Destin Vacation

Crazy Ben in the ocean

Edgewater Beach resort where we stayed

Doug and the kids - shuffleboard

Amazing sand art!

Mr. Ben, warming up for a bit under the cabana.

Florida vacation

One of our many creations in the sand

Kate and Ben - braving the water together!

Daddy and Ben, getting the castles started

The minute we arrived at Papa and grandma's, we rushed right out to the beach - it was a bit chilly, but we had to dip our toes in.....

Pilot Ben and co-pilot Kate in one of the many awesome planes that we saw at the Naval Air museum in Pensacola.

After endless days of winter here in DesMoines, we decided to head down to Florida and visit Papa and Grandma Cairney for a few days last week. They have been wintering in the Panama city and Destin area since January. We drove to Kansas City Tuesday night and flew from there into Fort Walton Beach airport on Wednesday morning. The flights all went very smoothe, and the kids did great! As soon as we got to Destin, to Papa and Grandma's condo, we had to rush right down to the ocean. The sun was shining, wind a bit breezy, but the kids immediately put their toes in. Ben went in a bit deeper being the dare devil that he is and mananged to soak his pants completely - OH WELL - he was having fun, right?? I was in heaven......sun, sand, ocean, & not a speck of snow in sight! Our annual tradition of card playing kicked in immediately that first night with Kate challenging Papa to war many times. Thursday, we headed over to Pensacola to spend the day at the Naval/Air museum. The kids had such a great time seeing all of the planes, replicas of navy ships, and I would say that their highlight was riding on a simulated ride with Grandma (flying with the "Blue Angels"). Doug and Papa said that they could hear them screaming and laughing outside of the ride the entire time. Once the door opened, Ben ran out with a huge thumbs up stating "that was awesome"! I think Grandma and Kate would agree. Friday was a perfect "Beach day"....the sun was shining, wind mild, and we enjoyed the day outdoors. After enjoying another stack of pancakes that Grandma made the kids every am, we usually headed out to either the putting green for some putting practice, or the shuffleboard court. We really enjoyed learning how to play this game, and it was perfect because we could all play.

Valentine's Day

Two of my Valentine's....Doug & Ben

Proudly displaying the layered jello heart dessert - and believe it or not,
they tasted good too!

Kate and I surprised the boys with X's and O's for our breadsticks with tonight's candlelight spaghetti dinner (thanks for the idea Stephanie (-: )

Kate was excited about the Valentine's that I made with the some special $$$ embelishments

We had a great Valentine's Day here at the Cairney house. The morning started out wonderfully with getting to sleep in until 6:30 and was then notified by Kate when I got out of the shower that daddy had shoveled me a surprise in the drive way. I opened up the blinds and there was a HUGE heart covering our entire drive - that was soooo sweet Doug! I Loved it! Of course, the snow was coming down way too fast for me and before I knew it, it was completely covered - BUMMER!! Maybe he will do it again for me - hint, hint.........then I will get the photo. I had made some valentine's for the kids and used some coins for the facial features - they seemed to enjoy those. Then off to church we went, grabbed some McDonald's for the kids for lunch, picked up the babysitter, and then Doug and I went to the movies. We saw BlindSide and it was an amazing show - definitely a must see or rental. Tonight we had a yummy dinner, complete with hugs and kisses bread sticks, heart jello for dessert and then a movie night. We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.....from an adult stand point, it was OK, but I just love to lay there next to Kate and Ben and watch their little eyes light up, listed to their adorable belly laughs and just snuggle them as much as I can!!!! Faith, Hope, and Love, but the GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE!!!!!! Happy Valentine's Day everyone...Love, Keri

PS - congratulations again to Aunt Wendi and Jon on their engagement this weekend- we love you both!!!!!

Sunny day at the zoo

Kate & Ben proudly displaying the snow man that we made a few weeks ago.
Parts of her still remain in our front yard, but he had alot of melting this weekend.


Ben, Kate & Max

doesn't it look like this tiger is smiling??

This weekend it was so beautiful here, I found myself trying to pack in as many outdoor activities as I could. It was sunny, 40's and I was loving it! Our good friend Max was able to spend the day with us on Saturday so we went sledding in the morning, and then after Kate's basketball game, we went to the zoo. We had never ventured over to the zoo in the Winter, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the animals were enjoying the gorgeous day too!! The flamingo's were basking in the sun, the sea lions were enjoying a swim, & the bald eagles were as beautiful as ever on their perch! The lions and tigers however were the highlight of the day. There was one tiger in the indoor area and he was quite aggressive by the glass window. What an amazing animal he was to watch and so huge! The kids were very entertained and also concerned about why he was pawing at the glass so much and even at times, lunging at them! Definitely a moment they will remember for awhile. We finished out the weekend with helping out at church, hosting a brunch for our small group and then a long walk in the beautiful snowfall yesterday afternoon.

Family photos

Who could not love this face???


Aunt Wendi and Jon

The Cairney's

Aunt Nicki, William and Jon Stoltenberg

I bet that Uncle David wishes that he would have just hopped in with his family instead of getting his own awesome portrait - I just love that guy!!!

Pender Christmas - 09 or 10??

One of the gigantic piles of snow that we played on this weekend

Papa and Nanny, opening the pottery that Kate and Ben gave them

William, Ben, Great Grandma B.B., Kate and Jon

The Kids and their new snuggies

Well, last weekend we were finally able to make it back to Pender to celebrate Christmas - and what a wonderful time we had!!! After many weeks of post-ponements, tons of snow, drifting roads shut and dangerous wind chills, the long wait was definitely worth it. We had such fun. We headed over on Friday night and the kids could hardly stand it they were so excited - OK, me too!!! Wendi and Jon were already there and it was fun getting caught up with them and Mom and Dad. Saturday morning we went to cousin Jase's wrestling tournament for a bit - congrat's on the wins Jase! and then the Stoltenberg's arrived at lunch. There is nothing like having fun with cousins.....I have such fond memories of this growing up and I love that Kate and Ben have those special times with family too. After lunch we tackled some big sledding hills, dug an awesome snow tunnel in Papa's back yard, opened presents, and spent some quality time together. It had been way too long since we had all been together. Sunday AM - Mom made a delicious breakfast with some of our favorite Suhr tradition's (swedish pancakes & ponrea) with all of the fixings - thanks Mom for all of the delicious food this weekend!!! Then we all headed home after lunch, but not without planning our next get together. I think that we all agreed, not seeing one another for more than 2 months is just way too long!

With Christmas celebrations now over, we are looking forward to basketball for Miss Kate and whatever exciting things that Ben can dream up over the next few weeks.

Cairney Christmas Gift

Grandpa and Grandma Cairney chose to donate to the Heifer Foundation in honor of all of their grandkids this year for Christmas. I loved this idea! The kids read their letters aloud to each other to share the story......her is Kate reading ours....
"Christmas is a time of giving.......Kate and Ben, you have given three rabbits to a family in Poland. Rabbits have many babies in a years time so this gift will help feed the family and they will be able to sell some of the rabbits at the market to get money that can be used to send the children to school or even buy a house in which to live......because rabbits have so many babies, the family will be able to help out other families in need by giving them a pair of rabbits."
Instead of buying you a gift this year, we gave the money to the Heifer Foundation. Thank you for sharing your Christmas.....with love, Grandpa & Grandma Cairney