Hodgepodge of pics! Finally!!

 GO BISON!!

 SD Football Trip

 Grampa and Dillon Farming

 Two Monkeys

 Field Trip with Dillon and Snow White

 Cookie Baking

 Christmas program 2013

 Thanksgiving 2013

 Gramma and her girls

 Two beautiful girls!

 Miss C

 What a ham!

 Epic end of the year lake party!

 New deck and patio

 Belle tasting the frosting

Preslee and her best friend - program 2013

 

Its a weird mix of pics but I have had a few requests (demands) to post again so I finally got it to work.  These are a few of my favorite pics from this summer, fall, and winter. We are so thankful for all the time we get to spend with our wonderful grandchildren and grateful we are so close to them all. We are totally enjoying our football season again, and we get to go to Frisco Texas again to cheer on our Bison with our good friends Dave and Kim Jones. 11 days and counting and we are hoping for another championship and warmer weather to enjoy for a few days!!  

 Christmas Eve is at our house this year and while we will miss Bil, Mark and the girls, Jack, Andrew & Meagan and the kids, we will have the rest of the Radebaugh's and the Barker side together. It should be a blast and again so thankful we can all gather together for some family time. Christmas Day will be at Dave and Shorty's for their amazing prime rib!!

A very Merry Christmas to you all!!



ARGGGGG!!!! I want to post pics but something is not working!!

I have been trying for the last few weeks to post pics from our wonderful summer, but for some reason it will not work!  I will keep trying but until then...Our summer started very unusually with us taking a trip to Vegas with our fav traveling partners Bil and Mark for my 55th birthday.  Usually prior years when your Birthday falls on a holiday, and your husband is a farmer, my birthday was always just another day most of the time. Sometimes we would celebrate, most times not.  This time Billie decided we were going to celebrate!  It was a great time and we saw a wonderful Michael Jackson Tribute show that was amazing!  Lots of fun and great hot weather!! 

June was pretty wet and cold so summer seemed to slip by with not much outside time, but being hardy ND/MN people we made the best of it! Boat time, deck time, we tried to make the best of it. Lots of time spent with the grandkids, as I kept babysitting for Miss Caroline 1 or two days a week, and tried to take Dillon and Preslee whenever we had free time.  They are the joys of our lives and we love having them!!  June was also a sad month as we had to put our wonderful Chocolate Lab Riley to sleep.  He had been struggling with his breathing the last few months, and just getting progressively worse getting around.  He would have good days, so it was hard to make the decision, but we came home one night and he was really having trouble breathing, drank a whole bunch of water and just laid down and couldn't get up. We took him to the emergency vet in Fargo and he told us his stomach was distended and verified we were doing the best thing for him. It was time, but that didn't make it any easier for any of us. Greg and Andrew especially.  The whole family loved Riley and we all miss him very much.  He was a good dog. 

This summer Jennifer and Mike decided to move to Fargo and leave their home at the lake.  While my head says it was the best thing for them, my heart still misses them here.  I still get lots of time with Miss C and stop there as much as I can and I know some people have to fly or drive a long way to see their grandkids, but I still miss them.  They are in a condo now awaiting the building of their new home in the "new" West Fargo.  We saw the basement hole in the ground the other day and it is in a great new neighborhood and it will be beautiful!  I can't wait till they are settled and enjoying their new place. They say that while they miss the lake, they haven't regretted the move for a second.  It was a good move!!

July came and so did the hot weather finally!  We had a great 4th of July with lots of people around and loved every minute.  Dave and Kim spent a lot of time at the lake this summer and we love having them here!! The more the merrier!! The upside to Jenn and Mike moving is they get to stay here now!  We had a great Water Carnival weekend, saw quite a few of Jack's baseball games, went to the Gooseberry and Trollwood plays, watched Dillon and Preslee play t-Ball, and lots of other things to numerous to mention. 

August cooled off again for a bit, but not our weekends.  We had Miss C while the kids went to We Fest - sounded like they had a great time!! The next weekend Greg went fishing with the boys, and Jenn, Caroline and I went to spend the weekend with Julie, Kristin and Dawson.  It was so fun!  Then Greg and I went to Gig Harbor WA for his cousin Drayton's wedding.  We extended it a bit and spent some time in Seattle too.  It was a great week reconnecting with his side of the family we don't see hardly ever - he has never been in WA to see his Aunt Beverly so it was about time!! And then it was Boats and Bars in DL and Dave and Kim, Jenn and Mike, and Kristin and Dave.  It was a great time!!

Summer gone - just like that.  It seems like it goes faster every year!  But now on to Bison Football!!  We got to go in the camper again with Dave and Kim and friends from GF Fran and Jim.  It is a great way to travel, and we are so fortunate to be able to go with them!  It was a freaking hot day and 12 hours spent in 100 degree heat (101 at game time!!) but we came away with a win against Kansas State and it was so exciting!  That is big time football in a stadium with 58,000 other crazy people! Their band was huge, crowd so involved and into it...until the last 8 minutes anyway  :)  and so much fun!  A great time was had by all!!

I really will keep trying to post pics, but when I get frustrated......

