Christmas Card 2010

We finally got around to making our Christmas card! Here's a preview...

Be Merry Bright Christmas

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Trick or Treat and Thank you!

This Halloween we took a Darth Vader and a Ninja Turtle out on the town! Travis hooked up a little trailer to the back of his lawn mower and pulled the boys around town, I am pretty sure the rest of the kids were a little envious of their ride!

Leaving the garage...
We taught the kids the 2 most important things to say when Trick or Treating- "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you!". It was almost a contest at each and every house on who rememebered to say those words...the boys became quite the expert Trick or Treaters by the end of the night!

The Dark Knight out protecting the town from evil-doers...

Woa...Aiden needed two buckets to hold all of his treats!!!

And the award for coolest treat is...Gummy Finger in a tube! Cool and gross...:) but also yummy!

Walking to the Deer Stands

Last Sunday afternoon, when it was a beautiful day out, we went for a walk out to the deer stands. Travis and his brother Carl both hunt in the back woods at their Mom's house.

It was so nice out, it was wonderful to get some fresh air and see the stands!

I hope the boys see a big one so we can have some summer sausage! Good luck guys!



Aiden even got to climb up in to the stand!

Hopefully he sees a big one from here!

And getting a ride back down from Dad...

Pumpkins!!!

For the first time since we started our garden, we decided to grow pumpkins! It was so fun watching them grow and spread across the yard. On Friday night, we went and gathered them all up to get ready for some carving- Travis and Aiden did their own original designs, while I was busy cleaning off the seeds for roasting! Now, we just have to figure out what to do with the rest of them! :)

Aiden's pumpkin is on the left, I like to call him "Scar Face"...he turned out awesome!!!

Weekend Update...

So, even though it was wonderful to have such beautiful weather- I think my body and mind are ready for fall. This weekend was a wonderful, relaxing weekend of getting things done around the house!

On Saturday, I had the house cleaned, I had worked out and tanned all before noon! That is a huge accomplishment for me!

We had Aiden and Levi all day to entertain us and keep us busy. We bought Aiden's Halloween Costume on Friday night and he and Levi decided to dress up around the house all day- here's a sneak peek! :)

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the beautiful burning bush around our house that is finally turning red, we planted these about 3 years ago and they are just now really taking off!

We also have a few pumpkins that we are waiting to be ready- I took a picture of my favorite! :)

And she said yes...

Well, it's official...we are engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Words cannot express how happy and excited we are! Travis asked me on a Tuesday night- just as I suspected- competely random!!!

He asked me to come in the kitchen and when I did, he was on one knee. He asked me to marry him and - of course- I said yes!!!!!!!

Love you honey- can't wait for the years ahead! xoxo

The Johnson Family Reunion

Just a few pics from the Johnson Family Reunion- 13 brothers and sisters makes for a big family reunion! We had lots of good food and fun- and a beautiful day!

Dozinky!!!

For the second year in a row, we made it down to New Prague for Dozinky Days!!! Our friend Judi lives there and is gracious enough to let us come and stay at her house for the weekend. It is amazing to see the number of people that turn out for the food and fun.

On Friday night there are street vendors everywhere, you name- they have it! We enjoyed Gyros and Cheese Curds.

On Saturday, there is a parade in the morning and more food and fun. We got to try some of the famous dumplings and sauerkraut- yummy!!

This is just a glimpse of how packed the streets are- before the parade starts on Saturday morning....

Saturday night, everyone else was at home sleeping- but we still managed to have some fun!!!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps!

Each month, Travis and I have a date night. To try something new, I cooked at home this month- I think they looked a little bit better than they tasted. Oh well- it was fun to try!!!

Outdoor fun and the Garden!

This is the first year I have gotten in to the gardening fun with Travis. It has been incredible watching everything grow. We are going to have quite the pumpkin patch I think! Here is one of them growing...

The garden now...
The garden before...
We got my trampoline from my parents house- wow it has been years since I was on one of these- Aiden absolutely loves it...Travis likes it a little too... ;)

Becker Freedom Days 5k

I am so proud of Travis, he ran his first 5K this year for the Becker Freedom Days. He did such an amazing job, finishing second in his age division! There was an amazing turn out of 155 runners. He was a little nervous going in to it, but he did great!

Memorial Weekend

For the second year in a row, we spent Memorial Weekend in Blackduck with our freinds- the Landowskis. They have a beautiful lakelot on Blackduck lake, and the fishing couldn't be any better.

Aiden had a blast enjoying the outdoors and catching some fish! We got so many, we had a bunch to bring home to grill up. They were delicous!

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Trav's 29th Birthday

Travis turned 29 on May 17th. We had a little barbeque get together with his family at our house. We had an abundunce of brats, wonderful salads and Suwanna brought her mom's homemade egg rolls! They are truly amazing!!!

The kids had a great time playing together- Travis also got some great gifts! A pizza oven, a sweet turtle decoration (he is sort of a collector), agates (also collects) and a pony! Yes, a pony!

His neice Allyson brought him a beautiful stuffed pony- check out the pictures!

We all had a great time, I just hope he enjoys his last year in his twenites!!! :)

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The house...

We have been quite busy working on the inside and outside of the house. Travis finished the bathroom (well, I guess we still have some trim to put up) but other than that it is almost done and he did an amazing job!

We got some new patio furniture for the front porch and we did some landscaping in the back yard. Travis does the designs and I help...we laid the rock in on the side of the garage this weekend and put some wood chips down to line the steps out to the back yard. Travis even designed a great new fire pit, I am hoping we get to enjoy it a lot this summer!

If you are reading this, and have a chance- check out my very first post back in 2009...the first post on our blog was a picture of the bathroom when Travis first started working on it. I can hardly believe how much it has changed...beautiful!

Amis 80s Bachelorette Party!

This weekend I got to celebrate Ami's last night as a single lady. We had a great time dressing up for the 80s. We played some fun games and then went to Bogart's in Apple Valley to hear Brat Pack Radio. We danced the night away and had an absolute blast!

Me fixing Meaghans totally tubular 80s hair do! She looked great!

Ami looked like Madonna- great!

TEXAS!!!

This year we made the trek to Texas for Spring Break...it only took us 2 days o driving to make it! :) We had a great time and did surprisingly well in the car for a total of about 40 hours round trip! We had some wonderful weather and got to check out the local beaches, an aquarium, a science museum and much more.

Aiden loved playing on the beach, we drove down to South Padre Island for one day and he did not want to leave! He could sit there all day playing with his shovel and bucket in the sand. It was a little windy but super sunny and hot!!!

We got to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico on a big charter boat. Travis caught 3 sheephead fish and I caught two. It was super fun to catch the fish- we got them cleaned on the boat and took them to a local cafe to have them cooked up. They were delicious! We had some fried and some blackened, sooo good!

This is our day at Mustang Island beach, it was beautiful as well. All in all, we did a lot of relaxing and enjoying our time together. We came back very refreshed and are glad that the weather in Minnesota has been so wonderful!