So I guess a long extended weekend needs to happen in order for the blog to get updated these days. As I write this, Jason and I are enjoying a weekend at Grand Geneva Resort and Spa to relax and take advantage of his parents timeshare. Due to the Veteran's Day holiday, we were able to come here on Thursday night for an extended weekend. Since my last post, of course, a lot has happened; let me take a few moments to fill you in. I've pulled out my calendar to make sure I touch on the highlights of the last two or so months.

Labor Day weekend we decided to head up to Kohler Andrae State Park near Sheboygan for a couple hours to walk along the lakefront and take advantage of the many trails that are dog friendly. This was Triton's first time in standing water, and I don't know if we sold him on it quite yet. It didn't help that the water was freezing, but I think he got used to it after awhile. It was quite funny to watch him try to step over the water with each step as he was following Jason into the lake. We also spent a lot of time walking along the trails, and Triton had his first encounter with some horses. He didn't bark or spook the horses, which we were very happy about. Maybe he realized that they were a lot bigger than him, and they would probably win that battle. We enjoyed our time in Kohler, and hope to head back there next summer when both the air and water are warmer. 

Waiting patiently to go to the dog park

Around the time of the last post, we also started venturing over to the dog park in Wauwatosa pretty regularly. We usually worked it out with some friends to all meet at the dog park, and enjoyed watching all the dogs play. It's safe to say that Triton LOVES the dog park as he usually starts whining in the back of the car as soon as we turn onto the street where the dog park is. Triton enjoyed playing with his friends Molly, Parker and Jack regularly, but now that it's getting colder, we haven't been taking him there. It was a great way for Triton to be able to run off some of his energy and interact with other dogs. Now I guess we have to rely just on daycare to tire him out.

Parker and Triton playing

Jack, Molly, Parker and Triton.. only shot with all
of them in the same frame

         

Also in September, we enjoyed golfing with some relatives, entertaining some friends at our house, and running in the Warrior Dash in Twin Lakes, all of which we don't have pictures to document our times. The Warrior Dash was lot of fun, and thankfully we had beautiful weather to scale walls, crawl underneath barbed wire, jump over fire, and swim in a mud pit. We are hoping that the event comes back to Wisconsin again next year, and that we are able to round up some other friends to run with us. 

 And this brings us to September 29th!!!!!!! Why, you ask, are we so excited about this day? Because it's Triton's birthday!!!!! Happy 1st Birthday Triton! Triton spent his birthday at daycare, probably the best place for him to be. When Jason and I got home from night class, we gave him his presents and took some pictures to document his day. Triton didn't seem too overjoyed with his gifts, but we were; he got a new toy, a new collar and leash, and a new wind/rain protecting coat.

New Toy

New collar and leash

New Coat

We all wore hats to celebrate!

The birthday boy!

As stated in the last post, we planned on remodeling our bathroom. On October 1st, our bathroom project began, and for the next three weeks, we were without a full bathroom in our house. The project seemed to run pretty smoothly, and we were very happy that on October 21st, we were able to shower in our own home again. The shower door has been ordered, and we are anxiously awaiting to have that installed. Final pictures will be posted once we have the door installed, but here are some pictures to document the progress.

 Demolition Complete! Took the whole bathroom down to studs and sub floor.

Drywall up, as well as insulation

Some tile up in the shower, as well as floor tile,
walls primed and edged with new color

Tile work completely done

 Other October highlights include me attending a Steven Curtis Chapman concert, both Jason and I volunteering at Special Olympic's bowling events, seeing the play Lombardi at The Rep, attending a Brandon Heath concert with some friends, and starting our second MBA class, Leadership and Organizational Behavior. One major highlight for Jason was attending two of the NLCS Brewer vs. Cardinal games in St. Louis. There were three of them that drove down to St. Louis on Thursday morning, and cheered on the Brewers during Game 4 and Game 5 of the playoffs. While Jason was away, Triton and I tried to replicate Prince Fielder's "Beast Mode".  Though the Brewers ended up losing the series back home in Milwaukee, it was an exciting Fall cheering on the home team.

