Happy Birthday John! 55 years!

I revisited my birthday post to John of last year. (If you want to read it, just go to Jan. 2009 on the sidebar, I would have brought it back here, but don't know how and don't have time to learn)

Anyway I must have had much more time on my hands last year to be able to write such a nice tribute to John. I still mean every word of it, just too much farming and cafe world to take time to write such nice things this year.

On that note, Happy Birthday to my husband and best friend. I hope this year feels like Mardi Gras every day!

I love you!

Looking back at 2009

January brought our annual birthday celebrations in Milwaukee. This year Tizita joined us and added to the fun time! There was Build a bear, martini drinking, and Mexican food. All in all, a great time!

Our sweet little Valentine in February. No need to say anything more!

In March, we spent a weekend up in Door County with Courtney, Paul and Tizita. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for hiking and exploring the beautiful parks. We always enjoy our time spent in Door County, no matter what season.

April brought Easter. We celebrated with our precious little Tizita and the rest of the family. There was a new twist on the Easter hunt, not sure everyone enjoyed it though, back to the drawing board for next year, I guess.

May, Memorial Day, brought the beginning of our biking season with an overnight in Two Rivers. We biked our favorite two trails. The weather was rainy and cool, but we had a great time.

June found us in our favorite spot on earth-St. George Island, Florida. Here we are on our front porch ready to enjoy another day in paradise. On this sub zero day, I sure do miss, you, St. George!

And of course, the 4th of July! My dad's favorite holiday and we like to remember him as we celebrate each year. Here we are waiting for the infamous parade to begin. The parade is always followed by brats, some swimming, a musical production with me as the star, and the fireworks! Perfect way to say, "Happy Birthday, America!"

In August, John and I chose an unseasonably cool (actually cold) weekend to visit Mackinac Island. It had been years since we had been there and it was fun to bike around the Island and see all the familiar haunts which seem to have been frozen in time. After time on the Island we met up with The Van Aukens and rode the S. S. Badger across Lake Michigan. A fun way to end the summer.

The highlight of September was having Tizita start Preschool in my classroom. What a thrill to be her first teacher and watch her learn, grow, and have fun with little friends! As I recall, she was a bit of a spitfire this first day, but she has really settled in and is doing great.

October, Halloween fun in Oshkosh dressed as the Elmo family! I don't like Halloween in general, but I did enjoy spending it with Tizita dressed as Elmo. Oshkosh did a great job of putting on a Trick or Treating event with downtown merchants participating. I wonder what kind of a family we can be next year!

In November, we took Tizita to downtown Watertown to partake in their pre Christmas activities. We made an ornament and a snowman plus too a ride on this carriage pulled by horses. We watched the Christmas parade that evening. Alissa really enjoyed that parade! This is an annual event and I hope we can enjoy it again in years to come.

And rounding out the year in December, John's Mardi Gras Christmas party. What a highlight that event was! Gotta love Realtime Electric!

So, all in all, a very good year with lots of highlights and great memories. Still I was not sad to see it go because I know 2010 will have many surprises for us, too.

Happy Twenty Ten

As you might remember from last year's post (or not) I am not fond of making a big deal out of one year ending and a new one beginning. I just like to ease into the new year as if it is just another day. That being said, look at how I ushered it in last night with my good friend and college roommate Joan! Looks like I threw caution to the wind! We really did have a fun night. We started with appetizers at Joan's while we watched her dvd of her photos from a trip to Egypt. I think they were beautiful although she had them set up to show for only one second each so I am not too sure. It was funny. I think she will have to perfect her travel log before she takes it on the road! After that we went to Champs for a yummy dinner and headed over to Fat Boy's Roadhouse where our college friend John Giliberti was playing in his band. It was such a fun time. It felt right to toast the New Year with good friends! So, at least for this year, it was a big deal.

There was dancing, too.

And lovely ladies to toast in the New Year! Happy New year everyone. Let's hope it is a good one filled with God's richest blessings for all of us.

Our Christmas is officially over

Today our Christmas officially came to an end as Courtney, Paul, and Tizita headed back to Oshkosh. Even though they arrived a day late, we still had a very great celebration. It took Paul quite some time to load up their car today with all the goodies they had accumulated over the holiday. Tonight John and I will have our king bed back to ourselves without our little Tizita sleeping between us. We will miss her, especially when she would wake up in the morning and greet us with her, "Good Mornin' Grandma, Good Mornin' Grandpa"- such a sweet way to begin the day!

