Happy Birthday and Happy Retirement to my dad!

On March 17th we threw a surprise retirement party for my dad...and SUPRISED he was!! The next day was his 65th birthday so we had LOTS of celebrating to do! MANY of his co-workers, family and friends came...it was a very fun afternoon and evening of partying in Cuba...of course we ALL know how fun that can get!

The Zoo

In between thunderstorms today In the middle of a thunderstorm today, we headed to the zoo. It was STILL raining when we got there so we got to wait in the van for 45 minutes before it stopped raining. We felt like we had seen enough animal behavior even before we walked into the zoo. The girls had a wonderful time and the weather ended up being PERFECT! Their favorite was the polar bear who swam right by them multiple times and put his feet on the glass to kick off before he dove.

Golf 2012

As far behind as I am on life, I've managed to post about the golf team before their season is over!! The girls are really taking a liking to golf and frequently go to the Junior course to play with Jared and of course, he is proud. They REALLY love to go to the golf tournaments too...we are sure it has nothing to do with getting to ride in a golf cart or having one of the parents buy them snacks from the concession stand! They have become quite the cheerleaders for the "golf boys!" Here they are, winning their very first tourney of the season. Of course, Eva got to share in their glory by posing with the boys...some day she is going to LOVE this picture :) Way to go Chieftans on an awesome season so far. (I personally think they have the best head coach in the world...)

Planting the garden with papa Tom...

Cousins...

I have so many FUN memories growing up with my cousins. Memories that were made on this very farm in which these pictures were taken. My cousins came for my dad's retirement party in March and one of them (Ceresa) had this grand idea to get our kids' pictures taken in front of Grandpa and Grandma's farm. The kids did GREAT (considering 2 of my 4 kids starting puking shortly after this photo shoot).

"MINE!!!"

This word is very prevalent in Eva's vocabulary lately. She decided she didn't want to share her stroller with her dollies and said, "No dolly....MINE!!" and managed to get herself in that stroller. I doubt she will be getting back in...she got stuck and got really frustrated when she couldn't find a way out...and of course, I gave her some time to work on her problem-solving abilities to see if she get out...

Christmas 2011...

was filled with SO much fun with family!

These fun hats were from Mike, Sara, Owen and Claire!

So...not sure why? but my Christmas cookie (shaped like a candle) took on a funny shape. I texted a picture of this cookie to my brothers to ask them what could have gone wrong and they decided to wrap all my Christmas presents in "Christmas cookie" paper...hmmmmm.

Eva and her new kitty...that she loves!

A visit with Santa...

The annual making of the Gingerbread house.

Santa baby.

Cousins.