Dean's Retirement

The beginning of June my after years of hard work, at a local factory, my father in law was able to retire.  That very night after his party, he headed to Canada to go fishing with friends, one of his favorite things to do.  Exactly was retirement should be like!  I'm honored to call this hard working man my father in law, and so fortunate we were able to celebrate with him!  Congratulations Dean!

Thanksgiving 2014

Well, it isn't Christmas yet {& we don't even have snow on the ground!}, so that makes this post acceptable, right?!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we had a couple of friends that Adam works with down to stay at the lakehouse.  Adam fried a turkey {so good!}, we had wine, pretty {store bought!} cookies, and of course tons of other goodies!  With so many people {including 5 kids} is was a little crazy in our small house, but it was so much fun.  I'm pretty sure the highlight was playing games the night before.  I know I've said this before, but Heads Up is seriously the best game! {cheap, portable, & tons of fun no matter how diverse your crowd is}

Runaway, topless children during every meal.  Such is {our} life right now

Drinks for all

New lake sign from 417DesignsIA :: ignore the missing trim on my windows! Perhaps this winter? ::sigh::

The weekend of Thanksgiving, we had my nieces watch the kids and we went to a party with our lake friends.  It was fun catching up with people we hadn't seen much this summer {due to traveling}, but I wasn't feeling 100% {I thought I was just tired, but we learned later I had strep}. 

The next morning we went to my sister in law's house to have dinner and hang out with the family.  It's always a fun day.  Good food, fun games, relaxing Black Friday prep. :)

I totally 'won' that wishbone when we cracked it. :)

sister in laws

As an Aunt that doesn't want to miss a thing, my sister in laws can drive me crazy with their lack of planning {I can't be the only one that scheduled holidays & birthday parties a year out, am I?!}, but I could not ask for two more loving, caring, and kind sister-in-laws.  They always make my feel like my kids are the center of their world {even though I know how crazy their lives are, each running after 3 school aged kids themselves}.  But most importantly, they both have shown me how to love my husband better.  I look up to them so often and I couldn't be more proud to celebrate our 5 year anniversary as they celebrate 10 and 15 years of marriage with their spouses.