Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

The day turned out to be yet another unbelievable day here in Minnesota, the weather has been crazy and St. Patrick's Day was no different what with the temp in the low 80"s!

The weather brought our about 125 of our closest friends tot he party and party we did! This is the first time in the past 11 years, we think this was the 11Th annual, that we ran out of food, cookies, chips and even killed the keg! YIKES.

We had a great group of friends, neighbors and family and the parade was the largest one on record. Tracy, the kids and I are truly blessed by everyone participating in making the day a ton of fun.

Kay was asked at school to write a letter the a Leprechaun and it sums up the day:

Dear Leprechaun,

Just wanted to tell you that I don't need that pot of gold to be loved, to breath fresh air, to have shelter, to have peace, to have great friends and to be healthy. But if I had the pot of gold I wouldn't be healthy because I would be eating junk food.

Truly yours,

Sincerely Kay.

On the Piano....

This past Sunday My Music Store opened it's doors for the 7Th Annual Piano Recital and amongst 20 other kids, Jimmy and Kay were set to perform. The stage was set complete with lightning and flowers and the kids all were ready to go!

The second session of the day features siblings and the first one up was Kay Marie Jeon Murphy, playing a snappy little tune called " Square Dance" She approached the piano, placed her music on the holders cracked her fingers and sat down ever so softly and began to play. She got stuck only a time or two but if Liberace could do, so could Kay! She tuned out the audience focused, on the sheet music and about 75 seconds later she received a standing ovation, well two of us were on our feet! With a big smile, a curtsy ,and an air of confidence she came and sat down, well done Kay!

Several kids later the MC approached the mic and announce next up James Micheal Lee Murphy, playing the " Original Theme from Star wars" in the key of G. Now Jimmy having the stage, and recording studio background, approached the piano from a different point of view. Acknowledging the crowd with a slight nod of the head, placed the music on the piano and performed without incident and when the round of applause came he stood and wave the well wishers on. In fact, encouraging them to cheer louder and longer! Well done Jimmy!

Now Andy and Alicia have been teaching the kids piano for the last two and 1/2 years and being this is an annual event, sparks us to think that because both ,Kay and Jimmy were asked to perform this year we need to get a bus and decorate it in a late 70's theme! The teaching duo, well aware of Jimmy and his drumming, as he takes lessons there as well, hinted that perhaps Jimmy and his band should play at Golden Valley Day's this year, as well as, at the Annual Guitar toss,, hosted by the Music Store, Good God!

Update Part 2 -Presidents Day Weekend!

This past weekend we headed up to beautiful Balsam Lake Wisconsin, well at least in that area.

A co-worker of Tracy's has a cabin there and let us and the Miller's take over for a few days.

The trip started out fine and as we were winding our way through the St. Croix River valley, taking in the sights, we lost track of how far we had travelled. We were supposed to go about 10 miles and turn left, where the road bends the curb around ( we were in Wisconsin, ya know). We did the next logical thing which was to stop and ask directions, however we stopped at a small scary looking motel, like you see in all those horror movies, thinking "what could happen?!" and as the audience (the kids) were screaming "don't go in there".... in I went.

Out of the backroom came this fairly well dressed man with slicked back hair fanning the air in front of him to dispel the cigarette smoke emanating from his entire body, slowly closing the door to his inner sanctum, instantly putting me on alert and asked me with a smile " what can I help you with?". I asked him where we were and how far from county road 47 . He said "there is no county road 47 in these parts" taking a step closer to me and I responded "well where are we then?" to which he replied "I can help with that", and with a big flourish, turned and pointed to the wall, here is a detailed map! Good God. Looking at the map I could tell where we were and pointed to a road and asked him " can you tell me what road this is"? He craned his neck raised his eyebrows and said with a strange look in his eyes " County Road 47 by God", I headed for the door, I could hear the creaking on the inner sanctum door slowly opening, and heard him say " Come back any time, my names Bates, Norman Bates". Did I mention, he smelled like he bathed in High Karate?!I got in the car, the kids breathed a sigh of relief and said " Dad you should not have gone in there, this is one scary Motel!"

