Let There Be Light!

Usually when you plug in the string of lights to the Christmas tree, a magical thing happens.  Light from top to bottom and it's beautiful.  Hunter looks forward to plugging in the tree every single night.  I think he is going to be so sad the day we have to take the tree down.
Tonight, was normal as always.  We got home from the Y, Hunter ran outside to plug in the lights out there and flipped the switch for the icicle lights.  Next, the tree.  He plugged in the cord and what is usually voila! it was nothing.  He tried again.  Nothing.  Tears started to flow.  I was confused.  I went to check it out.
Sweet.  The cat chewed the cord.  Seriously, Lucky?  I'm not impressed.  1. Now we have no lights.  Until tomorrow.  I will go to Target, get another string and take off the bottom string and bottom ornaments and put on the new string and redecorate the bottom of the tree.  Kind of a minor inconvenience.  2.  That magic of Christmas is gone for tonight.  Ok, not really, but it seems dark in our house.  3.  What if a fire would have started?  I don't know if that's possible, but what if.  4.  I kind of am impressed that she was able to chew thru the cord. 
So for tonight, we have no lights.  But hopefully by tomorrow, we will be back in business.

It's Been Fun...

It all began on February 13, 2009.  We bought you, the truck of Craig's dreams.  A 2006 Chevy Silverado LT 2500, crew cab, long box, Duramax.  (I think I got it all).  We only had 2 days to find a vehicle in order to pull our trailer full of belongings to the new place we would call home-Texas.  Craig got a great deal, and you were ours, Craig's new baby.

On February 14th, we hit the road south with our new rig.  Must say, we looked good going down the highway.  And you pulled like a champ! 

Thank you, truck, for making us fit in while in Texas.  If it wasn't for your MN plates, we probably would have looked like the locals.  You brought out my husbands true colors.  And let's be honest, he looked pretty cute driving it.  And you didn't make him look ridiculous when he would wear his beloved cowboy hat.  We had fun with you on the beach,  excursions in Texas, hanging out at the shipping port and even bringing home our new little baby boy, Brody in it.  Thank you for the memories.

While owning you, you were my husband's favorite photo subject.  Probably because you wouldn't move around like our children do.  He would park you just so, angle the camera just right so the light would hit you in all the right spots.  Heck, you could even make Canada look good:

You were perfect for all kinds of weather.  You were great in the summer and even better in the winter.  Well, except that one time I almost spun out with you.  But no worries, Craig did the same thing in the exact same spot  the next day.  Maybe it was your way of having fun with us.  But thank you for keeping us safe.

And thanks for making us look good in South Dakota this summer.  We had a great family vacation within your doors.  And thanks for making Mt. Rushmore look amazing.

But, it was also that trip that made us realize that we could use more seating space and would enjoy not having to fish out bags from the farthest point in the truck bed.  Remember, you are a long box.  We decided that the best thing for our family right now, would to buy a different vehicle, save some money on fuel and be able to haul around more people.

It has been fun, dear truck.  And I'm not going to lie, I am just as sad as my husband to see you go.  (I even tried to convince him to turn around this morning as we began our search for our new vehicle.  Memories rushed through my head.  Knowing I was taking away the dream truck made me feel guilty.  And let's be honest, even Craig thought I looked good driving it.)  Thank you for the memories, the fun times in the truck and all of the adventures you allowed to our family.  You will be missed, but we look forward to our new vehicle.

And thank you Craig, for giving up a dream that will help our family better.  I know that this was hard for you.  But don't worry, we will try to find one that is just like this again one day.  I would say bigger and better, but I really don't want our next truck to be a semi.  After all, it was the biggest truck Chevy makes.  I know the BLT CB won't look as cool on the Taurus or the Traverse as it did on the Silverado, but we can still put it up on road trips, if we must.  Thank you for always working so hard to provide for our family and sometimes giving up your dreams. 



Last Night: Update

Well, round 49 didn't go so great.  Hunter finally went down around 10:30, but Brody was a little stinker.  Finally at 11:30 he crashed and burned.  He has been so irritable lately with a runny nose.  Finally it dawned on me- Could he be teething?  After putting my finger in to feel the back of his mouth, sure enough there were some bumps on the back where molars are trying to push through.  With the help of a little medicine, more cuddling, and some tears, I finally got him down.
They were ready to go at 8:00 this morning.  Short night for them, so today could be interesting!

Some Nights...

Some nights just make you want to cry.  Like tonight.  It's nearly 10 o'clock and both boys have been up and down all night.  And they're still up.  I don't know what it is!  Ahhh!!  It's nights like tonight that I wish the hubby wasn't so far away. 
Alright, well off to try again.  Round 49.  Go!  Ok, so I haven't kept track, but that's what it feels like.  Good night!

