Sian & Gariant's Wedding!

Steve's niece Sian, who now lives in the UK with her husband Gariant and two daughters Loren & Sophie, got married last Thursday in Freeport (where her Dad lives). It was SO awesome to see everyone again, I'm so glad that we were able to go. I just uploaded a bunch of pictures so you can see everyone. Gareth (and his wife Irma) are expecting their first child in October. Gareth is Sian's brother, just incase you didn't know, Kayleigh is their half-sister.

The wedding was so sweet and Sian was absolutely beautiful, see for yourself :D

Sian & Gariant

Amy, Kayleigh & Lee

Us

Irma & Gareth

Sian & Gariant

The whole family. Sophie, Gariant, Sian & Loren.

Sian, Gareth & Kayleigh

Group shot of everyone at the wedding.

Cutting the cake.

Way too much fun :)

Irma & Gareth - SO CUTE!

Pictures were taken all with Amy's awesome new camera ;) She's a really awesome photo-grapher!

Happy Father's Day!

Steve's first Father's Day!! We went to my Dad's for Father's Day and Lee was a big pain in the petoonia (crying a LOT) so we didn't stay that long, plus we were exhausted and it was too hot to be outside. But while we were there it was great seeing everyone and hanging out.

I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get any Father's Day pictures with my Dad or Grandpa :( Here is a picture I took of Steve and Lee while we were at home.

Catching Up...

I'm catching up on both my blogs... last night we went to Kelly's graduation and I realized there were a few events that I missed, so I'm going to catch up on those right ... now... read below ;0)

Kelly's Graduation!

Congratulations to the new high school graduate!! WHOO-HOO!!!

It seems like just yesterday she was learning to talk and walk, and now she has her diploma and is officially an adult! YIKES... ;0) Steve and I (and I know my parents too) are SO proud of her! Great job Kelly!

After the ceremony, Steve, me, my Dad, my step-mom, Jack, Kelly & Grandma Graetz all went out to eat at Applebees to celebrate. YUMM... thanks Mom & Dad for dinner ;0)

Kelly's Prom

Kelly and a few of her girlfriends decided to go to prom together. Here are a few pictures of her prom "day" lol. They had their prom at Wild West Town in Union. See pictures below ;0)

Kelly getting her hair done at JC Penny!

Make up time!

Isn't she beautiful?!?! She looked amazing!!

The family :)

Me and Kell!

3 Friends!

Mother's Day 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

We started out Mother's Day visiting my Mom at her house. We brought over bagels and we all had breakfast together. My Mom, Rick and Sister Donika then had to leave to go to my Aunt Helma's, so Steve and I ventured over to my Uncle Chuck's house for a surprise birthday party for my Grandma Graetz. We had a ton of fun seeing everyone one and hanging out. It was a beautiful day, so we were able to spend most of the day outside.

Nika, Me & my Mom

Steve & Lucy (my Mom & Nika's dog)

I didn't get any pictures from my Grandma Graetz's party which is a bummer (sometimes I feel like I'm annoying everyone with my camera). There are pictures out there, so if you have any and are reading this, please e-mail me some so I can add them to my post.

I hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day :D

Downtown Chicago!

My friend Brooke and her super cute daughter Aimee came into town for the Baby Shower and while they were here we were able to squeeze in a trip to the city. We were supposed to go to the Shedd but I didn't check when it was closing and we didn't have enough time. So we ended up going to Navy Pier and having lunch. After lunch we let Aimee have a little fun. She was SO well behaved all weekend long and I felt bad that we couldn't go to the Shedd... below are some pictures and comments of what we did.

Brooke, Aimee & Me

Aimee & Brooke riding the Merry-Go-Round.

Brooke & Aimee at lunch, she was being REALLY silly ;0)

Another silly picture of Aimee at lunch!

After lunch we found a build-a-bear and Aimee wanted to build a frog called "Ribbit". He's super soft and almost as big as Aimee is. This is Aimee giving Ribbit a big hug after she put 4 hearts in him ;) I think my neice Kayleigh might have rubbed off on Aim's because Kayleigh LOVES frogs, they are her absolute favorite. Hee, hee...

This is a very good description of how we all felt after our trip to the city. LOL... Brooke and I both felt like crawling in the back and taking a nap with Aimee. She was passed out!

Thanks Brooke and Aimee for coming and visiting, I had a SO much fun!

