Pictures from Festival of Trees

For some reason my blog and I are not getting along. I have tried to upload images to the first blog regarding lunch with my grandmother more than 4 times. So I have given up and just am hoping that they will post to this entry. So here we go.

Lunch amongst the Trees

This past week was a little crazy. I had something going on almost everyday and then Bryson had a fever causing him to miss 2 days of school and putting a strain on our already hectic schedule. Last Tuesday Trendz provided clothes for 3 models that were in an eye and sunglasses fashion show. Wednesday was Bryson's first day home sick with a fever spiking at around 102.9. Poor thing he just felt hot and yucky. Since I am normally off on Wednesdays this worked out well, however I did have a lunch arrangement going on that I really didn't want to miss. Each holiday season there is a week long event called Festival of Trees. Every day or evening during that week a special event or meal is held and the ticket sales go to help the hospital clinic raise money. This past Wednesday was a luncheon. My grandma is in town and my mom, Joni and i all planned on going. The room is surrounded by Christmas Trees all decorated with a theme. It makes for great picture taking. Bryson seemed to be feeling better by Thursday morning so I sent him to school. My friend checked on him at lunch and said he was playing full speed at recess and looking good. So I was relieved, and thought I did the right thing by sending him back. He came home from school and said he was tired, laid down in his bed and slept for almost 2 hours. So I guess he wasn't "OK". When he woke up from his nap he again had a fever so needless to say he did not go back to school on Friday. I normally work Fridays at the store, so luckily Robert was home that day. The final event for Festival of Trees was a women's Makeover evening. Through the whole month of October and some of November, people could send letters and nominate women whom they felt deserving of a makeover. Five women were chosen and they received a $200 outfit from a sponsored store, their hair cut and colored and makeup applied the evening of the event. Trendz sponsored a wonderful women named Jean who is a single mom with 2 children. She is a nurse for a doctor in town but often struggles to make ends meet and never puts herself first. She was so fun to have in the store and so willing to try anything on. Jean never shops for herself and just loved the pampering. I wanted to be able to give her an outfit that she would actually wear more than just the coming out night. I wanted her to be proud and confident in it and of course comfortable. We found the perfect outfit and shoes for her and Saturday night when she came out showing her "extreme makeover" she looked awesome. It was really a rewarding event to be apart of. This week was almost a blur of events but this one I will remember for a while.

Decorah Yard Greetings

Robert has started a business called "Decorah Yard Greetings". Decorah does not have anyone in town that offers the stork birth announcement, so we saw a need for that. He as also offers a tractor for Birthday yard signs. And lastly he offers the Flamingo display. It is a slow start because the ground is getting ready to freeze so he is not going to market it until early spring. We did do a craft show to kick the business off and that is where the pictures were taken.

Spooky Halloween

Ok so i have not been good at updating my blog in a timely manner. But I just had to start with Halloween. The boys loved there costumes. I had a great looking Iowa Hawkeye football player and a precious green dragon. The weather was not the best here in Decorah on Halloween night so Ty didn't do too much trick-or-treating. We don't need the candy around the house anyway (mom just eats it all). Bryson went out with some neighbors and trick-or-treated the neighborhood while I answered the door. Unfortunately Robert had to work. He was able to take them to a few houses before he left. We had a great time!!!

The Fall that Broke the Wall

OK, so I have two boys that can get a little wild at times. Bryson plays with Ty as if he is his twin brother instead of 4 years younger. So tonight, like most nights, they are running after each other, up and down the hall. Squeals are coming from both, until a loud crash and an "I didn't mean to" from Bryson and a loud cry from Ty. After picking Ty up and accessing his large goose egg knot on his head, Robert looked down the hall and noticed the Ty's head size hole in the wall (see pictures). You may be able to see his red head on the right side. He seams to be fine and we have set some harder house rules for running. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was able to spend the whole weekend with my family. Friday night we went out with the Grimstads to dinner and to plan our winter vacation to Cozumel. Saturday the family hung out at the house, cleaning and playing. That night Robert and I went to one of my Trendz employee's (Amber) wedding here in town. The wedding was lots of fun. Robert and I were able to bring out our country 2-step dancing. I just love to dance with him whenever I can. Obviously Decorah does not have any country dancing bars so we only get to dance at social functions that have a band or dj (3 times a year max). All in all it was a great weekend...Less the large hole in the wall.