Senior Picture

Brody is just practicing his poses for his senior pictures.

Dukes of Hazzard

Hunter is obsessed with the Dukes of Hazzard right now.  We have a DVD with a couple of episodes on it and if you give him a choice of what to watch, chances are he'll pick the Dukes.  And he's thinking he should have a Dukes of Hazzard birthday party too.  Because you know, it is now less than 6 months away and we need to plan early. ;)  While we were in TN, we picked up some Dukes of Hazzard cars at Cooter's.  That was the one thing that Hunter had requested.  He loves them and plays with them almost daily.  I was going through the camera, because I have two little boys who like to take random pictures and came across these.  They are too funny not to share.  Just shows how Hunter's mind works.

The Sheriff captured the General Lee.

And my personal favorite, the Dukes jumping over the Sheriff in order to get away.  The best part is that he had to hold the car in place while holding the camera to get this money shot.  Talk about some skills and creativity!

Hunter the hunter

It was a big weekend in our house this weekend for our little Hunter.  He got to go and sit with his daddy at sunset!  He had no clue that we were planning this and when we asked him that afternoon if he wanted to his response was, "But I'm not 9 yet".  Since deer opener, Hunter had been waking up at the crack of dawn, putting on his "blazing" orange, setting up stuffed animals around the living room and sitting on the kitchen stool  his deer stand.  It is so fun waking up to "Bang, bang, bang!"

Craig said he did well for the most part.  He shuffled around a lot which made some noise and when they did see a deer Hunter was a little excited and talked above a whisper to point out the deer to his dad.  However, it was too far away to try to get.

Craig was unable to get a deer this weekend.  Maybe next year we can add another deer to our basement (fingers crossed that we don't-no offense Craig).  But, he did see a black bear within a 100 feet.  At least he has a good story to tell, right? 

 Hunting is serious business.

Craig and Hunter ready to head out for sunset.

Mario Bros.

Happy Halloween from the Zappe Bros. Mario Bros.  They had a great time dressing up, trick or treating, and eating some candy.  Hunter came up with the idea for this years costumes.  They were pretty cute!

 Doing the signature Mario move/jump.

 We made multiple stops around town including the great-grandparents and grandparents.

They made quite the haul of candy!!  This should last for awhile!

Adventures with Nellie

Some of you may remember Ned.  He was Hunter's preschool's class bear that went home on the weekends with the students to get a glimpse into their life at home.  Well this year, Hunter is in the morning preschool class and they have Nellie, Ned's sister.  This past weekend, it was Hunter's weekend to bring Nellie home.  And let me tell you, we had quite the adventures!  Take a look at what we did!

After school, Hunter, Nellie and I went to Mi Mexico for lunch.  Hunter enjoyed a quesadilla, fries and my rice.  He tried to feed Nellie, but she must not have been too hungry.  After this we went over to Caribou to visit Auntie Melissa who was working.

That night, we baked cut-out Halloween cookies.  We had bats, cats, haunted houses, ghosts, pumpkins and witches!  They were quite the helpers!

 Saturday morning, we hit the road at 8:00 AM and headed south to Iowa.  (See, Nellie picked a good weekend to spend with us).    We drove, and drove, stopped for some lunch and continued to drive arriving to Craig's project site around 3:45 in the afternoon.  We found out that Nellie is a great traveler!  And so were the boys.  We only stopped 3 times. 

At the site, they were just starting to put up the nacelle of the turbine.  So we drove over there and watched the crane bring it to the top of the tower.  They were going to hang the rotor (blades and hub) but the wind picked up and they were unable to.  Either way, it was fun watching the crane and seeing a little dot poke up from the top of the tower now and then directing the crane.  The little dot was a person.  Not sure I would like that job and I made my husband tell me he is not doing that. 

We got a tour of the site, checked out some turbines, went to Craig's office, checked out their wind turbine pumpkins and then went to the dirty hotel Craig's apartment.  Don't worry, he keeps his place pretty clean, but the first time we were there, the halls were dirty and Hunter called it the dirty hotel.  So that's it's name.  We went to Pizza Hut for supper and then hung out at the dirty hotel.  Brody had a rough night and didn't want to sleep.  We finally got him down around 10:30 which is late for a little by who is usually in bed at 7:00-7:30.

Sunday morning, we decided to skip church since they were up and at em at 6:00!  Short night!  We got on the road around 10:00 to head to Omaha, NE.  We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory-yum!, and then went downtown to the Children's Museum.  The boys had a blast.  So did Nellie (Ok, so she just stayed in the car...it's hard enough keeping tabs on 2 boys).  But we did take a picture of her and Hunter outside of the museum before leaving.

