Easter and Mothers Day

Easter came and went really fast, especially with having my surgery so close! The adorable bunny photo is my Uncle John, he is a silly wabbit I tell ya! We were able to spend Easter with my Mom while she was still in town and had a good time in Grafton with my brother, his family and other family!

Mothers day was very peaceful. Joey & Cody spoiled me as usual and we went out for a really nice dinner when Joey got done with work. Cody had a make up soccer game that day, so all of us Mom's froze on the side lines at the soccer game. Unfortunately, I do not get any breaks with my schooling, so I also had some homework to do, but other than that I was able to put my feet up and relax!

Cody's 13th Birthday!

Cody also had a birthday on May 23rd! 13 YEARS OLD! Oh my, we have a teenager in the house. The funny thing about that day is that when Joe & I looked in the mirror, Joe had a lot of gray hair, and I suddenly noticed all the wrinkles around my eyes!! What on earth is that about? I have to say Cody is a pretty darn good kid! He is finishing the 7th grade at St. Roman's and had maintained honor roll all year. He is now in soccer season, and is finally done with the very long basketball season. My younger brother Tony turned 32 on May 13th and so we had a get together with his family to celebrate both Tony & Cody's bday's. Cody also celebrated with some friends who had a great time keeping Joe & I up all night. He is really looking forward to his bday present from us, he is going to a weekend basketball camp at Whitewater University. I just cannot believe what a little man he is turning into, we are very proud of him and ready to embrace this new adventure of teenage years!

Joe's 30th Birthday!

I cannot believe how time has gotten away from us! So much has been going on since the last post, some good, some bad, but all in all we are all well and happy! March 23rd, Joey turned 30 years old! We celebrated this mile stone birthday with a wonderful surprise party at the Grafton Ale House. Joe was very surprised and really touched by the family and friends that were there to enjoy the event with him and everyone seemed to have a great time. It was really nice to see him have some fun and unwind a little. He works so hard in the ER and is always working long and crazy shifts, if anyone deserved this it was him!

April fools day I had emergency gallbladder surgery! What a day to go under the knife, but I figure if my twin uncles were born that day, it couldn't be all that bad =). It is a long story, but the short of it, I am feeling better and recovered very well. I was really glad to get back to work because I love, love, love my job! No, seriously, I love my job! I have been working as an Activity Assistant at an elderly residence and they are just awesome. I feel like I'm volunteering, but I actually get paid! I can't begin to explain how precious each resident is and how much they tug at my heart strings. During my recovery my Mom came in from Florida to help out. I did ok, but she helped fill my shoes, like taking Cody to & from school, soccer and other events, not to mention helping so that the house didn't fall apart and so Joe & Cody had clean clothes to wear! It was a really good visit and we are very blessed that she loves us enough to come and help!

Our Chocolate Lab, Harley had a minor surgery in April as well, to have a small cancerous growth removed from his gum. He got his chompers cleaned while we were at it and he's great now. Miles (our Golden retriever) turned 4 in May & as usual we all celebrated! I'm not sure who ate their cake faster, Joe or the puppies =). Lola is doing great too, they are sassy and full of spunk! We love em'.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We sure do have a lot to be thankful for! We had a wonderful thanksgiving. Joe had to work, so Cody and I prepared a nice dinner (that took 6 hrs.) and we all ate when Joe got home from work. After dinner and a little football, we headed out to Saukville and had dessert at Tony & Genell's (brother and sister in law) and then went to see a movie. It was a really nice and relaxing day. On Saturday we went out to Grafton for the Christmas parade at my Uncle's shop (Heinz 57 auto body) and we spent the day with the Rieck's. My Opa, Uncle John, brother Tony and nephew AJ were all in the parade. The weather was great, a little cold, but the sun was shining. We had a really good time and a great thanksgiving weekend.

