Skol Vikings

We went to our first Vikings game together a few weeks ago! Adam's dad, Tim, had tickets through work and kindly passed them along to us. Rachel, Kyle and a few of their friends drove from Fargo to join us. We all met up on the University of Minnesota campus on a blistery Sunday afternoon and tried to get into Stub and Herbs bar for a pre-game drink. We severely underestimated how busy campus bars would be on Viking game days, so we defaulted to Applebee's. The game ended up being a blast! We left a few minutes before regulation time ended {beat the crowds} and the game ended up going into overtime with a huge game winning run by the Vikings. Of course... Oh well, still a great afternoon cheering on our Vikes.

TCF Field

Thanksgiving and 24th Birthday

Thanksgiving
This year, Thanksgiving was spent up north at the Ericksons in Detroit Lakes. It was such a fun and relaxing long weekend. Rachel and Kyle were able to join us for the first few days, before leaving on Friday afternoon for a friends wedding. We ate delicious home cooked food {my favorite was and always will be green bean casserole}, played games, had extended family over and carried on the tradition of making lefse! Friday afternoon Adam, Julie and I went black Friday shopping in downtown Perham. It's such a fun, quaint little town. The same town that Adam and I stayed in the night of our wedding. They had way more shops than I anticipated and all of them were locally owned and unique. One of my favorites was a coffee shop we went to. It was seriously adorable and looked just like a movie set {check out the pictures}. On Saturday after Thanksgiving, Julie and I started decorating their house with Christmas décor. It was so much fun! Adam assisted with setting up their tree and soon enough, it was as festive as can be. Julie is a interior designer, so it's safe to say everything looked amazing. Another fun part of this weekend was when Adam's uncle Dan {Tim's brother}, gave us an Erickson family heirloom. He gave us this beautiful gold box that has been passed down with the Erickson name for hundreds of years, starting back in Sweden. What an honor. It's surely something we will treasure and pass down again when the time is right.

Adam and Rachel making lefse

Coffee shop seating

 

Movie set?

24th Birthday
I turned 24 on December 9th. Goodness, I feel old. Of course, I realize I'm not and that comment may invite confused glares from people {because so many people read my blog...}, but it's odd thinking that I'm officially mid-20's. I'm past the stage of going out until wee hours of the morning and have entered the era of wine and movie nights, dinner dates with friends and weeknight routines. I welcome this stage of life with open arms and if we're being honest, I never really cared much for the clubbing scene. I'll chalk that up to terrible dancing skills and a knack for early bedtimes. This year, I celebrated at P.F. Chang's in Maple Grove with my family. It's one of my absolute favorite restaurants. We family styled dinner and had countless plates of noodles, different kinds of meat and rice. I love my family. I especially love that we could all be together, as my sisters husband Nate wasn't out of town with hockey and could join. My parents got me a mixer; a giant seven quart stainless steal mixer that I want to hug at all times. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but I do catch myself gazing at it randomly when I'm in our kitchen. Baking will almost be too easy now. Kitchen appliances are high on my wish-list; another indicator that my mid-twenties are upon me. On my actual birthday, Adam and I enjoyed a date night at Red Stage. It's a fun restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis that puts a unique twist on traditional food. A great night is was!

Dad, Mom, Willa girl, Scotty, Adam, Me, Britt, Emeri and Nate

 

I didn't forget about you, November.

Well, November was my official my worst month as far as blogging goes. Sorry, Mom... Here are some of the fun things we did last month!


First, my dad was in an international racquetball tournament a little while ago! I forgot to mention it in the past few posts, but it is definitely noteworthy. He played men from all over the country {even one from a different country!} and did great. It was at the Lifetime in St. Louis Park and we were able to go watch him play in one of the matches. How fun it was watching him play, as my mom and brother were also there cheering him on! He did awesome and I was so glad we were able to see him in action.

