Another trip of a lifetime!

I was finally able to get the pics from our cruise uploaded but it will take me 6 yrs to finish adding descriptions! At least they are in order... It was a truly wonderful 35th anniversary! The cruise was fabulous, we saw some amazing things, met fascinating people, ate outstanding foods and drank gallons of wonderful wines! I will sit down soon and give the details but check out the pics!

35th Anniversary

35th Anniversary, a set on Flickr.

Long time coming...

Been a long time since I've updated our blog but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Catching Up!

Can't believe I haven't updated our blog since Mothers Day! Lots and lots of things have happened since then!
Here they are in chronological order - LOL!
Had the grandchildren over several time - lot's of visits to the zoo!
Saw some concerts
Roland and Cicely came for a visit
We went to San Francisco - down the coast to LA visited Steve and Elaine, then drove to Las Vegas
We renewed our vows under the welcome to Las Vegas sign
Mom came for a visit
The Ryan clan came for a visit
I went to St Louis on business
Whew!!!!!!! And there is still more to come!
I have to figure out how to update Flickr from Ed's laptop as mine has passed on to the great computer scrapeheap in the sky!

Spring Fling 2011

What a wonderful way to start Mother's Day weekend - attending Benjamin's Spring Fling at the Rochester Montessori School! The program featured a visit from an eagle, songs and musical instrument performances...it's a wonderful school with talented students...none more talented than our little show-off Benjamin. This is the whole reason we moved here - to be able to attend these special events..

Florida 2011

Unable to take anymore of this long, long, long winter, we were able to spend a week in Florida with 4 of our favorite people, Jessica, Benjamin, Lucy and Mom. We packed up and headed down to Clearwater for a little "sun on the beach". It started out rocky with our flight being 2 hours late taking off along with some terrible storms and tornadoes on our 1st day. But not even Ed getting stuck in the elevator could deter us from having some fun! Once the weather cleared and Ed was sprung by the fire department, it was sunny and in the 80's. Benjamin and Lucy charmed Mom and all the neighbors! We were also able to spend some quality time with Mark and Debbie, checking out their beautiful new condo on St Pete Beach.


It was sad to leave but are looking forward to spring here at Lake Minnetonka!

Wait 'til next year

Another Bears season has come and gone - and what a season it was! No one ever expected them to be playing in the NFC championship game but there they were, lining up against our arch-rival Packers. While the game didn't go as we would have liked, it was still an outstanding and fun season! We still have our Bears flag proudly hanging! No bandwagoners or traitors here!

Grandpa and Grandpa had a few chances to whisper sweet Bear words in her little ear, even being so bold as to take her pic on a Bears blanket.



Now we settle into the depths of winter with thoughts of spring in our heads! The good news is Dairy Queen in town has reopened after being closed for the season!

Go Steelers~

Christmas 2010

Santa was very good to us this year - our best gift was being able to spend Christmas with Mike, Jessica, Benjamin and Lucy! After a harrowing drive to Rochester, we spent the day opening gifts, munching on forbidden treats, hugging and squeezing a certain young lady and playing on the new Wii! It was so relaxing that we "forgot" to eat early as planned! The whole family was excited to open up the Wii and get going - what fun! I know they will enjoy that for years to come!
Poor Lucy had a nasty head cold - but even feeling crummy, she was a delight - all smiles, no crankiness, she pretty much sat there and watch us make fools of ourselves! Benjamin got to work learning magic tricks with his new magic set and even entertained us with a delightful magic show on Sunday...
After watching the Bears win, we packed our sleigh and sadly headed home - good news is that we have some babysitting scheduled soon!

Breakfast with Santa 2010

We had a wonderful weekend with the Schmitts - we packed in as much as we possibly could! Dinner at the Narrows, chopped down our Christmas tree, our annual breakfast with Santa at Macys and even a little shopping!

Lucy's Baptism Weekend

Family came from far and near to help the Schmitt's celebrate the baptism of Lucy Jane on Sunday. Great Grandma Anne came in from Florida on Thursday and we had a whirlwind weekend! Thursday night we went to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater for dinner and a show, the play was "All Shook Up" a cute play that included a bunch of Elvis songs. On Friday Mom and I went to Mystic Lake for the gambling, her birthday mojo sure was working and we both came home with some money! Saturday, we joined the Schmitt's at a local park as Mike and Benjamin ran a Halloween 5K - yes, Benjamin ran a 5K! Then we were granted custody of Benjamin for the day, taking him to the Halloween party at the MN zoo.
Sunday we all gathered at the Schmitt's church for Lucy's baptism. She looked so sweet in Jessica's christening gown and took it like a trooper! The Murphy's and Coopers (including Erin, Kelsy and Makenna) along with the Schmitt family had a wonderful brunch at Jessica and Mikes.


Today, mom heads to Chicago for a few days and I go back to work for some R&R.

Lucy Jane Schmitt

Introducing the newest member of our family! Lucy arrived in 10/01/10 at 11:00am, weighing 5 lbs 4 oz 19 1/4 inches long. She's tiny but mighty! Everyone is doing just great! And it looks like Benjamin is taking to being a big brother quite nicely...for now!

House of Bounce

We had the privilege of spending some time with Benjamin on Saturday, lunch at Mickey D's and then a few hours at the House of Bounce in Rochester - it's a place with a bunch of those inflatable bouncing houses - Grandpa bounced until he was bounced out! It was a lot of fun, we really enjoy spending time with him, he's much wiser than his 5 years!

Anatomy of a Basement

As most of you know, our basement was unfinished when we bought our beautiful home. Well, after over 2 years, we finally have walls and a ceiling! Here are some pics of the progress - we are hoping to be done before the holidays!

Introducing Makenna

Not only did we get a new car - we now have a beautiful new great niece - Makenna Ryan - she weighed in at 9.7lbs - baby, Erin, Dennis, Kelsey and Austin all doing great!

Get your motor running....

We are literally on the road again - after a scary and tragic (for the car, not us) event - we were lucky to have a found a beautiful replacement for the Porsche baby. A ocean blue Boxster with 45K miles in almost perfect condition! Only drawback is that it's a 5 speed and Chris doesn't know how to drive one - good news is that Ed is the designated driver until she learns! We spent the past weekend getting to know one another and we think it's going to be a good fit!

Da Coach

We braved the crowds and a rainy Saturday and headed to Surdyks (a very well known wine shop in Minneapolis) to see Da Coach! Mike Ditka was there selling his wine and cigars - we were able to get him to sign the bottles of wine as well as our 1985 and 1986 Chicago Bears media guides - what a thrill and it was great to hang out with some true blue Bears fans!

Imagine how Grandma feels!

Benjamin and I had quite the weekend together - this how he made the trip back home...drool and all!