Wordless Wednesday ~ We Love Sunsets

Fort City

Tonight when I got home from work, I found a huge fort in the basement that Jon and the kids built today.  This is something they like to do every so often and the kids LOVE IT!  Jon took it one step further and promised the kids they could have a sleep over in the basement. 

Of course as they were all getting tucked into their beds, I had to grab the camera and take some photos.  It is a little lonely up here with the whole family in the basement but I decided I was not going to sleep on the floor tonight.  Even the cats are sleeping downstairs. 

I am sure I will hear lots of stories in the morning of the big camp out.  In my eyes, Jon gets Dad of the Year award once again.  He is truly such and AWESOME father to our kiddos. 

Introducing....our new Pup!

A few weeks back for our Wordless Wednesday Picture, I gave a hint about what was to come.  If you have not figured it out, we are going to become dog owners.  Our nanny, Erin, helped her parents raise puppies from their yellow lab.  We went to see the puppies the day they were born and we have been back weekly ever since. 

At first, we (I) had no intentions of getting one of these puppies but after much debate, discussion, and prayer, we decided that if we are ever going to get a dog, now is the time. 

The kids are at a perfect age and well, Jon has always wanted a dog.  Our puppy will be put through extensive training to be a hunting dog.

I would lie if I did not tell you that I am VERY nervous about bringing a puppy into our already crazy world but I can say that the more I go and see these puppies, the more in love I have become. 

Tonight we went to pick out our puppy.  There are five girls puppies to choose from and well, it is not an easy decision.  We do plan to go back one more time before we make the FINAL decision but we are 99.9% sure we have picked her...well she kind of picked us. 

Below is the note that we sent to our extended family tonight:

Above is the puppy that we selected tonight.  HER name is Gracie!  She is really sweet and loves to play.  Gracie kind of picked us tonight.  Every time we sat down or turned around she was right at one of our feet.  When we were getting ready to leave and could not decide, I looked down to her sitting at my feet looking up at me with these eyes.  When Jon sat down she came right over and snuggled up to him.  It was really hard to pick because we had all five girl puppies running around in the grass with us.  They are all great puppies and all of them would make great hunting and family dogs.  However, we are only taking ONE and we had to decide.  We did not tell them who we were going to take when we left but we discussed in on our walk home and we all said the same thing....Gracie!  So here she is you will all fall in love with her. 

Wish us luck! 

The Erickson Five

Wordless Wednesday ~ We're Gonna Be In Trouble Some Day

Wordless Wednsday ~ Grandma's Garden

Reunions and Birthday Celebrations

It was a crazy, busy weekend for The Erickson 5 as we were up north for Jon's high school reunion.  It was a ton of fun, especially, golfing on Saturday.  Jon got to see a lot of old friends and catch up.  I managed to have some fun myself.  The kids were in high heaven spending time with their Grandma, Grandpa, and cousins for the weekend.  They were spoiled rotten as usual. 

Sunday was my Birthday, so we headed to brunch with Grandma and Grandpa before we hit the road for home.  It was a long drive but when we got home, we went over to Grandma Mary's for a Birthday Celebration. 

We had King Crab Legs, Steak, great wine, AWESOME cake and ice cream and then I was showered with gifts...needless to say, I felt spoiled and had a blast celebrating my birthday.  The kids sure enjoyed it too.  Especially the cake and ice cream.  Another year has flown by and more and more I realize how quickly that time goes.  I feel so blessed as I turn another year older.  Thank you lord for an awesome weekend and the extra special love that I felt today and I turned yet another year older.  God Bless. 

U2 360 Tour

A few weekends back, I was lucky enough to go to the U2 360 tour.  It was AWESOME!  My Brother bought me a ticket to this show last year for my Birthday.  When Jon caught wind that I had a ticket to the show he then decided to take matters into his own hands and buy himself a set of tickets. 

As the concert approached, we started to learn that a ton of people we knew where headed to the concert.  We then made plans to car pool down to the show and have a little pre-party beforehand. 

It was such an incredible night.  We got poured on as it started to rain shortly after U2 came out on stage.  It did not matter though because the show was that good.  I have not been to a concert in years and it felt GREAT to go to a show again and get caught up in the moment.  Such fun memories for my brother and I and the best part is that just last week on my Birthday this year, he gave me the U2 360 DVD so we can relive the concert all over again.  Thanks T for knowing what I love.  You ROCK!

Water Sking Fun

Last night, we were lucky enough to get to spend sometime with an old sorority sister of mine that lives very close to us.  They invited us out on their boat.  We had a blast.

