Family Photos 2011

Received our family photos from this fall, and wow, were we impressed. We don't usually end up with so many "usable" photos, so we had a hard time choosing.

One of my high school classmates is the photographer, and we think she does a great job!

Halloween 2011

On the Friday night before Halloween we took the boys to a city of Burnsville event that was held in Nicollet Commons Park, which is right outside of Brian's new building, the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. It was a new event this year, so it wasn't huge, but the boys enjoyed getting to wear their costumes a few days early. 

Saturday night of Halloween weekend, Auntie Kelly came over and we all carved pumpkins. When we opened up Brody's pumpkin, it was totally rotten inside. Have you ever had a rotten  pumpkin? I don't think I have. It was like soup inside. There wasn't really much to clean out, I just tipped it upside down over a garbage can and watched it all pour out. Ewww!

The boys had a great time trick or treating. They were very anxious to go out. I told them we had to wait until there were other kids out and about, so they kept their eyes peeled on the neighborhood. Of course, eventually (Finally!) it turned dark and we were off!

We were out for about an hour, running from door to door. Once we reached that hour mark, Brody was dragging his pumpkin on the ground, asking if he could go home and go to bed. It was so cute and sweet. If only he could be tired and sweet all the time! :)

Bunk Beds!!

We decided to buy the boys bunk beds. It really helped with space in their room, and they were so excited about it!

Minnesota Harvest

This weekend we met my cousin Shelley and her family at Minnesota Harvest, an apple orchard south of the Twin Cities. I went to this orchard as a youngster myself, and it was fun to go back there with my kids. 

There was a huge pile of hay that the kids played in. 

We took a wagon ride out to the orchard to pick apples.

Brody is posing with the token apple we were able to find at the kids height. Unfortunately, the orchard was pretty picked over, but we were able to find some good apples higher up at the end of the orchard.

The kids both had their faces painted. Dylan chose Scooby Doo, and Brody chose a dagger through his cheek!

We had a lot of fun and we can't wait to go back next year!

Official release

October 4, 2011 - Brian Luther Named BPAC Director 

Brian Luther Named BPAC Director

For Immediate Release:                                                                  October 4, 2011

Contact:  Tammy Koolbeck                                                              319-929-5755

Brian Luther has been named Executive Director of the Burnsville Performing Arts Center (BPAC) in Burnsville, Minnesota, VenuWorks President Steve Peters announced.  He will begin his duties October 6.

"Brian has a strong track record of securing and promoting a variety of event programming and brings a wide range of venue management experience to this organization," said Peters.  "He understands the strategies, relationships and financial analysis necessary to manage this great facility.  We are confident that he will be a great leader not only for BPAC but within the community as well."

"We are delighted with the selection of Brian Luther as BPAC Executive Director," said Burnsville City Manager, Craig Ebeling.  "His familiarity with the local arts scene and his theatre management experience should be real plusses for Burnsville."

Luther brings over 14 years of diverse entertainment business and venue management experience to the position. He began his facility management career in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with the U.S. Cellular Center and Paramount Theatre.  He then moved on to the University of Wisconsin's Kohl Center and Minnesota Sports Entertainment (Xcel Energy Center, Roy Wilkins Auditorium and RiverCentre) in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Most recently, Luther was in Rockford, Illinois where he started in 2002 with CentreEvents which included the Rockford MetroCentre, Coronado Theatre and Davis Festival Park. He was named General Manager of the Rockford MetroCentre in 2009.

"It's an honor to be selected to lead this organization and be a part of its continued success," said Luther.  "The BPAC is a beautiful and viable facility.  I am confident that it will keep growing in a positive direction and will continue to serve its mission to the community."

The Burnsville Performing Arts Center opened in January 2009.  It features a 1,000-seat theatre as well as a 150-seat black box theatre, an art gallery and meeting rooms.  It is home to the Chameleon Theatre, Dakota Valley Symphony and Twin Cities Ballet.

So much relief

Good things are happening!

Brian has a job. Not only a job, but a job he is so excited about. A job that is in line with his career goals, a job that will allow us to save up a nice down payment and move out into a house of our own once again. Such relief. When he called me at work to confirm he had finally received the official offer letter, I started crying at my desk. He'll be starting tomorrow, traveling to Ames, IA to the corporate office of VenuWorks. And then the following week he'll be in the office, transitioning from the Regional VP who has been filling in.

Our 8th Anniversary

We celebrating our 8th anniversary on September 20, 2011. It was a weeknight, so we had a rather quiet evening. We had dinner at Axel's in Mendota. It was fun to try a new restaurant, but neither of us were impressed enough to want to go back there again. We had a lot to celebrate though, with Brian's new job!