Road Trip - Last stop... Mad Cow!

Summer

Summer you got to love it. No schedules and no where you have to be unless you want to. Well even with no schedules it has been a fun summer and a fast summer.

We kicked off summer with a birthday party at the new house for Grace and Andrew with all the cousins. It was one big mess but it was a blast! Aunt Shannon put together a huge food relay race for the kids. They had a blast and Grace even got in to it. She loved the spaghetti on the head relay the best. We had 5 different types of food races and with each one the yard turned from green to a mess of colors. I'm sure all the wild critters of the night loved there sweet and salty snacks.

The coming weeks it was off to sport camps for the boys and Bible Camp for Jack. They loved it! Cousin Andrew even got to spend time with Jack at Bible camp. Will turned 7 by the end of the month and had a bunch of school and church buddies over for the day. They caught turtles and fish, went boating and all took turns riding the jets skies. Seeing Will turn 7 was a great day!

Fourth of July was a big weekend. For our family it started on Thursday as the Leman family took a trip to Chicago. All the men and the boys in the family headed to the Cubs game and all the women and girls went shopping at American Dolls for Allies (niece) birthday. We had a wonderful shopping and eating such yummy things. The boys had a great time watching the Cubs win in the 13 inning!!! Afterwards we all met back up at our home for some hot pizza. Over the next few days of the 4th weekend we had Tim's family and my family stay and play on the lake. It was a full house full of great memories!

As we rolled into mid July Tim got his old college buddies together for a weekend at our home. The kids and I put together an adventure with my mom, sister and her kids. We packed up the truck and headed to Wisconsin Dells to play at the Wolf Lodge water park, Mall of America in St Paul and Bemidji Minnesota visiting with extended family for the week. We had a great time, lots of laughs and even tears when I realized I was really 35 not 34... Long story but super funny! We really enjoyed our time together and catching up with each other and our Minnesota family. It is such a blessing that God gave us family!

Now here we are in August and it has extreme heat to it! Jack has started daily football practice and the calendar if full of events as we head into the last 4 weeks of summer vacation... keep watching for those postings, but for now we hope you are all having a wonderful and safe summer vacations with your families.

XOXO

Mothers Day

Jack & Will catches a baby baby turtle

While Grace is asleep the boys will play...

We're here - Just lost in boxes!

So thankful for selling our Granger home and loving the new home, but I am almost ready to load the rest of the boxes to make a delivery to Goodwill...I don't even really care what is in them. Moving has been eye opening in how much stuff we have and how we really don't need it all. I have found things that I forgot I had and hadn't used items in years. I have also found that I have a well stocked pantry of plastic silverware, paper plates and napkins. I guess we will need to host some BBQ events this summer or something.

Rooms completed...
Boys room ... check
Boys Playroom ... check
Mater Bedroom ... check
Graces Room ... check
Living Room ... check
Kitchen ... ONE BIG CHECK

Rooms still working on...
Family Room
Guest Room
Kimra's Craft things
Garage ... it will be nice when we can park the cars in it again!

Over all, we are all doing good in making the move fairly smooth. It is really nice that everything outside our home stays the same and the only thing that changed was learning a new address!

Happy 9th Birthday

Jack please slow down!
Don't be in such a hurry to grow up.
Time goes by so fast when looking back, but when living in the moment it always seems like it is going at a nice steady pace.
Enjoy being a kid - these are amazing years for you to enjoy.

Happy 9th Birthday!
We love you!


Our oldest son just turned 9 and I can't believe that next year we will be in double digits. He had 8 buddies over to the lake to celebrate the day. It was a lot of fun breaking in the new house with all these boys. They played football, capture the flag and hide n seek in the house. When there is no furniture in the house there is a lot more freedom. Here are some of our photos from that day. Enjoy!

Our Home

For 5 years we have gotten to make some amazing memories together as a family and with our friends in our Granger home and in the neighborhood. We are so excited to announce that we are under contract with an amazing family. It brings Tim and I so much joy to be passing this home onto this family. I am praying for them during their move and for this home to continue to bring them as much joy and memories for them as it has for us.

Welcome to Granger Indiana - sweet new family!!

South Bend breaks a SNOW record...23.6"

It has been a snow packed weekend and the kids are loving it. The boys are outside as we speak building a fort with Will chatting about school being closed tomorrow. Hate bust that bubble but there will be school. I can not describe the beauty of it all and pictures can't even capture just how much snow we got. It is so lite and fluffy - well until you have to shovel it. The sounds of outside are so quiet and a calming feeling. The trees look like they are made of piper cleaners (as Jack says). I wish my family could see it and be here playing with us.

To bad it isn't 50 degrees because that would make it even more fun to play in...might never come in.

Enjoy your families today and that warm hot chocolate.
Much love from our family.