ring * ring

for ben's birthday

we decided to surprise him with a phone

stacey had to be out of town for work

so we found the perfect way to surprise him 

he was in my bed

and before i went to sleep i set the phone next to him

he woke up to the phone ringing

with stacey on the other end

at first he didn't realize that it was his phone -

he was a little confused

thought it was my old - broken - phone

and rolled back over to go back to sleep

BUT

i told him i thought he should answer

and when he did

he was pleasantly surprised ...

brace face - round 2

this is how drew started his morning ...

with braces less than 1 hour away he wanted to REALLY enjoy popcorn

one last time ...

he is officially his second

and hopefully last

round of braces 

what better way to celebrate than with ben & jerry's free cone day!!

zoom zoom

the time has come ...

with our cx-9 engine deciding to die on us

we have spent MANY hours

test driving cars and trying to decide what is the 'perfect fit'

we finally came to the conclusion that

although there are a few things we don't love about the 2014 model

the cx-9 has been a great car

SO ...

we spent our entire BEAUTIFUL saturday

buying a brand new 2014 cx-9

i'm not sure if i'm more excited to have 2 working cars

or

to just be done with the car shopping ;)

welcome to our crazy family, cx-9 ...

you will be well used ...

i promise

bengal tough memories

ben's basketball season is over

the party was last night

and he now has a few new goodies to add to his wall

he's sad to see the season end

but now he has these posters

AND

a book that i put together ...

i get the feeling ben likes it just a tad ...

only 6 months until next season ;)

april fools

from this

to this

ugh

all worth it

something as simple as this ...

makes all of the time and money

VERY well spent

what minnesota kids do for fun??

thirTEEN

as of yesterday we have a TEENAGER at our house!

YIKES!

not sure when (or how) he got so big

taller than BOTH of us now

when his feet grew so long

just bought him size THIRTEEN flip flops in hawaii

or when his voice got so deep

BUT ...

it's really happening

and as i look back through our pictures i realize it's happening just a little too quickly :( 

SO ... 

today i want to take the time

to give a birthday shout out

to my favorite THIRTEEN year old!

drew ...

you are growing up SO fast

TOO fast

but i love seeing who God is making you to be

you are polite

you are respectful

you are a great communicator

and you are doing a fabulous job at school

you should be proud of yourself -

i am.

whether it's church

or finding the perfect hamburger

you are so passionate about everything that you do -

don't ever change that.

you set a great example

and i love that ben and alex have you to look up to

i LOVE spending time with you

talking with you

and having fun with you

AND

i am SO thankful that we got to spend the past 10 days together

in a place that we both love

i hope you have fun looking back at these pictures

AND

i hope that this year is your best year yet

happy birthday TEENAGER!! ;)

i love you