Gainesville 4 Titletown USA!!

So, Gainesville is up for ESPN's "Titletown USA" designation. They had a segment on Sportscenter last night where Erin Andrews and Tim Tebow made the case for why Gainesville deserves to win. I got chills just watching it! I'm *so* excited for football season to start and I'm *so* thankful that after 10 years I'm still here! It's home to me and I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be!

Anyway, voting begins July 24th!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/titletown/index

It's all fun and games until...

We are still on our racquetball kick! We played Friday and Saturday night with Cassie and Craig. I'm getting better but I think Jeff may have regressed a little bit. He doesn't seem to be able to stay in his space (he's all over the place!) and he kept trying to take his teammates (Cassie's) head off with his racket. They had a few collisions that could have been disastrous and he did manage to whack her real good on the arm. She has a nice welt and forthcoming bruise to show for it! I took a racquetball to the nose--it went numb, bled and is little sore now! After blood was drawn we decided to stop and go to dinner...nothing a little (or a lot) of pizza can't fix!

Racquetball Anyone??

We've been working out in the evening with our friends, Cassie and Craig, and this week they introduced us to racquetball. Jeff hadn't played since high school and I have never played before. It is so fun! Craig and I won our first match. Although, I can't say I contributed much--I spent most of my time running around avoiding the ball! We had a great time and are looking forward to playing some more! It's a great workout and loads of fun!

Mini Tobler Reunion

We had a great long, Independence Day weekend! We had a mini-Tobler reunion in Palm Bay and got to meet out new niece, Violet! We went to the beach, had many delicious meals, and enjoyed getting caught up. The boys braved the heat for a paint-ball game and helped Chad bless Violet at church on Sunday. It was a sweet experience and I'm thankful we could be a part of it.

Thank you, Chad & Janet, for having us! It was fun!

Jeff, showing how excited he is to play paint ball



The boys, ready to go



Us with little Violet in her blessing dress (that Gramma Tobler made). She's so tiny and it was hard to find her under all that fabric!



She sleeps a lot!



We had a little birthday party for all of the summer birthdays. It's Tobler tradition to have every member of the family say why they love the birthday girl/boy. The used to do it while sitting on laps but, we feared the chair would buckle!

Karl went first



Then Jan



Then Chad



Then Janet



I was last but I make sure to tell Jeff why I love him every day!

Weekend Quest for Popsicles...

Jeff and I went for a run on Saturday morning, braving the heat and humidity (it was *so* hot). During the run, we got to talking about the summer-time treats we enjoyed growing up. I mentioned that I really liked those two-stick popsicles that our parents always had us break in half to share with our siblings (why we couldn't eat a whole one, I don't know!). We ran about a mile talking about these popsicles so, naturally, we set out to get some later that day. We were unsuccessful at two stores, and I was getting pretty sad, but we finally found the last bag at Albertsons. They are as good as we remember and worth the hour or so we spent looking for them! Of course, we picked up a box or two of "consolation" popsicles when we couldn't find what we wanted...it's going to be the summer-of-the-popsicle at the Tobler house!

Also with the popsicle excitement, we watched a couple of movies with some friends. One not-so-good, "Garden State," and another that was better than expected, "10000 BC." I thought 10000 BC was pretty entertaining...it highlighted our "need" for a surround-sound system :-).


We're off to Melbourne, FL later this week to celebrate the 4th of July and the blessing of our new niece, Violet. Jeff's parents are flying in on Wednesday and were excited to get out of town and spend some time with some of Jeff's family!

Big 2-8 for Jeff!

Yesterday was Jeff's 28th birthday and despite having to work and feeling like an old man, I think he had a pretty good day! We met for lunch to have birthday-gyros and stopped at Best Buy on the way home to pick up the 80 GB music/video iPod that he's had his eye on. We had dinner with some friends at one of our new favorite places, O!O Tapas & 'Tinis (we don't know how to say the name either). Jeff prefers birthday pie to cake so, I made him an apple pie that he polished off tonight. All in all, a pretty good day I think!

Jeff & his birthday pie and candles



The birthday boy with his new toys and treat (all the Tobler boys grew up getting their favorite sugary-cereal on their birthday. This year Jeff went with Captain Crunch with Crunchberries...I'm hoping he'll share a bowl!)

Rainy Weekend in Tampa

We're back in Gainesville tonight after spending a rainy weekend in Tampa! We had big plans to go to the beach that were thwarted with some pretty heavy thunder storms. We managed to have some fun inside instead!



Ashley & Greer--no need for a radio, these girls can sing (loud)!



Amy & Jeff--still in love after playing spoons!



Mom & Braden--Mom's a big cheater and apparently Braden wanted to show me his nostrils.



Ashley, striking a pose during spoons.



Harley had surgery last week to repair his doggy-knee. It was a sad sight to begin with but, as you'll see, things got worse.



Cone-head, Harley, he kept knawing at his cast--hence, the cone.



Poor little guy. I suppose somebody could've taken the sticker off the cone at least.



Happy Birthday, Greer!



Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Off to Tampa...

We're off to Tampa this weekend to celebrate Jeff and Greer's (my 'lil sister) birthdays. Greer is turning 14 and will be starting high school this fall...pretty hard to believe. Jeff is reluctantly turning 28 on Tuesday...where does the time go??

Jeff's Road Trip

About 3,000 miles, 4 seasons of The Office, and plenty of Mountain Dew! Jeff and Brent made it to Sunnyside, WA in record time. Here are a few pics!

Outside of Kansas City--greasy food, gross bathroom



Denver--close call



The only interesting thing in Kansas...



Sunnyside...the final destination



Little Charlie in Seattle. Jeff's buddy for a few days of home improvement projects!



Surprisingly, Jeff would do the cross-country drive again. I'm not so sure I would join him...even if I did get to hang out with Charlie at the end of it!

Finally!

Jeff is on his way home today! Yeah!