A fine fall day

Today was a miracle, really. The sun was out and the temperature was 65! That NEVER happens in November in Minnesota. We had millions of leaves to rake in our back yard, but instead we put on our chaco's and headed out the door for a fine fall hiking adventure. We ended up in one of our favorite little towns Stillwater. We stopped and hiked by the river where Maya found ladybugs and spiderwebs and 'fished' with her stick in the river. Brynn had a few helpings of sand. We ate at our favorite little cafe called Shane on Main, had our turkey, cheddar and apple panini's and then climbed up the 157 steps to get a gorgeous view of Stillwater and the St. Croix river which borders Minnesota and Wisconsin, and visited our favorite stores there; Pulp Fashion-a paper goods store full of all sorts of funky things that make me wish I had loads of sweet cash to spend in there, and of course 45 degrees, one of the best outdoor stores in Minnesota. What a great day.

The man I call 'Sexy Marty'

If any of you would like to hear some good music, check out THIS man.

In October of 1997 I was a high school junior looking through our local paper. I found an ad for some live music at the Lyric Theater in Logan. The theater was featuring Martin Sexton. I called up a good friend of mine and we went and saw him.

One of the best live performances I've seen, EVER!

I bought his cd that night, and loved it. And I shared it with people, and through my friend Annie, he is now known as 'Sexy Marty.'

His music is timeless. He's part funk, party soul, part folk, and you won't be disappointed. Today I was listening to him and it always makes me think of that fall day when I saw him live. What a good day.

thanks amy!

my cute sister amy sent this to me the end of september. i love love love the idea for a halloween advent calendar, and she saw the look-a-like on pottery barn, and came up with this. she is amazing, and it took her only an afternoon to do this. thanks so much amy for our calendar, we love it!

these boots are made for walkin'

the lady loves her boots. the top pic is her favorite outfit as of late-tank top with not much else. she insists on wearing a tank top in the morning....did i mention it snowed this week? but the tank top is accompanied by boots. so sassy. the second pic is of maya in 2007.

for grandpa and grandma

found these cute pics from yellowstone this summer. it was after the drowning accident of camera 3, so we just found these pics. love these of my parents and brynnie.

and then there was this.......

and i'm just not ready for it! we got a little skiff of snow on saturday morning. couldn't believe that we had snow. on our walk on friday, i put hats and mittens on the ladies, but i didn't expect this the next day. i'm just hoping for a few lovely days of fall to come.....

maya + ava

dear ava bava,

i wish that you lived next door so that we could party like this all the time. i miss you!

love,

maya

*picture taken summer 2008

dad

just came across the coolest picture of my dad. ever.

north shore

the pics never do the beautiful views justice, but oh well. it was such a beautiful sight to see lake superior-so amazing! i can't get over how large it is. it really does look like the ocean. a rare sight before brynn started to scream because maya was holding her too tight. love the look on both of their faces in this one. and look at those little toes. could nibble them right off.

the north shore

in september we finally made it up to the north shore of lake superior, which to midwesterners might as well be the ocean! we've wanted to do this since moving up to minne and caught the perfect weekend to go. we camped and the girls were absolutely fabulouso. they adore being outside and we love that they love it! we hiked all over on saturday, to the beach, to waterfalls, and maya got wet up to her chest. had the time of her life. and we brought home about 30lbs of the most beautiful smooth rocks from the beach, don't worry everyone does this. :)