We finally made it to the cabin, got settled in and organized, then headed out to the Friday Night Fish Fry! We were super excited being in Wisconsin, where they have relish plates, cheese curds and Friday Night Fish Fry! The restaurant, was full of colorful folks, and we settled right in, ordered up some great food and had a ball. As were waiting for the bill the crowd took on a different feel, well with this couple of young kids who were obviously on a date and the friend of the guy or as this person is sometimes referred to, the 3rd wheel, ordering up some kind of concoction that contained 9 shots of vodka and turned from green to red. This on top of a group of 4 guys and one girl using the grandaddy of all swears words the F---, constantly. They were in a heated discussion about how all their friends say they swear to much, and Jimmy is listening in, counting how many times they use the word. The young couple with the third wheel were on decanter number 2 of the jungle juice, the swearers were swearing up a storm and by the time we paid our bill and headed out the door the total was at 34 Fbombs and the third wheel had come off the bus and was trying to stand up and bat at a balloon, you get the picture.

Saturday the Millers arrived and we proceeded to try to get the kids to participate in outdoor activities. There were several people out ice fishing and Wade's Dad being an retried Fish and Game Director, had the kids on the ice ready to fish. Only problem was we had no fishing Licenses or more to the point no ice auger. The second problem was addressed with a crowbar and a hammer and the kids went at the ice. Several hours later they had a hole about an inch and a half and it was time to do something else. We got out the sleds and snowboards started a fire and had a great afternoon. That night the Loudamericans were responsible for dinner and Kay landed on fondue. It was a blast we had venison, steak, veggies, cheese sauce and to top it all off chocolate for the fruit!

Sunday after a big breakfast we headed off to Trollhaugen for some snow tubing. It was a blast and the hills were super fast! PSA: If you ever go snow tubing make sure to go towards the end of the day as the crowd thins out! We had the hill basically to ourselves for the last half hour or so and the kids went down some many times they had it. Super fun. The Miller's prepared a Lasagna meal for Sunday Night complete with crusty bread.

On a side note 3 of the Loudamericans are what can only be stated as Lasagna Snobs. Their Uncle Jim Fellows makes the benchmark/Taj Mahal of Lasagna to which all other Lasagnas are compared. They have passed up on peoples Lasagna stating " We are not going to risk it", the fact they ate that evening is a tribute to the long time spent on the snow tube and they were starving or to the fact that the Lasagna was up to the test, you decide!

Monday morning we had breakfast packed up and headed home for the event of the year, thus far, Monday Night Raw! This is a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) main event. For those who are not in the know Wrestle Mania is coming up on April 1st, yes April Fools Day, and is the Super Bowl of the wrestling world and Monday Night Raw is a stepping stone one must pass to get to WrestleMania. Now Tracy is competing for the Mother of The Year Award, was able to get the company suite for the event along with 22 seats, yes that's right 22 screaming kids all amped up on soda and sugar! Jimmy was in charge of the guest list and after a difficult decision involving Uncle Jim Fellows & the before mentioned Lasagna, Uncle Jim had to decline (that is a whole other story). When the dust settled it was: James, Sam, Sean and the parents,, Larrie and Jessie, Uncle Pat, Uncle Kevin, cousins Henry, Isaiah, Uncle Mike Gottsacker, his son Jack and his friend Jack, Jimmy, Kay, Billy, and Snowflake, what a hoot.

They were all into the moves, the cheering, Sean and Sam brought signs, CMPunk was taunted, HHH and The Undertaker exchanged their hatred and love of each other and vowed to end this era of superstars by facing each other in the ring in Miami for WRESTLE MANIA, the crowd went nuts! 4 and a half hours later, exhausted and with sore throats and Ray Mastero mask in place, the kids bid farewell to Monday Night Raw. It was a good thing there was a late start at school the next day as the kids did not get to bed till around midnight.

Tracy and I were talking about the weekend and how much fun we had and we both decided we want to be our kids! Man, they lead THE LIFE!!!