Fall 2022

We enjoyed a beautiful fall!  I really made sure to take the time to be outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather we had.  One of my goals in 2022 was to take the time to be outside and just enjoy it.  I spent many nights on the patio reading and enjoying our little gas fire pit.

I enjoy fall because it is the start of a slow season for us.  I love the cooler weather, darker evenings and just the slower pace of fall and winter.

One of my favorites this fall was seeing the Goo Goo Dolls at The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park.  This was our first time at the venue and it was incredible!  It helped that the weather was gorgeous that night.

They sounded exactly like they do on the radio, and my love for Johnny Rzeznik continues...

Like I said, the weather that night was incredible.  A couple times I forgot we were outside, haha.

Alayna has been thoroughly enoying her junior year of high school.  At least I think she is, that girl is ALWAYS on the go!

She had her first PowderPuff game, and they got their butts whooped by the seniors, haha!

Love the relationship this girls have!

For the first time, Rocori had a homecoming formal which she had a blast at!  How is our mousey growing up so fast??  Ugh...

That girl is on year 4 of having braces, I think she is ready to take them off herself!

And no, that is not a cigarette in my hand, when I first saw this pic I did a double take!

Our family grew again....with a cat!  Emma and her roomates got a cat, meet Francesca May Zimmer, aka, Frankie.  She is the cutest damn thing, 100% naughty and funny enough, plays fetch!

I mean seriously....

Like I said before, we had an AMAZING fall with gorgeous weather.  Brad, Alayna and myself decided to head out to St. John's and walk the trails to the chapel.  We literally couldn't have asked for a better day.  I mean we could have, because they were a crap ton of other people out on the trails as well, but I digress.

Love these pics of Brad and Mouse.

In October Alayna got the chance to go on a duck hunting trip with Brad, Bruce, Connor and William to South Dakota.  They hunted for 5 days and she had way more fun than I thought she would!  Apparently she's our own little Annie Oakley.

Josie got to go too!  This meant that mama was home alone for 6 days, which was amazing.  I literally cleaned and organized everything in the house, which felt so good.

All of the kiddos came home to carve pumpkins, it felt like the old days, they whined and complained and argued just like they used to.... :)

Halloween we went to the Rothsteins for apps and drinks and then made our way down to the La for a Halloween party.  Brad went as Bob Ross and I was an 80's gal.  We literally spent no money and just pulled from our stash, it was perfect!

It sure is fun having older kids now!  Except we end up paying everytime we go out....

The end of October we had our annual Friendsgiving, this year was at Rick and Tonia's.  They smoked a turkey and everyone brought sides.  So much amazing food and such a fun time!

It was definitely a different season for us, not having Brad's dad here.  Going through all of the first's wasn't fun but we all made the best of it as much as we could.

Lobsterfest 2022

Every year in September we have Lobsterfest at Cory and Christi's lake home.  We (5 couples) all head there on Friday and this year we met at a local winery close by them.  It was a gorgeous day, and just a perfect way to start the weekend!

I adore this pic of Brad and I, although just like our kids, it took awhile to get him to cooperate...

See below.

All I wanted was a cute kiss pic.  He came in like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber...

Pain in the ass.

So grateful we have these peeps, we've been together for more than 25 years, and can't imagine our lives without them!

Back to School 2022

September seemed to come way too fast this year.  While summer was fun, it was SO busy that I didn't feel like I had a chance to think about back to school, haha!

This little lady started her junior year (WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??) of high school.

Seriously, I am going to blink and she'll be graduating, ugh...

She was seriously peeved with me that I wanted a pic.

I told her I would post this. :)

Now, the other two behaved perfectly and sent their mama "first day" pics for them!

Rachel's Senior year of college, she will have 2 semesters left of nursing school and she will be DONE!!!  #bless

Emma started her Sophomore year of college and also moved into a townhome with two of her besties from college last year.

She will be applying for the nursing program in the fall.  #fingerscrossed

Every.single.morning I pray for God's protection over them and that God will lead them HIS way, not their way, or my way.  Boy is that a humbling prayer sometimes.  As their mama, I just want everything to work out perfectly and fix every problem they encounter.  Apparently that can't happen, I feel like I was not told about that haha!!

I know they will have an amazing year!!

Summer 2022 Part 2

Rachel and I got to see One Republic in August, and holy hell do they know how to put on a show!  I'm actually not a huge fan of theirs, but Need To Breathe was opening for them, and I originally bought the tickets for Emma and I, as "Into the Mystery" is one of our favorite songs.  Ended up that she had a wedding that day so Rachel and I went and had an absolute blast, even though I thought were seeing One Direction, it was still an amazing concert, haha!

August also brought our annual cabin weekend with Brad's sister and her family.  We stayed for 4 days and relaxed and enjoyed the sauna and the lake!

We look forward to this cabin weekend every year, the lake home is beautiful!

Love watching the cousins have fun (and get too much sun, Rachel Zimmer!).

Alayna and Brielle at the Clearwater Rodeo, both Jackson (Rachel's boyfriend) and William (our nephew) were riding.  It was the same weekend we go up to my dad's, so I drove up to dad's on Friday and they all came Saturday.  No way in hell could I watch them ride a bull.  No thank you.  They both rode, and survived, thank you Jesus!

Brad's niece made everyone t-shirts that say Faith Family Farming which is in memory of Jerry.  Most everyone was able to be there for pics, and I'm so glad all our girls (and boyfriends) were able to be there.

Grandma with all of her grandkids and great grandkids.

Our little family.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful for these peeps.  Brad and I are so blessed to have them and we are just so excited for what's a head for them!

Summer 2022 Part 1

Summer 2022 was a busy, different, but fun summer.  With losing Brad's dad the end of May, it was a bittersweet summer.  We navigated Father's Day and the 4th of July, which was tough.  Even though we know Jerry lived his life to the fullest, it will always be a void in our lives...

We enjoyed lot's of sitting on the patio, enjoying the fire.  I really feel like I took the time to sit outside and just enjoy the weather.  Losing a loved one really does put everything into perspective.

Crazy sister selfies.

A random Friday afternoon where everyone was free and we decided to check out some news shops in town and stop for a beer!  I absolutely treasure these random moments, because getting everyone together is HARD!

4th of July concert in our town.

4th of July parade.  So happy to finally have things back to normal!  Everyone came out to our house in the afternoon and we played yard games and hung out.

"Ritzmas" weekend on the lake in Paynesville, we get together with two other families every summer and have an absolute blast hanging out and being on the lake.

Firefest 2022, we hung out with friends at their campsite but didn't get tickets to watch the concerts.  This is Rachel's group of girls she graduated with, such beauties!

My neice Madalyn is getting married in October, so her bachelorette party was at her parents cabin.  I got to go hang out with them for a few hours, oh to be young again!  Rachel is a bridesmaid, we cannot wait for the wedding!

The next weekend was her bridal shower.  I just don't even know how she's old enough to get married...

Part 2 of summer coming up!