Latest Happenings

Lots has been going on in our crazy lives lately. I'll do my best to play catchup and clue you in in a few weeks. For now, here are some pictures of James.

Happy Valentines Day

It's a boy!!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of James Allen Flerlage. James was born on Jan. 2nd, 2012 at 7:12 am. He weighed in at 6lbs 14.6oz. He's a beautiful baby boy.

P.S. I know this is a few months old but we don't have internet at home anymore and it's very difficult to update using a phone.

39 weeks "pregnant"

We Moved!

We Moved!

Here's our new address:

14886 US Hwy 218
Austin MN 55912

Baby Update

Here's me at 28 weeks. Definently getting bigger.

Changing of the seasons...

As we are all aware, Fall is in full swing and I have been loving it. We've been blessed with above average temps and the colors of the trees have been wonderful this year. To celebrate our 3rd anniversary a few weeks ago, Tony and I took a road trip one Sunday afternoon. We headed down highway 16 east of Austin. The road meanders through small towns, farms, and beautiful country side. We really had no destination in mind. Our goal for the day was to enjoy ourselves and God's creation. As we headed further east, we start getting to bluff country. Our route basically followed the Root River...which hopefully we will have the chance to canoe next summer. Along the way we stopped in Lansboro, MN. A tiny town of about 700 but boy was it hopping. The town was packed full of cyclist, bikers, and other people that had the same idea to enjoy the day like we did. We finally managed to find a parking spot and stopped in at a local cafe for a bite to eat. Lansboro is a great town to visit if you are in the area. It's also known as the bed & breakfast capital of Minnesota.

After we left Lansboro we continued onto Rushford and slightly past before we turned around and headed home. We took a different route on the ride home. Still fairly scenic but flatter than what we had just came through. That didn't matter to us though, we just enjoyed spending a relaxing Sunday afternoon together.

Baby Bump

I've had numerous people requesting baby bump photos so I thought I would share a few here.

16 weeks

20 weeks

24 Weeks

Blizzard Baby

In case you haven't heard, Tony and I will be welcoming a new addition to our family in January!! We couldn't be happier or more thrilled. We are truly blessed.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past Memorial Day weekend, Tony and I took a short day trip to Red Wing, MN. You may recognize the name from the famous pottery and boots they produce there. Beautiful town right along the Mississippi River. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick day trip. Numerous small shops line the main street and the town was packed the day we headed there. So much to do and see. Beautiful parks line the Mississippi River, lots of trails, fishing, playgrounds, museums, shopping, and dining at local restaurants. Something for everyone. We ate a nice cafe, walked through the boot museum and retail area, as well as the pottery museum and retail store. Of course I didn't go home empty handed. There is even a potter on hand making things right in front of you....very cool. Other than that we drove along the Mississippi into the parks as well as up to an overlook area. We even crossed the bridge into Wisconsin for a short spell. Overall, it was a pretty fun way to spend our day.

I made Tony stop so I could take a picture of all the turtles! I couldn't believe how many there were on these logs!

The 53rd Thundering Herd

Tony is now officially a Minnesota State Tropper. He graduated and was sworn in on May 6th, 2011. Joe and Diane, Brenda and Grandma Sally joined us for this momentus occation. After 12 weeks of ardous mental and phyiscal training, long days, and numerous inspections, the 53rd was ready to celebrate, reflect and enjoy the day and all their accomplishments. (At least until Monday when they started up 5 more weeks of training in Shoreview).

I am so incredibly proud of my husband, as well as all the other men and women, here and abroad that have decidicated their lives to serve and protect.

Here's a video Diane put together showing some pictures of the graduation day, along with the cadence they sang. Thank you for putting this together! As Tony the Tiger would say, " It's grrreeat!!!"

Tony Patrol Update

Tony found this video on You Tube. I thought it was pretty darn impressive so I had to share it. Update on Tony. He is currently in his 5th week at the Minn. State Patrol Academy. He is enjoying it immensely, even though it is incredibly demanding physically and mentally. I can't tell you how much I am proud of him! Oh we got some wonderful news this past week. Tony will be stationed in the Mower/Freeborn County so we get to actually stay together the next couple of years!

New furniture and the battles

Have you ever went furniture shopping with your spouse? I'll I can say is what an experience. I have learned that my husband and I have very differing styles when it comes to picking out furniture. Over the course of a few months, I can't tell you how many furniture stores we visited and revisited, looked at on-line, etc. All this work trying to find a couch and one chair.

Here's a little of the differences we encountered.

Tony-wanted leather or lots of wood trim,and a recliner. Tony wanted either a more formal or traditional style.

Lisa- I did NOT want leather, or wood, or a recliner.....can you see the problem yet?? I was looking more for a set, with nice lines, and a couch with more of the pillow style back. Oh and I wanted a standard chair that matched, but I did not want a chair and a half.

