Gage turns 1

My nephew and god son Gage also turned 1 last Sunday! We had a great little party for him and he got all sorts of toys and cute clothes (and some pretty awesome Hawkeye gear from me and Nate, naturally). I didn't get any shots of him with his presents, but just him playing around;) I guess I did get a pic of him with his new Hawkeye hat on.... What a cutie! He smiles sooooo much and loves to play around with everything. He walks so well and has been walking for a couple months, I believe. He loves playing with his cousin Carson (who you can also see being held in the econd picture) and got so many toys he'll be set for quite awhile! Mom and Dad got him some pretty sweet "band" toys as well (drum, maracas, tamborine, etc) so there will be some pretty nice songs coming out of the Brunner house in Quaski very soon;)

Randoms

Unfortunately the ole Hawkeyes might end this season the way they did last season....losing all 4 of their last games....but we still had fun tailgating for the last home game of the season! It wasn't too cold and we had a great group of people, as always. It was also my friend Kelsey's daughter Addison's birthday so we had cupcakes to celebrate;)

Halloween Party 2011

Nate and I had a few friends over for Halloween Saturday night. One of my coworkers was nice enough to cover call for me that night (but Sunday still kinda sucked in that respect) so we could party it up!  Really just a few friends from the area came over and we played some game then headed to the North Liberty bars to finish the night. Here are some great action shots of the night and the costumes;)

Muammar Gaddafi and his female bodyguard.

Jarrek and his LMFAO costume. He was shufflin all night long;)

Mummy Dogs! These were actually much more labor intensive to make than I thought they were going to be, but still yummy!

Nutter Butter ghosts

We finally made it to the bar were there were cross dressers galore, or some reason.

Us with Jarrek's friend Amy (one of the bartenders)

"Serious" pic.

Sookie and Vampire Bill (Ashley and Brett)

Notice the nice white makeup Brett is wearing, ahah! Too bad the vampire teeth wouldn't stay in place!

Below is the video from the band LMFAO that inspired Jarrek's costume. Hilarious! Next year I think we all plan to be some character from Spaceballs. Woohoo....

Go Hawks!

So, we finally played a fun, exciting, good game! AND WE BEAT THAT DAMN NORTHWESTERN;) Whew! Even though I am technically an alumnus of both schools, I'm DEFINITELY A HAWKEYE. We had a great day of tailgating with a 6pm game and luckily no one got out of control (in our group).  I also recently found out our friends Stephanie and Nick whom we tailgate with are expecting twins! Due date is now middle of February, I think..... So many people I know are expecting, how exciting!!!  Anywho, here's some pics of our group tailgating and of the awesome card trick and colors of the game.

I thought this video showed the card stunt pretty good, AND showed off our great plays of the game! Got me excited all over again!

Maddy's Wedding Weekend!

So, my camera died immediately after the wedding, but I still got a few good pics in!  The first weekend in October my very good friend from college Maddy married Tom Karels!!! The wedding was in Peoria right along the riverfront and the weather was PERFECT! It was a great weekend (maybe a little too good for me...) and we had a great time.  The reception housed a photo booth and a great band and we rocked out with a bunch of great people;) It was awesome! The bridal party rode around in a fun trolley to get our pics taken between the wedding and reception and the scenery and fall colors were gorgeous. Now I can't wait to be in my wonderful friend Heather's wedding next summer! Woop Woop!!

"Couples" picture at the rehearsal dinner.

All of us girls getting ready at Maddy's sister's house.

Enjoying some trolley time after the wedding!

The wonderful bride and groomie!

Hawks and Bachelorettes!

This weekend was a doozy! First, the Hawkeyes....I must say I was doubting our abilities VERY much for about 3 and  half quarters after watching them get penalties, sacked, and going 3 and out over and over and over....but THANK GOD WE CAME BACK AND WON!!!!! I had to leave the game early to get ready for my friend Maddy's bachelorette party that night so I missed the whole comeback....I"m pretty bummed about that because I would have REALLY like to have been there for it! But still, hearing the crowd cheer on the way to my care and listening on AM was still great! My friends Brett and Ashley also tailgated with us this weekend, it was great to have them!

