Yosemite Slideshow (part 1)

It has been a long while since this blog was updated (sorry Mrs. C). Here is a slideshow from our vacation to Yosemite National Park over the summer. More posts to follow!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's (Michael, Jim and Gary especially!)!!!

This picture was taken at a trivia night that we won!

(I know that still doesn't really explain our strange head attire.)

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday afternoon at my

sister Gretchen's house-delicious food Gretchen and Cody!

Ben got to play with his cousins Lucas and Clay

for a few hours before we drove north to

celebrate with our Ruffatto family.

Kickapoo State Park

Our first hiking trip this summer was to Kickapoo State Park near Danville. We wanted to try and get Ben ready for our trip to Yosemite in July with several hikes, but unfortunately either the weather didn't cooperate for us or we were out of town on the weekends. We had a beautiful and cooler day with no other plans so we packed a picnic lunch and drove east. The trail was pretty empty and Ben even hiked the last quarter mile. Here is a picture of us next to the Middle Fork River which runs through the park.

"How much further? I think we might be lost..."

"Oh right, it's that way!"

Kevin's Graduation

Mike, Ben and I headed to Jackson, TN for a long weekend to celebrate my cousin and his (now) fiance's graduation from Union University. It was a great weekend, we are very proud of you Kevin and Debbie! We can't wait to celebrate your wedding next :0)

Aunt Mary, Kevin, Aaron and Uncle Gene

We were able to bring folding chairs and a blanket to watch the graduation.

It was an evening ceremony, and the weather was perfect!

Before the graduation we went to lunch at Casey Jones'.

They also had a train museum and store.

Even though Ben isn't showing it here,

he had a fun time playing with all of the Thomas toys.

Jackson also had another train museum that we visited. There was a large display of a model town with lots of train tracks and buttons to push that would light up different things, which Ben who loves to push buttons enjoyed very much. He wasn't quite big enough to be a junior conductor, but an older boy got to go into the model and control the trains-next time Ben :)

Family Picture

The day after Mike's party we took a family

picture before everyone headed for home.

Thank you all for coming, we had a fun night!

Happy Birthday Party Michael!

We celebrated Mike's 30th birthday on April 30th since his actual birthday was Easter weekend. We had a fun time with family and friends, and had a great night. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us!

Wagon rides and snow cones for everyone!

Coloring with Uncle Jimmy :o)

A future girlfriend prehaps???

Catch up posting begins

It is kind of sad that I haven't posted anything in a while, so I decided that I am going to catch up on my posts as best as I can-sorry I let it go so long.

Happy 30th Birthday Michael!!!! We spent the day celebrating Easter at my Grandma's house with lots of family. Our activities included kite flying, Easter egg hunting, eating lots of great food and singing happy birthday to Michael. Sadly this was the last holiday that we will be celebrating with my Grandma at her house, because she passed away a few weeks later at the age of 90. For those of you who didn't know, she was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year, and we are very thankful that we were able to spend this last holiday with her. We miss her very much; each holiday will certainly be different with out her to share it with.

Mike and Ben are ready to hunt eggs!

Great Grandma with her 9 great-grandchildren.
There are two more soon to be born that are not in the picture :)

Grandma with her 13 grandchildren.

The three one year old cousins: Clay, Ben and Lucas.

Happy birthday to you, Michael!

Milwaukee Trip

Here is a slide show of our trip to Milwaukee. We had fun going to 2 Cubs games, tailgating, and staying with Ben's aunts and uncles.

Big Haircut

We gave Ben a haircut this afternoon. It had started to get pretty shaggy, so we figured it was time. He has usually worked himself up so much during his haircuts that we wanted to try something a little different. We put him in his high chair and let him watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on my phone. This worked fairly well. He still cried, but not nearly as much.

Before

After

My Grandpa Al used to call this look a "Baldy Sour". We think Ben likes it, and hopefully that will be the last haircut for a couple months.

Jeopardy

We record and watch Jeopardy every day.

Ben enjoys watching it too, and has come up

with this dance during Final Jeopardy :0)

Backyard Picnic

With a hint of warm weather today, we decided to have a picnic at lunch. Ben loves to eat and loves to be outside, so we knew he would have a good time.

Fun times at home

This Winter has been a busy one for our family. We have had lots of fun visiting our family and friends around the midwest, but have also been having a good time at home. Here are a few pictures of days in Champaign :0)

Minnesota

Last weekend we went to Minnesota to visit our friends Luke and Cortney and their daughter Laney. Ben and Laney played very well together, with Ben usually moving too fast for Laney to catch up. It seemed that Ben's walking coaxed Laney in walking, as she took her first steps while we were there.

Our friend Katie and her friend Tom came over Friday night and they were entertained by the kids.

On Saturday, the weather turned warm (40 degrees), so we walked around a lake close to their house.

This is an armchair carved in snow out on the lake.

This is a sofa on the lake.

These people, who we assumed carved the furniture, are playing croquet on the frozen lake.

Here, Ben and Laney are ready to get out of the car.

Ben got Laney a Valentine's Day present, which was a matching shirt.