Our NEW arrival!!

Our special delivery has arrived!!! KYLE WILLIAM DANNER was born on Saturday, June 20 at 10:05 am!!! Sorry for the being so late in posting the news, but we've been a tad busy....not just with the baby, but a week after Kyle was born we went on vacation!! We headed out to the Black Hills for a week, came home for a day, then headed to the cities to camp, then headed to my home town for a party at the lake and now we are staying with my parents for a week! Kyle is now an official travel'in man!! We'll back up a tad and go back to his arrival......delivery went smoothly....we were in the hospital at 4:45 am and he was born at 10:05 am.....epidurals are wonderful and helped with the pain. Our first week at home went fast....my wonderful mom came and stayed with us for 3 days and man how nice that was....what a savior...she helped us catch up on laundry, gave the girls that needed attention while I tended to Kyle, made some wonderful suppers and was just there to support and help....THANK YOU MOM!!!!!

A week and a day after he was born, Kyle had some yucky yellow junk flowing, yes FLOWING, from his eye. TWO emergency room visits later, he was on his way to healing and we were off on vacation.

The Black Hills were great.....we were kept busy with lots of activities and the scenery was great. The girls loved swimming in the hotel the most....could have gone to a local hotel for that!!! But it was nice to get away and enjoy all that we did. Our list included Bear Country USA, Rushmore Cave, Mt. Rushmore, Cosmos, Reptile Gardens, Keystone, The Presidents Wax Museum, some Shopping, Deadwood and Spearfish. We even survived a hail storm at Mt. Rushmore....thought we would have had some damage to the Expedition, but we made it to the parking garage without damage....phew!

Our next trek was to the Cities for some camping and activities there. We spent 3 nights at the KOA campground south of Shakopee....I went there as a kid with church and man some good old memories came back...what fun was had there!! We went to the zoo and attempted to go to a Twins game, but no such luck as we couldn't find parking and we were late for the game anyways....maybe next time....the girls had fun camping and we did too....maybe a camper is on our list in the future!!

On to the family lake party at my brothers lake lot.....what a fun gathering....all my cousins from my dad's side made it this year and we had a blast....14 little kids under the age of 8 always provides a good time for all....the weather was perfect and the lake wasn't green!! Even us adults got out in the tube and had fun!

I know some of you who have not seen Kyle are waiting for pictures....you may have to wait a while longer....I need to figure out the new camera and attempt to get pics on here from there....I am used to the old one...so bear with me!!

Hopefully this caught me up and keep you posted.....like I said, I hope to get pictures on here soon.....when I return home in a week or so....until then........:)

A Rainy Relay

So, the Relay For Life was this past weekend and it was not the perfect day for a Relay. It was COLD, RAINY and MISERABLE for those that attended. However, everyone that did attend, made the best of the day and seemed to have good spirits regardless of the weather. My parents came down for the weekend and had a good time too. Cory was one of the honorary Survivors and that was cool, but the day did not turn out as planned. We were there for the opening ceremony and for the team introductions and then we grabbed some lunch and went home for a while. The girls were shivering, wet and ready to be out of the cold. They were even dressed in their giraffe rain coats, had jeans on and were troopers for the first hour....then they had had it. So, after lunch and a change into dry clothes, Cory and I returned for the auction in which we both donated something and we wanted to see how it did. I bid on this AWESOME pink purse with a TON of gift certificates inside.......over a $300 value ($444.00) is what we actually came up with. We won it for $300!!!! I almost love the purse more than all the goodies inside!! I donated a flower pot of flower cookies on sticks and it went for $70!!! Cory made and donated Oriole bird feeders and they brought in a total of $130....so we thought that was pretty darn good!! Then, wet and cold once again, we went home for a while to warm up and check on those we left behind. We again, returned to grab some of the pulled pork sandwiches and see what was going on. The event coordinator decided to call it at 7:00 pm because the rain was just not giving up. So we grabbed supper and went home for a night of relaxation and cards with the family. The closure of the Relay will be this week, hopefully with no rain attending!! The next day brought family time, cards, shopping, great food and an end to the weekend. Now our weekends are pretty laid back as we have to wait for something to arrive!!!

The Dilema.....

Okay, so in my last post I had said we finally bought a new camera to replace our old digital since we had lost it in the move. WELL, today Cory and the Girls FOUND IT!!! I knew this would happen.......we kept saying that as soon as we bought a new one and had it for a week or so, we would find our old one....and we did!! So, now the dilema....do we return our new one (we have 14 days to decide if we like it and want to keep it) or do we keep both. Our new one is one of those ones that looks like a 35mm film camera, but it is digital and our old one is the handy pocket camera. Well, after some laughs and disbelief, we have decided to keep both. The one reason being is that I couldn't decided if we should go with one of those big honk'in fancy digital cameras or get another small one. Now I have the best of both worlds.....pocket size and a fancy one that takes really nice pictures (our old one takes pretty nice pics too, but this new one is super nice!!) Does this ever happen to anyone else?? It seems to always happen to us!!

