Up Nord Photos

I'm breaking the pictures into two groups. The first half is from our stay in Shawano (pronounced SHAW-no). We enjoyed our stay up there, and my Grandma Stoehr and Mom made a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for us.

I love this picture of Tralee!

Tralee playing in the leaves in the forest behind Grandma and Grandpa Stoehr's

The day after Thanksgiving we hung out, played games, walked to the river for some photo opportunities, ate some more, and watched movies. Here are some of the MANY MANY MANY pictures that were taken on our walk and by the river.

Tralee playing outside with Daddy

Tralee playing outside with Mommy

My brother Jimmy, his wife Amy, and their kids Haylee and Brady walking to the river

Jim and myself walking with Tralee down by the river

Tralee holding her daddy's hand by the river

Grammy Char Char, Tralee, and me by the river

Family photo shot by the river

Tralee absolutly LOVED being outside in Wisconsin.

First "belly shot" of the pregnancy. I was 17 weeks along in this photo. Jim found this "pregnant tree" and wanted a shot of my belly next to it.

Cheesy glamor shot

More cheesy couple shots. I bet your glad these aren't our wedding announcements.

On Saturday Grandma took Amy and me to some thrift stores, and an awesome antique store. The funny thing was, I saw some cool things at the thrift store that were marked up 500% at the antique store. If you have a good eye, you can find some awesome deals at thrift stores for some nice vintage/antique items. It's still fun to look at antique stores though. At the first thrift store I found three ties for Jim that were super vintage (which translates to super ugly). Jim believes the uglier the tie is, the better it is. They were .50 cents each. I also found an old cookie/frosting press in its original (vintage glory) packaging for $2. I saw something similar at the antique store for $15. I ended up spending $3.69 while thrift store shopping. Can't beat those prices! You also can't beat going to thrift stores with Grandma Stoehr. I think it's a tradition. I used to get up early Saturday mornings to go to garage sales with Grandma to look for treasures. Grandma and I would love to show each other our finds, and then talk about where we would put them or what we would do to them. Grandma has a great eye for thrift shopping. So, if you're ever in Shawano ask her to take you, you won't regret it!

Jim, Grandpa Stoehr, David, and my dad went bowling on Saturday. We met up later and Jim and Uncle Dave came with the ladies to go buy some real WI cheese (so so so good). Afterwards we went home, played games (this is when we found out about Jim's Mom), ate more yummy food, watched more movies, and went for another walk.

Here are some pictures of Jim walking Rudy, my dad riding a bike on our "walk," Uncle Dave hanging out with us, and my mom and me pulling some random faces in Shawano.

I didn't pack any winter clothes, and it was cold up north. So, Grandma Stoehr saved the day and gave me some winter clothes to wear. Jim thought I looked funny in them, so he took a few shots of me sporting my borrowed winter gear.

Later that night Grandpa Stoehr invited Jim to a hunting raffle that was taking place in Gresham (an even smaller town than Shawano). Jim thought it would be a nice outing so off he went with Grandpa. Jim said the raffle was quite the experience. It took place in a tiny bar, filled with smoke, and large beardy men sipping on their Papst and talking with thick Wisconsin accents. When the bartender asked Jim what he would like to drink, Jim replied, "A Sundrop" (this is a soda that's made and bottled right in Shawano). The bartender looked at Jim funny and said, "Is that all?" To which Jim replied, "Yup, that's as strong as it gets for me." Jim also said whenever he talked all the men would turn and stare and him and then exclaim, "Wow! You have a really nice accent!" Jim thought this was pretty funny, because all these Wisconsinite men's accents were thicker than their waste size. The good news of the night was Grandpa Stoehr won $50 on the deer raffle. The deer he shot while hunting a few days before made him enough money to pay for the tags. Good job Grandpa! :)

The thing Tralee liked BEST at Grandma and Grandpa's was their dog Rudy. She LOVED him, and would cry when he wasn't around. Silly girl!

It looks like Rudy is about to bite Tralee, but he's just about to kiss her.

Sunday we went to church, came home, packed our things, ate one last meal, said our goodbyes, and drove back to the Milwaukee area.

Brady, Tralee, and Haylee before going to church (Tralee REALLY loved her cousins!)

Some generation photos. Grandma Stoehr, Grandpa Stoehr, Mom, Tralee, and myself all pictured.

Our stay in Shawano was great and it tuckered us right out!

Jim and Tralee napping on the drive back to the Milwaukee area.

Pictures from our stay in Milwaukee coming soon. . .