Day of baking

Saturday we stayed in, wrapped presents and baked and cooked. Sara baked scones, two types of cookies (with more to come) and John baked a loaf of bread and also made Coq au Vin for dinner:Rachel came over for dinner and we also played some Guitar Hero:

St Paul at night

St. Paul is very Christmasy this time of year. We went to see the Rice Park Tree (talled than and twice the lights of the Rockefeller Center tree) and then take in the sites and the skating rink on Friday. It was very nice:

Sara in front of the tree:
We also met some friends at the park:

And what it looks like inside the big tree (this is more electricity than my house has):

News Update

Hi All,

Quick update, Daniel and Meghan are in Fargo and Meghan is in labor. Check out their blog at www.bergeblogspot.blogspot.com for updates.

Quick NY Pic

Here is a quick pic from the top of the Empire State Building:

Ruby foo's

This is the restaurant we ate at in ny. The pic is courtesy of my aunt debbie's phone. Aint technology cool?

M @ m

Here is mom at the m@m store.

New York bound!

Waiting to catch our plane. By the way, we were upgraded to first class! Sara is excited because she has only flown in stowage class.

Camera Gear

I had a request as to what types of camera gear we use. It is anything from a Canon EOS 30D (many different lenses) to a cell phone. Here is a picture of some of our gear (I actually sold this camera for the 30D):

Comfy new couch

Cleo and Sara really like the new couch...

Some pictures

OK, so I only took a few pictures, and it was before we finished putting the floor in (which we did complete tonight). We will really need to post some pictures of the full floor installed. Anywho, here is the porch as of earlier today:

And here is Cleo enjoying the new chair:

Finally some serious progress

Twice in the past month dad has come down to help me work on the porch. We have made some excellent progress. Right now as I type I can see that the room is well-insulated, the sheetrock is installed (taped and mudded), all the walls are primed, the fireplace surround and hearth are tiled, the floor transition is tiled, the slider is gone and the wall is opened up to the house and the new floor is 75% installed (will be complete tomorrow)!


Pics should follow shortly.

Goose Season

Guess what lake this is:

Weekend in FF

Last weekend we were in FF to surprise my mom for her ...39th... birthday. We didn't quite surpise her entirely, but she didn't exactly know what was coming either. Dad organize the entire party and everyone had a great time:

Brooklyn also felt like posing for this picture on Sunday afternoon. Obviously she was as disappointed in the Vikings offense as I was...

And we won...

NDSU 27- UMN 21....

A conundrum....

Who do I root for? My two alma maters.... Ah, the makings of a rivalry...

A few recent highlights

It has been a while since we posted. Here are a few random pics from the past little while:

8

John, it's true;

Hiding won't do.

For you, I'm loco!

Happy ocho!

The state fair!

Last years winner was only 820.

Guess who?

Its our friendly neighborhood cyclist!

New Job

First day was great.

KG's Gone

The Wolves just traded my favorite player. I understand it had to be done and could be beneficial in the long run, but man, I really wish we could have put a team together around Garnett.

Birthday at the Beach

Rachel and I decided to celebrate our birthdays together at her cabin on St. Croix. A few friends joined us on this beautiful day.


And, of course, one of the best perks of having a birthday party is the cake! Thanks, Kirsten!

Stairway to Haven

This has been one of the more challenging "steps" of the project. However, we are finally ready for the last framing inspection as John figured out how to build our landing with staircase to code (we hope).

It's Not Easy Being Green

I think there will be more construction pics soon. John has a couple weeks free from the rat race until his new job begins. I think he'll be working on the exterior steps, electrical and insulation stuff, and maybe catching up on a little Harry Potter reading. Plus, I don't think he'll let the Wii set idle for too long either :)

I'm slightly envious . . . s

Most Excellent Website

If you have a high-speed internet connection you must check this out:

Will it Blend

Quick Porch Update

So here is a quick update on our porch:
The framing is basically complete (I have to finish building the landing outside the door)

The windows are in and the exterioir is sheeted and housewrapped (is that a word?)

The fireplace has been installed.

This is what it look like on the inside:

The question of the day it: Can I get it finished in time for fireplace season?

Kneeboarding

We also got some kneeboarding in. Considering none of us had kneeboarded in over 10 years we considered this pretty good.

Wipeout!

At the cabin

We spent the days after the fourth at Sara's folks cabin on Lake Tschida.

Some excellent fishing:
























I threw back 7 walleye in two days. This was my only keeper (barely)...

























Guess who caught most of the fish?

We did some excellent hiking through some tall grass and only found four total ticks!

Worth more than the price of admission

Seriously

The Fourth Holiday

We trekked out to Western North Dakota for a trip to see Sara's folks (with a quick stop in FF at John's folk's house, where we also had a chance to see Eric and Suzie: Hope you enjoyed the jerky). We spent the fourth in Bismarck at Grandma's, enjoying the company of family, a picnic and the Bismarck fireworks. The weather cooperated and it was a very comfortable and bug free afternoon and evening.

After dinner, with the State Capital in the background:

The fireworks photographer getting ready......

....And the result:

Boston at night

After spending the week working in Boston (John), we finally had a chance to eat in downtown Boston. This was the view from our restaurant. Good view, great seafood.

Weekend Guests

We had a blast this weekend hanging out with friends and family!

Dinner Time

Normally when I post food pictures it is something kind of fancy. But this time it is just good old American grilled hot dogs. Delicious! Particularly with a little grilled pineapple for dessert.