Monday morning, we woke before the crack of dawn at 5:30, packed up and were on the road at 6:30 AM.  We drove and drove again and finally arrived home at 2:00.  We changed into costumes, took pictures to send to Target, then began our trick or treating adventure.  And all 3 of my "children" for the weekend were in costume: Mario, Luigi and a cheerleader.

Nellie came trick or treating with us around town to see our loved ones.  She  helped me hand out candy while my brother, Andrew took Hunter around our neighborhood and Brody stayed home and ate supper and went to bed. 

 It was a fun weekend and very busy.  Hunter was very excited after school because he was able to share what he did with Nellie.  Mrs. Roste told him that Nellie had never been to Iowa or Nebraska.  Lucky bear!  He told me the kids liked the pictures too and told me they said things like, "Whoa!  That is so cool!"  "Neat!" "That looks fun!"  He is proud of his daddy and was happy to share some of the things with his classmates and to actually be able to see the project.  Even though this isn't a typical weekend for us, we still had fun and it gave Nellie a glimpse of how wild, crazy, and adventurous our life can be.

Mommy's Monsters

In the spirit of Halloween coming up in the next week, thought you might enjoy these cuties in their monster jammies.  Hunter is really excited and can't wait to wear his costume and go trick-or-treating and I'm sure Brody will follow his lead.



First Sleepover

Breaking News!!  Hunter had his first sleep over this weekend at a friend's house and it was a success!!  There was only one phone call with a few tears after getting a slight injury, but other than that it went great and he didn't want to come home!  Looks like my little boy is growing up!

Prayer Request

Yesterday at church, Hunter's Sunday School teacher came up to Craig to ask if we were considering buying a new Cadillac.  Craig was puzzled, told her no and asked her why. 
Apparently the other week, Hunter's teacher asked if anyone had any special prayer requests.  Hunter's hand popped up and requested that his class should pray for his family in order to get a new Cadillac.  We figured it out and we're pretty sure this happened the weekend after my little brother bought his first car, which just so happens to be a Cadillac. 
So Uncle Alex, if you are reading this, know that you have a strong influence on your little nephew and he is dreaming and praying that he can have a Cadillac to look just like you.

Knock-Knock

Right now Brody is in love with knock-knock jokes.  Does he get them?  Kind of but not really.  He loves telling them and they make sense, but they're not too funny, but we pull out the fake laugh to make him feel good.  He will make a knock-knock joke out of any situation.  For example, today at lunch:
Knock-Knock.
Who's There?
Grilled Cheese?
Grilled Cheese who?
Grilled Cheese is yummy!  So good!

Another classic:
Knock-Knock.
Who's There?
Brody.
Brody Who?
Brody Zappe.

Another good one:
Knock-Knock.
Who's There?
Hannah.
Hannah Who?
Hannah cuts my hair!

Our house is pretty much the land of knock-knock jokes.  Are they funny?  No, they just make sense, but somehow have a way of putting a smile on my face.

Bitter Sweet

This is the kind of story that I thought only happened in the movies.  Sad, but touching all at the same time.  I hope that Craig and I are able to grow old together and that the time span between the two of us departing earth could be similar to this couple.  And just think, Craig and I only have to live to the ages of 91 and 93 to be married for 72 years.  Kind of crazy when you think about it that it really is possible.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44960859/ns/us_news-life/

Why Tennessee?

Every time I told someone that Craig and I would be heading to Tennessee in October, the most popular response I got was, "Why Tennessee?".  Well, why not?  Craig drove through on a band trip once and said it looked gorgeous and that he always wanted to check out the Smoky Mountains.  And I had always heard that Nashville is so much fun with lots to do.  So after googling the areas and a little research we decided that TN would be the perfect place for us to go on a little get-away.  After seeing our pictures, you may just want to go to TN too!

I knew we had made a great choice as soon as we got off the plane in Nashville.  Dierks Bentley even welcomed us to Nashville!  How cool is that?  Ok, so it was just over the loud speaker, but still, I think I can say that he welcomed us.  Him along with Tim McGraw, George Strait and Kellie Pickler.  We got our rental car and it was gross.  Scratches everywhere, stains inside, and I thought it was an ugly car.  So, we decided to complain and got ourselves a Chevy Malibu.  Much nicer!  We hit the road towards Gatlinburg as we would spend most of our time near Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We had rented a cabin for our days there and from the pictures online, it looked cute.  But sometimes pictures can be deceiving.