Having some silly grandma/Tiz moments. The entire Christmas was filled with laughter and joy brought on by Tizita.

Today before Tiz left for home, she and I spent some time sledding. It was a beautiful day out there and we both had so much fun!

So, in agreement with this sweet little Lady, thumbs up on this Christmas!

Another Christmas over, bring on the New Year!

John and I sharing some Christmas cheer! This was on Christmas Eve at Kev's house after church.
Christmas Eve gifts. New sunglasses for Mal!
The annual new pajama modeling. Courtney was missing in the fashion show this year, but she did get her pajamas when she got here. The cutest ones ever, we think.
Our Christmas gift exchange with Courtney, Paul, Lis and Nathan on Dec. 26. John got a vintage Jimmy Buffet poster and his new CD.
My first picture with my new camera! I got a new camera from Courtney, Paul, Lis, and Nathan. No more double flash!
Our annual Pajama picture coming through the arch looking at the presents under the tree. This picture goes back to when I was about 2 years old and we don't miss a year!
Working on the donut holes.

A new car for Tizita!
Christmas turned out to be a great time despite getting off to a rather bumpy start with snow storms. Sometimes the best laid plans do not work out the way we think they should, but with a little flexibility ( I am still working on this) things can be just fine.
Courtney, Paul, and Tiz will be here until Wednesday, so I have lots of time to spend with my favorite little one!

They are on the road home!

First of all, thank you Verna for the very nice comment. We did, indeed have a wonderful Christmas Day. First, our brunch in the morning with Kev and Mal, Lis and Nathan, and my mom. Next our celebration at John's mom and dad's with his side of the family. His mom always goes out of her way to make it a special time. We gave up gift exchanges with them years ago, but she adds so many little touches that no one misses a big gift opening. The only sad part of the day was that John's dad is now in a nursing home (hopefully not permanently) so he was only able to come home on a day pass. He is failing, weak, and suffering from Parkinson's. It was hard on MaryAnn (John's mom) when he had to go back and to see her sad, just makes us sad for them. While they took John's dad back, Alissa and I cleaned up the house, did all the dishes from our delicious prime rib dinner, and hit the road home.
The festivities were still not over though! Kev, his friend, Vikki, and Mal came over. We all headed to our basement, started a fire, looked at many old pictures, and drank beers to toast my dad, Kenny whose spirit lives on in that basement. What a wonderful Christmas Day we had!
And to make matters perfect, Courtney, Paul, and Tiz are somewhere in Minnesota on their way here! I have to put the turkey in and get the preparations started for that Christmas!
Yep, Verna, you are right, it does all work out if I give it some time and understanding!

Untitled phase 2

It is 6 AM on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas everyone! I just got a call from Courtney. To their credit, they did make an attempt to get here, but they are turning around and heading back to Iowa. They will be stuck there for a few days yet and we are forced to celebrate the holiday without them. This will be the first Christmas ever since the girls were born that they will not be together at Grandma and Grandpa's Damman's for the gift opening. Over the years they have always been each other's support system at the gathering, sitting side by side and opening their gifts. Granted, we have not always been there on actual Christmas Day or Eve, but it was always the two girls together at that gathering. I will miss Courtney there today, but I know it will be Alissa who will probably miss her the most.
Now, you may be wondering what about my side of the family? Well, since Courtney got married we have had a few Christmases without her and Paul so we have learned to just find new and different ways to celebrate. Christmas Eve for us always has been church at St. John's where both girls and my brother and I were part of the gradeschool Christmas program and then gift opening afterwards and that will stay the same for years to come. It is what is expected of us and one of the few traditions this family actually has. I have yet to figure out how to fit Courtney and Paul into the mix. We have yet to come up with an alternative to celebrating Christmas that works for us. I wonder if all families have this dilema when a child marries.
I am thankful that for the time being Alissa and Nathan Christmas with us and head to his dad's the week after to celebrate with him. I appreciate that they have done this for me, it is a good gift. Once they have their own family and if they move to Bloomington in the future, they may not be able to spend each Christmas Eve and Day with us, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
So, plans for the rest of today, glad you asked. I have an egg dish ready to put in the oven and there will be cinamon rolls. My brother and Mal will join us for the brunch and then we will head to John's folks around noon with Alissa and Nathan. No matter what, Christmas is still Christmas and the celebration goes on.