Then Saturday night was my friend Maddy's "Totally 80's Bachelorette Party"!  Naturally, the theme was 80's (as you can see from the t-shirts) and we had some pretty great outfits.  The bride to be didn't know the theme so we brought a wonderful outfit for her....she didn't love it at first but we made her wear it anyway, ahaha.  We partied it up at the matron of honor's house in Atkins, then took the party to downtown IC!!! We hit up all the old joints and Maddy enjoyed a ped mall gyro for nostalgia's sake;)

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend was a pretty nice, relaxing few days for us.  The first Hawkeye football game of the season was a success....well, the tailgating went very well and we all stayed dry for that. The game is a whole other story. Needless to say, we were all soaked by the time we left during the "30 minute delay" and decided to watch the rest of the game at home.  The next day we all went to Nick and Jill's house and grilled and sat around the fire and just hung out. It was great;) Here are a few pics from the weekend!

 

 

Almost Time!

Yes, that time of year is only 4 days away!!!! Of course I'm talking about HAWKEYE FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!!!! My friend Chris, Kelsey, and Kacey are all arriving Friday night and we are going to do some "serious" pre-tailgating at BWW (apparently Kelsey has been craving it)....but Fry Fest is also that night and I haven't ever been to it yet so I think it would be fun to visit it also!

Naturally we are getting up before dawn to get our fav tailgating spot....unfortunately Nate has to work so he won't be partaking in our festivities:(  But I believe my dad and brother Nick are coming to the game with me this weekend so it should be a good time!  I think I almost need to make a check list to make sure I remember everything!  It always seems like the first few games you forget this or that, but once conference play starts everything is ready to go every weekend.....we even know what everyone else is going to bring food-wise so we don't have overlap;) I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

As for Tennessee Tech, I haven't done much research on them, but I think our Hawkeye team has some potential this year!! I heard some announcers on the radio this morning having the Hawks at 7-4 and 8-3 and losing almost all of their non-conference games....if you ask me that is horse shit, but that's just my opinion;)

Sunday the whole fam (including Nate) is heading to Nick and Jills house for some much needed rest and relaxation. A little beer, grilling, and games is in order....should be a great time! 

Nate has to work on Monday, the club always had an "end of summer BBQ/pool party", so maybe I'll just relax.....or if I get ambitious I can organize the garage and FINALLY put up the shelves I bought for them back in May....

I'm sure I"ll have some good tailgating and BBQ pics come Sunday and Monday, stay tuned. GO HAWKS!!!

Tree Problem

Our tree in the front yard is looking a little less than healthy lately.  At the beginning of the summer it started turning a kind of reddish-brown color (as did a lot of trees on our street).  I wasn't too worried about that because I thought maybe it was just a different kind of tree than I thought and it naturally had reddish leaves.  But now a lot of the leaves have turned black around the edges!  I'm not sure if it needs more water, but we water it almost every day.....could it be because we have rock around the bottom and it's not getting enough oxygen to the roots or something???? If anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them!  We also have those tree spikes in the ground by it so it gets nutrients.....I just don't know. I hope it pulls through!

And the winner is.....

The purple dress!!! I'm not sure on shoes yet....I have some purple and black Jessica Simpson ones but they slip really bad at the heel so I don't walk very graciously in them....plus after a couple drinks that could be disastrous! haha.  But I bet we have something at work I could put at the heel . Hmmmm, there's an idea....

Unfortunaley the greyish dress with the one shoulder flowered strap was made out of a not-so-forgiving material, if you know what I mean.....It's super cute and if/when I lose weight I would love it, but for now I should probably just return it....

I also received my bridesmaid dress in the eggplant color for my friend Maddy's wedding in October yesterday!!!! I was super nervous about this fit because all I did was send in measurements and we ordered online (cheaper!).  Anyway, I tried it on ASAP and it fits really well!  It is just a little long, but it depends what shoes she has us wear too.  It is also a little gappy in the chest area...a little uncommon for me, haha! It seems as though I like purple, huh....

