Sentimental

Many years ago my Grandma (who is now 100!) gave me some family spoons that she had framed. I found them as I was sorting and had them re-framed. I LOVE the way they turned out!

With Sabrina going back to school today and the other kids out on their own I am excited to have time to reinvent myself. One of the things I plan to do is go room by room and sort, repair and improve. I have always loved to decorate and do house stuff so I am excited.

Quick Visit

In July we had the pleasure of seeing Scott's sister, Rachel, and her family for a quick visit. Here are some photos from that visit.

Apparently we took no pictures of our beautiful niece, Holly. Sorry, Holly!

Sabrina's First Day!

Sabrina goes to a small Christian school. There are 11 students in her class. These are the 7 girls!

Ice Bucket Challenge

Scott, Teme and I have all been challenged. I wasn't actually there when Teme took the challenge but I happened to see this on Scott's phone. Scott and I will be making a donation:)

Cute pictures

Noelle watched Sabrina while we went golfing and out for dinner for our anniversary. They went to an outdoor movie in the park, "Brave". They are both so beautiful!

Happy 27th!!

Once upon a time a scared Iowa girl went on a missions trip to the Fiji islands. She came home with a renewed heart for Jesus and a Wisconsin boy:)

I will be honest. It hasn't been an easy year. We have been pulled in many directions. We spent two months apart. But we are in it, together, forever!

Back to school, and on their own!!

One by one the kids are heading back to school. The first one to move out was Noelle! On August 8th she moved to an apartment! So unbelievable! We are so proud of her. Technically due to her large amount of absences over the last two years especially, Noelle has one semester of high school left. She will begin Hawkeye Community College in January. She will be there for two years and then pursue her BSN at Allen Nursing School. Here are a few pictures of her apartment. She has two roommates that were assigned to her. They are doing well so far.

August 19th Teme headed back to school. He is in the 8th grade.

August 21st the big guy headed back to Ames. He has changed his major to Chemistry with a teaching certification, with the goal to teach high school Chemistry. I think this is a good fit. In fact, I have been encouraging him in this direction for awhile. I actually felt the need to ensure that he did not change because of my pestering. I would hate to be responsible for an unhappy choice. He assures me it was all his decision.

His room is TINY! And I have laughed at the difference getting a girl off to her own place for the first time versus a boy, especially Jake. So funny.

Sabrina will head to second grade tomorrow. I will definitely add photos later.

Family Vacation

August 11-14th we had a vacation with my family in southern Iowa at the Honey Creek Resort on Lake Rathbun. My mom and dad, sister Karen and her family and my sister Kat and her family were there. We were just about to load up the car when Jake came down with the flu. Unbelievable. So we went ahead intending to come back and get him the next day. He ended up feeling icky most of the time we were gone so he missed out and we missed him:(

We had lots of yummy food, kayaking, boating, inner-tubing, wave runners, family sand volleyball games, golf, indoor waterpark and a bonfire. I did a really bad job with the camera but I have a few shots from Noelle and Scott's phones. Have I mentioned that I still have a "dumb" phone?