They are big time water skiers and my girlfriend used to be on a professional water ski team so you can imagine that they were anxious to get us out skiing.  They had a great beginners board for the kids and K and E decided they wanted to try it and they did it each twice. 

Jon had the opportunity to try wake boarding and he LOVED it.  A and I just opted to swim in the lake and take it easy.  We are so much alike. 

What a beautiful night it was with great friends, great weather, good lessons, and a beautiful sunset to end our time together. 

Thanks H family for the great memories.  We can't wait to hang out again sometime. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Slip N Slidding

Wordless Wednesday ~ VBS Delight

Wordless Wednesday ~ Big Changes Coming Our Way

Weekends in the Summer

Okay, I am way behind on this blog and the updates.  I will spare all the details but my computer is in the shop right now so my computer time has been cut. 
Anyway, a few weekends ago we had a ton of fun with our friends the Clark's.  There kiddos and our kiddos just love to get together and play. 

We had planned to go to a blues festival with the kiddos and hang out but the weather was so warm that we opted to go out to eat and come back to our house to hang out. 

The kids played, danced, watched a movie, and just plain hung out.  The adults had some serious Jokers games.  It is always the men against the women and sadly I have to report that the men won the round of Jokers games for the night but overall, the women are still ahead.  It was a fun night and very relaxing to just hang out.  We need more of these types of nights. 

The picture below is from Friday night of this weekend.  We were lucky enough to get to hang out with our friends the Littles, this seems to e a rare occurrence these days since Jon, Steve, and Lisa all travel a lot for their jobs.  The littles treated us to a pontoon ride out on the beautiful lake they live on.  It was a fun night and our kids had fun catching up with the Little's girls.  The kids jumped off the Pontoon and ran around together.  It was a wonderful evening. 

This summer is flying by us.  I look forward to the next weeks of summer as our activities are all winding down and it is truly time to chill out and hang together as a family. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ My Everythings

Swimming at Uncle T's

We started our weekend out with swimming at Uncle T's pool.  We all had a great time.

Uncle T lives in a housing community that shares a pool.  We were lucky enough on Friday night to have the pool all to ourselves.  It was such a beautiful summer evening and the weather was warm so it felt great to jump in the pool and swim around.  We did three way chicken fights with the kiddos and we all laughed and laughed. 

This summer, the kids have gone swimming a ton.  Whether is has been at Uncle T's pool, friends house with pool, or public pools around town, they have managed to swim almost every single day this summer.  It truly is so much fun to watch them and swim.

They have all really turned a corner with their swimming skills and Jon and I can see that Swimming lessons have really paid off. 

A Sparkly 4th of July

One thing that I have not been doing so great this summer is getting the camera out and taking photos.  The Erickson 5 had a great 4th of July weekend.  We headed down to some dear friends of ours for the weekend and we had a very relaxing and great time.

Sisters and Sparklers and take special note their matching shirts!

It was so nice to catch up with our dear friends while the kids got to play with the other kids.  We went to a party while we were down there and there was all boys there for K to play with.  He had a blast. 

Look at that smile!

He learned how to drive a 4 wheeler, go cart, and he even got to ride on a Spider.  Don't think the girls got left out though.  One of my favorite memories of the weekend was learning that those girls jumped in that go cart and took off.  Pedal to the medal with big grins on their faces the whole time. 

Even Dad enjoyed the Fireworks

We spent the 4th of July with Uncle T, Grandma and Grandpa A and Jane.  It was a great weekend. 

Mom in on the sparkler fun

We ended our celebration with sparklers and finally the camera to document our fun in the driveway and watching all the amazing fireworks in the neighborhood together huddle on our bed. 
Happy Birthday America! 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Family Smiles

Wordless Wednesday ~ Brother and Sister Love

The G Word

Today was a big day for me. After 8 years of being off medication for my MS, it as time to get back on some medication.  I started Gilenya today which is the first oral medication for RRMS patients.  Due to a drop in blood pressure you have to be monitored on your first dose of this medication.  So this morning I headed off to the hospital to take my first dose.  It was a long boring day just sitting around being monitored but I am happy to announce that there were no side effects and I feel pretty good tonight.  Just a little tired. 
As I sat there today in the infusion center I could not help but see so many Chemo patients pass my room.  As much as I wanted to feel sorry for myself, I could not.  I know that in my life I could be battling such bigger battles that what I do. 
So tonight I am grateful for a terrific nursing staff, a uneventful day, and big hugs and smooches from my kiddos when I got home. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ A's First Goal