Our 9th Anniversary

Robert and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on October 4th. I have to say it was a memorable one and I was very impressed with the extent of arrangements my husband did to make the day special. He had arranged for my parents to spend the night and watch our boys while we went to LaCrosse Wisconsin to have a nice dinner and spend the night in a hotel. That morning Robert gave me a bouquet of flowers and asked me if he could take me on a date that night....very sweet. (Of course I said yes!) He asked if I noticed what kind of flowers they were and actually I had not. He had gotten 9 roses (red and yellow) for the years and 2 Gerber Daisies to represent the boys. Very creative! October 4th was a gorgeous fall Wednesday here in Decorah and there was no school that day so I felt like it was a Saturday. I was able to get away for a while and go on a long 5 mile run. During the fall the leaves are so beautiful that the run goes by really fast. Then when I came home my mom was at the house. That was when Robert told me we were leaving town for the night. I was very surprised because he had to find someone to open Trendz the next day because I always work Thursdays. We ate at a wonderful restaurant and our hotel room had a beautiful view of the Mississippi River (see picture). Robert had even brought Champange and Champange classes from home to celebrate in our room. I was not expecting any gifts after such a wonderful evening but he continued to surprise me with a card containing a gift certificate for an hour massage. Wow, I have to say I was so impressed and had the best time with my wonderful and thoughtful husband. Thank you, thank you Robert!!!

Tonight was spaghetti night so I just had to take a picture of Ty sucking in some spaghetti. He loves it. I hope everyone is doing well. I will post again soon.

Family Bike Ride

Fall is here in full fashion!! The tree leaves are an unbelievable red, yellow and orange. Robert, Bryson, Ty and I all went on a 10 mile bike ride in Lansboro, MN, on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and we all had so much fun. Ty loves the trailer, and Bryson got a new 21 gear bike and does great on it. Robert prefers crazy hill trail riding but came down to our paved path level riding today. At the half way point of the ride there is a fantastic pie place where we stopped and shared some pie. Yummy, a nice refueling treat. Then back in Lansboro we had some ice cream. The bike trail goes along the side of a river and the outdoors is so breath-taking that you can really see and feel God's presence. I just love fall, I just wish it would last longer. Since the trees are at their color change peek, the next step is they fall off. That part is sad. I guess snowman making will be around the corner. Let's just hope it is a large long corner. I hope you enjoy the pictures. We had a blast!!!!

NEW YORK CITY!!

I just returned from NYC with my mom and we had a great time. We were there to go to the US Open Tennis Toury. We had tickets for Thurs, Fri, and Sat. Thursday we were in the grandstands which is the 3rd largest stadium and we saw Moya play. We were on the first row so we got to see him up close and personal. We also saw Murray play. He is a big up-and-commer. His coach also coached Federer and Agassi. Friday we saw Serina Williams play in the Ash Stadium which is the biggest one. That was a great match. Unfortunately on Saturday it rained all day so we didn't get to see any matches. While I was in New York the MTV Video Awards was going on. I decided not to fight the crowds to try and see people but I did watch a little of it on TV. The next night Friday, our group of 20 went out to eat at a restaurant called BLT Prime and as we walked upstairs to get seated, there was the All American Rejects sitting there having dinner. I knew who they were only because I saw them on TV the night before. So I got a picture taken with the two lead singers. The next night we were eating at a wonderful Italian restaurant called Compinoan and the owner told us that Maria Sharapova was coming to eat there and sure enough she came in with her dad and trainer. We felt awkward asking for a picture so we just wished her good luck on her next match. The hotel was very nice, The Barklay Intercontinental. The rooms were a good size however the bathroom was a bit small. Great location however. I loved walking around New York's Manhattan.

LaNell's Trip To Iowa

LaNell flew in last Sunday to stay with us for a week. She was in town to see her grandkids and to help Robert while I went to NYC. The weather was great while she was here. Leaving 104 degree heat and coming to high's of 75 degrees was very nice. One thing she noticed the most was how green everything was. Ty and Bryson loved having Mama around for a whole week.