Door County, WI 2011

So, here it is, as promised!  Nate and I got back from Ellison Bay in Door County, WI yesterday.  It was such a great relaxing vacation neither of us wanted it to end! We stayed with Nate's parents, Nancy and Steve, in their cabin on the Green Bay side of the Door County penninsula.  Orginally we went up because it is the annual salmon fishing tournament....but it turned out that fishing was pretty terrible this year.  We went out almost every day (days that weren't too windy we went out twice!) and only caught 3 fish.  Apparently they usually get 3 or so every time they go out.  Nate and I also did some bass fishing in the bay and caught some good ones there too (but let them go....).  The sunsets were all beautiful and we had a great time hanging out with some awesome people!!! I seriously can't wait to go back! 

We left North Liberty Friday after work and drove to Madison and stayed at an iffy (at best) but cheap motel.  Then we drove the rest of the way in the morning, got all our lisences and tags and tickets and got up there asap!  Nancy and Steve had gotten there Friday night and slept in the boat since the people renting the cabin were still there one more night.  We got everything unloaded and I met everyone who was already up there. 

Nate and I (really just Nate...) had a list of restaurants we wanted to definitely visit so we got to work on that as well!  Hmm, the short list of places we ate is Al Johnsons, The Shoreline, JJ's, Summer Kitchen, and The English Inn.  We also visted Cana Island Lighthouse and saw Harry Potter and Horrible Bosses at the Drive-In one night;) Anyway, I"ll get on with the pictures!

Nate is getting reaquainted with his Wisconsin friends, haha;) These little guys are kids of people Nate and his family always vacationed with in Ellison Bay.

Sunset the first night. It was always a "to do" to see the sunset!

Our private harbor and pier.

The Seagull, Nate's parents' cabin

The grounds. Shuffleboad courts, fire pit, and other cabins in the resort.

The chairs we watched the sunset from. Picturesque, huh?!?

A look at the resort from the pier.

Steve's, Nate's dad, boat and boat slip.

Nate and I took the boat out by ourselves when Steve had to go back and help at work for a couple days. Captain Nate was getting a little hot....

Sunset the night Nate and I took the boat out.

Looking up at the main entrance to the restaurant Al Johnsons. It is a swedish restaurant and they had wonderful breakfast food! They also have grass on the roof with goats grazing, haha!

At the Drive-In watching Harry Potter and Horrible Bosses. Great Night.

The first salmon! It was only about a 12 pounder, I think....

I guess Nate decided he needed to show everyone how the slip and slide is done!

Our nightly "chill" by the fire.

Not a very flattering picture of me, and the fish is apparently not a good one to eat, but I forgot my camera the first time we went out when I caught a couple good small mouth bass. Oh well!

Friday night dinner at The English Inn. We went with Steve and Nancy (Nate's parents) and it was soooo good!  They have 5 different kinds of fish to choose from for their all-you-can-eat fish fry. Needless to say,we were stuffed.

Sunset on Friday night, I believe.

lounging in the chairs at the end of the pier watching the sun set.

Finally, a good salmon! This one was 19.98 pounds, so basically a 20 pounder! However, the guy weighing in his fish right before us weighed in at 32 pounds....damn. But Nate thinks that guy will win the tournament with that fish....oh well, I'll settle for 20 pounds of salmon!

Visiting the Summer Kitchen for some great soups and sandwiches

Inside at the Summer Kitchen

A very windy storm suddenly came up as we were watching the sunset Saturday night. Almost everyone at the resort had left earlier that day except us (rentals are from Saturday to Saturday) so we were running around trying to secure everything!

There was a little bit of a "sache" (I think that's how it's spelled).  Its when the barometric pressure drops suddenly and it sucks the water out and the water level drops really low in the harbor. Then it basically rises quckly and floods.  The one this day wasn't too bad, but Nate and his parents told me a story of one awhile ago when it put all the boats up on the pier, yikes!

Here is the Cana Island Lighthouse Nate and I visited Sunday after his parens left for home.  It had some good historical info that we toured but we didn't go all the way to the top because you had to have on close toed shoes....oh well.

Then we stopped by Ellison Bay State Park and walked to the overlook onto the bay.

The sunset on our last night. It was absolutely beautiful!

The stairs down to the beach that Nate and his dad built this week. There always had to be a project;)