Dad {left}

Mom and Scott

Adam and Scott

We had a girls cookie baking day at my parents' house a few Saturdays ago and it was a blast! My Godmother Sarah, her daughter Jenny and Jenny's daughter Brynn joined my mom, Britt, the little girls and myself for cookie fun. We all made different flavors {Melting Moments, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Green Wreaths, Sugar, Andes Mint Chocolate} and had such a great time making, baking, shaping and taste testing them. I think we all ate about half of the lot we were supposed to take home with us. It's so great when we can get together with them. Our family and theirs were like two peas in a pod while we were little. It isn't an exaggeration saying that 75% of our childhood pictures include Jenny and her brother Scott in them. Love them!

Jen, Sarah, Mom, Britt and me

The littlest helpers! Brynn and Willa

I love my parents kitchen.

Sarah, Mom and the grandbabies!

We had a friends Thanksgiving hosted at our friends, the Conroys, home. Our group of dental friends is great. Like, so great. We're pretty darn lucky to have them in our lives. There were about 20 of us and we all brought our favorite dish. Not Thanksgiving cuisine, like we were all going to be having the following weekend, but any favorite dish. We had homemade wild rice soup, walleye fish tacos {our contribution, compliments of Adam's summer fishing trip}, homemade BBQ wings, bacon wrapped weenies, apple and brie tarts...etc. I'm not even touching on the desserts, bars and dips we had. We ate like kings and queens. After dinner we played cards, drank and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. I don't have any pictures from this night, but it looked like we robbed a crock pot store.

Thanksgiving was spent up North this year with the Erickson family! I'll do a separate post on that and other December happenings :) Just wanted to get a blog out with early November happenings before I forgot.

xo,
Court

P.S. After my previous blog post, my mom reminded me that I did, in fact, make homemade apple crisp when I was younger. Thank you for the reminder, Mom. I guess I wasn't as neglected as I thought. I will blame it on how much fun we had making Christmas cookies and that those memories stuck out in my mind more ;)

Fall Full of Fun {Adam's idea for this title}.

Sometimes Adam and I just sit and talk about how many great people we have in our lives. Honestly. We have so many different groups of friends, but all are wonderful and time spent with them is so cherished. It's easy to get caught up in trivial things that bring momentary stress, sadness or worry. It's important to be purposeful about how you give thanks. Thanks for health, people in your lives, jobs and opportunities presented to you. It's been a goal of mine lately to simply talk to God more. Not just when we pray at night before dinner or when I have something weighing heavily on my heart, but talk to Him as a friend. How many times do you thank someone for holding the door open for you, for sending you a birthday card or for simply telling you to have a nice day? Often. I pray that my relationship with God will grow to be that candid. That simply. That second nature in my everyday life.

Last Sunday we headed up to Adam's cabin in Detroit Lakes. Fall up North is breathtaking. We went on a long hike through their woods on Saturday and were in awe of the colors. Even though they were past peak, they were still beautiful. On Saturday we watched the Bison football game and made Grandma Jayne's apple crisp. This was, surprisingly, the first time I've even assisted with making apple crisp! My mom made it growing up {and it was delicious}, but I can't remember ever helping. It was so fun and must less mysteriously complicated like I had thought. We spent the night hanging out with Adam's parents watching movies and all made our way to Fargo the next morning. Adam's grandparents, Grandma Jayne and Grandpa Ken, were leaving for Arizona that following Wednesday. It was great seeing them one last time! We {Adam and Tim} helped them install a brand new T.V. Jealous. After goodbyes, we had to make a stop at Adam's favorite sandwich place. If any of his family is reading this, it probably goes without saying what it is. Grand Junction. It's been his mission ever since I've known him to find a similar place here in Minneapolis. So far, not so good. That just means it's a necessary stop any time we're in Fargo. Right after we got home, we made a very quick turnaround to Adam's flag football game. He played in the semi-final game Sunday at 6pm. Us wives decided to go support our boys and catch up with each other. They played the other dental school team and won! With an hour break before the championship, we all walked to the store for hot drinks and snacks. They ended up losing in the final game, but it was still fun way to end our weekend.

Adam's last flag football game

Making Grandma Jayne's Apple Crisp!

