We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Retkas!

It seems like I just wrote last year's Christmas letter. It's amazing how fast time flies and how much and how little has changed in the last 12 months.

The most exciting news we have to share is that Baby Retka #2 is on its way. We are due in late June. This means that Myah is going to be a big sister and will moving into her big girl room sometime this spring.

While Myah can clearly tell people she is going to be a "big sister", I don't think she has any idea what it will mean for her :) She has been pretty used to getting a lot of attention from us and our extended family, so a sister/brother should be new and exciting, but will likely be challenging at times.

Overall, she has had a great year and enjoyed spending time with her whole family, including her cousins in Minnesota and North Carolina. She talks about her cousins all the time and looks forward to playing with them or skyping with them :) Myah is also making some little friends at daycare, school, and the neighborhood. She is growing leaps and bounds and is talking up a storm. Some of my favorite phrases she is saying right now are: "I am going to be big sister" , "I want to play" (even at 5am we hear this), "Mama/Dada, where are you?" "Addie, QUIET", "I love you" and "I love you baby in mommy's tummy". These phrases are getting clearer since her ear tube surgery in early December. After multiple ear infections and the cold/flu season approaching, we took the plunge and had it taken care of. Her favorite song right now is Jingle Bells, and I recorded a little video of her singing it here :)

Myah is excited to sing you "Jingle Bells" her favorite Christmas Tune!






Josh continues to work at Optum as a Sr Consultant. He is currently on a pretty cool project and enjoying the work. The big event for Josh this year has been catching the running bug.  This is thanks to his friend Jesse Matter who has taught and helped Josh find better fitness and his love for running.  Josh completed the Minneapolis Loppet Trail Half Marathon, the Twin Cities 10 Mile, the Wilmington NC Battleship Half Marathon (with Jason and Becky Clamme), and a number of 10K and 5K runs.  Next year's goal is to run the Fargo Marathon in May.   Josh also made his 7th (approximate) annual trip to the BWCA with the crew, enjoying the solitude of the wilderness,  the fight of a few walleye. Unfortunately he learned a valuable lesson that high heat and Kevlar don't mix well ( thank you for reducing my fine Michael).

Well, for me, I don't think that weight loss goals are in my immediate future :) With Baby #2 on the way, I will continue to do some exercising and yoga, but will need to slow things other things down for a bit :) I also had a great year. I continue to work part-time at Target in our training and consulting area. We feel so blessed that I have this opportunity to keep our work/life balance in check. On my days off,I split my time between home to-do's and having fun time with Myah. Our new favorite activity is "school" as we are attending an ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) class on Fridays. It is educational for both Myah and myself as they separate the moms and toddlers for part of the class to discuss mommy topics. In addition to work and home, I have say one of my favorite activities this year was attending my 10 year college reunion. It was so great to reconnect with some of my best friends and some others that I hadn't seen in 10 years.

And, of course.... Addie girl. Well, she had a good year, too. Addie's highlights from this year include trips to the cabin, the North Shore, and baseball field dates with her best friend, Roxy. Addie and Roxy are pretty tight and walk side-by-side down the street to the baseball park. Her owner, Matt, is a great dog dad and also picks up Addie all the time for play dates. I think when the baby comes home this summer, she is just going to sigh and accept it :) One notch further down on the totem pole.

We had a number of other memorable events in 2012.   In April we attended the wedding of Rachel Schoch and Derek Volz at Riviera Maya Mexico.  We enjoyed 5 days (sans Myah and Addie)  of fun in the sun with the Ulmer Crew.  The summer months allowed for a number of trips to the Olsen cabin and in August an Olsen family trip to Superior Shores in Two Harbor.  Josh, Katy, and Myah also took a fall trip in October to Superior Shores and did some fall hiking,  taking in the beauty of the autumn color palette. We continue to attend Immanuel Luther in Eden Prairie and spend time with our fantastic faith group.

Overall we have been more blessed in 2011 than we could imagine, with good health, good news, and an abundance of time with loving family and friends.  We are reminded how much God has provided to us to share with others.  You are all truly blessings in our lives and we thank you for being part of our (ESPECIALLY Grandma Jeneal and Grandma Sharon who have provided loving backup care for us !)