As the holiday season will quickly be upon on, I'm sure that things will be very busy both in our household, but also in our readers. Should we not be able to update the blog before, we hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to being with family and friends, giving thanks for the many blessings we have in our life.

God Bless!

So it's been awhile, and just as your lives have probably been busy throughout the summer months, the Kofroth household has been no different. We have been trying to enjoy the warm weather as much as possible before the dreaded winter months arrive. Here's a recap since the last update at the beginning of June. 

This summer Jason kept very busy coaching an AAU basketball team for the Wisconsin Lakers program, a team consisting of girls that started 9th grade this Fall. Though the team wasn't the "A" team in the program, the girls worked hard and really improved throughout the summer. Jason had tournaments eight weekends between June and the first weekend of August, and I traveled occasionally to help cheer the team to victory. Jason enjoyed the experience, and has verbally committed to coaching a team again next summer.

Dan and Dana's wedding - June 2011

On top of coaching basketball, Jason was able to enjoy playing on a summer softball team through church, and I continued to play soccer with some friends from work. Both of our games were on Monday nights, so we rarely got to watch each other play in our respective games, but enjoyed coming home to give each other recaps of what had happened. 

The first weekend after the last update was very busy for us: a local basketball tournament in Waukesha Friday through Sunday, a wedding on Saturday of some of Jason's high school friends downtown Milwaukee, and I traveled to Chicago to walk in a cancer walk with Oma, my mom, and others on Sunday. 

As most are aware, Milwaukee summer's offers multiple festivals to attend. This summer, Jason and I attended many of the festivals; enjoying Switchfoot, Phil Vassar, and Danny Gokey at Summerfest, the food of State Fair, and Gaelic Storm at Irish Fest. 

Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly
on a Stick

Similar to most State Fairs, there are a variety of Fried items to enjoy. This year, we were somewhat adventurous and decided to both try some fried creations. I tried the Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly on a stick which was delicious, and Jason opted for the new item of the fair for the year, Fried Butter (Doesn't it just sound gross?). Surprisingly, he said that it wasn't actually that bad, and not surprisingly, it was very filling.

Deep Fried Butter

A few other highlights this summer were attending one of Suzanne's good high school friends wedding at the end of June, a weekend with family friends up north, being judges in a nationally sanctioned Chili Cookoff in Tosa, a visit from Jason's sister Christine, her husband Brian, and their dog Roy Dean, attending the occasional Brewer game at Miller Park, and enjoying a wonderful wedding weekend of John, the Best Man in our wedding, and Liz, a dear friend, just last weekend. 

Thoroughly enjoying our Segway tour!!!

With everything we have already listed, we were also able to spend a weekend in Chicago to celebrate our 1st Anniversary. Though the weather didn't cooperate very much for outside activities, we still were able to enjoy some walking through Millennium Park, shopping on Michigan Avenue, fireworks at Navy Pier and the highlight; a segway tour throughout the city. As you can see in the picture, we weren't the most stylist tourists during the segway tour, but we had a blast enjoying the city on the machines. 

Lego Land on Michigan Avenue

Millennium Park "Bean"

Oh, and have we mentioned that M&I (where we both work) was bought out by Bank of Montreal out of Toronto, Canada? The deal closed at the beginning of July, so we are now employees of BMO Financial Group. While on our way out of town, we stopped at the main Chicago office where the signage has already changed over to the new bank name. 

111 E. Monroe, Chicago

As busy as we have been, we can't forget about our dear Triton! These past couple of weeks he has grown so much as we begin to transition him from puppy food to adult food. Triton also had a busy schedule this summer; he continued to attend day care one day a week with his friends at Central Bark, he enjoyed a sleepover at my mom's while we were in Chicago, and he is progressing in his training. He also enjoys sitting with us while we eat at Yo Momma with friends in Wauwatosa, and definitely is the talk of the restaurant when we take him with us for dinner on Cafe Hollander's patio. I still am quite bias and think he is one of the cutest puppies, though you can be a judge for yourself: He has his first birthday coming up at the end of September so we will make sure to celebrate and throw him the best 1st birthday any dog could ask for.

