Mike and Sherry's Family Pictures

Grandkids

2012-01-28T10:24:00.002-06:00

Here are some pics of the grandkids hanging around the house and playing...

Collin hiding in the "jungle."

Three nerds playing with their tech toys.

Collin and his new farm set.

Horses on the farm.

Silly faces at the easel.

All four kids watching TV.

Yes, four kids can fit in our bathtub. (Barely!)

Judah decided to jump in the shower. (He just forgot to take off his pajamas first!)

Donuts for breakfast.

Collin drew a volcano, with Grandma and Mike and an alien.

Collin playing some sort of weird game with elephants, tanks, and dragons.

Collin riding Alethia.

Collin, Laura, and Judah.

Boys will be boys.

Hayley at the easel.

Ice cream time!

Hayley pretending to be Mike. (Note the Play-Dough mustache and goatee.)

Hayley's First Dance Recital

2012-01-22T10:20:00.001-06:00

Three year-old Hayley just had her very first dance recital. (She's been taking dance/gymnastics class for a few months now.) She did great!

Miss Laura (the teacher), Heather (classmate), and Hayley get their diplomas and medals.

After Christmas

2012-01-10T10:00:00.003-06:00

Here's what we've been up to after Christmas...

Hayley plays her Nickelodeon dance game on the Wii.

Sherry plays the dance game with Hayley.

Hayley and a picture of Grandma.

Collin and his new easel. (Grandma drew the house; Collin did the rocks in the sidewalk.)

Hayley watches a dinosaur hatch.

Hayley and her easel.

Alethia at the easel.

Hayley and Collin play house.

Hayley took this picture of Collin, Tof, and Judah.

Judah playing with the garage.

Mike gives Hayley a piggyback ride.

Collin in the "jungle."

Surprise!

Hayley helps set the table. (She likes her ranch dressing!)

Christmas, Part Deux

2012-01-01T10:23:00.002-06:00

And then Kristi, Tof, and kids came over so we all could exchange presents...

Alethia, Hayley, and Judah all use the new easel.

This is what the entire scene looked like, from above.

Sherry takes Collin's picture.

Judah opens up a whale of a present.

Hayley opens a present.

Alethia opens a present.

Collin shows off his new mega T-Rex.

Tof helps Judah open a present.

Judah and Laura read a book.

Hayley is having a good time.

Hayley gets into her new piano keyboard.

Judah gets into the keyboard fun.

Alethia smiling for the camera.

Hayley and Judah hitch a ride on Joe.

Sherry opens a present.

Rocks?

Ben acts surprised.

Laura opens a present.

Hayley helps Kristi open a present.

Ben opens a present.

Amy likes her new Lego City.

Joe got an X-Box.

Collin, Alethia, and Hayley watching some dinosaurs hatch.

Is the water hot enough?

Collin shows off his latest artwork.

Alethia and Kristi say Merry Christmas!

Christmas!

2012-01-01T09:58:00.001-06:00

Christmas was a fun day in our little household. We started out early with Collin and Hayley getting their presents from Santa, then Alethia and Judah (and their parents, of course) came over a little later so we all could exchange presents. Here are pictures from the first part of the festivities.

Collin, Hayley, and grandma Sherry look at presents.

Collin and Hayley play with Hayley's new garage.

Collin's favorite present -- Cars monster trucks!

Hayley and their new easel.

Collin and his very cool new space station.

Amy and Hayley open presents.

Collin with all his presents from Santa.

Mike and Collin read a book.

Amy uses Hayley's new brush.

Here's what it looked like before the kids got up -- all the presents from Santa.

And here's a little message Santa left on the new chalkboard...

Collin was first up to see the presents.

Amy checking out her stocking.

Laura and her stocking.

Joe and Amy open stocking presents.

Sherry and Mike and their stocking presents.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-19T12:24:00.002-06:00

It's almost time for Santa to come...

Hayley in her red Christmas outfit.

Collin in front of the tree. (Look at all those presents!)

Collin and Sherry.

Kristi, Alethia, Mike, Collin, and Hayley at a local church's Christmas festival.

Collin and Mike making bread at the church festival.

Hayley making a sheep!

Collin and Mike topping the big Christmas in the living room.

Collin in front of the tree.

We got a little bit of snow a few weeks ago. (It's melted now; we're having a warm winter.) Here's Hayley helping to shovel.

Hayley and Collin go sledding.

Yes, that's Hayley swinging in the snow.

Collin helping to decorate the basement tree.

Alethia decorating.

Hayley decorating.

Sherry and the kids decorating the tree.

Sherry and Judah decorating.

Alethia and Mike putting the angel on the tree.

Sherry and Judah.

Hayley and Alethia riding the big stuffed horse.

Collin decorating Christmas cookies.

Hayley decorating cookies.

Collin reading a book to Hayley.

Collin and Hayley playing in a box with funny hats on.