 

 

 

Looking back at these pictures from our trip to Mexico for BJ and Ashley's wedding makes me realize how much we NEED spring around here! It seems like forever ago that we felt sun on our skin!! And it really hasn't been that long!  I think ever since I can't go to the tanning beds anymore and get some warmth on my skin, it feels like winter is even longer than it really is!! The only thing that is saving me from this winter, is planning our getaway for 2014. If you want to get a decent place to stay you have to do it early, so we have it narrowed down for next January/February, we just have to make a final decision.

 

Anyway, the wedding was beautiful and we were so happy we were there to welcome Ashley into the family. She is a very special young lady and BJ is very happy! It was a beautiful ceremony and a great location.  The resort was wonderful and we had a very relaxing week!! Got lots of reading done and enjoyed the beach very much! We had a great room with our own patio and jacuzzi, and the restaurants that were included in our all inclusive were pretty good.  We went into Pureuto Morales the small town about a mile away one day and snooped around.  We ate at a great restaurant there and had peel and eat shrimp and guacamole. We also went into Playa Del Carmen towards the end of the week and had a nice afternoon there too.  On the final nite there we took a trip into Cancun to do a boat tour with a lobster/steak dinner - it was pretty cold and windy but the meal was great and the scenery was very nice! We also ran into Doug and Judie Madsen who I used to work with at the bank! They were staying in Cancun for the week - what are the odds we would end up on the same boat!  It was alot of fun catching up! We ended the evening toasting with tequila shots!! Had a great time! 

 

Since we've been home it's back to work and back to blowing snow for Greg!  Since we bought this place in 2007, we have never had so much snow! Great for the lake levels, but horrible for everything else!! And last year at this time we were enjoying 70's!! Geez....will it ever end???  Working, enjoying time with the grandkids and finishing up the project around here is what is keeping us busy.  And awaiting spring. 

 

Happy 1st Birthday today to our Little Miss Caroline Rebecca! Time goes so fast....

Back to Back!!!

 Christmas 2012

 Pretty Girl

 First Sled Ride

 A bunch of Old Theta Chi's singing "we are the joy boys, of Theta Chi"!!!

 Our Bison Buddies and the Tower of Beer - (bad picture taker)

 Friday Night Pep Rally

 Storming the field after the big win!

 Coach Bohl

 Celebration! Gretchen and Lauren are in there somewhere!!

 South Padre Island

 The view of our condos from the Penthouse (purchase price of this view $900,000!!!)

 The pool was not heated!!!! So the hot tub was our only option!

 Great beach for walking as long as you watch out for the Portugese Man of War Jelly Fish!!

 I don't know if you can tell who this looks like, but she was in a great band we saw. We all thought she looked earrily like Grandma Caroline!!

Sunrise View from our master bedroom balcony.

 Greg and I on our daily walk.

 San Antonio RiverWalk

 Dick's Restaurant

 Remember the Alamo!

 Had a very hard time walking by a Pub!!

Nite with the kids when we got home - ice cream treat!

 

Well I finally got my computer to work!! Having trouble downloading pics to it lately, so here is a mishmash of pics.  I didn't take many at Christmas for some reason - they are mostly on my Ipad and I need to get them on here soon!! We had a wonderful Christmas with the Barker's on Christmas Eve afternoon at Shelley's and then back to Mike and Jenn's for the evening.  It was perfect!  The kids surprised me with a canvas print of the pic we put on our Christmas card - it made me cry.  I love it.  All the kids were great and loved every present they opened!! Christmas Day at Dave and Shorty's again for Prime Rib.  Perfect again!

 

Then............Back to Back Bison Championship!!! We had a great time driving to Texas this year with Dave and Kim Jones - our Bison Buddies.  The Friday Night Pep rally was great with a huge crowd and the game of course was amazing!  We took over in the second half and showed them real Bison Football.  It was alot of fun!!  Frisco TX is a great place to host the game, and every business was very happy to see us back.  We extended our trip and drove to South Padre Island where we had rented a condo.  And except the fact it wasn't nearly warm enough, it was a very nice place.  I am pretty sure though that I never need to drive across Texas again though.  Boy that is a BIG state.  Whew!  Really, driving wasn't as bad as I imagined it - we had great roads both ways - so it was a very nice vacation.  We didn't think it was warm enough down there until we stepped out of the car at Topeka Kansas - then we decided 65 or 70 degrees really was pretty nice!!  Foolishly we also thought that half of January was already over - so how bad could winter be around here.  HA! It can be pretty bad!!  Pretty sure after this year.....Greg and I will be scooting out of here next year for at least the whole month of January if not more!!!

 

Our remodeling project is nearing completion - finally!! All that is left is the finishing touches on the fireplace, and some more lighting work in the kitchen.  Greg has put away his paintbrush for good he says.  He has pretty much painted this whole place - and figures this should be it! I haven't mentioned the next project is the laundry room,  master bathroom, and possibly the basement bathroom.  Maybe next year after this pain has worn off!  I will post some before and after pics here when it is completed.  We love it all - and it feels like our house now. So warm and cozy!!

 

Counting down to our next vacation - Mexico for BJ and Ashley's wedding - 25 days now!! Can't wait.  It will be warm there for sure!! Take care everyone - love to all!