It's Official!

My baby is Kindergarten bound, my cousin is college bound and we had a great weekend to prove it! Alivia had her Pre-school graduation on Friday night....it was so cute and she looked like a minature High School graduate in her cap and gown. I even cried.....SHOCKER!! They had a short ceremony and then some GREAT food afterwards....then it was bee-line to my cousin's graduation party down by S. City. That party was fun too...so hard to believe how time flies...seems like just last summer when I would watch my cousins for a week or so at mom and dads when they were little kids. It was a very late night to bed and I didn't sleep very well so I knew the next day was going to be rough!! Saturday included some great family time, relaxing and then to the actual graduation ceremony....it's been a while since I have been to a High School graduation and it was kinda fun...Hot and crowded, but fun..Oh to be in High School again! Saturday night we decided to stay over night again while everyone else left and man am I glad we did. We were so glad we did. The girls and I vegged out with my grandma and my uncle and Cory went to the cage fights in S. City. On Sunday we headed to S. City to do some last minute baby shopping and finally get a new camera.......we still have not found our other one!! The shopping was great and we headed home around 6:00. It was a fun weekend and good to get away for a while. That will be the end of my traveling since our weekends from now until baby #3 are filling up and I don't like to travel the closer the day gets!!

Kindergarten Bound!!

My baby is Kindergarten bound!!!!!! It's a sad, but joyful day today!! Today was Alivia's last day of Pre-School. She will officially be done Friday night after her Graduation ceremony, but today was the last official day of school. She is so excited to wear her "cap and gown" and the tears will be flow'in down my face! Where did that last 5 years go??!!?? It seems like she was just born and now she's all grown up....I know every parent goes through this, but when it's actually your turn, it's really weird! We keep trying to prep her for going to school EVERY day, ALL day and I feel depressed for her because she has no perception that this EVERY day, ALL day thing will be for the next 13 years of her life....wouldn't that be sad if you were a kid and actually grasped what you were in for??? Pre-School life would be grand....but grand no more....we're into the big stuff now!! Congratulations on your Pre-School Graduation Alivia Jae!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers I know!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Mother's I know!! I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day! Cory worked the weekend so the girls and I had the house to ourselves and did our own thing. We worked really hard on Saturday.....cleaning, picking up, cooking, baking, playing, washing and folding laundry, painting a Mother's Day project for Grandma's and the biggest accomplishment of the day was getting the baby's room cleaned out and semi-ready for our new arrival......we are 7 weeks and counting!! Then on Sunday.....we played, lazed around and enjoyed the day. The girls had to give me my gift and cards before church as they were so excited to give me what they each picked out at the store......which were hair clips and pony tail holders!! They are so observant that I had misplaced all of mine and was in need of some new ones!! Church was packed with mothers and their families....a great sight to see!! Ali sang with her Sunday school class and it's always so cute to see them perform! After church and Sunday School, we made some cookies, rested, played outside then went to Cory's mom and dad's for a potluck-grill-out.....too much food....but man was it good! I went to bed feeling like the luckiest mom in the world. Kids are such a blessing and bring so much joy and being honored on Mother's Day is priceless!!

Crazy Weekend!!

So this past weekend was a CRAZY and fast one.......Friday after work the girls and I hit a garage sale....the first one for us this season.....we didn't find a thing......well Alivia found some books but I was looking for summer "grubbies" for Ali and I found nothing. Then it was home to get Ali ready for rehearsal for dance. Off to Spirit Lake for practice. The recital was in a new place this year.....MUCH better than last year....this place kicks butt!! The stage, lighting and sound was AWESOME!!! Then it was home for a good nights sleep.......zzzzz......HA....those have rarely been happening lately in my condition! Saturday brought last minute packing and doing hair and make-up for the recital. The recital was PHENOMENAL!!! Ali did SO good and we were so proud of her. It is so fun to watch them from year to year and watch the improvements they make in just a year. The show moved so quickly and kept us all entertained. Josie's eyes were glued to the stage the whole time! The last number was a bunch of dancers doing a quick interpretation of the Wizard of Oz and as we were leaving Josie kept asking to see the Wizard of Oz again. Then it was on the road to Ivanhoe for Mitchell's First Communion. But not before a good ole' chat with one of my best friends from high school. We grabbed some pizza's on the way home and went to her house for girl time! Nothing beats catching up with old friends and letting the kids play. They had some goats and the girls absolutely loved them. Before we even got there, Josie kept saying "I love goats!!" I kept telling her "But youv'e never even seen a goat" She would say, but "I Love goats!" So after some good pizza, ice cream, chatting and playing it was home to see Grandma and Grandpa. Sunday brought the First Communion and some outside play on the farm....once again, the girls were in Heaven!! They slept all the way home and we enjoyed a quiet ride home! So, that sums up our crazy weekend.......but I wouldn't have changed it!!