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Here's another picture of a picture I took at my parent's home over Thanksgiving. It's the farm my grandmother grew up on in Schweisdorf. I don't know who is who, but one of those little ones is probably her. My favorite stories from the farm were about the gypsies and hiding under the tables when they came. My mom's cousin and his family still live there.

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Back in college, one of my friends had the idea to take snowboard lessons. Keep in mind, this was the very early 1990s (when you would wear a pair of Sorels, strap in and and go), and really, there were not many female snowboarders on the slopes. Usually, it was just my friend and me! We did it, and totally loved it. By the time I met Brian, I had been snowboarding a few years already. I have never been amazing, but I could hold my own. We used to go at least a few times a year and even went to Park City for New Years in 2000. That was the last time I snowboarded. It was just me and the guys, and I totally got frustrated. Call me crazy, but for some reason, I've been wanting to try it again. Who, knows! Maybe this is the winter for it!

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In honor of the holidays, here's good #tbt. It's my mom, my aunt (twins!), my uncle and grandparents -- Gunda & Pankratz.

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My mom grew up in Germany. In September 2003, she took my sister and me on a trip to visit all of her family. We had such a fantastic time. Tons of great stories and memories for sure.

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Me and Melissa at Shelly & Andrew's wedding. Yes, we go way, way back.... (summer 1995).

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C waving to the ducks in Whistler, Canada. Such a beautiful place. Brian used to travel there once a year for work. Twice, we were able to met up with him. This photo was taken during the first visit. Brian was already there, and the boys and I flew to meet him. I remember feeling like a super woman -- flying with a 4 & nearly 2 year old alone to Vancouver (looooong flight), getting through customs (we had to the leave the line at least once for H to go to the bathroom), got a rental car (by law, I had to install the car seats, even though I rented them -- while wrangling the boys), then drove the 2 hours to Whistler. It was crazy, but so very worth it. (The next time, I was much smarter. We spent the night in Vancouver, then took the train to meet up with Brian.) (August 2006)

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H loaded with stickers. And what a cute shirt and boots! (March 2005)

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C watching drips in the bath tub. (Winter 2006)

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For some reason, I've always loved this picture. The boys at me at the Mitchell Park Domes. February 2008

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As I mentioned this summer when we went camping, we have been doing that trip for a number of years. Sure, we all missed a few years here and there. But for the most part, it has been a highly anticipated trip for all of us. This photo is the second year we went with the group. H was 4 and H was nearly 2 -- we went to Buckhorn State Park. You could not pull your car up to the sites, but had access to this handy cart, which provided hours of entertainment. The boys loved sitting in the back, getting pulled around by Emma and her friend. It was another great year of camping. (June/July 2006)

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Brian on the road, with a pit stop at Andy's Pink Elephant in DeForest, Wisconsin. (1994)

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Me, snorkeling in Cozumel, Mexico with some crazy pelicans watching on. (November 1994)

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My boys ... searching for toads while on vacation in Minocqua. That was such an amazing trip. It was raining most of the time. But we stayed in the house Brian grew up going to, which was super special. And it was during a time that Brian traveled a ton, and I worked full-time too, so just being together was incredible. (June 2009)

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One of the cool things about when Brian worked for SRAM, is that he got the opportunity to travel to Whistler, Canada each year for Crankworx. Twice, the boys and I met up with him, spending a few days in Whistler, and a few days in Gibsons at our friends the Enga's house. (More of that vacation can been seen here...). It is absolutely breathtaking there. The air, the mountains, the water. It was invigorating. And something we all looked so forward too. I crave going there again. (Gibsons, British Columbia -- August 2008)

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I pulled out this week's photo album, found a picture, and remembered that I actually had posted it on this blog way back when. I can't believe it's been nearly seven years that I've been recording our lives in this space. Crazy! This is a 3-year old C,at the Wisconsin State Fair in August of 2008. He sure still loves his pigs!

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It seems most of my photo albums are filled with H photos, because here's another one of him! He loved wearing these big yellow glasses, and would even wear them walking down the street. Adorable. Can't believe I just registered him for 7th grade yesterday. I blinked and it happened. (Summer 2003)

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Brian studied Fashion Design at SAIC. It's not a profession that many straight guys choose pursue. One of the benefits of that for me, is that he got to hang out with some really awesome girlfriends who were also in the program with him. For awhile, we got see each other quite often. The photo above was from the Summer of 2003. We were in NYC for Jenny's (not pictured) husband's 40th birthday party. H was one year old, and it was the first time I had traveled without him. I remember being super anxious about leaving him, but of course, had a blast. It's been forever since I've seen these ladies. Andrea (middle) lives in San Francisco, and Yvonne (right) is in LA. Sadly, Jenny passed away from cancer not much longer after this trip, which is so not fair. We all sure had many good times together. Makes me think that it's time to pick up the phone.

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When H was one year, one month old, we took a trip with some friends for a long weekend in Florida. He was the only little guy there so everyone spoiled him like crazy. It was awesome. On the way home, he was listening to music and made this goofy face the entire time for some reason. No, he wasn't going to the bathroom. It was pretty funny. Such a goofball. (May 2003)

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In honor of my nephew's 18th birthday last week, and leaving for college in a month, here's one of him and me when he was just a wee little gummy guy.

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This photo was taken in the spring of 1988. It must have been at the final get together of my AFS Hamburg group. My besties that year were Cece, who's standing next to me in the purple, and Diana from Scotland -- second from the left in the back. We were kind of inseparable. Cece and I got to see each other in NYC a couple years back, which was awesome. Diana, however, now lives in Australia, making the journey a little bit harder. Before she moved to Australia, she visited me during her travels. Once when I was living in Milwaukee (we actually took the train to see Cece, who was living in Chicago), and once when I was living in Chicago. We may not keep in touch as much, but I love that we do. I made some amazing friends that year, for sure.