Well after numerous trips to furniture stores, and I lot of "well do you like it," followed by "it's okay", we or I rather, found the couch I had envisioned! I loved it....Tony on the other hand thought "It was okay." Now that I found the couch I wanted I was ready to compromise when it came to the chair. Funny how that worked, huh. Tony said one thing that changed my mind. He said" I just want something that feels different than sitting in a couch" That really hit home with me. I was like, yeah, your right. So we went over to the recliners, I sat down, and I realized...I like rocking. I kind of miss it. My daddy would tell you I had to be rocked to sleep every night...but that's a story for some other time. Anyways we found a recliner...and wouldn't you know it was buy one get one free. So instead of one recliner, we wound up with two! I'm sure we really look like an old married couple went sitting and rocking next to each other.

Here's the predicament with 2 recliners and a full sized couch. We have a very tiny living room. So if you come over..just use the back door....you won't get very far using the front door.

Overall we have been very satisfied with our furniture.

A Kansas Christmas

So for Christmas this year I took a whole week off from work! It was nice to have a long visit back home. I was so happy that the trip home this year but much less uneventful than last year.

On the eve of Christmas Eve we had Christmas dinner (a tasty cure 81 ham) with Joe, Diane and the rest of the gang. We finally got to see Bailey again, got to meet Adam's new girlfriend and her kids!! After dinner we opened gifts.. We got spoiled again this year. Tony got a socket set that will set him up for life, and I got a BEAUtiful ring. Wayne also made me a very special present. This summer at a fair

I had seen a butterfly made out of horseshoes and I thought to myself...Wayne could do that. So at Thanksgiving I mentioned what I saw and asked him to make me one. After we got done opening gifts, Wayne said I have one more for Lisa out in the cave.

I was thinking to myself, I'm not really sure what I want what what's in the cave. (For those of you that don't know...the cave is essciently Flerlage Trapping headquarters.....its where all the skinning goes on. )

I immediatly thought, what kind of dead animal is he going to bring me. But lo and behold Wayne walks in with the Butterfly! I couldn't believe he remembered! Nothing beats a handmade gift. It's absolutely wonderful and it made me feel very special. Thank you again Wayne! I can't wait until Spring when I can stick it in my flower bed.

Christmas Eve day we had our little Christmas with Aunt Carol, Kels, and John. As always, we usually end up laughing quite a bit and most of the time its at mom's expense. I don't think you will ever live down the snow globe incident.

That night we went to Church(candle-light service is my favorite) and then headed to Aunt Belles and Uncle Vernon's for their annual get together/Darren's B-day party. It was so great to see everyone I haven't seen in awhile...and eat the yummy goodies.

Christmas Day we woke up an open presents with my parents. I got a present wrapped by the best white rapper in town (thanks Kim) and in it I had got another home-made gift! It was the letters of our last name decorated in beautiful paper. I love them. I just need to get some ribbon so I can hang them up in our bedroom.

This summer when Kim and Brenda came up, they played hours and hours of the farming game while I was at work. So we new we had to get them this game for Christmas. Needless to say, I think it was a hit with both families.

That day, we headed to Aunt Elaine's for yet another wonderful feast and some Bingo. We got to see the Anderson's too! It was so great getting to catch up with you guys! Later in the afternoon we headed to Grandma Sally's for more food...and some tasty homemade wine! We had a wonderful day.

The rest of the time home was spent hanging out, relaxing, and getting to meet up with some more family. So glad we got to have dinner Uncle Roger and Aunt Jackie!

Oh I almost forgot to mention. Tony got me tickets to Riverdance for Christmas. They are going to be in Rochester the first week of February. I cannot wait! I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

Christmas 2010 Letter

Merry Christmas and Greetings to you and your family! As I begin to write this letter, we have just received roughly five inches of snow and it is truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We officially made it through our first Minnesota winter! Boy was that a lot of snow. We almost made it through the winter without any mishaps too. But in mid-February, while Tony was on his way to Rochester for class, he ended up having an accident and rolled the Tacoma in the median. Tony was fine, thank goodness, but the Tacoma didn't fare as well. So we wound up purchasing a 2004 F-150 and love it so far!

In March, I received a promotion at work and transferred from the plant to the Corporate Office. I am now an Associate Cost Analyst, with my main focus on Grocery Products. Most recently I have had a special assignment in assisting with maternity coverage in Revenue Accounting, focusing on our Consumer Product Sales Expenses and CPS Incentives. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity in allowing me to see different areas of the company. Although year-end meant a little extra time being put in, but as an accountant, that's to be expected.

