St. Nick's Day (more catching up)

We love how these pictures show how excited Ben was when he found the treats by his shoes.

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???