Well, we hope that this Christmas  finds you and your family happy and healthy! Keep in touch and have a great 2012!

Wait, before you go....view our Retka Family Christmas Carol below!

The Retkas
Josh, Katy, Myah, #2 (due 6/27/12), and Addie Girl

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

We Love Summer (and ice ceam)

(Myah LOVES ice "ceam" - thanks for the awesome picture-Katie Max Olsen)

We are having a wonderful (and very busy summer). We have been blessed to spend so much time with family and friends. This summer has been more adventurous for our little toddler. She is down to one nap and is independent enough to eat by herself, climb up the play set and go down the slide at the park, go swimming in the lake, make a few little friends, and talk to our friends and family.

As I mentioned, we have been pretty busy. Our summer started with some great trips up to the cabin, where we spent time with my family in early July and then Josh's family later in July. Myah definitely enjoyed spending time with everyone, but it was an extra special treat to spend time with her cousins from North Carolina. All 7 of the cousins (3 from MN, 3 from NC, and Myah) spent time together for 2 weeks while they were in town. Pictured below at G&G Retkas on a HOT! day in July (it was 100 without humidity)!


In July Myah also attended a wedding for a good family friend of ours. It is crazy to see how much she is really coming alive and how much her little personality comes out everyday. On the evening of this wedding. Myah HIT the dance floor, proceeded to get a circle of adults to surround her, and then started break dancing. Okay, so she was actually trying out some yoga poses - downward facing dog, slide plank (but to average wedding attendee is looked like she was break dancing). We got a huge kick out of it! Pictured below before the reception with a little white umbrella.
So, you might be thinking to yourself... yoga? Where did Myah learn yoga? Well, Josh and I have started working out a little differently this spring/summer. One of our new routines is yoga. So, I'm guessing that Myah is either learning it from us or her daycare lady(who does yoga everyday). I must say, adding yoga, calorie counting, weight lifting, and training for a half marathon has really been a great thing for my hubby. If you haven't seen him lately, he looks AMAZING! Josh has been on a 9 month weight loss and wellness journey and is looking and feeling wonderful. He is so determined and I am so proud of him. I realized that I don't have any good pictures of him with his new look, but I will add a family photo that gives you an idea! Here it is!


We've had some great adventures this summer, but, I must say that one of my favorite places to visit each summer is the North Shore. The 2nd weekend of August, my parents, my brother, his wife, and us headed up to Superior Shores and stayed at The Burlington Bay. It was awesome! We had a great view of the lake and wonderful accommodations. The only that could have gone better? Not much, but, maybe next year we'll try to get a family photo by Gooseberry at a time other than nap time (see cranky toddler below). In fact, we liked it so much, Josh, Myah, and I have plans to head back to Superior Shores in October to see the fall colors in their glory! :)

So, as you can see, our little peanut is growing up so fast. She is learning new words and phrases every day and it just blows me away. This morning she said to her doll "Baby, wanna go to the park?...."okay, baby to park!" and looked at me.... that little turkey! :) Besides playing with her baby, so also is starting to enjoy watching Elmo. And, unless he's on, she'll say "TV off".

She is also making new little friends with kids in the neighborhood and our friends' kids. In fact, she will getting a few new friends at daycare next week. This should be interesting because she's been 1 of 3 little girls (the only one outside of the family) at this daycare for quite sometime.

She is also going through a little pushing staging and is having trouble sharing. While this is so common for kids her age, I really struggle with it. I feel so terrible when she pushes another child when the other kid was expecting a hug. So, we're working through it the best we can. One day at a time, I guess :)

As far as Josh and me. We're doing great, too. As I mentioned above, Josh is doing awesome with his weight loss and wellness. He is having a great summer outdoors playing golf, running, and hanging with friends and family. And, I'm feeling good and enjoying the summer, as well. I am going to start taking a few photography classes this fall and am looking forward to figuring out how to take some more creative photos with our camera. I am also really looking forward to my 10 year college reunion in October! I have friends flying in from both coasts to celebrate, so it should be a great time and a stroll down Cobberville Lane!

And of course, the pooch. Addie is enjoying the summer. She's spent a lot of time withe her "bestie", Roxy, the puppy down the street. They go to the park and romp around a few days a week. She also has been running with Josh, but can no longer make it on his longer runs. Poor poocher!


