WOW ~ I don't even know where to begin!

Well, it's been way too long since I've last posted anything on this blog and so much has happened since!!! I've taken hundreds of photos so I'm going to try an only post the favorites. Next time we see you we can go through the albums in total!

Since my last update I met mom and Heather in Napa for a girls' weekend! I got to meet the most regal and giant cat I ever met, Blake! While we were in Napa we went wine tasting, touring, shopping, and good eating! Heather knit me a hat out of handspun yarn from Sinskey Winery while we were out there (which came in handy during the cold nights in Yellowstone! Pictured below!).

Thatch won third place at a custom car show with his blue custom Jeep Cherokee that he build. The show was Dropfest which is well known in this area as a competitive custom car show. Winning a third place trophy is a big deal! I was lucky enough to show Proteus this summer. We did very well. We won ribbons and trophies at all the shows we went to. We won a Top 5 award at Regionals and a Top 10 award at Canadian Nationals. It was a great season and I can't wait until next year!

Thatch and I saw a couple performances at the Performing Art Center in Appleton this summer. We saw the farewell performance of Fiddler on the Roof and South Pacific. It's really a lot of fun to dress up and have a date night!

Audrey came up to visit me for a girls weekend (no mommy and daddy allowed!) and we had a great time! We played princess tea party, princess cooking, and princess hide-and-go-seek! I knew it was a good idea to keep my bridesmaid dress! We also went to Mulberry Lane Farm. It was so much fun! We got to go in and pet the animals, milk a cow, ride a pony, and go on a hay ride! SO, CALLING ALL NIECES AND NEPHEWS, come on up to visit! There are lots of fun things to do! Between Mulberry Lane Farm and Little Farmer, there are all sorts of things to do up here! Thatch and I did a lot of camping this summer also! With the Musselman Family we went to Tippecanoe State Park (where the mosquitoes almost carried us off!) and Rocky Arbor State Park. It was a lot of fun! We also went to Badlands National Park and Yellowstone National Park. What a great trip! We saw black bear, bison, elk, antelope, and prairie dogs! We went hiking every day and had some fun kayak trips. I have hundreds of pictures and a ton of stories. I can't wait to tell you them and show you the pictures the next time we get together!As you know from an earlier post, the basement is ready for crafting. I had a scrapbook weekend and several craft days with my friends. I can't wait to get to spend a lot more time just crafting all day down there!!!

I'm currently in my second to last semester for my MBA. The classes I am taking this semester are very interesting! They are based on e-business and my "business" is the focus of the practical application part of this semester. It should be interesting!

Thatch has been working from home for the first time in YEARS! It is great to have him here in Appleton! We bought two new Jeeps this summer! A Jeep Commander (for me) and a Jeep Wrangler (4-door) (for him!). Now we have 7 cars…6 of which are Jeeps! Hopefully we can get a couple sold so that we can make room for them all!!!

Well, I think that is enough for one post! I hope everyone is doing well. We will talk to you soon! Love, Abby and Thatch!

Shedd Aquarium Trip - May Madness!

Well, May is shaping up to be a month full of trips! Shedd Aquarium, Napa, Springfield Horse Show, and a Milwaukee Horse Show!!! All in one month, so I've named it May Madness! I'll do my best to keep you updated (although I can't promise pictures for all posts!)!

Starting off May Madness was a trip down to Chicago to visit the family and go to Shedd Aquarium. It was a great trip! It's always good to catch up! I couldn't believe how much bigger Logan was, what a difference a month makes at that age!

The Shedd Aquarium was a lot of fun. They had some pretty neat exhibits (I personally loved the seahorses!)! The had everything from frogs to sea lions to turtles to alligators! The exhibits were really nice. It will be fun to go back and spend more time reading all the information they had available for you.

The show they hold showcased their dolphins and whales doing amazing tricks. It was fun to watch them jump and play. They kept doing tricks even after the show ended! I shouldn't leave out the penguins and their playful antics either. They certainly won the heart of one of our group!

As a matter of fact, does anyone recognize this penguin?

It really was a great time. A short trip down to Chicago, hopefully we will get to the Aquarium again this summer! It will be neat to see the exhibits we missed and see how all the baby animals are doing! Here is a picture of our group (and proof that yes, I did actually go!). Anyone interested in more pictures of the trip let me know, I took a couple...(101)!

Next trip in May Madness is Napa California! It was a lot of fun! A post with pictures still to come!

Pictures of the Newly Finished Basement!

Well, it is finally finished! I love my new basement (great job Thatch!)! I can (and have!) spent hours down there and I have the room to work comfortably. It is so nice! Here is a picture of the space!

So where did all my projects end up??? Because we know that the reason I needed this new space was that my old one was so full of projects that I didn't fit in there to work on them!!! On the unfinished side of the basement are shelves and totes...enough for my own store back there! But soo worth it! And now that I have this space I'm actually getting some of my projects finished! Imagine that!

Want to see more??? Well come up and visit! :-) I've got plenty of room for friends and family to come and work on their projects also!

Here is my first completed project in my new basement. A quilt for Audrey! I've had the top finished for a couple years! I designed the entire thing myself based on some cute Tinkerbell fat quarters I found. She finally gets to use it! She was very happy to have it!