Happy Birthday, Happy BIRTHday and Happy Coming Home Day.

First of all, I'd like to wish my husband Mark a very happy birthday today. OK. So I know there's only 1 1/2 hours left of his birthday and he's already asleep, but it's the first time I've had to post all day. We had a great birthday time today. We both took today off work and had a nice family time. Last night I was trying to think about some things we could do today and a plan came together. I love it when that happens! We headed north to St. Croix Falls and took Hope to Fawn-Doe-Rosa. REALLY cheesy name, but a fun place. There are deer, goats, geese and other kinds of animals just roaming around, waiting (and sometimes begging) for you to feed them. There are also lots of cool animals in pens. Thank God for the pens because I'm talking about animals like Grizzly Bears, Badgers, Bobcats, a Lynx, etc, etc, etc. It was a beautiful day and Hope finally got used to feeding the animals. I have lots of pictures, but I'm way too tired to get them on the computer tonight. That'll just be something for you to look forward to. LOL

After our time at Fawn-Doe-Rosa, we headed just north of St. Croix Falls to a winery called Chateau St. Croix. Very nice!!! Mark and I tasted a few wines, Hope had "kiddie wine" as she called it (it was a non-alcoholic sangria), and we had some cheese and crackers. We also ended up with a case of wine in the back of the HHR. YES-- we paid for it. And guess what??? That box of wine (12 bottles, in case you were wondering) will last us for a VERY long time.

Then it was home for supper, a bath for Hope (man was she DIRTY tonight), and bedtime for everyone...except for me....but I'm very close.

I'd also like to say happy BIRTHday to Matthew Seguin Jr. He's the brand-spanking new son of my friends Amy and Matt. He was born today (on Mark's birthday) at 4:20pm. He weighed just over 7 lbs and was 20" (or so...I didn't write down the details) long. I'm so glad that Amy and Matt got their little boy. Matt has a sister, Heidi, who will be 3 in January. Amy told me that Matt said to her not long ago that if they had another girl they might have to try one more time for a boy. I don't think Amy was too excited about that. LOL Hopefully in the next couple of weeks Hope and I will make a trip to Dodgeville, WI, to see the new baby. The really exciting thing about this is that I had a feeling they were going to have a boy and I'm ALWAYS wrong!!! I was finally right. WooHoo!!!

Please keep the family of Phil Kuss in your prayers. Phil and his wife Ruth are members at Ezekiel Lutheran Church in River Falls where I used to be the Children's Minister. They are WONDERFUL people and I love them dearly. Phil died on Friday at the age of 74. I am going to miss him so much. He always had a wonderful smile, kind words and engaging conversation. When I was pregnant with Hope he told me that I should have the baby on the 26th of July because that's his birthday (my due date was July 27th---my Mom's birthday---so having her on the 26th was a real possibility...but it didn't happen). He also thought that IF I had the baby on the 26th and IF the baby was a boy, Mark and I should name him Phil. That's a special memory I'll always carry in my heart. Thank you for the prayers for that incredible family.

OK...that's it for me for tonight. I've been totally getting sucked in to the Olympics and I love it. I think Nastia just got robbed of a gold medal though. Oh well, she DID win the gold in the all around, so I guess I'll be satisfied with that. How do those people make these events seem so effortless??

Night night!!

#1

So now he has 1 NFL start under his belt. Of course I'm talking about the Green Bay Packer's new starting QB, Aaron (A-Rod) Rodgers. I wasn't able to watch him play because I was teaching VBS tonight, but from what I heard, he did alright. I'll take alright. He did throw for one TD and also got us close enough for a field goal, so that's great! But he also threw for an interception. But ya know what?? If I'm remembering my stats correctly, doesn't Brett Favre have like the most interceptions in NFL history??? It's something like that anyway. Now I'm not a Brett hater by any means. I still love him and it still seems like a very bad dream that he's playing this year and not wearing a Packers uniform, but life has to go on. I'm just glad the drama is over. I'm behind Aaron 100%. Plus, he's so dang CUTE!!! lol The Packers did end up losing tonight, but it was close, so I'm happy with this first performance. I got to see the 3rd string QB (Flynn) play and he did a great job, too, so I think this year is going to be OK. I know---it's only pre-season, but---WAIT----they're interviewing Aaron on ESPN. Yep!!! He's really cute. Look at those dimples!! Could he be interested in someone old enough to be his mother??? OK...I'm just kidding (mostly). lol Anyway...here are his stats for tonight:

he went 9-15, threw for 117 pass yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, and had a 79.0 passer rating. So I think that's OK. He'll only get better. ESPN is saying that he handled himself well. Aaron has HUGE shoes to fill (understatement of the year), so he could have come out and totally let the pressure get to him tonight, but he didn't. OK....I'm done with Aaron Rodgers for tonight. I know when Mark reads this he'll totally disagree with what I've said, but I'm a Packer fan: through good times and bad times. Yes, I'll miss Brett like crazy, but I am looking forward to football season anyway. I've requested an Aaron Rodgers jersey for my birthday next month.

Speaking of seasons...as I was driving home from work tonight at 8:30 I started getting this heavy feeling in my heart. It was already getting dark. Not too long ago it would stay light until almost 10. The shortening of the days means only one thing: we're getting closer and closer to winter every day. Even the nights here have been in the 50s. UGH!!!! In all honesty, I don't know how I'm going to get through another Wisconsin winter. I'm not looking forward to the darkness, the cold, the lack of color outside, the ice and snow. There is absolutely nothing about winter here that I like. And it seems to go on and on and on and on. I'm praying that this will be our last winter in Wisconsin and that I can find a way to convince Mark that it would be a really good idea for us to go where it's sunny and warm most of the time. That, of course, would be Dallas, TX. I don't think I'm going to have much success with that though. BUT...lest I end this post on a totally depressing note, I just happened to remember that there IS one thing I like about winter: it's also football season. That brings me full circle. GO PACKERS!!! GO AARON!!

Not the best picture of him, but it's better than the old pictures of him with his long hair.