theVandermarks.com » Karen

Animals, plants, moms and a little jazz

Karen — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 03:14:32 +0000

The latest batch of photos uploaded to the site includes a couple of stragglers from April added to the March-April album that give a glimpse of our crazy little boys – an elaborate Lego Star Wars scene showing their crazy creativity and the answer to one of life’s mysteries: where missing socks go to hide.

A happy Mother's Day

In the May-June 2011 album, May started out with a 4H petting zoo at a garden center and the planting of baby trees on a beautiful Saturday. Next, Grandma Pat and I had a wonderful Mother’s Day together, and Zach and Alex gave Grandma a great homemade gift. This batch finishes with a night of some hot jazz at Cole’s jazz bad concert, performed in a great cabaret setting. Enjoy!

Catching up on all the photos posted

Karen — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:34:09 +0000

OK, so I’ve admittedly been terrible about blogging about all the events going on in our lives. I spend lots of time editing and posting new pictures, as you can sometimes see in the Recent Photos widget, but I never seem to get around to writing about it. Honestly, I think the photos tell a better story anyway (not to mention I’m already writing when I do the captions…).

The Vandermarks, Sept 2010

I’ll try to get better about posting simple updates when a new batch of photos have been loaded (like the remainder of our April trip to AZ that uploaded last night), but in the meantime, here’s just a straight list of the albums that have been updated/created since last Sept:

Sept-Oct 2010 – the Scarecrow Festival, the circus, Halloween
Visit with Auntie Mary Ann – who came to visit us in Sept
Infiniti Crash II: The Deer – the results when a deer runs in front of a car doing 65 mph.
Nov-Dec 2010 – Christmas decorating, Thanksgiving in Chicago, big snow storms
Christmas 2010 – yep, pictures of presents and family at Christmas
Jan-Feb 2011 – Cole’s 16th birthday, fun birthday parties, making cookies and craft projects
Zach and Alex’s 5th birthday – including their 1st “friends” party
Mar-Apr 2011 – Karen’s birthday, planting a garden
Spring Break 2011 – a few days of fun in Chicago
Arizona – April 2011 – a family get-together

Halloween and other Fall fun

Karen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:00:42 +0000

Shaggy and Daphne

This Fall has been a busy one for the Vandermarks, but it’s been a lot of fun – trips to the zoo, a couple of football games, the circus (and not just the one at our house!) and a couple of Halloween parties.

Joe and I had a great time at our friend’s Halloween party. The theme was 80′s TV characters, so we went as Shaggy and Daphne. There were some really great costumes there – the Love Boat, Who’s The Boss, Falcon Crest, the Jetsons, Baywatch and more – even Clara from the Where’s the Beef commercials and the Trix bunny. We made some Jello shots to share, including a special chocolate-covered cherry one that we chronicled in the photo album (Yum!!).

Zach and Alex went as Thing 1 and Thing 2 this year. It’s the perfect “twin” costume, and well, it really fits them. They were particularly excited about their blue hair and really loved it when people commented about it. They got to wear it two days in a row, going to Joe’s company Halloween party and visiting Grandma’s office one day and then to the HallZOOween party at the MN Zoo the next. Cole reprised his costume from years past as a Roman soldier (why change when it’s a great costume, right?). Check out the Sept – Oct 2009 album for pictures from zoo, plus other Fall fun, like pumpkin carving and more.

Celebrating 5 Years!

Karen — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:00:00 +0000

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.

New photos for November and December

Karen — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:24:50 +0000

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.

Latest photos

Karen — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:49:22 +0000

Here are the photos we’ve added from the last month or so:

Karen’s day at the MN State Fair with Mom and Dad B: Family July-Aug 2007 album
A new Family album – Sept-Oct 2007 – which includes fun with hats, shoes, brooms/vacuums, shades, magnets, climbing and noisy kitchen stuff
New pics in the 2007 Friends album from the birthday party of one of Karen’s college roommates

Vegas, baby, Vegas!

Karen — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 22:20:06 +0000

Joe and I just got back from a little weekend get-away to Vegas, and we had a fantastic time. We traveled with Mark Kantor, a poker buddy and former co-worker of Joe’s, and his wife, Yvonne, and Rich Kanter (no relation to Mark), a long-time friend of Mark’s, and his wife, Yukimi; we stayed at the beautiful Bellagio on the Strip. In addition to the obvious poker and slot machines, we saw the Blue Man Group (very unique show), toured the Strip, checked out the Ansel Adams show at the Bellagio’s fine art gallery, and took advantage of the fabulous salon and spa (I had two massages, talk about being spoiled!). We didn’t do too well at the casino, but hey, we had a great time!

Check out the pics we took in the Vegas ’06 album in the Vacation gallery .

Karen interviewed by local paper

Joe — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 22:21:09 +0000

A story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press about the latest gadgets and gizmos, Karen comments on her fancy navigation system in her Lexus SUV. See the story here: http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/13427481.htm

Baby update – 28 weeks down, about 8 or so to go?

Karen — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 08:48:50 +0000

Mom and the boys are all doing well. I had an ultrasound yesterday to check on the babies’ growth; they are positioned in kind of a yin yang pattern. Baby A on the left with his head up and his legs curled around the bottom, and Baby B is heads down on the right with his head above A’s legs and his backside curled up near the my ribs. Baby A is about 2 lbs 5 oz, and Baby B is about 2 lbs 10 oz., which seems to be about where they should be. The printouts we got have been added to the Baby Vandermark x2 album, as has the latest profile shot of me and my big belly and one of Joe’s favorites: me eating ice cream, which is a frequent occurance.