1.26.2009

Mexico

Well-let's just say this was one amazing trip! We had a great time and everything was wonderful. It was truly like a fairy tale. We arrived on Sat afternoon. It was 87 degrees there! They had a corona stand outside the airport, so we helped ourselves :) Katie and her mom cheffaured us through Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa to Saliditas. It was a rough ride past Ixtapa. They don't have very good roads in the country. We arrived at our 'Big White House' and let me say, wow, it was amazing. You walk in the front door and are outside again, but with a roof over your head. The house was called the 'House of Big Waves'. We had our own cook and caretakers. They were great. Augustina made the most amazing guacomole ever! And Pauly was a great help at pointing us to the surfboards!
On Sunday we walked down the beach to a restuarant to eat lunch with everyone that was there going to the wedding. Then, we played some beach golf. That was really fun! The bride's team won, then followed by the groom's. I'm not sure after that, but we did under par on all except one hole, so I'm sure we took 3rd. Then, off to rehersal at the Browns. Rehersal dinner was at our house.
Next day, Nate took off early down the beach for the wedding day. The rest of us laid around and got served. A couple of us went surfing. I even stood up!! We got the wedding around 4 and, wow, take our breath away! It was decorated beautifully, not one detail was missed. The ceremony was lovely, and the dinner was top notch. I LOVE coconut shrimp and that was the main course and the dessert was molten chocolate cake. Need I say more?! We had a waiter just to our table. He made sure our drinks were always full. Nate and I took advantage of that a little too much :) We ended up in the pool fully dressed during the dance (we weren't the only ones). We sat by the bonfire with our new pal Jeff until 5am. Then, decided we should gander down the beach to our house! Good thing we were staying with Mom-she left the lights on for us. It was really dark, we might not have found it in the state we were in!!
We left for Ixtapa and the resorts on Tues afternoon-it was sad. We had it so nice at the white house. But, the resort Nate and I were at was neat. The beds were hard as concrete, but who needs sleep? Nate, Doug, and Dennis went deep sea fishing on Wed. Nate got a 7ft sailfish! He said the fight was incredible. We got some good pictures of that. While he was working his butt off reeling that in, I was getting a massage and facial. It was wonderful. Wed night we went out to eat with the gang again for Mike Bratek's bday. We went to El Faro and dinner was, once again, amazing. Thanks Brateks! Nate and I took the tram down to the beach and walked home.
The rest of the week, Nate and I hung out at the pool. It was really hot, so we had to jump in the pool a lot. (what a problem to have, huh?) We tried some local resturants and did a little shopping. Then, Saturday, we got shuttled to the airport and said adios to Mexico. Daniel was excited to see mommy when he woke up on Sunday. It was a great week.

The reason we went-Katie and Brian

Mr and Mrs Bergner

The welcomeEnjoying the wedding Nate playing beach golf
Us at sunset at the white house
Mom and Dad
View from the white house-breathtaking
Nate's masterpiece
Augustina's famous Guacomole
The ladies of the house (Lynne, Lynette, Joan, Kathy, Lynne and Jen)
View from where we were sitting above.
Nate reeling in Mr. Sailfish

Dennis and Nate with their catches

View from our hotel in Ixtapa

On Ixtapa beach the night before we left :(

We got to release leather back sea turtles into the ocean as part of Mexico's conservation program. (Bob and Marley)

Getting some last sun before we leave...Daniel and Daddy taking a nap together on Sunday afternoon! They sure missed each other.

1.04.2009

Nate the builder

It was a great weekend with nothing on the calendar!!! What a wonderful way to start out 2009!! Nate kept busy and made stands for the washer/dryer. Here are some pics of his project. Of course, Daniel was a big help too!
New Year's Day Daniel and Jen went to hang out with Amy and Will while Nate and John did some ice fishing. Daniel and Will took a bath together! Daniel kept giving toys to Will and filling up his baby tub. Will was a great sport...until it came time for the pictures!
Then, we decided Daniel should try his big boy bed this weekend. We brought the bed up and got the sheets all washed up. Here's what he looked like at nap time. We're amazed at how smooth this went! He LOVES his bed. He ran right up to it and said, 'ni-ni' Nap time went great-no fussing what so ever. Bed time was a little tougher, but only took about 15 min. And, it's not quite 10pm and Jen has already picked him off the carpet and put him back in the bed once. Let's hope he doesn't wiggle too much!

