Today, Joe and I are celebrating five amazing years of marriage. It’s incredible what can happen in just five years’ time – we’ve built a big new home out in the country and filled it with a big family with lots of love and lots of energy. Even our employers have changed. But even with all the changes, one constant still holds true through it all – we still love each other as deeply and truly as the day we got married. Here’s to many, many more.

Tags: Joe, Karen, milestones

Happy spring everyone! It may be spring, but that doesn’t mean that snow season is over yet in Minnesota, as is evidenced in a number of pictures in the Mar-Apr 2008 album. Debbie and the boys went out and played in the snow one day about a week and a half ago, but it melted quickly that day – the big snowman was in pieces by the time I came home from work. The next day, they were out riding bikes in the beautiful weather. Two days later on Good Friday, we had 8 inches of snow fall, plus 2 more the next day. Days later, it’s all gone again. Ya gotta love Minnesota weather…

We had a lot of fun on Easter this year. The Easter bunny left gifts for the little guys, Cole and Joe made a fantastic breakfast for us all, and we had fun playing with all sorts of eggs. Two of my favorite new words were invented on this day: cup-ets and bunny beans. “Cup-ets” was Alex’s attempt to say buckets, which was what the Easter bunny left their goodies in. He was so cute as he tried so hard to say it right. “Bunny beans” are more commonly known as jelly beans, but I think we’ll be forever calling them bunny beans now thanks to both Zach and Alex. Check out the pictures in the Easter 2008 album.

Tags: Alex, Cole, Easter, holiday, Joe, spring, Zach

We’ve got some great new pictures in the new Nov – Dec 2007 Family photo album, including a trip to Underwater World at the Mall of America, playing in class at ECFE (Early Childhood and Family Ed), preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and getting out during the first big snowfall of the season.

We also went to Joe’s company Holiday Party on December 1 at the fabulous Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. It was a 70′s disco theme party, complete with a great, well-known local cover band called Boogie Wonderland, and it was a ton of fun. Most of the crowd, including Joe and me, dressed the part in all its cheesy glory, and everyone got out on the dance floor – or even on stage (yep, that is me on stage with Heather, the wife of one of Joe’s coworkers). The pictures are a bit grainy/fuzzy given the lighting in the room, but the Dow Jones Holiday Party album will give you an idea of the fun that was had by all.

Tags: family outing, holiday, Joe, Karen, party, playtime, work event