Catching up

Hey there every peoples! It’s been about 3 months so I figure I should probably give a quick update on what we got going on lately. When we last left you we were looking forward to our first real vacation since our honeymoon. While the family trip to the Branson, MO area was nothing spectacular it was a welcome break from the daily grind of werk and such.

Katie and I headed down the day before everyone else so we could do some hiking in MO before we went to the resort. So we left after work and headed out. We weren’t quite sure where we were going or what we were doing that night. Let’s just say we saw Omaha at night and it was cool. We tried making it to KC but decided to stop at a Motel 6 in St Joseph MO. I had fallen asleep at some point and when I awoke we were driving around somewhere in St Joe. I asked Katie where we were and she said in town looking for the motel.

After what seemed like driving through and around the entire city we finally figured out where it was. As we pulled in Katie said, “It looks like it’s closed.” I said, “That’s because it’s a Red Lobster!” The hotel was behind the restaurant and confused us at 2 AM. So I went in and got a room. We went to the room and…there were bugs crawling all over!! So needless to say we left and decided to keep going and finally we just pulled into a rest stop outside of downtown KC and slept in the car. It was a pretty cool experience actually and we even saved some money! We woke up that morning around 630 and continued to head to our destination at Ha Ha Tonka State Park to do some hiking.

After a few hours we reached the park and got out to hike. There was a cool old “castle” that we hiked to and walked around the ruins. It was neat and perched on a nice overlooking cliff. We hiked down to the lake below and back up. It was very hot and just as we got back to the car it started raining so we decided that was all the hiking we were going to do for the day. So we began our trip to the resort. All the while we had been listening to “I Am Legend” on audio book. It was a very good book! I think better than the movie in some ways.

So anyway we spent the week at this resort outside of Branson and enjoyed relaxing in the sun. Katie would swim and read by the pool. All the babies loved swimming and we spent lots of time at the pool. We also played a lot of night tennis and catch. One of the days we spent the day on a pontoon riding around a lake and even did some cliff jumping! It was a good vacation all in all!

After enjoying the summer and with fall approaching we decided we needed to get out and camp one more time before it got too cold. So we made plans to go camping but our place was full so we switched to St Croix state park in Hinckley. We spent the weekend there enjoying the fall colors and campfires. On Saturday we hiked for 14 miles and we didn’t even get to where we were headed! So the next day we drove to this old fire tower lookout. It was so cool being above it all and seeing the colorful trees. It was also I little scary considering there was not much for safety when climbing the tower. Katie made cool meals for us to cook over a fire. She even made muffins using hollow oranges! It was a fun weekend.

Now as the cold sets in we are looking forward to a winter vacation. We are thinking somewhere warm like a cruise or maybe taking advantage of the cheaper off season in Europe…which will still be warmer than Minnesota in the January.

We’ve now been in our house about 6 months! We can’t believe it. It seems so new to us yet totally feels like home. My dog from growing up that has lived at my parent’s house while I was in college and before we got the house has joined us. It was a little weird at first…for us and him but now it seems weird if he’s not around. He mainly lies around but is fun to play with him and have a dog around. For the most part we have loved having him in our house but one thing we don’t like is when there is a storm….he FREAKS OUT! He has always done it so it’s nothing new…just haven’t dealt with it for a few years.

Of course since he doesn’t like storms we’ve had a lot. In fact I’d say that the severity of the storms and the loudness of the thunder have been more intense than anywhere else I’ve ever lived. Its crazy how loud it has been and how much it has caused him to freak out…and keep us up all night. Oh well he is pretty easy other than that so we won’t complain too much.

As for the weather there was a pretty nasty hail storm that hit a while back and caused some damage to our siding. A few people in the neighborhood have gotten new roofs and or siding. We have had all sorts of people come up to our doors trying to sell us new roofs and such but so far we haven’t gotten anything done.

Inside the house we got a few new things going on. We are planning on putting wood floors down on the main level sometime soon. We have the flooring it’s just a matter of finding time to install it. As for our rooms we have essentially been settled in since June but our spare bedroom had been lacking a bed so finally a few weeks ago we got Katie’s old bed and put it in there and now it definitely feels like a bedroom now. In the sewing room/office we moved some stuff around and even got a new big chair so I can sit in there while Katie sews.

Katie has been sewing more lately. She has been making baby blankets for all the babies and even whipped up a couple little ball type things for them to play with. They all seem to love their presents! It’s nice for them to have stuff made and not just bought. It feels a little more special.

Speaking of kids…the babies are growing pretty quick. Baby Katie is walking and even starting to talk. Sydney and she could get into lots of trouble as they get a little older. As for the twins…Tyler is a big boy. He recently weighed in at over 17lbs! while Anna is a dainty 14 lb 12 oz. Mason on the other hand is catching up. Although he is a few months younger is almost the same weight as Anna and is practically as long as Tyler. He is a little monkey. Oh and Julie is ready to go any day now with their little baby! No name yet other than Lil Sharky. He is expected on Nov. 28th!
All the babies dressed up for Halloween. Anna was a banana and Tyler was a football. Baby Katie was a duck and Sydney was a panda bear and Mason was a monkey! We had trick-or-treaters this year for our first Halloween with a house. They seemed to start late but came on strong and we even ran out of candy!

With all those babies to take care of Travis was hoping to get a more secure job instead of just contract work. Well thankfully he did. He is a director at Best Buy! Besides being a great job that he likes to do it has great benefits and is now a secure position that he hopefully can be at for a long time!

In other news my mom recently had a pretty extensive back surgery to help fix her spine. Her spine was something resembling a crazy straw and they basically fused it to a titanium rod so that it will remain straight. She will need care for some time and has to be in a large protective cast for several months so it’s going to be a long winter for her. On the plus side her spine is straight and she totally grew like 2+ inches!

Thanksgiving will be a bit harder since she won’t be able to do a lot of cooking but everyone will be helping out! On thanksgiving Katie and I along with her family will be running a 5K that morning should be interesting. Then we will have lunch with my family and then dinner with Katie’s side of the family.

We are looking forward to putting up our own Christmas tree for the first time and having a Xmas of our own! Although we are not looking forward to the cold and darkness of winter again.

This past Monday Katie and I both took the day off of work to celebrate our 3 year anniversary of dating. It was nice to have a 3 day weekend and just to spend a day together. We went down to Mall of America and took the light rail up to downtown Minneapolis and had lunch at Fogo de Chao. I cannot say enough about this place. Beyond incredible service! I’ve never felt so taken care of by a wait staff in my life. The food was incredible too! I don’t typically like steak but I couldn’t get enough. The price is pretty high but if you go for lunch it’s a lot cheaper. After an amazingly enjoyable lunch we took the light rail back to MOA and went to Underwater Adventures. We name dropped Katie K and the guy totally let us in for free! It was a very cool place, kind of trippy but very fun. The jellyfish exhibit was awesome! After that we came home and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening at home.

Well that’s about it for us for now. Hope to keep this more updated in the future.

J/K