In June, Tony graduated from Riverland Community College with a certificate in Criminal Justice. Tony had to take about a year's worth of classes in order to become POST Certified in Minnesota and in August he passed his POST exam. In March he applied for the Minnesota State Patrol and through a very, very, very long process, he has now received an official offer of employment!! I am so pround of him! 40 individuals were hired, but over 1300 intially applied. Thank you to everyone who was involved in any way. From answering all the background investigators questions, and for everyone who has prayed for us through this process!

In July we made it back to Kansas for a wedding and a short visit. We returned to Minnesota with our sisters and had a couple of weeks of playing. We headed to the cities for a few days and hit up the Mall of America, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Minnesota Zoo. In addition to that, we headed to the Freeborn County Fair to catch a concert by Love and Theft, a new country band.

The next week Joe and Wayne came by and picked up Brenda and Tony and headed to Marshfield, Wisconsin for the National Trappers Convention. They all had a great tima and came back with a few stories, new ideas, and a renewed excitment for Trapping Season to get here quick!

That same week, my folks came up and we headed to Harmony, MN to visit the Niagara Cave and do some sightseeing. We also headed over to the Freeborn County Fair again to check out the George Jones concert. Dad couldn't get over the fact of how large the county fairs are up here. He kept saying, "This is like the Kansas State fair!"

On the home front 2010 meant a lot of remodeling. We tried our hand at tiling the upstairs bathroom, and installed a shower and new vanity. The living and dining room received a new paint job and lighting, and we did some re-landscaping in the front yard. I just hope the plants survive the winter!!

As I close this letter, please keep in mind the TRUE reason for this wonderful season. Over the past year I have begun to really understand and feel the comfort Christ provides to us all. I just ask that we remember to take the time out each day to remember the wonderful gifts and blessings He has given us and continues to give.

Merry Christmas and God Bless Each and Everyone of You,

Tony and Lisa

I got one!

It's January and yes I am about to tell you about our Thanksgiving. What can I say, I tend to ignore this.

Thanksgiving as always was a fun family event. We hadn't been home since July so we were excited to make the trip. Thanksgiving day was spent at Grandma Sally's. And as always she had prepared a delicious feast. The rest of the day was spent looking at old pictures which I loved! (Some were pretty darn funny) Especially when I found out Uncle Dave had pet racoons! Who does that!?! Only in the Flerlage family :)

The rest of the night was spent chating (mostly about trapping for Tony), playing some cards, and watching Beauty and the Beast. Which I'm pretty certain, Wayne was the most excited about.

On Friday, I got up a little early (around 6) and went to Manhattan with Kelsey and Kim to do some shopping. Man, Manhattan has changed a lot in just a year! I think we missed most of the rush, because the stores weren't that crazy and we still managed to score a few deals.

Saturday was the Erikson side dinner. In the afternoon some of the cousins and the men headed out to the farm to shoot some pigeons which has started to become an anual event. I have only tried to shoot pigeons a handful of times and never had much luck. Guess the stars were aligned or something that day because I managed to not only get one, but a few. Which is quite an accomplishment for me. My husband however, probably missed less than I hit. And I will have to admit. My sister defeats me in this one tiny area :) She couldn't miss!

As always, our time back in Kansas flew bye and before we knew it, we were back in Minnesota digging ourselves out of 12.5inches of snow....joy.

Living and Dining Room

Here's pictures of our lastest project. We repainted the living and dining room in June. It was a pretty easy project for the most part. We had to do some wall patching which was interesting because we have slightly textured walls known as orange peel but we found some KnockDown at Home Depot that gave the same affect. Other than that we just changed out the lighting, and removed the ugly, heavy, very large mirror!!! The only things left are to make some curtains and get a new couch and chair.

Summer Fun Part 2

Yes, I'm terrible I know. It is now September and I am just getting around to getting to part 2 of our summer vacation.
So surprisingly the drive back to Minnesota went extremely well. It was a little tight in the back seat but Belle did great with extra people. Those in the back seat just got a little extra hairier.
So I'm trying to think back to the fun things we did with the girls. After driving up on Tuesday, we just hung out on Wednesday. We might of went out to eat but nothing too exciting. Thursday though, we headed to the cities. First up, the MOA-Mall of America. Boy did we make numerous trips around that place...and boy is it big. And wouldn't you know, I think we each only came out of there with one bag. While there we went and ate at Bubba Gumps, which has a great atmosphere-wasn't incredibly impressed with the food though. It was okay just not awesome :)
Also at the Mall we went to the Underwater Adventures which was pretty cool. I especially enjoyed the new jellyfish exhibit.
After the mall, we went to IKEA, which is a pretty cool store, especially if you are just starting out own your own and looking for some reasonably priced home furnishings and you have a small living place, just thought I'd throw that out there.

