dad....you are lifesavers for sure! 

The dinner experience at Travail was amazing--it's a pre-selected dinner with 14-20 courses. The food and experience was amazing!

On Tuesday (5/17/16) Nora had soccer......and she played the whole time!! (She's been more interested in playing at the park than soccer, but she told one of her friends that she had to play so we could go out to dinner afterwards)! ;) After soccer we had dinner as a family at The Red Cow. The kids were so cute and excited about our anniversary! Bishop woke up asking if he had to go to school since it was our anniversary! And Nora was so excited to know she got to come WITH us to dinner instead of staying with a sitter.

While we were at dinner--Bishop colored a picture for us.....and asked the waitress for an envelope so he could give us an anniversary card! He came up with it all on his own and it was pretty sweet. After dinner we came home and watched our wedding video together, which was so fun! Nora loved it and asked if we could watch it again tomorrow....Bishop wasn't quite as interested ;)!

We are so blessed with such wonderful family and friends who have supported us the past 8 years! It's been a fun journey of life and I am so excited for many more happy times to come!

First course at Travail! Happy 8 years, Luke! I love you!

One of the courses

It's kind of like "family style" dining--Luke and I sat next to each other across from another couple at a table for 8. 

This course was a salmon course that they prepared in front of us (they had the WHOLE King Salmon they showed us all)

One of the dessert courses eaten off our hands! Another dessert course we walked through the kitchen and stopped at stations to get a parfait!

My lil soccer player on a beautiful night!

Spring in Minnesota

Bishop has really been into playing Monopoly lately! It's so fun to play (we usually keep the game up and just pick up where we left off)! It's good practice for his reading and math too (he reads the Chance and Community Chest cards and counts his money).

We've had a pretty mild Spring with some nice days. However, a cold front came through and it was PRETTY cold for t-ball on Saturday morning! We pulled out the winter jackets, hats and mittens.....and the girls had a picnic in our car while the boys played! ;)

And then on Sunday it was nice enough to hike at Minnehaha Falls in t-shirts! We hiked down to the Mississippi River, got a treat at SeSalt and played at the park! It was a beautiful day to be outside!

My Monopoly competition

The sisters hanging out during the t-ball game!

Hiking at Minnehaha Falls

A family selfie!

One of the "caves"

It's kind of hard to tell--but he's hanging on this branch--
he jumped up and shimmied his way over!
He's such a climber!

Spanish Graduation

Bishop had his last Spanish class on Tuesday and the parents were invited to watch their final presentation! It was so fun listening to him speak and sing in Spanish (even though I didn't understand most of it)! I am so happy we signed him up and am proud of him for all he learned this year! Congrats, Bishop! We love you!

Ms. Rosa and the class

He was pretty excited the certificate had HIS name on it! ;)

Mother's Day 2016

We celebrated Mother's Day by watching the kids sing in church together for the last time! It was a beautiful morning and both sets of grandparents came to watch them sing, so it was extra special! They both sang and did the motions for the songs--I love listening to kids sing, it always makes me smile!

After church the Bormann's and Uncle Jake joined us for lunch at our house! It was such a beautiful and perfect day that we brought an extra table outside so everyone could eat outside! The mom's celebrated with Mimosa's and Champaign, which was special too! ;)

After everyone left we went on a family bike ride--we checked for frogs, but there weren't any frogs at the bird sanctuary yet--but we did run into Charlie and his family, so it was fun to play with them for a bit. We stopped at Tilia on the way home and enjoyed a night at home! I felt loved and spoiled and am so honored and blessed to be Bishop and Nora's mother!

A special Happy Mother's day to my mother in law, Eileen!! Thanks for all your love and support of our family!! We appreciate how much you help us out!!

I am so thankful for my mom who has taught me so much! I don't know where I'd be without her today.....her guidance, advice and love is unbelievable! Thank you so much for all you've done for me, mom! I love you more than you'll ever know!

Praise Him, Praise Him all the little children!

I have always looked up to my sister--and that continues in how she raises her children!

I have learned so much from these 2--I am so thankful for them in my life!!

Mother's Day Tea/The Kentucky Derby

Nora invited me to join her for Mother's Day tea on Friday afternoon. She was so excited for all the surprises she had for me....and it was such a nice tea party with chocolate covered strawberries! She made me a frame, a card and gave me a carnation. It was an extra special afternoon together! It was a HOT HOT day (the temp hit 90)--so she enjoyed playing outside with Bishop for a bit when we picked him up (and she even got a popsicle from Mpls Kids)! 

Friday night Luke and I went down to First Ave to see the Gear Daddies play as a friend was in town from Seattle going to the show. It got to be a late night and the concert was LOUD--but it was a fun night out!

Saturday brought t-ball and a fun, busy day outside! The kids played at the park after t-ball for awhile and then we went out to Hyland Park in the afternoon.....Luke ran a long run, as he's training for his first trail run and the kids and I hiked around and played at the Chutes and Ladders park, which was fun!

That evening we joined Cal's family to watch the Kentucky Derby at a restaurant! We all got to "place our bets" (choose a horse for free), but none of us won. It was close as Bishop, Cal and Nora all picked Gun Runner and we were all cheering hard for Gun Runner. It was a fun, fun day, but the kids were exhausted from a fun day and they crashed when we got home!

Mother's Day tea with my girl! So special!

Nora ran into a friend at the park while we were "out"!

The Price Tribute at First Ave

Hiking at Hyland was fun!

In the distance there is a log with a bunch of turtles! 

There are more turtles hiding in this picture! ;)

Cheering for Gun Runner!!

Alice in Wonderland

On Sunday we headed down to Owatonna to see Alice In Wonderland at the Little Theater! My parents got us tickets and the kids loved the show!! For those that know the story line, it's a bit odd--but it really resonated with the kids as they loved it! After the show we were able to talk with the actors and have our pictures taken with them and the kids thought that was pretty neat! Thanks for the fun time, mom and dad!

With Nana and Papa before the show!

Alice and the Rabbit

Nora ADORED Alice!!

I think Bishop had a little crush on the queen!

The Cheshire cat did an amazing job!!

Nora and the queen

Bike to school day!

Today was bike to school day and it worked out that Luke and I were both home to be able to bike with the kids to school! They both LOVE biking and so it was a great way to start the day for everyone!

It was the first day the bandshell was open--so we biked there after school and had icecream BEFORE dinner!! It was an exciting day!!