We were not disappointed when we pulled up to this cute cabin!  It was just as nice as the pictures and totally beat a hotel.  It was completely secluded being surrounded by trees on a slope of a mountain.  It was amazing.  And complete with a full kitchen, living room, washer/dryer, pool table, air hockey table and hot tub on the back deck.  Pretty amazing and the price was right!  We were tired from a day of travel, but also a little hungry, so we headed to downtown Gatlinburg, had some food and walked the strip.  After relaxing in the hot tub, we hit the hay so we were ready for the adventures that awaited us the next day.

The next day we head to the park.  We had seen the mountains in the distance and they were beautiful.  We couldn't wait to head into the park and do a little exploring.  This was at the first spot we pulled off at.  There was a hint of color in the trees and it was breathtaking.  And even the drive was great.  The majority of the time it was like you were in a tunnel of trees and every now and then there would be a clearing with mountains surrounding you.

We drove just a little further into the park and came across a trail to hike.  We grabbed our water, a couple snacks and set off.  The only thing we read on the sign was that it would take 2-3 hours round trip and it was 2 miles up and 2 miles back.  No big deal, right?  Oh no, it was exhausting!  If you are ever at GSMNP, and decided to hike the Chimney Top Trail, make sure you bring plenty of water, some snacks, good shoes and be ready to get your heart pumping, make multiple stops to catch your breath, and feel burning in your calves and thighs.  Seriously.  Apparently we didn't read the sign completely, but once we returned we discovered we had just made a 1,700 foot elevation change and that it was a difficult trail.  We learned that really fast.  A trail that had rocks and tree roots as your steps.  A trail that was super steep.  A trail where you had to climb over rocks in some parts.  But it was totally worth it!  The view at the top was beautiful and there were manys streams and a few small waterfalls along the way.

At the summit of Chimney Top.  We didn't go all the way due to our shoes feeling slippery on the rocks that you had to climb.  And since we wanted to live and see our boys again, we decided why risk it. 

After that, we headed back to the cabin, changed and headed to South Carolina for dinner with my cousin and her husband.  So fun to see them, see where they live and have many laughs with them.  We drove back that evening but could hardly stay awake.  We ended up pulling off at a rest area about an hour away from our cabin and slept for about an hour.  After that, we hit the road and got back around 2 AM.  Talk about a long day!  But lots of fun!  The next day we headed back to the park because we had hardly seen any of it.  We did a lot of driving, hiked part of the Appalachian Trail and went to see Clingman's Dome (the highest point in the park with a great view).  We also saw some elk in a meadow that evening.  The part of the park we explored that day brought us into North Carolina. 

 On the Appalachian Trail.

 Clingman's Dome.

View from the Dome.  Hints of color in the tree tops.

After a day filled with hiking, taking in the sights, we headed back to Gatlinburg for supper.  We were completely exhausted, but walked up and down the strip (as if we hadn't walked enough that day) and headed back to the cabin.  The next day was our last full day in Gatlinburg so we decided to get up early because there was still park of the park we had wanted to see, called Cades Cove.  We had read that Cades Cove is the best place to see wildlife and I told Craig that we couldn't leave until we saw a bear.  I was determined.  Well, lucky for me we did.  We were at a cute little cabin and some people had asked us if we had seen the bears up the trail.  We hadn't gone on that trail, but instantly I knew we had to.  After all, I did come to see a bear, right?  They told us there was a mama bear with her two cubs high in the trees.  They said we would hear them rustling in the tree tops.  So, we meandered our way up the trail and sure enough heard them.  But we couldn't see them.  We waited and waited, looked and looked, but nothing.  The forest was so dense it was hard to figure out exactly what tree they were in.  And was that rustling really from the tree tops?  Or were they now on the ground?  Kind of an uneasy feeling not knowing where exactly the bears were, but knowing you can hear them and that they are close.  But finally, my husband with his great vision spotted them and pointed them out.  They were high in the tree tops and we were only able to spot one cub.  We decided it would be wise to skedaddle since we hadn't seen mama bear yet, and we all know mama would do whatever it would take to keep her cubs safe.  I was satisfied, but was still hoping to get a picture of a bear.  We continued to drive and came across a congested area.  Everybody was out of their cars looking at a bear!  It was nestled in a tree, and kind of hard to pick out.  It looked like a little black blog.  I took a picture, because we were running out of chances.  A few yards up the road though there was a little black bear hanging out in the tree.  I snapped a picture as we drove by.