Ms. Bella joined on our walk

A & C

Last Wednesday we had a birthday party for our good friend, Erin. We all met at The Bulldog in Northeast Minneapolis and ate, drank and watched the world series finale. Erin has always been such a fun friend. I don't think there are many people who can make me laugh like she can! On Thursday we headed over to my parents house for dinner and to watch the Wild game. I love being able to do that, going to see them on a whim that is. Scotty suggested I wear his Superman onsie for Halloween. How could I pass up wearing pajamas all day and it be socially acceptable? My mom had the idea of Adam wearing my dad's referee shirt and going as a blind ref. Halloween costumes were officially planned {nothing like waiting until the last minute or anything...}. Halloween was the next day and it was a blast. We got together with about 20 of our dental friends at the Bjordahls house. Our hostess and friend, Emily, did a fantastic job. Everything was so cute and halloween-y themed. We had Snap, Crackle  & Pop in attendance, along with gnomes, cowboys, animals and so many others. We played games, ate and tried a few fun home brews they made for the party. My favorite was a pumpkin brew! The next Saturday we had a few couples over form our volleyball team. Since taking the fall season off, we don't have our built-in day for seeing them {boo} and have to make a point to get together! We basically stayed in the hot tub/pool area for a few hours and caught up. They are some of my favorite people.

The group!

This past week was equally as busy! I had my final game of basketball with my fall league team and ended up losing in the first round of playoffs. Bitter sweet. Tuesday night we had a friend, Lacey's, birthday at Pinestripes in Edina. Such a great place. They ended up playing bocce ball after we left {Adam had an early exam}, but that's just a great excuse to go back sometime ;) Friday night Adam and I had a date night to Pineda Taco and a movie. I think Adam has brought up Pineda Taco every time we contemplate eating out. It's his favorite and I'm a big fan too. We got super stuffed and still decided to smuggle in homemade popcorn and a pop into the movie. Yup. We'll always be those people. If you know me at all, you know I'm obsessed with popcorn. I've compromised and started bringing my own popcorn into movies. This stops all fights regarding expensive popcorn that I only half eat. See, I'm learning which battles to fight and adjusting. I don't feel too bad though, because the fella sitting in front of us popped open a bottle of wine right after the lights went down. Classy. Saturday morning I went to a painting class called 'Bottles and Bottega' at Spill the Wine {name of the restaurant} in Uptown Minneapolis. Us three girls - Jamie, Rachel and myself- all have birthdays within the next month. We thought this would be a great excuse to try out a fun painting class that Jamie found a coupon for on Groupon! It did not disappoint. Fun atmosphere and bottomless mimosas, how could anything go wrong? Oh that's right, we were supposed to focus on painting. We fell behind a bit because we were chatting and the instructor talked a mile a minute. We may not have masterpieces to hang in our living rooms, but it was a great girls morning. Saturday evening we headed over to the Prosser house to spend time with Britt and the little ladies. Nate was in Canada for a game, so we played and played and played. I swear, they grow up so much every time I see them. Emeri looks like she should be getting her permit next week...Okay, not quite, but I would appreciate if time could slow down a bit. Adam and Emeri practiced playing dentist {Britt will be bringing her in shortly as Adam's pediatric exam patient}. We all took turns before Emeri and had Adam poke around in our mouths for a few seconds- laughing historically like it was so much fun. She bought it. Emeri opened wide and let Adam look around for about 20 seconds, before deciding it wasn't something she was cool with. Progress! Ms. Willa has several teeth now and is crawling like a mad woman. So adorable.

Story time with E. 

Today, we spent the morning at our friends the Conroys house. They live about a mile away, but the road connecting us was under construction all summer. It just opened a few days ago and we're back to it taking roughly 2 minutes to get there. So great being this close to them! We watched some football and played with their adorable kiddos, Carter and Kelly. A Menards and Costco run later and we were home with a new T.V.! We have been thinking about his ever since we got married and found a great deal at Costco. Costco never lets us down. Adam's in technology heaven right now connecting and testing out our new gadget. I'm most excited that it has an actual Netflix button on the remote- making Friday Night Lights watching way too convenient...

In other news, we're supposed to get our first snow storm tonight/tomorrow. Crazy! Time to dust off the snow boots and plan on my commute taking an extra two hours.


