40 is finally here!!!

I am so excited that 40 has finally arrived. I decided this year to spend it in the temple and my two wonderful sisters-in-law graciously came with me to Louisville. They took me to lunch at Qdoba, which was a lot of fun. The ride down and back was full of talking and laughing. We missed the turn off coming back, but with Stephanie and Bethany to get me back on track, there was no worries.

Bob gave me a super kiss and hug when I got home, plus Ethan and Chris greeted me with special homemade presents. Thanks to my wonderful in-laws for watching children and my sweet husband for picking them up and making the day possible. The first 40 years have been full of laughter, tears, excitement, hard times, surprises and tons of growth. I look forward to the future to be more of the same wonderful experiences.

I have heard it said more than once that every day above ground is a fantastic day. I agree with that philosophy whole heartedly. I thank all those who have made my life special. So a great big happy birthday kiss and hug to everyone!!!

I love you all.

Wisconsin 2008

Our annual Wisconsin trip for this year was definately enjoyed by all. We spent a lot of time around the cottage enjoying the sun, the non-humid weather, boating, walking, fishing, biking, swimming and playing in the sand. We were able to have Grandma and Grandpa Pace come be with us for a few days, as well as Bob's eldest brother Jeff and his son Nathan.

We also went to the Rib Lake Public library a couple of times, for books to read while we were there as well. Why bring books when there is a wealth of them at the library? In front of the library is this cute little dog made from scrap metal and the children really enjoyed playing with it. The bench next to it is a memorial bench of the Tlusty family. After perusing the phone book, there were a few listings, which I brought back to our very own resident geneologist Grandpa Tlustek.

We were also fortunate this year to take a canoe trip down the Flambeau River, which is located one hour north of the cottage. The highlight of the trip was seeing a bald eagle flying overhead and Stephen catching a large mouth bass.

The difficult thing about the trip, was the wind. I often had difficulty steering the canoe, because the wind would hit the front of the canoe and cause us to spin round and go backward. This resulted in us taking too long, thus we ended up having to get out early so we would be able to meet the pick up guy. I look forward to doing it again, maybe when the boys are older. That way we can do a several day excursion with camping along the river. Another big event, was seeing a bald eagle sitting on the shoulder of the highway just a few feet from the car. They are such an impressive raptor and what a treat it was to see it so close in the wild.

On the way home, we stopped overnight in Rockford, IL. While we were there, we went to the Burpee Museum of Natural History and the Children's Museum. The Burpee Museum was interesting but not very big. The Children's Museum had loads of hands on activities and tons to see. This museum is the fourth best in the country and had an outstanding play park on the backside of the building. We all had a blast playing back there in the mazes. All and all, we had a wonderful time and it seemed the vacation ended too soon. Maybe one year we will have more time to spend than just nine days.