12.28.2008

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas! We started off on Christmas Eve with Jen's mom's side. We had a delicious meal and great camaraderie. Then went to the Fedie's house for the family Christmas. Daniel got some great gifts...as did Nate and Jen. We made our own pizzas. It was really fun. Here's Daniel and his workbench. So far, he LOVES to play with it.


Daniel opening his big tractor from John and Amy
Baby William sported his Christmas attire
Daniel playing with Grandpa Fedie's glasses Christmas morning. Jen's dad's side came over to the Fedie's house for Christmas. It was a great afternoon. It's so great to see everyone!
Nate and I's Christmas exchange Christmas night. We decided to do funny t-shirts this year...
Then we went to the Quist's on the 26th for a delicious dinner. Here's the annual Quist Family Picture.
Daniel playing in a gift bag during the gift opening. Everyone was very generous this year. Thank you VERY much. We stayed at the Quist's Fri and Sat. Then came home on Sun to put away all of the gifts and start playing!
Daniel smiling for the camera and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!!!

12.21.2008

A free weekend!

We finally had a weekend where all three of us stayed home both Sat and Sun! It was great! We made gingerbread cookies and cleaned the house. But, mostly watched the snow fall. It was a wonderful weekend for us. The perfect relaxing time we needed before the holidays. Here are some pics we've been hanging on to.

The last time Daniel got his hair cut, he got it styled as a mohawk and painted blue!
Daddy can get Daniel to make BIG smiles for the camera!Thanksgiving with the Quist Family. These boys are the life of the gathering. (Daniel, Carter and Landon)We got Daniel all dressed up when we went to shovel the driveway for the first time, but he didn't want anything to do with it.Daniel LOVES to go to the farm. He loves to go see the cows and take tractor rides. Poor Grandpa-he can't get anything else done.He also likes to play in Mom's old kitchen playset. He'll play for hours on this thing.Last weekend we went to Great Grandma Fedie's house to make cookies. Look at all of those cut-outs! Great Grandma had some really good helpers! (Daniel, Landon, and Tenzin)
Mommy making gingerbread cookies. Yummy!Daniel is so excited for his baby cousin that he's already practicing his name.


At one of his swimming lessons going off the diving board. He really didn't mind too much, except that daddy wasn't catching him at the bottom. We had 4 fun weeks of swimming-but he didn't pass the class. (They have to be three to advance on...so we'll have to go a couple more times!)


Here's what Daniel does all night long. "hi nana. hi papa. hi cow. hi goat" it's super cute.


Our new favorite thing!

12.14.2008

Congrats Tim and Liz!

Well, Tim and Liz celebrated their special day in Nebraska on the 6th of Dec. It was a beautiful day. And, it was a beautiful event. Everything was perfect. They (mostly Liz I'm sure) are great planners. They thought of everything. The drive wasn't too bad on Daniel. We left Thurs night after work and spent the night in Des Moines. Then Daniel rode with Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandma Fedie and Great Uncle Joe the rest of the trip to NE. They had a great time together. Then, we had the rehersal dinner and the wedding on Sat. Then, back home on Sun. We left at 10 am and arrived in Apple Valley for Nelly and a much needed break/dinner from the Quists. Here are some pics from the event:

The Happy Couple

At rehearsal

Wedding day during pictures

The 3 kids Cake Cutting Grandma and Grandpa with Will and Daniel Tim, Liz, mom and dad

The WHOLE extended family.
Just the Fedie's

11.23.2008

Nate the Hunter

This weekend was opener for Wisconsin's deer hunting season. Nate had the lucky seat opening morning; he saw close to 25 deer by noon, and bagged this nice 6 point buck (which was 8, but 2 were broken off) and another doe by 10:00am. He, the guys, and Jen spent the day on Sunday walking through the woods trying to kick up more. We saw quite a few but we were only able to come up with one more. We'll be trying again next weekend.

11.19.2008

Daniel The Fish

Today was week 2 of Daniel's swimming lessons. Week 1 was a little intimidating, however this week he was much more confident and having much more fun. Take a look at how well he can swim!!!