All for now!
Court

Riverboat Cruise and Minnetonka Orchards

Every fall, there is a Riverboat Cruse hosted by ASDA {American Student Dental Association}. It starts in St. Paul and cruises for a few hours down the Mississippi. It's always fun to have an excuse to dress up and of course, it's great to see friends! Summers are always busy, so this event officially kicks off dental events for the year. Last year, we went with our friends/neighbors the Conroys. This year they weren't able to join, as they just welcomed their new daughter, Kelly Adeline, a few days prior! She is so adorable and both her and momma are doing great :) Anyways, we headed off to the cruise and like last year, tried to go to Cossetta's Pizzeria before getting on. Like last year, the line was insanely long and we defaulted to Jimmy Johns. Oh well. The boat cruise was so much fun and it was a blast seeing all of our friends again. I've said it before, but we are seriously so blessed with amazing friends that dental school has brought our way. It was also fun meeting some new D1 students and spouses. It's crazy to think that Adam is an upperclassman now! Where did the time go? We talked and danced the night away and all headed to McGovern's Pub in St. Paul afterwards. It was another night for the books and one I'll never forget. I don't have many pictures, as Adam had to carry my phone in his pocket, but I do have one cute one of us! 

On that next Sunday, it was gorgeous out. I really wanted to find an orchard to visit and Adam was a great sport. Minnetonka Orchards was the closest to our apartment, so we headed out Saturday afternoon. They had a corn maze, pumpkin patch, giant hay bales and toy train cars for kids to climb on. A short walk away brought you to the actual orchards and apple festivities. They had tracker rides, a petting zoo, live music, an apple donut hut, a store selling anything apple your heart could dream of and a man making fresh pressed apple cider {he let kids help}. We decided on a half a dozen apple mini donuts and fresh chilled apple cider. The apple donuts were honestly the best donuts we've ever had. We went over to a sitting area that looked over the entire orchard and enjoyed our treats. We sat next to a couple and their infant son and a few rows away was a mother and her three kids. The mother stood up and asked the couple next to us to take their picture. They started talking {we overheard} and they soon found out that their son was named Adam and the mother's youngest was a five week old named Eve. Adam and Eve, meeting in the apple orchard. It gave everyone a laugh and was cute to listen to :) It couldn't have asked for a better afternoon with my handsome hubby. 

Cider Pressing!

this is what happens when you don't have children...

We will returning for these, if nothing else

Hellos and Goodbyes

To say I've been behind on blogging wouldn't be particularly new, so I'll just jump right into our life happenings. First off, this fall has been wonderful. I feel as though it's a little apology from God for the rainy weekends/months we had this summer. Apology accepted, because the weather and colors have been remarkable these past few weeks! There have been some big changes happening in the lives of our families lately and each comes with it's own complicated set of emotions. However, underneath every change is the knowledge that God is good. God knows our desires, wishes, troubles and prayers. He knows better than anyone where we are supposed to be and when timing is right. Good things are happening, so let's get down to business.

First off, Alyssa and Michel have started their transition to Texas! Michael grew up in Texas, and moving back there someday has always been in the cards for them. It's been on their hearts for years, but the timing never quite felt right for them to make the move. Job promotions, exciting new opportunities and simply life had always seemed to keep them in Minnesota. Well, signs started pointing to this fall being the time to go and Alyssa has officially started her journey south {this morning to be exact!}. Michael will continue his job in Minnesota and move down with her after Alyssa finds work in the Austin area. She has several interviews lines up for Social Work positions and theres no doubt in my mind she will get one of them. She's smart, personable and passionate about what she does. If I could wrap up all our friends and family, make them live within a 10 mile radius of us forever, I would. Okay, that is probably a bit unrealistic, but I like the idea. It's sad to see them go, but this is the next chapter of their story. And it's going to be a great one. We can't wait to see all the wonderful things unfold for them in the next few months. Plus, Austin will be a great winter getaway ;) We had a fun going away party for Alyssa {and Michael} on Thursday at Pizza Luce in Hopkins. Adam's whole family came down from Fargo and we all met up for dinner and drinks. It was so much fun having everyone together. We talked about the big move, caught up with everyone, reminisced with funny Erickson children stories and laughed. I am very blessed to be a part of this family and this night was yet another subtle reminder. After dinner we headed over to Kip's Irish Pub, near their hotel, and spent another few hours chatting. A fun sendoff it was!

