Happy #7!

Happy Anniversary to my husband! :) I love you! Who would have thought we'd be where we are at this point in our lives?! We are so blessed.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Ruth!

I know we are a day late, but we hope you had a fabulous birthday, G'ma Ruth and we hope you love your ISU snuggie! :)

♥

Love, Hugs and Kisses,
US

Auntie Mary

the kids love Auntie Mary. :) This is Mary's very special Mister Mister, too.

Abby's shower

Abby's shower was a lot of fun. It was a beach themed shower. There were lots of fun treats and good food. Abby received a lot of nice gifts. Overall, it was a wonderful shower and good to see some familiar friendly faces. :)

yes it was HOT at the fair

It was so hot that we stayed as long as we could w/ the kids in tow and that meant leaving before showmanship. Daniel and his cows did well, but no trophies this year. The kids thought the cows were cool. When we arrived, there were bucket calves in the ring and Baylen yelled out, "Mom, I wanna pull those cows!" Then he yelled, "Momma, I want to feed those cows!" It was so freaking hot that day, though...muggy, sunny, and just plain Iowa hot. We headed to DQ after the show for some good eats and then to swim. Everyone was home together for the first time that night, so that was fun. No more fairs for a few years until it's Parker's turn.

Feeding the cows

The kids enjoyed feeding Daniel's cows

Woody

The kids loved Woody made out of Legos

G'ma Cindy

Thank God you have so much patience, Grandma Cindy :)

Llama Llama Red Pajama

At the zoo last week, we fed what the kids named Llama Llama Red Pajama...hmmm wonder where they borrowed that name from?! :) They loved it, although Llama Llama was not a big fan of kids despite the fact they held all the food.

Having Fun w/ G'ma Ruth

The kids totally remember and love hanging out with G'ma Ruth :)

Happy 55th, Papa!

Happy Birthday, Papa Kevin! The kids enjoyed celebrating your birthday with you. :)

CORN!

One of the best parts of Iowa is the sweet corn. Nothing compares to Iowa Sweet Corn. YUM!

Cousins!

Here are all 5 of them...soon to be 6..my sister is due at the end of September so we'll have a new "head" picture in December! Can you tell who the ornery one is?

American Girl Store part I

We took a mini staycation up to Minneapolis to the Mall of America. The kids loved it. They have an American Girl store there and I've wanted to get Brynn to one before she turned 10. haha Since the winter months are always unpredictable, this was the best time to go. She brought her Bitty Twin named "Kia" with her to Iowa and so she was able to accompany us to the AG store. Dj made reservations in the Bistro upstairs (the store is 22,000 square feet by the way) so we spent about two hours shopping and eating. Brynn loved looking at all of the dolls. She chose a new outfit for BK, a new t-shirt, a tea set, and a pair of pajamas. We had planned to get BK's ears pierced, but they only allow the big dolls to get their ears pierced. So, instead, she was able to have BK visit the doll hair salon and get her hair put in little pigtails and get her skin cleaned. The lady put a little robe on her and pulled her hair up. Brynn said that was her favorite part of the store: watching BK have her hair done. Brynn was able to pick out the ribbon colors and decide which hair style. She picked braids first, but the Twins' hair is a little too short for that, so we picked piggies instead.

Little Fish

This guy is a little fish in the water. He is fearless. He jumps. He has so much water in his ears and constantly shouts, "WHAT?" haha
This picture was taken last week before he discovered the life jacket and freedom in the pool. Now he refuses to drive the boat. He'd rather jump.

My favorite picture of the summer so far...

a boy and his papa

Camel Camel

Lots of camel rides at the zoo. They are fun but in my opinion, overpriced for what you get. Oh well...i guess it's all about memory making but still...haha

One Week...

In One Week, I'll be done w/ my second Master's class and then: SUMMER BREAK from school x2! :)

In One Week, we'll be getting ready to leave Iowa. So sad how fast it's gone already!

In less than one week, we'll be going up to the Mega Mall--a little family trip (just the 4 of us) and we'll spend the night in a hotel, go to the AG store, and hopefully hit up LegoLand and other stuff the mall has to offer in a 24 hour period.

In One Week, we'll be watching Uncle Danno show his cattle for the last time.

In One Week, I'll be at two different showers (a baby and then a wedding) in one day.

In One Week, hopefully I'll be tan, tan, and more tan.

In less than one week, we'll visit the Ames Aquatic Center. :) WOOT!

In 3 days, I get to see my husband! :) DOUBLE WOOT!

It's getting' hot out herrrrrrrr

YES SUMMER FOR US! :)
This was Baylen's 2nd time in the pool this summer at the farm. On this day, he swam like a fish, jumped in off of the ladder, swam around in a little green tube, and put on a life jacket and jumped in the pool several times. Today, he can't hear worth a shit. haha There must be too much water in his ears!!! :)

Zoo Crazy

B, B and I met up with Mary for some much needed sister and auntie time at the zoo in DSM. Here is a preview. The kids had a blast! We fed tons of animals, rode camels, and looked and looked at many others. Baylen was in Heaven.

Tractor Loving Rider

Look at Mister Mister just loving riding the tractor w/ his Papa.

Toy Story 3

Baylen's first movie...he was mesmerized and even wore the 3D glasses almost the entire show. :) More pics to come soon. Brynn loved it, of course and so did my mom and I. It was really cute and I cried my eyes out by the end. I've always loved the Toy Story movies.

Cousins!

Baby Sam, Parker and Calleigh have come to visit! :)

First and Last Days of School

Here are the pictures of the kids' first and last days of school. I can't believe how much they change in 9 short months.

Brynn's first day of school pics back in September 2009



Brynn's Last Day of School: June 2010



Baylen's first day of school: Sept. 2009


Baylen's last day of school: June 2010

Nostalgia

Total Nostalgia today.