That's three Santa hats on Collin's head.

Hayley and Collin playing in a box full of Styrofoam peanuts. Fun!

Family Christmas Pictures

2011-12-16T11:15:00.000-06:00

Here are our "official" Christmas photos of our various family units this year... and a few outtakes, as well. (All photographs by Sherry.)

Mike and Sherry.

Amy, Joe, Collin, and Hayley.

Kristi, Tof, Alethia, and Judah.

Silly faces.

A nice black and white shot.

Amy and Collin.

Amy and Hayley.

Tof and Judah.

Kristi and Alethia.

Tof and Kristi.

Holidazzle!

2011-12-13T09:50:00.000-06:00

Sunday night we all headed downtown to watch the big Holidazzle parade. The kids loved it!

Mike and Collin.

Collin, Hayley, and Sherry.

Collin, Hayley, and Judah.

Kristi, Tof, and Alethia.

Mike and Judah.

Tof and Alethia.

Kristi and Judah.

Tof, Judah, Jim, and Kristi.

Judah likes his hot chocolate!

Collin, Alethia, and Hayley.

Some of the Holidazzle floats...

It's all about the lights.

A gingerbread house.

Collin's favorite, a pirate ship with Captain Hook.

Indiana Trip Part 5

2011-12-06T10:10:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving over, we headed back to the hotel and got ready to drive back home.

Collin and Batman in the hotel room.

Mike and the kids in the hotel pool.

Hayley crawled herself all the way around the pool.

Collin is now tall enough to stand and walk around the shallow end of the pool.

Guess where we ate lunch on the way home?

The whole gang at Steak n Shake.

"What would you like to eat, Hayley?"

Tof got the job of assembling the cardboard cars.

Indiana Trip Part 4

2011-12-06T09:58:00.001-06:00

Thankgiving dinner was at Norma's, as was the traditional group photo.

Smile, everybody!

Rick, Norma, Sherry, Kathy, and Debbie.

Our fearless photographer.

Amy and Judah.

Hayley, blowing her horn.

Collin leading the cheers.

Hayley and Judah, ready for dinner.

Everybody in the kitchen.

The kids table.

The big kids table.

Help yourself!

Everybody eating.

Remember those cupcakes? They were good!

Playing cards after dinner.

Hayley, Sarah, and Shannon.

Who put that tambourine on Sarah's head?

Indiana Trip Part 3

2011-12-06T09:43:00.001-06:00

On Thanksgiving day we all headed to Sherry's mom's house. Norma always throws a good Thanksgiving bash!

Norma and Hayley play with the Russian nesting dolls.

Norma and Laura in the kitchen.

Sherry helps the kids make cupcakes.

Cupcakes are done!

Everybody enjoying the nice weather in the backyard.

Mike and Judah tinkling the keys.

Tof sucking the brains out of a frog.

Kathy, Norma, Ben, and Tof in the kitchen.

An important conversation.

Amy playing with nephew Judah.

Collin and Ben tossing the old ball around.

Judah in the backyard.

Kristi, Debbie, and Laura.

Not quite dinner time yet.

How do so many people fit into such a small kitchen?

Well, some of them overflow into the dining room...

Missy, Kristi, and Jacob.

Collin, Amy, Hayley, and Shannon.

Indiana Trip Part 2

2011-12-06T09:37:00.001-06:00

We took three of the grandkids (Judah was asleep) to visit Mike's folks, Norm and Pat.

Somehow or another, we fit three car seats into the back of the Accord.

Norm was putting up Christmas decorations when we arrived.

Hayley and Alethia check out Norm's new bike.

All three kids check out Pat's dollhouses.

Norm and Hayley.

Norm and Collin.

Hayley and the dollhouses.

Collin and the dollhouses.

Alethia, chillin'.

Three kids playing in the yard. (It was a very nice day, weather-wise.)

Collin looking through the cat-door.

Alethia through the cat-door.

Hayley through the cat-door.

Indiana Trip Part 1

2011-12-06T09:32:00.001-06:00

Our entire clan traveled back home again to Indiana for Thanksgiving. Here's the first batch of photos, from the trip down.

Collin and Hayley eating pizza in our hotel room.

Playing at a rest area playground.

Collin walking the "tightrope"...

Collin and Hayley on the playground.

Hayley, just hanging around.

Hayley in the car.

Collin in the car.

November Photos

2011-11-20T09:39:00.001-06:00

Here are some recent pictures of the grandkids in action...

Amy and the kids made a "cookie pizza."

Collin helping to compress our recyclables...

Collin in his pillow fort.

Collin and Hayley playing with Play-Dough.

A Play-Dough dragon. (Or is it a dinosaur?)

Sherry and the grandkids doing crafts in the basement.

Collin, Alethia, and Hayley with their new craft piggy banks, made out of old Hershey's chocolate cans.