Brittani and Nate are staying in Minnesota! The story is a whirlwind and I'll do my best to summarize. Nate's contract with the Minnesota Wild ended after last season and he signed a new contract with the St. Louis Blues. This was for several reasons, but simply enough it was the best option for their family and his career. Nate was offered a two way contract with the St. Louis Blues, meaning the team would have the option of having him play for their NHL team in St. Louis, or their AHL {minor league} team in Chicago. If the team wished to send him to their AHL team, he would have to clear waivers. Now, waivers means that for a 24 hour period {prior to sending him to the AHL}, any team can pick him up- so long as they fulfill his current contract. In my understanding, this is to prevent teams from shipping players back and forth too many times. Well, Nate was 'on waivers' and guess who picked him up? The Wild. This was not expected in the least bit and everyone was in complete shock. The had been trying to sell their house and when they found out he was back with the Wild, off the market it went! I'll spare more details, but God definitely had a hand in their situation. What a lesson on being faithful and patient. We couldn't be more excited they're staying and are so grateful for the time we now get together over the next year...

October Updates

 I've been slacking on the blogging front! We've had an eventful few weeks in our household {apartment-hold?} and I'll recap as best I can in a few different posts.

A few weeks ago we went up north to the Erickson's cabin and had a wonderful time! On Saturday morning Adam, Tim, Julie and I headed to Fargo for some Bison Football tailgating! Before we got there, we stopped by Julie's new Designing Women 2 building. It was huge! So fun to see where she works and all of their beautiful pieces of furniture/artwork. The company Adam's dad works for, West Central Ag., bought and converted a massive trailer into a tailgater's dream. A few years back, the trailer made it's way down to the University of Minnesota when the Bison took on the Gophers. That was the first fall Adam and I started dating, so it feels like a lifetime ago! Well, the tradition of amazing food and drinks hasn't seemed to let up. They had prime rib, an open bar and so many other amazing grilled goodies. Grandma Jayne, Grandpa Ken, Julie and I walked up and down the tailgating rows looking at the crazy happenings. There were intricately painted buses, trailers, cars and more team spirit than I've ever seen before. It was so fun to see, as the University of Minnesota  never had quite that same enthusiasm. The weather was beautiful and it was so nice spending time with Adam's family. Rachel and Kyle even biked up and joined us for a bit! We headed back to Detroit Lakes just as storm clouds were rolling in and the game was about to start. A few volleyball friends of ours joined us Saturday evening at the lake and we had a great time hanging out with them through Sunday morning. After they left, we got to work on the docks. This always makes me sad. Summer is officially coming to a close :( After a few hours and one mangled dock later, we had it pulled out. It's safe to say it was the last time that dock will see water. What a fun weekend it was!

West Central Tailgating Truck

My first Bison shirt!

Grandma Jayne and Grandpa Ken

Our volleyball team, the Pocket Aces, lost in the championship game of our summer league. It was a sad ending, but we still had a great game and a lot of fun. We decided to take this fall off, so our next league will start in January! My basketball league and Adam's flag football league are going well. I forgot how different it was to be in volleyball shape vs. basketball shape. After my first game, I was sore for almost an entire week. It's so much fun though and I love reconnecting with teammates I played with in high school. Adam's football team has won every game so far! Like me, I'm sure he enjoys getting back into a sport that was once such a huge part of his life.

The following weekend, we headed up to my cabin to take in the docks. We're dock moving machines, us Ericksons. Okay, to be fair...it's mostly Adam. I'm great at managing and encouraging the real movers. It was fun being up at my cabin during the fall. The leaves were turning and everything looked so crisp and clean. Funny though, the weather that weekend was warmer and nicer than several weekends we went up there this summer! It was almost 80 on Saturday, which made taking the docks out bitter sweet. But, being born and bread Minnesotans, we all know what's right around the corner. Snow. Lots of snow. Our cabin was recently resided and it looks so wonderful! It's quaint and old, with a certain charm about it that I love so dearly. This update refreshes it, while still allowing it to be the same cabin we know and love.