I have wrapped up my first class for my bachelor program already and started another, it goes really fast and is very intense. Needless to say it is a little stressful, but well worth it! Joe was accepted into the Masters program at Concordia and will start next year sometime. We are all excited about that, he will use that to be a Nurse Practitioner. Joe is still going through physical therapy, but the sessions have gotten much better for him and he isn't in so much pain after. Cody is doing well. He made honor roll at St. Roman's and started basketball. His goal for next quarter is straight A's, which he's not far from, so he is doing awesome! Our puppies are good too, Lola turned 2 in Oct. and Harley will be 6 on Dec. 3rd. Miles is good, had an ear infection but is doing better after seeing Dr. Troy!

We hope everyone enjoys some of the pictures from the Christmas parade and that you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary

On October 21st, Joe and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding anniversary and to celebrate, we planned a special weekend in Door County. We stayed at The Landing Resort in Egg Harbor, who by the way has the absolute best hot apple cider!!! We were really lucky because the weather was fairly warm and it was not too windy, so we were able to enjoy walking through town to all of the shops outside. Among the many things that we did, we really enjoyed wine tasting, and Door County's Raspberry Razzle Dazzle was our favorite!! We drove in to some of the neighboring little towns and spent time all over the place trying out new foods and window shopping. It was a great time away to spend together celebrating our wonderful memories and hoping for more to come...

Summer update

Greetings Family and Friends,

Wow, time flies, and so much has been happening that I do not know exactly where to start. I guess we'll try to give you the gist of how our summer has gone to just start from there and move forward.

This past June, literally the day that Cody was done with school, we left for a road trip and went on vacation to Washington DC. There we stayed with friends, Tom and Jen and thier beautiful children. We were able to so many monuments, memorials, museums and tons of historical sites. Tim McGraw was in concert and all of us went, for me and Cody, it was our first country music concert and it was really a fun time. Tom and Jen were the most gracious hosts and we are so glad that we had the time and opportunity to see them and also see some of the United States in the process. What a beautiful drive it was!

In July we enjoyed the fireworks and some picnics with friends and family. My sudo parents were in town from Florida (Papa Joe and Mamma Lu) and we were able to visit with them which is always nice when you don't see loved ones often. Other than that, Cody had a summer basketball league and soccer, I was still in school and Joe was working many hours in St. Francis Hospital's ER. We did some house hunting because we would like to settle down somewhere other than Milwaukee, but our plans fell through with the housing market being the way it is right now. We are going to stay put for a little while longer and do some sprucing to our house in the mean time.

August was more uneventful, but nice! My parents were in from Florida for a visit adn we were able to get to Irish Fest with some family to see my cousing Ian perform with his Irish Dance School and my other cousin Vince, ( I like to call him "Vincy", but he doesn't like that so much), play with a band. It was a great visit as always and we did many family things during this time. Cody started a brand new school, St. Roman's this year and is in the 7th grade.

September began volleyball season, and I helped coach the 5th grade girls team at St. Roman's. Cody was able to come to practice and was a huge help to us when doing drills. This month we celebrated some family mile stone birthdays; our Aunt Joanne's 50th and our Uncle Larry's 60th. We were able to attend both parties and had a great time celebrating with family and friends.

That brings us to October, this was a busy month for us. We decided to have our house painted, my brother Tony did it and we are so glad we did it, we cannot believe how nice our little house looks. On Oct. 12th I graduated the Associate degree program in social work, and on Oct. 28th I already started the Bachelor degree program in psychology. Joe and I happily celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on the 21st, Our puppy Lola turned two on the 23rd, and Cody dressed up as the "Burger King" guy for Halloween. Unfortunately, Joe has had a reoccurance with his neck injury from our car accident last January and has had to return to physical therapy for it. The physical therapist is really good and it is really helping him, although the sessions are pretty rough for him.

I hope that is a pretty good update. I am sure I missed things as there were other birthdays, weddings and gatherings that we did throughout these months as well, that were all very special to us and we always love being able to share these fun events with everyone.

Until next time.....

Welcome

Hello Family and Friends,

Welcome to our family blog! We are hoping that this will help us to stay connected to family and friends since life keeps everyone so busy and we do not get to see or talk to everyone as often as we would like.

We hope you enjoy our adventures!

Love to all,

Joe, Denyse, Cody

Harley, Miles & Lola