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Going through old photo files from Ryan's visit this summer. Backyard fun, St. Louis Park, MN community parade and Father's Day celebration in Clear Lake with the Laabs and Sayres.

Happy Times

I think it's appropriate that Adele is wearing a helmet. One of the perks of living in the Midwest. Our children wouldn't get to enjoy pile jumping if we had stayed in California.

Homework

Veda has a daily assignment. Her homework for this day was to line up everyone in her family from tallest to shortest.

Power Tools

Nothing like a little drill action to get everyone's attention.

Iowa Football

Chris drove down to Iowa City from Madison so we could enjoy our Hawkeye/Badger rivalry at Kinnick. We are thinking of making it an annual event. Luckily Kimmy was going and had a couple extra tickets so we got to sit with her and her belly;)

Eating it Up

Adele's special treat these days is hot chocolate from Starbucks. I think she just likes going there because all the customers tell her how cute she is;)

Pretty Big Deal

Veda was the student of the month for October for her classroom. This is not a designation that all children get. She earned it and got to go onstage to receive her award in front of everyone at the all school assembly.

Girls Night

A few weeks ago Todd was out of town for our weekly Tuesday night date. I kept the babysitter and we made it into a girls night at George and The Dragon. They have a library of books for the kids so its always a crowd favorite. Ava and Veda were thrilled that we let them go to the bathroom all by themselves even though the bathrooms were all the way on the other side of the restaurant and out of our view. I was feeling pretty good about it until Ava came running around the corner of the packed restaurant by herself yelling (did I mention she was YELLING) that Veda needed me to wipe her because she had diarrhea. The other customers were thoroughly entertained by this exchange. I went to check on her and of course the bathrooms are unisex so there sits Veda in an unlocked restroom in a crowded restaurant waiting for me. Good thing I found her first. She did not have diarrhea by the way and we had to have a talk about the importance of locking the door behind her.

Street Games

We went for ice cream in downtown Linden Hills days before it turned cold in Minneapolis. Creative Kids Stuff is a popular toy store down the street. They know how to rein in their customers...

Garage Baseball

Gotta get creative to entertain all the kids on Thanksgiving day.  Some garage baseball.  Grandpa Gary as the pitcher and Adele as the Cleanup hitter.

Ry's Birthday Dinner - In September

Smack Shack Happy Hour. Can't beat it.

Oh Well!

Bull came to visit this summer and Adele was so excited that she peed on his lap. 'Sorry bout that'

New Friends

End of summer party with our new neighborhood friends. Veda starting Kindergarten has opened us up to new social circles and plenty of fun.

Lessons Learned

Do NOT touch hot lightbulbs

Race Support

The Twin Cities Marathon (Oct 6th) route is just a few blocks from our house so we hung out at the 8 mile mark to give our support (and high fives)!

Running Just As Fast As I Can

 October 5th - Medronic 10k - Twin Cities Marathon weekend. With Nicole and Anne.

October 26th (freezing!). Monster Dash Half Marathon with Nicole. 2 Hours 7Minutes and 30 Seconds.

Didi times 2?

I was organizing photos on my computer and Adele was watching over my shoulder. When I got to this one she asked me why there were TWO Didis!? A little Cyclone/Hawkeye love with Didi and her sister Darlene.

Road Trip to Madison

The cousins had a great time last weekend in Madison.  The 4 hour road trip wasn't too bad (and definitely worth it once we got there).  Veda loved reading books to the 'little kids' and Winston and little Hud had a great time sharing toys and wreaking havoc (with a little down time checking out the neighbors mowing lawn - a shared passion).  Good times had by all.

1/2 Way to Madison - Buying Cheese at a Rest Stop 

Story time with Veda...Hop on Pop

Lawnmower Enthusiasts

Just helpin a brother out.... 

What if...Chubs was a girl... :)

Team Work - Raking Leaves

Too bad that it's winter already and the snow is starting to fall, because Winston & Adele finally found something that they both love to do (and can somewhat cooperate).  Winston's the big time lover of all things yard work (which includes lawnmowers and leaf blowers) and Adele just loves to be a helper.  It takes them quite a long time to fill up a pale with leaves, but it's amazing how much patience they have (dumping 2-3 leaves at a time).  And Winston's a pretty good order taker.  A good trait for the men of this family.

Happy 70th Birthday Bull!

Happy 70th Birthday Grandpa Bull from Veda, Adele and Winston.

Veda's Note to Her Teacher

(translation)

Dear Mrs. Williams -

You are the best teacher ever and I have a poem for you.  Roses are red, violets are blue.  You are special, I am too.