Hope all is well with you, friends and family! Reach out if you have a minute, we'd love to hear from you!

The Retkas

Summer Is Here!

Ms. Myah is loving the outdoors this summer. She stands by the doors to go outside constantly. Once she is able to get outside she goes. She is no longer walking, she is running like the wind. We can hardly keep up with her. One hot night this spring she ran all the way down the street, around the school, back into the neighborhood and past our house. The whole looking at me and saying "oh no, Mama" " oh no". I think that she thought I was going to put her fun to a halt, but, I just let her keep on goin'. She wears herself out almost everyday :)

Another favorite activity of Myah's is music, in general. I did have her in a music class this spring. She loved Ms. Colleen and all of the music in class. One of her favorite activities was getting an opportunity her "ba ba" solo during each class. The teacher would sing "ba ba" into the microphone. Myah did it about half the time. She would clap and clap and clap for herself, and her music school buddies, when they sang the tune back to Ms. Colleen. Myah start up classes again in the end of June and are looking forward to it!

Just like last Summer, Myah is loving her pool. This year she can actually play in it and around it a little more, other than just sitting in it. Her favorite thing to do is fill up her purple bowl (a.k.a her "hat") and pour the water over her head. Here she is playing away on a hot spring day.

It was finally time for Myah's first haircut. As you can probably imagine, Myah was a little sad about getting her hair cut. She had to sit in Mama's lap while Roxanne at Kid's Hair cut a few of her precious locks. Myah has shorter bangs and her curls really curled up after the cut. They gave her a dum-dum for being a good girl and the whole ordeal seemed worth it :)

This is a quick n' short little update, as Myah is getting up from her nap! She wants to say "Hi" to everyone!

Spring is Here!

Spring is finally right around the corner and the Retkas are pleased. It's finally time to put the parkas away and bring out the spring jackets and umbrellas!

So much has changed with Myah this winter. It's amazing to watch her little personality come to life. My favorite thing about her is that she loves to laugh and can quickly get silly and start laughing up a storm. The only thing that seems to bother her is sitting still. At this point in her life, all she wants to go is use her new found walking and running skills. She is constantly on the go and loves learning new things everyday through actions and through reading (as seen above in her new little kid sized chair) :) Josh and I have been teaching her the names of body parts and animal sounds. Her favorite body part to say is "teeth", she also knows hair, ears, tongue, tummy, foot, and hands. Her favorite animal sound is a monkey "oh oh oh, ah ah ah", she also knows cow, lamb, goat, and duck (sometimes, anyway).


Speaking of animals, Myah and Addie continue to "bond". Myah is loving Addie. I can't really say the same the other way around, and I can't blame Addie too much. Myah loves chasing Addie around and laying on her and petting her. Addie is completely tolerant of all of this and it is most likely because she still little snacks from Myah. Addie does enjoy getting Myah's "num-nums" (graham crackers). Sometimes, Myah gives them to her and sometimes she puts them in front of her nose, looks at Addie very seriously, and says "no". (Wonder where she gets that from)?!?

On a fun note, Myah celebrated her 1 year Birthday with the Baby Boomers in Chaska a few weeks ago. All of the babies, their moms, my brother, Eric and his wife, Katie, came over on a Sunday afternoon. We did a small gift exchange and ate some cake. We stripped all of the babies down to their diapers and them at a cake that was placed in the middle of kitchen. Surprisingly the babies all remained pretty tame! It was adorable and Katie took some awesome pictures of the event (check of my Facebook profile pics)!



On a sad note, my Grandma Hilde (mom's mom) passed away a few weeks ago. It was tougher on us than we expected, but realize that she had a very full and wonderful life, at the age of 92. She was comfortable and surrounded by her children and their spouses the day that she passed. We will always love her and cherish our time knowing the wonderful person that she is. :) Here is picture that I took of Myah and her Great-Grandma Hilde last fall, can't you just see the love in their eyes?


Other than that, life here is pretty normal for Josh and me. We're both looking forward to a week vacation to Mexico at the beginning of April! We're looking forward to soaking up some sun, seeing some dear friends get married, and spending some good quality time together. I hope this spring weather is bringing you some sunshine, too!

Love, The Retkas