 

With all that's been in the past, our near future will promise to be busy as well. Jason and I have both enrolled and have started our MBA programs at Concordia University of Wisconsin. We will be taking two 8 week classes this fall, hoping to be completed with the program in 2013/early 2014. It is daunting to go back to classes after being away from them for so long, but after one class of our first course, I think we will both get a lot out of the program. 

We are also just about to begin the remodeling of our only full bath in our house. We have picked out the tile, and are in the process of lining up all the workers so that the project is completed as quickly as possible. I remembered to take "Before" pictures so that when it's all been completed, you can see the drastic changes that were made.

Now consider yourself updated on the Kofroth's. Until next time..... God Bless. 

A Long Awaited Update - Adventures of Jason, Suzanne and Triton

Well, it's been awhile since the last post, and a lot has been happening around the Kofroth household. Trips have been taken, Triton has been growing, and work has been done. Here is a review of what we have done through pictures:

In March, we had the opportunity to visit the Vander Pol's in Escondido, California. We had a great time visiting with Henry, Lindsey, and Anna at their beautiful home. While in California, we enjoyed relaxing, thrift store shopping, a trip to the Wild Adventure Park, a day trip to Los Angeles, and having some competitive games of Settlers of Catan. It was also on this trip that Suzanne got introduced to Pioneer Women and her cooking! Delicious and highly recommended!

Suzanne and Lindsey with the Giraffes at the Wild Adventure Park

Anna enjoyed a very high ride on Jason's shoulders.

The West Coast!

About a month after we returned home from California, we packed our bags again, arranged another dog sitter for Triton, and loaded into vans with 28 high school seniors, and traveled down to Panama City Beach, Florida. Every year, the seniors from the youth group at church take a trip to Florida to have a chance to relax on the beach, and to help prepare the students for their transition into college. It was a wonderful experience, and we really enjoyed getting to know some of the youth from church, as well as the other leaders we served with.

Easter Morning on the Beach - These were the students we were responsible for.

With both of these trips, we hadn't forgotten about our dear Triton who is growing and growing and growing. Triton is a puppy, and there are still some frustrations we encounter along the way. He still considers himself a lap dog, which Suzanne loves!!!, but also runs around crazy a lot. We have been taking him to day care once a week, and also going with him to dog training every Saturday morning. Slowly but surely we are seeing progress (he knows his name now), and he is truly a great dog that we enjoy and love very much.

Triton, the lap dog

This is Triton's bed which he is rarely ever in! And if he is in it, he is typically trying to destroy it!

Triton enjoyed going to the Elm Grove Memorial Day Parade with us. About a 4 mile round trip walk from our house, Triton wasn't very interested in any part of the parade except sitting like a perfect angel in the shade behind us. Good thing we brought him some water, it was a hot day in WI.

       

And now for the work part.......... aside from taking our trips, and training our dog, we have been doing some work at our house. Unfortunately we don't have a good before and after picture, but we first started with relandscaping our front yard. Below, you can see the finished product.

With much help from Oma and Mama Clark, we have now filled each of these gardening spaces with some perennials we transplanted, different varieties of hostas, and also some impatiens. We will provide an updated picture once we have some growth.

The same day that the girls were working on buying and planting the flowers and hostas, Jason and some friends took on the challenge of painting our fence. When we bought the house, the fence extended just to the end of the patio. In October, we had someone come and fence in the rest of the yard, primarily so Triton would have some running room. This left us with part of the fence stained, and part of the fence not stained. This part weekend, Jason, with the help of Curtis and moral support of John, stained the entire fence so it wasn't mismatched anymore. Below are some pictures of their wonderful work.

With the weather now getting warmer, we have been enjoying a lot of cooking on the grille and spending time around the campfire with our jumbo marshmallows (come over and we will introduce you to them). Hope this post finds you enjoying the summer months as well! Happy Summer!