Tanner's 17

Today Tanner turned 17!! 🤯 It’s been a wild ride raising this kid, but man are we proud of the man he’s growing up to be. Tanner is driven, smart, thoughtful, hard working, a great cook, incredible musician, and basically great at anything he puts his mind to. This next year will bring lots of change with graduation and college, and none of us feel ready, but we’re also so excited to see where life takes him!  He must be living right because Seminary was canceled because one of the other school districts didn't have school, and the senior class declared it a "Senior Skip Day" so he didn't go to school either.  He got together with his friend Mackenzie for lunch and some shopping, and enjoyed time relaxing at home with the fam.  Sounds like the perfect birthday to me!  We love you Tanner! Happy Birthday! 🎉🎉🎉 Being your Mom is my greatest joy!

Started the morning with a yogurt parfait.

He chose Mediterranean food for dinner and helped prepare it too!

He mostly asked for money for a laptop for college, but we couldn't help but snag a few other things too.  Landon built him a lazy susan from some of the wood from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's oak tree so he can have a hot cocoa station when he moves out.  He also gave him some cocoa beans, mugs, and electric stirrer.  Bridger gifted him a $20 bill he folded into a ring to add to his laptop fund.  And Braddock is working on an awesome picture he's making of one of Tanner's favorite bands on his typewriter.  I love the thought these boys put into gifts for each other.

And it was fruit pizza for birthday dessert.  We were all happy with his choice.  Yum!

And the one time I year this kid lets me kiss him! Hahaha!

Andrea's 40th

To celebrate my big 4-0, Dean planned a weekend getaway skiing at Seven Springs. ⛷️🎿❄️ He’s NEVER skied and I haven’t been since high school (20 years ago), so it was sure to be a grand adventure! We ended up having SO much fun despite some falls and ripped snow pants. 🤣 Dean even said he’d do it again someday. Grateful to be so spoiled and have so many people send birthday wishes my way! Feeling truly blessed, even if we’re feeling rather sore today! 😉  Shout out to Dean's parents for helping with the boys while we snuck away and making this all possible.

We left the afternoon of my birthday and stopped for sandwiches from Ray's Deli for the drive and got to Champion, PA in time to rent our skis for the next day.  I brought along the 40 "Reisens" I'm loved that my family had sent to read in the car.  Grateful for their thoughtfulness.

Our airbnb overlooked the ski resort.  At night the lit up runs were beautiful.

Dean made and prepped dinner ahead of time and hauled it with us.  Homemade bread, salad, and home cooked wedding soup.  It was DELICIOUS! 

We ended the evening with birthday cheesecake and a movie before a beautifully uninterrupted night of sleep.

The next morning we got up and ate the breakfast sandwhiches Dean made and brought to fuel up for a day of skiing.  It was super windy and the "feels like" temperature was 14 degrees.  So we bundled up and hit the slopes.  Dean took a few trips down the little training hill to get a feel for skiing before we braved the lift.  The first run down was full of falls, but he got better and better with each run, and by the end he was flying down the hill and keeping up with me.

They were making snow all day, mostly under the lift, but also on the side of some of the runs as well.

Dean's snow pants didn't hold up to his several falls and they ended up in the garbage at the end of the day.  Hahahaha!  

We wrapped up skiing around 3:30pm because we were too tired and sore to keep going.  We went back to the airbnb for a much needed nap, and cleaned up before heading back to Seven Springs for dinner.  Dean was looking forward to the seafood boil only to find out they were out for the night, but the steak was a good substitute and we really enjoyed the food.  We soaked up one more night of relaxing and a full night's sleep before heading home Saturday afternoon.  It was the perfect getaway and a great way to celebrate.  I'll be forever grateful for the time together and memories made with this awesome guy.  He sure knows how to make a girl feel loved.