Hayley and Judah playing dueling guitars.

Collin playing with his monster truck at the park.

Hayley and Mike at the park. (She's his girl, but only when Grandma isn't around.)

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

Here's what Halloween looked like in our household this year...

All four grandkids dressed up and ready to trick or treat.

Hayley was a pirate.

Collin was Optimus Prime (a Transformer).

Judah was a dragon, complete with wings.

Alethia was Rapunzel.

And Indy was a rescue dog...

Pumpkins!

2011-10-28T09:57:00.001-05:00

After picking out our pumpkins, it was time to do a little carving...

Collin and Hayley help Sherry do a little pumpkin carving.

Amy and Collin doing the pumpkin thing.

The whole gang helps out.

Sherry carves, Hayley scoops.

Hayley scooping.

Amy's dog Indy even got in on the act.

Collin helps Sherry.

Hayley thinks it's fun.

Three girls and pumpkins.

Here's what the pumpkins looked like.

The final product, all lit up.

Pumpkin Picking Time

2011-10-26T09:59:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year, so Sherry took Collin and Hayley to pick out some pumpkins...

And these are the pumpkins they picked!

Bonfire

2011-10-25T10:32:00.000-05:00

We had a little bonfire the other evening...

Fire Station Open House

2011-10-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

Sherry took Collin and Hayley to the open house at Eagan's Fire Station #2. They had a lot of fun!

Collin and Hayley in front of one of the fire trucks.

Collin using a big fire hose to put out a fire.

Collin puts out the fire!

Hayley using the big fire hose.

Hayley in a fire truck.

Collin in the fire truck.

Kids in fire hats.

A fireman helping Collin draw his escape plan for our house.

Hot dogs and cookies!

Collin in the big boy's seat.

Hayley driving the fire truck.

Collin and Hayley using fire extinguishers.

At the Zoo

2011-10-01T10:01:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis Zoo is just ten minutes from our house, so we visit regularly. Here's a fun trip we did with Amy, Joe, Collin, and Hayley.

Collin and a penguin friend.

Hayley, Collin, and the penguins.

A shark.

Collin and Mike check out a tide pool.

Everybody waiting for the dolphin show to start.

Hayley and the wolf.

Cows!

Collin and a goat.

Hayley and her mom feeding a goat.

Hayley and Collin on a giant pig statue.

Collin the chicken.

A happy farm family.

Hayley and Collin on the farm.

Hayley and a wagon.

Kids playing.

Hayley and her grandma.

Ice cream time!

Hayley's was blue.

Collin's was red.

Playing at the Water Park

2011-09-19T11:39:00.001-05:00

Recently we had a nice evening get together with all the grandkids at the little water fountain park in Burnsville's Heart of the City. Lots of fun!

Collin's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-06T13:26:00.000-05:00

Today was Collin's very first day of preschool. (It was Alethia's first day, too, except she was sick and couldn't make it... hopefully she'll be better on Thursday.) Collin and Alethia go to school together, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He did great and was really excited about it.

Here are the traditional first day of school pictures.

Old Friends

2011-08-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

Sherry's old friend Debi, her daughter Jennifer, and grandson MJ came over to have dinner and visit. Tof and gang were here too. Lots of kids, fun time.

MJ, Debi, and Jennifer.

Laura and Alethia.

MJ and Hayley on the slide.

Hayley, Judah, and Laura.

Judah waiting at the playhouse.

Judah and MJ playing in the playhouse.

Everybody in the backyard.

Jennifer and her mom.

Jennifer, Laura, and Sherry.

Tof and the kids. (And the dog.)

MJ, Judah, and Kaylee.

Laura, Tof, Judah, and Kaylee.

Hayley and Mike.

Judah and MJ exploring.

MJ on the tree swing.

Jennifer and MJ swinging.

Fun at Mall of America

2011-08-27T22:13:00.000-05:00

Friday night we took Collin and Hayley to the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park in Mall of America. We all had fun.

Hayley and Collin riding Blue's Skidoo by themselves.

It's a Blue's Clues kind of ride...

Mike with the kids on the Carousel.

It's a merry-go-round!

Hayley posing in front of Dora and Boots.

Collin and Hayley on La Adventura de Azul.

Azul is a blue train.

Collin and Mike on the Balloon Race ride.

Sherry and Hayley in the gondola.

Hayley really liked the balloon ride!

Playing at the Mall

2011-08-25T10:58:00.002-05:00

We met Kristi & Tof at the Burnsville Mall so all the cousins could have a fun play time.

Spider-Man!

Spider-Man in action.

Alethia playing.

Alethia, Judah, and Hayley in a car.

Sister and brother out for a drive.

All four cousins together!

Alethia having fun.

Kristi helping Judah do a little climbing and sliding.

Alethia on the bridge.

Everybody relaxing with a little frozen yogurt.

Judah really likes that frozen yogurt!