My First Grader!!

I can't believe the summer is over and school has started. I also can't believe that Bryson is in first grade. Everyone always told me that enjoy the kids when they are at home because once they start school, the years just fly by...and boy do they. Bryson wanted us to take him to school his first day rather than ride the bus, and I am glad I did because I was able to get a picture of his teacher, Mrs. Tjostem, and a few of the boys (Avery Dugger and Nick Bockman) in his class. Bryson was a little nervous at first but once he saw all his buddies from kindergarten playing on the playground, he took off and was ready for his first day. I am posting this before he gets home so I will have to update you on how his first day went tomorrow. Ty did ask a few times where did Bryson go?? He was a little sad not to have him around. Ty has an infatuation with School Buses and he was very disappointed that he could not get on the bus this morning when it stopped to pick up the kids in our neighborhood. I told him his time will come soon enough. Have a great day everyone!!

The Tooth is Out

Bryson has finally lost one of his front teeth. This is his 3rd tooth to lose. He has been working on this tooth for almost two weeks and yesterday at Sunflower childcare, his teacher took ahold of it and yanked it out...Ouch!! Bryson said that it didn't hurt. I can't believe he let her do it. I think his motivation was the Tooth Fairy. Well, I can tell Fall is just around the corner. The nights are getting shorter and cooler. I have even worn a sweatshirt a couple of times in the evenings. How quickly I forget the heat temps in Dallas. Ya'll are still at 98 at 6:00pm. Stay cool Dallas Friends and keep in touch. Bryson starts school on Wednesday so look for first day pictures posted later that day.

CORN TIME

The corn is at it's prime and it tastes like candy!! We can just have a whole dinner of only corn on the cob. YUMMY!! There are pick-up trucks on several corners here in town selling "just picked" corn. You then have to bring it home and shuck it. But it is totally worth the hassle and mess of shucking the corn. I am telling you Texans this stuff is the best. Bryson also got a back to school hair cut and is ready to start in two weeks. He just found out who is teacher is and he has several kids he knows in his class. I think the whole family is ready for school to start.

Jeep

The Hudgens decided to enjoy the great outdoors even more by buying a Jeep. We all love it. The boys wave and yell hi to everyone who is walking or riding bikes. Bryson and I have been rained on once heading back home from one of his baseball games. Other than that we have really enjoyed it so far.

Camping Pics from Below Post

OK, so I am still trying to figure how to do this website. Here are a few camping pictures. I listed the details of the experience in the below post.

Mowing, Baseball, and Camping

This summer has been busy for Bryson. He was in 4 weeks of Playground Sports where he played outside games, crafts and took a few field trips. Bryson was also signed up for 3 weeks of swim lessons. Now he is able to go off the diving boards...Yeah Bryson. He also played baseball this summer. He was their star catcher (I know I am bragging a little, ok maybe a lot but I was proud of him.) Ty was too young for the activities offered but he enjoyed a ride or two with dad on the mower or in the backpack as dad pushed. I have been wanting to camp all summer, so one night we decided to go to our campground here in town and spend the night. It was full of adventure for us. We saw a water animal (not quite sure if it was a muskrat or what) but it was really close to us. We also had a raccoon steal our whole bag of marshmellows. Bryson, Robert and I were sitting around the campfire talking and we heard a russling behind us. I turned around just in time to see the raccoon jump off the picnic table with a big bag of marshmellows in it's mouth. Luckly for him we had already had our s'mores, otherwise I think he would have been chased. We had a great time.

Cabin Trip

Robert and I kicked off the summer with a trip to a friend's lake cabin. There were 6 couples that went and we had a blast together. We skied, danced, fished, ate lots of good food, played cards and just relaxed.

Summer 2006

I can't believe that the summer is coming to an end already. I wanted to share some of our summer moments with you. We have had some great weather this year. It was nice and cool to start so we got in lots of outdoor activities and now it is a bit warmer, in the upper 90's so we are feeling what summer heat is all about. The boys however are so use to being outside that they are just sweating through it. I spray them down with water or we head off to the pool for a cool down.