The bunkhouse and garage {new shakes on the garage}

New shakes and siding!

More October updates to come :)

xo,
Courtni

September Happenings.

I can't believe September is half over! Our latest volleyball session is going well and we're currently ranked first! We start playoffs next week. Adam just signed up for a flag football team on Monday nights {first game is tonight!} with about nine guys in his dental class and I start a women's basketball league this week on Wednesday nights. We should really get more involved, shouldn't we? ;) We will have two weeks of overlap with three sports nights a week, then volleyball stops until January. Our team decided to take this fall off and give everyone a little break.

I forgot how much I liked picking out new basketball shoes! 

Adam has been pretty steady in school, as year three is in full swing. He's loving working on patients and I can tell his demeanor about school has changed significantly from days of only classwork. It's so fun listening to him describe his patients and what he did during the day. He's starting an oral surgery assisting rotation this week and will be doing pediatric dentistry next. As of right now, he's still thinking general dentistry and I think it would be a fantastic fit. Adam's a floater. In high school, he was friends with people in every different social group. I feel as though this translates nicely to dentistry. Sure, he has interest in orthodontics {just as he had interest in sports in high school}, but he doesn't want it to limit him. He wants to be able to do orthodontics, surgery, pediatrics, root canals and everything else. Adam would be a wonderful general dentist and I'm so happy for him. Sure, things can change. Who knows where we will be in one year when specialty applications are due, but I do know that Adam can do whatever he sets his mind to and he'll be the cutest dentist in all the land.

This past weekend was equally as busy. Friday night we had a birthday party for a friend at a few different breweries in Minneapolis. We started at Sociable Cider Werks, moved on to Bauhaus Brew Lab and ended at 612 Brew. Neither Adam or I had every been to a brewery and had no idea what to expect. It ended up being so much fun! The breweries had a very industrial vibe (garage doors, exposed piping and beams). Really fun night, despite the fact that beer is one of my least favorite drinks. Saturday I was Britt's date at a wedding at St. Thomas Cathedral and the Landmark Center in downtown St. paul. It was a perfect fall day and everything was beautiful! It was also so great having that much sister time. While I was at the wedding, Adam got together with a few high school buddies who were in town for the Vikings game on Sunday. They hung out, went to dinner and I met up with all of them after the wedding. We all decided to swing by Toby Keith's for some live country music to end the night. A busy day!

Bauhaus Brew Labs

Sociable Cider Werks

We're headed up to Detroit Lakes this weekend. Can't wait!

Weddings, Fairs, Dinners..Oh My!

 I started this post last week, but got too busy to attach pictures. Here's it is, very late!

I was thinking it was going to be hard saying farewell to summer, and I was right. I cleaned our apartment last weekend and begrudgingly packed away my light summer dresses and dusted off a few packed-away sweaters. With our limited closet space, I am forced to have my closet on a rotating schedule...Quickly though, those feelings were replaced with excitement for fall. There are so many things about fall that I love. I love the cooling weather and my big knitted sweaters. I love the warmth of hot chocolate and beautiful colors that fill the trees. I love the familiarity of watching football games with friends, dental school socials and making homemade soups. We had one amazing summer and I wouldn't want to forget anything. Here are some pictures of fun Erickson happenings that wrapped up summer and kicked off fall.

We had a great time at our friends wedding in Grand Rapids, MN at the end of August. Spencer and Rachel are both in dental school with Adam, so this wedding was a giant dental school reunion. We arrived in Grand Rapids early on that Saturday and spent time walking around their local craft fair and eating freshly popped kettle corn. It was so cute seeing all of the 'up north' themed hand crafted goodies. We then headed over to the church and the reception quickly followed at the Timberlake Lodge. A beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple! Everyone danced the night away and had an amazing time. We're so happy to welcome them to the married club. It's a really fun club to be in.

Buchert Wedding!

The dental wives/girlfriends an the stunning bride!

