Anniversary Surprise

Karen and I celebrated our 18th anniversary yesterday, but Natalie and Oliver commemorated it this morning with a specially prepared breakfast in bed for us. We sat in bed amused (and a little concerned) by the strange sounds and occasional shouts emanating from the kitchen. Course 1: Scrambled eggs a la Oliver. Oliver also prepared coffee for me (using what tasted like half a bag) and tea for Karen. Course 2: A Christmas cookie with 2 chocolate dipped peppermint sticks. We decided to save these for later. And half and hour later, Course 3: Cinnamon muffins freshly baked from Natalie. These were delicious! Anyways, I had to get a picture of what the kitchen looked like...

Natalie Turns 10

It has been a while since we updated the posts on the blog but we have been adding many photo albums since Karen's birthday in August. We have taken a few trips - one to Chicago, Rockford and Lakside, OH and then later one to Pittsburgh. So enjoy perusing. The latest album is from Natalie's 10th birthday party. That is making us feel older than turning 40 this year!

I am 40.

Amidst black balloons and carrot cake, we celebrated my 40th birthday this past weekend. The kids and Daddy made the cake from scratch while I got to enjoy some time to myself at the pool. Earlier in the day we ate lunch at Carrabba's. Where have those mini-desserts been all my life? Friday night before my girlfriends and I enjoyed a night on the town at Canton's First Friday. Yea for the Blue Olive - great atmosphere and music.

Balloon Festival

We enjoyed the Hall of Fame Balloon Festival this year with Aunt Kathy, Cousin Dennis and his wife Michelle and their two daughters Megan and Madi. We were thankful for clear weather as last year the balloons were not allowed to go up.

Camp Wakonda

Natalie enjoyed her two nights at church camp - Camp Wakonda. She made new friends, swam in the lake, and enjoyed camp chores such as serving the food at meal time. She's ready for a full week next year. As you can see, she cut off her hair to donate to "Beautiful Lengths."

Oliver's Graduation

Oliver did Safety Town this summer. We got a kick out of seeing him in a mortarboard.

Summer Pics

Here are some of our favorite pictures from this summer. The kids are having fun playing in the driveway, swinging, riding trains, dressing up, etc.

Few New Pictures Albums

I just posted a few new picture albums. The Great Lakes Science Center trip was over spring break. Then came Easter. The Performances include Natalie's church musical "Assignment Life", Oliver and Kate's puppet show, and Natalie's Suzuki Book 1 Recital just today. Columbus trip was over Memorial Day weekend where we mostly were at the zoo but also met my friend, Erik.

GLSC - Rodney Copperbottom

Over Spring Break we enjoyed the Akron Zoo, Stan Hywet and the Great Lakes Science Center. We especially enjoyed the Robot exhibit at the GLSC as well as the Great Lakes Omnimax movie. As you can see in the photos, we enjoyed meeting a Robot at the Android Cafe that looked like Rodney Copperbottom from the movie "Robots."

Oliver's 6th Monstrous Monster Birthday

Our baby turned 6 today. He had a monster themed bday at the house with fun and games and red velvet monster cake. Check out his new black and red bike!!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

February 6 was quite an evening. Natalie and Daddy got dressed up and had a dance at Northwood Elementary. As you can see in the picture, she looks quite grown up. They enjoyed food, movie trivia, dancing, etc.

Christmas and New Years

The 2 latest photo albums are Christmas 2008 and Happy 2009 and recount our holiday celebrations and travel to Knoxville for New Years. Enjoy!