A scary time

Yes, we know it has been a long time since we last put something up on the blog. So, I will summarize what has been going on... let's see....

The house has been on the market now for almost two months and we have had 7 showings! 3 of which were second showings, so that is a good sign. But no takers yet, which is okay with us. We are enjoying having a "new" home for the time being, and it's nice to have an immaculate house. Cross your fingers, and perhaps we will have some better luck soon....

The cabin has become a nice way to spend money lately. With the new garage last year, we had some expenses. We thought this year we might get by without any big expenses... but we were wrong. Our old well finally went the way of the dodo, and we had to get a new deep well installed. Well (pun intended), 180 feet later, we finally got sand free water in the cabin again. And of course, the well had to be dug over the family fourth of July weekend. Nothing like the sound of a well drill machine going for hours and hours into the night.... good times. At least now the iron taste should be gone, and just in time for having all our friends up for our annual party weekend.

Vacation is fast approaching now, and we are overly excited for it. We both are in need of a long vacation, and it is long overdue. The tour of Normandy is booked, so I am sure we will have some good pics and stories when we get back. We also just got a new camera last week due to a camera in the pocket/laundry incident. Hopefully we can take same great photos to do bavaria justice.

Last week we did have a big scare with our littlest niece Allison. Allison was rushed to the hospital on wednesday morning and from what the doctors said, she was within a few hours of not making it. Allison's blood sugar level was in the 1200's which is extremely high considering an average person is in the 60-120 range. Thanks to Renee for being such a good mom, and not trusting two bad diagnosis from her other Doctors. Allison is now home, and from what we saw of her, is much happier than she was two weeks ago. Sadly she was correctly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and the family is learing how to deal with that now. Good news is, the little angel made it through, and is back to her old self again.

Allison while she was in the ICU. Poor little girl!

The friday we got a chance to go visit Renee and Allison and the hospital. You can see Renee was a bit worn out, but in good spirits. About 5 minutes before this was taken Allison smiled and giggled for the first time in about a week, so Renee was happy and Allison was just happy to be back in Mom's arms.

Here's a pic of Allison the day before she left the hospital. You can see she had a lot more color in her face, and was back to smiling again.

While Allison was still in the hospital on Sunday, we babysat Ainsley and Ashley so Tom and Renee could avoid the distraction of the girls. Since Tom and Renee live on the TPC course in Blaine, we brought the girls out to see the Tournament going on. Everyone loved thier little hats.

The girls were being goofy during lunch time.

Ainsley was so proud that her lower tooth came out, and now the tooth fairy will be making her a visit!

Here's a pic of Ash trying to look like a celebrity.

On the market and 3 decades

This past week has been an exciting one. Ryan celebrated his 30th birthday with a suprise party hosted by his good friend Joel, and set up by Alicia. What was supposed to be just a night out at Mad Jack's turned into a great time of new and old experiences. Old roommate Jason L brought back so old memories of younger times when he brought a bottle of Goldschlager, which was immediately vanquished. I think we can wait another 5 years to have any more of that stuff. Croquet, Bocce, and other misc games set the tone for what would be an awesome night. Joel invented the newest heart stopper, the "Nelly Dog". Take fat rich buffalo chicken dip, and throw it on a not so healthy hot dog, and what do you have? A clogged artery or a "Nelly Dog". Thanks to all who made it out, it was truly a night to remember, and to forget....

Other big news, the house is finally on the market. And after only a few hours on, we had a showing, and a second showing. Apparently, the deal was close, but didn't go through. So, we sit and wait to see what happens..... but, we do have some pics of the model we are looking at building similiar to....

The front entrance. Some tweaking will be done, like bumping out the right side, and getting rid of most of the front porch.

The living room (dining and kitchen at your back). Two more windows and a fire place will be added on the far wall. The windows on the right will be a bay window.

The dinning and kitchen. Not much will be changing here.

The dinning room and kitchen from the living room. Archway is still a part of the discussion.

The entry way. The glass sides and door style is still in flux.

As you can see, we have spent most of our time on working on the main floor. The upstairs design is still being changed to accomodate everything we want. So cross your fingers, and wish us luck so we can get our house sold, and be able to move on up to the North side...

Hectic times

Again, it has been a long time since our last edition. We have been busy getting our house pretty and hopefully on the market within the month. Only a few more steps left! Wish us luck! Hopefully we can get our house sold and our new home up before christmas so we can host a few parties. Cross your fingers!

A few weeks back we celebrated Ashley's 3rd birthday. She is turning out to look more and more like Renee every time we see her. Blonde hair, and cute as a button. I will be sure to post a few more pics of her soon once I find the photo cord (which was backed up during cleaning).

This weekend we are fianlly opening our cabin!!! Ice out was late this year so we didn't want to open the cabin in freezing temps, so we held off. Most of the Danielson and Shoemaker clan will be up so we will have a somewhat packed house with 13 peeps and two dogs. But, I am sure we can all find some room to breathe. :) We will be finally connecting up the second and third bathrooms this year too! And if things go well, we will most likely be completing the basement of the garage.

