Academy Awards Party

On Sunday night, Todd & I went to an Academy Awards party at the home of our friends, Mark & Leah. They served fancy food, gave us ballots to vote for the awards, provided Limo rides and even a lantern-lined red carpet up the drive way. :) We had a wonderful time!

Sonja & Todd in the limo........I even have on my starlet rose-colored glasses! :)

Lana & Dave on the "Red Carpet". Lana is waving to her public...........Jude & Estella............her biggest fans. :)

Todd sampling the various treats at the chocolate fountain. There were strawberries, pretzels, cookies (shortbread, I think), cream puffs and potato chips. The potato chips may sound weird for a chocolate fountain, but they were very good! :)

Peter & Andrea.................Andrea had a great "star quality" about her. :)

Mark, Leah, Peter, Andrea & Jamie in the limo.

Todd & Sonja on the "Red Carpet" with "our limo" in the background. ;)

Jams Sing in Sunday Morning Service

Todd & I went to Westwood Community Church in Chanhassen, MN to see our nephew Justin sing with his Jams group in the service. They helped lead 2 of the worship songs & sang a song from their upcoming spring production for the offeratory. They sang in all 3 of the morning services (8, 9:45 & 11) so they had a pretty big day. They did a really good job & you could tell that they had been practicing the songs.

Justin is in the brown & orange striped shirt. We could see him scanning the congregation for people he knew and we could tell when he saw where we were. :)

Justin is on the top left. This was during their offeratory song when their group was by themselves. For the two worship songs, there was a smaller group of older kids singing with them, too.

Dinner & Games

Friday night we had Keith, Andra & Theresa over for a pot roast dinner & playing games. Andra also brought Strawberry "Angel" Cake for dessert. Mmmmm..........mmmmmm..........good! :) We had a really fun time, but we missed you Janelle! We will have to be sure to do it again when you get home. :)

Couples By Candlelight 2009

Todd & I went to Couples By Candlelight at church again for our Valentine's Day Dinner. It was wonderful! Comedian, Bob Stromberg, was the entertainment for the evening. He was so funny & was had a great time!

At our table were: Bob & Val Karlson, Ed & Cheri Schenk and Rory & Jane Bauer.

Oh.........Todd's full beard look is because he has to grow it out for his disciple part in The Thorn. :)

Making Valentine Cookies.......Messy but Fun!

Tyler (2), Brenden (6) & I made heart-shaped sugar cookies on Valentine's Day. Tyler had flour all over his arms & shirt several times and would say, "Nana, I a mess!" with a big, wide grin! :)

Tyler rolling out the cookie dough.

Brenden rolling out the cookie dough.

Tyler cutting out a heart cookie.

Tyler showing us the heart cookie he cut out.

After a long afternoon of making cookies, Brenden decided to relax on the couch & work on a word find puzzle book. Tyler saw him & said he wanted to color, too. He got some coloring books & the box of crayons & climbed up on the other side of the couch. He had to scooch down just like Brenden & cover up with a blanket, too. He loves his big brother!...............they do say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. :)

Purple Pancake Art!

When we went to my Grandma & Grandpa Casper's house in Montana, when we were kids, Grandma would let us make Pancake Art with the pancake batter for breakfast. Brenden & Tyler spent the weekend because J.D. had a basket ball tournament in Wayzata, so we decided to do some pancake art for our breakfast on Saturday morning. Brenden decided he would like to make purple pancakes so that made it even more fun! Brenden made a snowman & a snowball & Tyler has a snowman.

Uncle Todd was surprised to see purple pancakes when he woke up, but as Brenden says,"They are good.........it doesn't change the taste at all." :)

Reading with Jude & Estella

We watched Jude & Estella for our friends on Friday night and Todd took a couple of pictures of us reading books. Stellie & I had our princess crowns :)

Maddie..............and..........Tyler??

Our sister-in-law, Kim, sent us these pictures of Maddie at 9 months old.

Maddie is working on cutting some more teeth.

Maddie is so cute with her bright blue eyes & big smile. :)


Maddie looks very sternly at her big brother, Tyler, when he tries to get in on the action. Could she be thinking.........."Hey, this is my photo time......I'm the baby here, you know............"

It's pretty funny! :)

A Cute Story From Last Weekend

Todd & I had Brenden & Tyler over for the weekend again because J.D. had a basketball tournament in Edina. We went to look at an open house (just for fun) on Sunday after lunch and they had a 4 season porch off the kitchen/dining area. The back yard had some big pine trees, a little red “barn shed” and backed up to some woods. There was still a lot of snow in the back yard, too. Tyler walked up to the window, pointed and excitedly said, “Sita!” I asked him, “Oh, does Santa live out there?” He nodded & said, “Sita! Sita!” :) It must have looked like where Santa lives to him. :) Of course, Brenden, the wise 6 year old, felt it was his duty to tell him that Santa didn’t live back there……..but Tyler adamantly told him, “Sita!” I told Brenden not to dash his hopes……..if he wants to think Santa lives back there, he can. :)


The window on the left side of the picture is the one that Tyler was looking out of..........you can kind of see what he saw. :)

Evan Cota Turns 6 Years Old!

Evan turned 6 on January 13th. We went to his birthday party this past Saturday afternoon.

Evan loves monster trucks so Tiffany made a monster truck cake for him. This is Grave Digger about to jump over some cars and a big number 6. Tiff did a really good job on the cake! :)

J.D. trying to keep his coolness and not smile.............I almost broke him. ;)

Maddie in her cute Gingerbread dress & tights that she got for Christmas from Uncle Leonard, Aunt Denise & Nicholas. She looked so cute! :) And she is getting better at sitting up for a little while before she tips over. :)

Evan & his cake with 6 candles lighting the way for Grave Digger.

Evan blowing out his candles and perhaps making a wish.

A new Hot Wheels race track!

A present from Uncle Todd & Nana..............What could it be?..........rip & tear............RIP & TEAR...........

...........it is a box of Zinkz building toys!

Uncle Todd & Maddie playing with the "play" portable DVD player............lots of lights & sounds. :)

Nana & Tyler playing with the new box of Zinkz.

Justin's Basketball Game

We went to Justin's basketball game on Saturday morning, but I forgot to bring the camera. I snapped a couple of pictures on my phone..........I will have to remember the camera next time. Sorry Justin! Justin played really well, though and it was very fun to watch. :)

Justin is in the middle of the picture with the ball.

Justin dribbling the ball trying to get inside to take a shot. :)