Isn't it cute??  We continued to drive and drive and did some hiking.  Saw a really neat mill, another bear and finally decided to head out of the park because it was 1:30 and we still hadn't had any lunch.  We thought Cades Cove would be a quick couple hours but somehow turned into somewhere between 4-5 hours.  But it was really neat and we knew we could have seen a lot more if only time allowed it.  After a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we went to Cooter's to get a picture of the General Lee for Hunter, get Hunter a couple souvenirs and played some mini-golf.  Kind of a disappointing course but still had fun.  There were a lot of neat courses, so next time.  We did our touristy shopping, enjoyed some ice cream and then went to the moonshine distillery.  Who could refuse free samples?  It was neat seeing how they made it and fun trying it.  We were able to try 6 different flavors-apple pie, grape, hunch punch, a cherry soaked in white lighting, and 2 white lightnings-one strong one and then an even stronger one (which I couldn't do).  The apple pie was our favorite hands down so we bought some to bring home :)  Yum!  I guess we might just have to have a moonshine party one night so you can try a little sample.

Outside of the distillery, there was an amazing bluegrass band called Monroeville.  They were great and it was fun sitting in a rocking chair listening to music.  We then headed to dinner at the most obnoxious place ever-Dick's.  I thought it was funny, slightly entertaining, but I could tell Craig may have been slightly uncomfortable.  It is a crazy atmosphere and we can definitely say it is a dinner that we will remember.  After enjoying our evening downtown, we headed back to the cabin to pack up so we would be ready to hit the road in the morning.

The next morning we headed to Nashville, TN!  Can I get a yee-haw?  Nashville was amazing.  We checked into our hotel, dropped off our bags and head to the Ryman Auditorium.  For those of you who don't know what the Ryman is, it is the old home of the Grand Ole Opry.  It started out as a church to begin with.  Many stars have performed there over the years.  And we were even able to go up on stage!  Pretty cool feeling knowing you stood in the exact spot as stars such as Elvis, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Dolly Parton.

I know we look pretty good on stage.  Star material if you ask me.  But you will not want to hear us sing.  Craig's ok...me, no way!  One guy told me that I beamed when I was on stage.  It was quite the compliment.  I assured him he did not want to hear me perform.  After the Ryman, we found some lunch at a great little BBQ place downtown.  You know it's going to be good when there is still a line at 1:30 in the afternoon.  After that we hit up Broadway and popped in and out of bars listening to some live music.  Then, it was time to head to the Grand Ole Opry for the performance that night.  We had a great time at the Opry and heard some amazing voices.  Some we knew of, others we didn't.  Either way, it was a great show.  Very entertaining and everyone sounded amazing.

After the 2.5 hour performance, we headed back downtown to see the nightlife of Nashville on a Friday night.  We found some food at Margaritaville and heard a great band.  We popped in and out of a few bars, but finally found a band we really liked at Legends.  We spent the rest of our night there enjoying each other and great music. 

As you can tell we had a great time in TN!  Many great memories were made and it was so nice spending some much needed one on one time with the hubby.  It was bittersweet to come home.  I didn't want our time to end, but was ready to come home to two little boys who missed us dearly.  Oh, and we missed them too :)  So, if you're looking for a great vacation spot with lots to do, head to TN!

Fall Pictures

Yesterday.  5:30 PM.  Eating Supper.  Gorgeous Day. Mid 70's.  No Wind.  Leaves starting to turn.  Knowing it will be cool today.  And Windy.  Windy=Leaves blowing off.  Leaves blowing off=blah looking trees.  Panic.  We have family pictures the end of the month, but the weather is too perfect.  Light bulb goes off.  You can do just the boys today.  Hurry!  Eat supper.  Pick out their outfits.  Line it up.  Clean off the boys.  Give Hunter his clothes to get dressed.  Race Brody down to his room to change the diaper and get new clothes on.  Wipe Brody's face.  Unfortunately he has a nasty cold with a runny nose.  Face clean.  Boys dressed.  Grab the camera.  Get boys in car.  Drive.  But where?  Train tracks.  Take pictures.  Chase boys.  Watch for trains.  No trains in sight.  Not enough fall color.  Hop in car.  Pit stop at home.  Grab washcloth.  Wipe grease off Brody's hands from train tracks.  Drive.  Go to Spruce Hill.  Go to the tunnel.  Did ok, but lighting was getting away from us.  Drive to a spot with more light.  See Deer.  Take more pictures.  Play in the leaves.  Run around.  Enjoy the gorgeous evening as the sun is beginning to set.  And here are the results of my impromptu photo shoot.  Enjoy!

Pictures are my passion.  I carry my camera with me everywhere I go.  I know sometimes the boys get annoyed with me wanting to take their pictures, but I hope one day they are able to cherish their pictures.  I know one thing is for sure, I will never have to hear them complain that there are no pictures of them.