In a few weeks we will be doing our annual pilgrimidge to the armpit of Chicago, Milwaukee to catch our Twins take on the Bernie's brew crew. Hopefully the Twins can break this funk and take all 3 games, but doubtful. At least the 9 of us going together will have a great time tailgating, and partaking in a few libations. I am sure pics will follow.

Where have we been?

Wow, it's been almost two months since we last put something on here. Tons going on, but nothing too exciting yet. Lately it has been stuff regarding the house, trying to get rid of all the 70's crap that still exists. But I think we finally got rid of it all. New carpeting, new paint, new floors, doors, trim... yep, it has been a busy time. Below are a few pics (before and after) of what we have been doing:

Living room before.....

Living room after....
The old brown kitchen......
The newer looking not brown kitchen....
Ahh, the old carpet in the dining room.....

The new dining room....

So, that is what we have been up to. Lame, I know, but hopefully it will pay off soon.

We also finally finished the plans for Europe, so we are all set. A huge sigh of relief!!!

Other than that.... softball starts soon and we will open the cabin in the next few weeks, so if anyone wants to join us, let us know.

Paradin' and partyin'

This last week was really uneventful. Work, sports... relaxing... that same old stuff. We did celebrate the best leap day ever by having dinner at Manny's! The best meal, probably ever (sorry Little Italy Lasagna place, you may have been beaten) had. Good wine, great filets, killer hash browns and loaded potatoes. A great night!

Saturday we spent the day roaming around Hugo, Lino, Blaine, and Vadnais looking at the Parade of Homes. Some nice places out there, too bad the prices still suck.

Saturday night was a night at the Red Dragon in Uptown. Alicia wanted to hit this place up, so we had Kevin, Jenny, and Joel join us. We started the night off right with some stiff drinks, and then hit up the 2 for 1s at another bar (can't remember the name for some reason).

Sunday, was a day of worship, and resting.

This week.... couple of meetings, and that's it.

Cabin plans have been put on hold for a bit. Pipe line is full right now.

Still kickin'

No, we haven't died, we are still around. Work has been busy for the both of us lately so we haven't really done much lately. We did get to go to Grand Slam in Burnsville for our friend's birthday last weekend. We have never felt so old! That place must be the high school hangout for Valley and Rosemount kids, they were everywhere! Ryan did set a course record for mini golf by getting an "incomplete" on the last hole. Who knew you can shoot a ball at the 18th hole, and have it end up 100 feet away in the opposite direction? We also tried out the laser tag game there. Needless to say the men won! :) The highlight (and lowlight) of the night was when out friend Cindy opened her car window to talk to us, and the window linkage broke causing the window to slide down into the car door. Normally not a huge deal, but the windchill that night was near -40, and they had to drive home to White Bear at midnight! Ouch!

Alicia has started her planning for the new kitchen. Similar layout, just gutting the cabinets and starting over. So this summer, we will spend a ton of time grilling outside!

The new cabin planning is still a work in progress. Who are we kidding? This will not be a cabin, this will be a second home. Ryan should have some designs done soon, and will post some sketches eventually. On a side note, to complete our game room we are looking for a pool table, shuffle board table, and pinball.... so any leads, let us know.

The cabin planning has been put off for a the kitchen plans, and the vacation plans.... back to Europe!

This one we took last time we were in Salzburg, Austria. Does this remind anyone of the Sound of Music?

And back to one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen, Bavaria! This pic we took on our honeymoon (almost 2 years ago already!) while at the Eagle's Nest. This time we plan on hiking and relaxing around the lake (konigsee) in the picture. Itinerary will be nailed down soon, but so far the highlights are: Normandy Beaches, Mont St. Michel, Lucerne, Berner Oberland area, moutain biking in the Swiss Alps, Schiltorn, Zurich, Alpine Road through Bavaria, Innsbruck, Berchtesgaten, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Melk, Vienna, and perhaps going to the place where Ryan's ancestors migrated from. Low lights... none, but this will not be a vacation, more a quest.

V-day this year will be busy. We have to pick up the family from the airport returning from the Caribbean. Ainsley, Ashley and Allison (well not really Allison) should have some good stories to share. And then hopefully off to dinner.

Friday is Alicia's mom's (double possesive) birthday, so a little party for her will be friday.

Saturday, anyone up for some killer Thai food? Found an awesome Thai place a few months ago, VERY good!

Sunday we are going to see Grandma Weiss for her birthday. The tough little cookie should be 80 years young this year. We should have some pics of the event.

Wow, it's a been while

Two months since our last post... we are very busy if you can't tell.... but a quick run down of what has happened recently....

12 bars of xmas - Joel Puts out the vibe

Xmas with the fams. We took the girls to the Mall of America for some rides and stuffed animals.

It was odd this year without Grandpa there to make everyone smile.

And we went back to wine country after Xmas. Thought we could get away from the winter chill, but no luck. 50 degrees, and overcast, but still a great time. We had to make one important stop of course....

Alicia standing in the spot where we got engaged (almost 2.5 years ago already!)

Alicia in front of some golden bridge, which is weird since the bridge is red. :)

Also, on the work front, Ryan got a "promotion". Basically it entails longer hours, better pay, and two peeps under him.

Cabin .... it's in the planning stage now. Sketches to follow someday soon.