Reno, Nevada

Steve had some management training in Reno for 2 weeks and I decided to join him for the first week. Reno was not what I was expecting at all... I was thinking it would be a huge college town with a little bit of Las Vegas mixed in. It was a lot like Old downtown Las Vegas ... just different from what I was expecting.

On Sunday Steve had the day off from training so we drove for about 30 minutes and went to Lake Tahoe. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It's a HUGE area for skiing/snowboarding so there are ski lodges everywhere. It's just awesome ;) See below for some pictures from Sunday.

Master Bathroom ... Done!!

We started to tile in the house last weekend. We have carpet in our dining room (right where the sliding glass door is) and it's filthy because of the dogs. Well, before we start the HUGE task of tiling the dining/kitchen room, considering we have never tiled before in our lives, we chose to do our master bathroom first. It's still a big enough area, yet small enough to finish if we get completely overwhelmed we can finish easy enough. It was awesome to have my Dad here to show us (or to show Steve) how to tile. He came over early last Saturday and he and Steve got right to work. Here are some before and after pictures of our bathroom.

Before we tore up the old flooring.

Another view of the bathroom, before w/ old floor.

Steve & my Dad starting the tiling process.

My Dad making some cuts.

The finished floor & bathroom.

The finished "potty" area.

More of the finished bathroom.

Just another view.

Thanks Dad for coming over and showing Steve the how to... You guys did an AMAZING job and I absolutely LOVE IT!!! Thanks again for all your help.

Southern IL

Our Trip Down-South...

We just got back last week from taking our trip down to southern IL. It was such a fun trip and one that we will always remember. Steve's Dad bought a car from a lady he knew up by where we live. So we picked up the car and delivered to him to Metropolis, IL. Yes, it is the town of Superman ;0)

We spent the night at Steve's Dad's house and then we went and stayed in a cabin about 1.5 hours from where my father-in-law lives. It was one of the only state parks that had cabins to stay in as well. It was so beautiful. We were one of two people staying there that night.

On the way home we came across another park that looked interesting and it had a hotel there. The hotel had fireplaces in each room (which is what Steve was hoping our cabin would have but didn't) so we decided to stay the night there as well.

Below are some pictures of our little weekend trip!

The proud new car owners (Jerry & Petra). That's the car that Steve drove while I followed him behind.

This is down-town Metropolis, IL. As you can see in the store window there, it's all about superman.

This is there Superman statue. The fence that's all around the statue is in the shape of the diamond like on Clark Kents chest.

Here is the cabin we stayed in at the state park. It was so isolated and quiet. It was just beautiful at night with all the stars as well.

There was this tower at the state park that was 86 steps high, so we climbed it and took this picture.

While we were leaving the next day, we came across this sign that said "Covered Bridge" with an arrow. Steve looked it up in our travel book and it is only 1 of 5 still remaining in IL. We followed the signs and this is what we found!

This is what was posted on the bridge.

This is the golf course park we came across that day. As we were driving in we saw wild turkeys crossing the road and deer all over were feeding off of the green. We probably saw 30 deer eating.

In the summer time you can bring your boat here and dock it. The grounds were just beautiful!!

Here is the resort where we stayed. It is the off season right now (mainly because this park is for golfing) so it was really cheap to stay.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon!

We decided to have a lazy day today because I was not feeling well at all this weekend. Steve has been taking good care of me ;0) I came home on Friday with a really bad sore throat and my whole body aching. I decided to just relax and do nothing this weekend.

Steve and I were starting to get hungry this morning so I decided to make cheesy fries. I haven't made them in a really long time, Steve's sister Amy taught me how to make them to taste just like Outback Steakhouse's "Aussie Fries". They were so good that I decided to post her recipe. They are PERFECT for when you want to have that lazy day!


CHEESY FRIES with BACON
Bag Ziestie (crispy) Fries from Ore-Ida
1 Bag Colby Jack shredded cheese
1 Bag Bacon Bits

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Bake the ziestie fries as directed on the bag (I only use 1/2 the bag at a time for the two of us but we always have tons left over). Make sure that they are all the way done and crispy. While they are cooking (this takes about 20 minutes) you can spray a pie pan with cooking spray.

When fries are done leave the oven on at 425. Place half of your fries in the pie plate and cover with a thin layer of cheese (I would use about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of cheese). Spread the rest of fries ontop and more cheese, I just make sure the fries are all covered. Lastly spread your bacon bits (as much as you like) on the very top and bake 5 more minutes (or until cheese is melted). ENJOY!