Adam and I headed to the state fair on the following Thursday for an evening of pigging out. The weather was slightly overcast, which did wonders as far as waiting lines went. Aside from the ticket booth, I'm not sure either of us waited in line at all to get food. We had a pronto pub, corn on the cob, cheese curds, pretzel, deep fried apple pie & ice cream, a soda and French fries. We wandered around through the animal barns, the DNR fish pond {Adam's favorite} and the animal birthing center. The new Heritage Square was really very nice! It was a new addition this year and we had fun walking around the cute new shops. All in all, we spent a little over two hours there and we both saw and ate everything we had in mind. Success. Also, people watching doesn't get much better than at the state fair.

State Fair 2014

For Labor Day weekend, we headed up to Green Lake for one last hoorah. We may squeak in another trip up to help get the docks out, but more than likely our warm summer weekends have come to a close. The weather was favorable for the most part and we had a great long weekend relaxing. We played Frisbee golf, sand volleyball at the public beach, went fishing, got DQ and biked around the lake. Funny story about our fishing trip I'd like to remember. Adam, Scott, his friend Zach and myself took the pontoon out on Saturday. There were some distant clouds, but nothing that looked immediately threatening. As we made our way across the lake, the clouds started rolling in a lot quicker and seemed to get a bit darker. There wasn't complete cloud coverage, so the boys all thought we would be fine. As more time passed, I saw boat after boat making their way back to shore. I, again, told them it didn't look great and we should go in. It started to sprinkle and finally grabbed their attention. They slowly started to put away poles and bait when it started. Torrential downpour. The heavens opened up and we were completely at it's mercy. I had my phone, so I immediately took shelter huddled under my skirt and a towel {which kept me dry for about 30 seconds}. Adam was driving and somehow managed to navigate us back to our dock. This may have been the hardest rain I've ever seen and thankfully my dad was waiting at the end of our dock for us, knowing we'd come flying in any minute. My phone survived and everything dried. No harm done, thankfully..

Beautiful. 

Dad's blueberry waffles 

Volleyball at the park

Heading out to fish...

T-5 minutes until downpour 

Last Friday, Adam and I met up with his sister Alyssa and her husband Michael for dinner at Pig Ate My Pizza. It's a small, specialty pizza restaurant in Robbinsdale that had gotten great reviews. It did not disappoint! The décor was so cute and funky. They have a rotating pizza menu and everything was so delicious! It was wonderful catching up with them and hearing about all of the exciting things happening in their lives. We've all been so busy this summer and most of our cabin trips fell on opposite weekends as theirs. Big bummer. They're moving to Austin, Texas this fall, so we're looking forward to seeing them as much as we can in the next few months!

Saturday we had a going away party for our brother-in-law, Nate. He was traded to the St. Louis Blues hockey team and had to leave on Sunday morning to attend their training camp. Brittani and the little girls will follow in a few weeks, so we don't have to say bye to them quite yet. Both our family and Nate's got together at Burch Steakhouse in Uptown to say goodbye to him. It was a beautiful day and Adam had just gotten done taking mock-boards that entire morning and afternoon. The food was amazing {I'm not a huge steak person...but his place knocked my socks off}. Most of us got either a filet or halibut. Good food and even better company. The evening winded down with a trip to Sebastian Joe's for ice cream and family pictures.We will miss you, Nate! We know you'll do great things.

Sunday was my mom's 50th birthday! I can't believe she's 50 and still gets mistaken as our third sister. I hope she decides to pass those genes down to me too! ;) Anyways, Sunday was a great day to celebrate her and how special she is to all of us. Our family met at Pinstripes in Edina and had their amazing brunch {which included a chocolate fondue fountain might I add..!}. When I first walked up to get food, I saw this delicious looking mac & cheese and chicken strips. I turned around to Adam beaming and said 'look!', thinking that this brunch was the best I'd ever seen. I didn't notice it initially, but a sign said 'Kid's Corner'. My tastes buds will never grow up. After brunch we rented a bocce ball lane and spent time playing a few games. Being that it was a Sunday, the other two bocce lanes were empty next to us. This ended up being a great place for Emeri to run around and stay entertained. After Pinstripes we went back to my parents house in Maple Grove and all walked through a few Parade of Homes houses. A great day it was.

The birthday girl and Emeri! 

Bocce ball and blankets :)

The gang (missing Nate)

xoxo,
Courtni