From there we watched our lives flash before our eyes as we almost got hit leaving the parking lot. Scared the begeezous out of me, but Tony seemed pretty calm about that.
So, we didn't go to the cities prepared at all on where we were going to stay for the night and we really wanted to go swimming. Wouldn't you know the third hotel we checked had a pool and a king sized bed available. It took us a while to find three hotels but we did get to see some cool neighborhoods in St. Paul.

The swimming experience was enjoyable to say the least and if anyone has seen my darling husband try to tread water you know why. He did manage to beat all of us in our races but I'm still sticking to the theory that he makes us laugh too hard and it's tough to laugh and swim at the same time.

The second day in the cities we weren't really sure what we wanted to do, and it turned out to be a rainy overcast day. We did want to go to St. Paul's Cathedral though. This place was absolutely beautiful. Everywhere you looked, there was something new to see.

From the Cathedral (we also drove past the State Capital building), Tony decided to give a driving tour of the cities. Granted this is list the first time we had been there our selves and he's giving us a tour... with no map referencing. We did drive past the University of Minnesota and we got to see a bunch more areas. After about 20 minutes of driving I start to panic b/c well 1, we don't have a plan, and I NEED a plan, and 2, we are lost. Finally I get out the trusty atlas and get us back in the correct direction(with a little map ready assistance from Tony).

After that we head to the Minnesota Zoo. Which by the way is a great zoo. Tons of animals, which a large majority of them being animals in colder climates..go figure. You won't find an elephant or giraffe at this zoo, but they some really cool exhibits.

After the zoo, we took the scenic route back home. Everyone was pooped.

The next couple of days we just hung out. I'm really having trouble remembering everything we did, but I do know we played many hours of the farming game. One of the days the next week we went to the Freeborn County Fair. The fairs up here are nothing like the Wabaunsee County Fairs....just ask my dad if you don't believe me. Anyway we went to the Love and Theft Concert and had a great time. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the fiddle player....it's okay...Tony knows I love fiddle players.

All in all we had a great time with the girls up here. I hope we can do it every summer:)

I'll talk about Mom and Dad's visit and let Tony tell you about the trapping convention in some later posts.

Summer Fun

At the end of July my first full week of vacation had arrived! I was so excited! Our plan was to go home for a couple of days and then bring our sisters up for some fun in the cities. Once again our drive home was pretty uneventful. But I did see a baby raccoon and I went nuts! I'm not sure how high of decibels my voice reached but I managed to put Belle into a slight frenzy and I definitely got Tony's attention. The little thing was so darn CUTE! I don't think I have ever seen one that small. Of course all Tony could think about was trapping after that but I told him he was not allowed to ever catch one that small. That goes for you too Wayne :) Other than that the only other exciting thing that happened was in Liberty, MO. We had to slam on the breaks for a red light. The car in the lane next to us decided to run it and Tony says, "watch he's going to get pulled over." And sure enough, here comes a police car with its lights flashy and pulls the guy over. Tony didn't think it was that exciting but I sure did, then again I entertain easily.

We got in Thursday night/Friday morning. Friday we headed to Alma for most of the day. That evening we headed to Uncle Mikes house for Lizzie's 10th (can you believe she is 10!) birthday party. There I finally got to meet the adorable Kaden. Oh he is just the precious/happiest little thing. I just wanted to eat him up ;)

Saturday's big event was Joni and Grady's Wedding!!! What a beautiful day and a beautiful couple. We had a great time catching up with everyone. I love our mini reunions! Congrats again to Joni and Grady we are very happy for the both of you!

Sunday we took it easy, just hung out with the fam's and oh of course attended the annual Wabaunsee County Fair and had some tasty pork burgers.

On Monday we headed up to Manhattan to go meet up with a bunch of Tony's past employers and catch up a bit. We also enjoyed lunch at the Bambo Buffet which I miss so very dearly. The Chinese restaurants in Austin have nothing on the Bambo. That afternoon we spent at Joe and Diane's and were I got to have some fun coloring and playing with playdough with Bailey. Not getting to see her more often is probably one of the hardest things about living so far away. She is growing so fast!!

Finally our trip home came to and end on Tuesday. We loaded up the girls and Belle (Picture 5 grown people and a 70lb dog in our tiny car heading for an 8 hour trip. We had no idea how this would work. I'll save the part two of our trip for the next post.

Sand-Volleyball Tournament

A couple of Saturday's ago, Tony and I participated in a fundraiser put on by the Rotaract Club. The fundraiser was a sand volleyball tournament in Rose Creek, a small town about 15min from Austin. Boy was it hot that day. Our team played very well and we ended up getting 3rd. Our final game was very close with the final score being 23-21. At this point we were pretty much exhausted. We didn't eat all day, the sun was blazing hot and so was the sand but all in all we had a great time. The pain from the sunburns to come later. We ended up also winning a couple of door prizes too so that was great!

Below is a picture of us with our team.