Days with the Dorans

I had wanted to take Ali to a place called Green Dot stables for her birthday. Jeff and I discovered it a while back and it was so fun. Everything is sliders- even the desserts. In that way you feel like you're not spending a ton or money or rather you get tastes of different things which I really like. The reason I thought Ali would like it was because they also have mini drinks so you can try different cocktails without committing to a lot of money. It's in Detroit. Joey had to go back to school and Z was with friends so it was me, Jeff, Al, Seany and then Dave and Jojo and Wendi, Scott, Holly and Brad. It was too bad Joey had to go back to school. It was pretty busy and I didn't know this but they had an attatched screened in barn like place where you could get drinks so we did some shots. It was fun watching Dave take care of Al! It was a super fun night and we are so lucky to have such great friends!! Da Kids (Ali and Brad are now legal drinkers) Da Boys Da Gals Me, Se...

We heard about this concert and were talking about it with Jodie and Kyle. Kyle was able to get two tickets from his work and we ended up buying tickets at the venue (saving crazy ticket master taxes and fees).  We had a blast! I saw Julie and some of the dance peeps working- Jodie and I went down in the pavilion where we had a great view! Those guys can still rock! Ben Folds was great too!

 I love this tradition of going to Kurt and Eric's to ring in the New Year! I hope they keep it up (or at least don't turn us away when we show up at their door next year). We were a bit late (no surprise there) because Jeff was making a horse racing game- I'm serious- He was hard at work for hours and out getting supplies early in the day! The game turned out super fun and while it is a game where you throw in some coin, it doesn't break your bank! Everyone had fun I think. The food was great, games were fun and the company was the best! Of course I haven't been taking lots of pictures- I'm out of the habit since my phone cracked (I REALLY need to get that fixed but WHEN?! HOW!?!). We need to do more group shots, but the regular players were there- Kurt and Eric, Cosmans, Gordons, Gearys and even Melanie came and it was fun to see her! Here's to another great year making memories with these awesome people! 2018 was a wonderful year- can't...

It is such fun to have a kiddo in Marching Band! Joe has been having a blast and going to football games has been fun for the whole fam. Goose and Al are usually off finding some friends and Seany has fun sitting with us and listening to the band (and learning a little football). Here are some pictures Nana took. There is also a FB page and they have photographers on there that take awesome pictures! We are so lucky! Love my Friday Knight Peeps!

I love summer!! I also love the fireworks at the lake! Again we were able to have some friends over and the kids had some people too! My friend Nan came and took some AMAZING pictures (her pics have her name in the corner). I was so glad to be able to see her. It's been too long.  Joe had a few friends over too. He actually wanted them to come over at noon but we talked him into pushing it back to four! I get it though- the lake is a fun place to be! Sadly (for us) Kurt and Eric bought a lake house up north so we haven't seen them at all this summer (boo). The Gordons were up north too. We did get to hang with the Gearys and Cosmans~ so it was almost complete.  The Gerkens came for a bit but with the Littles, they didn't stay too long. Papa hung in the lake and had fun with Carson. We go over to the lake a lot and Papa and I sit in these chairs while the kids swim. One will ask, "Who has it better than us?" to which the other will reply, "No...

And finally... We made it to the Cosmans'~ fashionably late as we Dorans usually are for such things. Jeff blamed it on me but I was in the car waiting for him and I DID run 5 miles in addition to all my other crazy "running" during the day. I was ready to unwind with friends! It was awesome to see everyone including people we hadn't seen in a while! We also met some new friends. There was too much food as usual and the pyramid tradition was rockin'! I love these people and our fun shenanigans! Happy St. Patty's Day!

 We spent our last day of 2017 with our framily! Kurt and Eric hosted another "Stanquist Rockin' Eve" as we called it. The food, fun and friends were many and it was a great way to celebrate the end of the year. Of course our night was spent playing games (what we do regularly) we had the euchre games going and played "What do you Meme?" again which was a blast! I don't know what Eric had me laughing at here with my (half-marathon) friend Jodie but it sums up the night. You know it's a good night when your face and sides hurt from laughing! I didn't drink much but I laughed A LOT! The kids had a blast too (though I didn't see them that much). I think the girls spent most of the night upstairs while the boys were in the basement. I actually went down to check on the boys at some point and Z started showing me a book he found (one of those world record books). He started reading it too me and it was so interesting I stayed ther...

The day after Al's birthday, JoJo asked if we wanted to grab a bite to eat at UpTown (along with the Gearys and Kurt and Eric)! It was great because we ran into Joey Mal and we left our boys at home which saved us some bucks! The bonus was Al got to see some of her friends too! The food was yummy and I was so surprised when they brought out a cake that Eric made for Al, Angie and I (December birthday sisters). He is SUCH a cook cook/baker and the cake was delicious even though I wasn't at all hungry! So blessed to have great friends!

There's no better feeling than being off of school! Any teacher in December knows what I am talking about! We decided to have a pajama party and watch some Rudolph (per Dave's request) to celebrate. Because I'm still coughing, I thought we should also make it a soup party! The Cosmans came with the cutest pajamas!! Dave's were perfect for watching Rudolph and I realized that I need to get me some sweet jammies! They got their cute jammies from Kohl's!! Kyle didn't wear any jammies so maybe we'll need to get him some too! My mom would have been so proud because Dave was very excited about my villages and said, "OK, give me the tour!" This is something my mom always says. There is a bunch of thought that goes into putting all these babies up! Of my North Pole village he said, "Sean, don't you just shrink yourself down and pretend you're going through the streets!" Exactly! Dave is "my people!!"  Jojo and Jod...