Here are a few pictures taken this weekend.  The entire family was home minus the Shrameks.

Nate going out for a pass

Lannie, Grace and uncle Brad.

Zoe on the steps in Tyke.

Ryan at the farm.

Payton and Nate driving the Mule at the farm.

We have a great garage that is big enough for two cars. Right now we have some junk taking up my spot. Most summer days it is not a big deal. Days like yesterday are a different story. My wife was kind enough to use her umbrella and come over to my door and walk me to the house. What a sweetie.

Here are a few pictures I snapped with my new camera. Both Kate and Wrigley are getting sick of me taking photos of them. The new camera replaces the old camera sitting at the bottom of Lake Okoboji.

Wrigley with his drug of choice.

Kate helping at her Mom’s garage sale. Don’t ask her about her “craft projects.”

Alyssa–Kate’s cousin’s daughter…follow that?

Mitch & I went to Chicago this weekend to see a Cubs game. Even though we weren’t able to sing the victory song after their Saturday game, we still had a lot of fun! Here we are at the game, & afterwards with Aaron spotting an unknown player (unknown even to them, not just me).

Here is one of the many neat buildings we saw on our architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. This building is the Gothic style…I think. Although I might not remember all of the architectural styles covered, it was very interesting & included some of Chicago’s history.

This is one of the many images we left Chicago with. Another was the “parade” of naked bicycle riders…luckily we didn’t have our camera out for that one☺

Apparently we are on the once a month schedule for blogging. We have been spending time outside enjoying the gorgeous weather lately. Here are the highlights:

My sister-in-law Emilie & I (with the help of our loving husbands) planted our very first (well at least my very first) garden earlier this spring. We planted nearly every vegetable under the sun, as well as blueberries and wildflowers. Everything has come up, except the mini-pumpkins that may have inadvertently gotten mowed over.

Our favorite helper:

The plants look pretty good so far!

We’ve also been working on yard projects – there are a lot of them. But we’re new at this, so it’s still fun. We’re going to keep at it until it’s not fun!

Just one of the truckloads of mulch that arrived one Saturday:

My favorite plants are those you just cannot kill (I have a special knack). Two that do the trick are peonies and hostas…and they are my favorites this year!

My sister Tracy graduated from college on Friday! Her degree is in Kinesiology from ISU. She walked across the stage in her college’s graduation ceremony, so we went to cheer her on. Here she is with Alyssa, our cousin’s daughter who looks like an adorable new grad, herself!

Afterwards we went to a Japanese steakhouse to celebrate…it was so fun! We sat around a grill & had our food prepared in front of us. Our chef was very entertaining! Here is Tracy having some food tossed into her mouth (she didn’t catch it!); plus Mom & Tracy enjoying some sushi.

I have to include one story from the evening…my mom wanted to get Tracy a nice bracelet for a graduation gift. Tracy does not wear bracelets, and wanted a trainer (turns a road bike a stationary bike) instead. Tracy was a bit distraught about the idea of getting a bracelet that she just didn’t want! Mom wrapped up a small, jewelery-sized box to fool Tracy…see fake smile below! Inside was a note that said “This isn’t the real gift, Tracy!”. Once she read the note, Tracy turned & saw a very large, trainer-shaped present sitting behind her. It was pretty cute!

Congrats, Tracy!

Since Mitch & Jared’s birthdays are so close, Emilie & I thought it would be the perfect excuse to get everyone together! Here are a couple pictures of the birthday boys (matching…I bet they loved that!) & the kiddos. The day was just nice enough to get outside to play some bag-o (who knew that was the official name?), which is now everyone’s favorite summer game!

Lately we’ve been hanging out at home…which is such a nice change! We’ve been enjoying weekends where we can actually ask, “What do you want to do today?” We’ve been working to clean up the yard (when it was nice outside…remember that?) Here’s a great shot of Mitch’s last-ditch effort to trim the tree branch that was making it’s way into our bedroom window. Trust me, many other options were tried before we brought the gas-powered trimmer inside…

I was in Des Moines last Thursday for work & the highlight was seeing this little sweetie afterwards! Gracie was waking up the entire time I was there, constantly stretching her tiny arms & yawning as big as she possibly could. Jill graciously pointed out that I was the first aunt to hold her. I thought if I could call myself “Auntie” first, it would stick! We’ll see

We’ve also been working on our adoption self studies. The questions require a lot of thought…and there are a lot of questions. So that’s been consuming most my evenings lately. We’re going to meet with our coordinator in the next week or so to discuss our answers, and then move on to the next step. Slowly but surely!

Mitch & I returned from our trip to Dallas last week…we had so much fun! While he attended an annual meeting for swine veterinarians each day, my mom, sister & I were exploring the town. Here are some of our highlights:

Mitch & Clayton (who we saw in Wichita) playing with the display:

Just having fun: Mom & Tracy howling at the moon; Tracy with her favorite saying.

Charlie, who we met at the Flight Museum, posing by a picture of himself in a WW2 fighter plane.

The road where JFK was shot with the book depository in the background;
an okapi we saw at the zoo, a relative of the giraffe I’d never heard of.

Heading out for dinner with some of Mitch’s coworkers & their spouses.
The buffalo filet mignon that night was unbeatable!