Hey folks! We have lots of pictures this week and that's all that really matters right!? We're coming off a busy couple of weeks with weddings, vacations, moving, and baptisms. Let's see if we can hold it together, okay?!
First things first, congratulations to Rick and Jackie on their beautiful marriage! It was such a great time with a great, great ceremony, great, great location, and a grand ol' reception that followed. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and thanks to my father for watching Daniel so that we COULD thoroughly enjoy ourselves. Although, when I got home, Daniel told me that he was a little jealous that he missed the dancing portion. He has a killer moonwalk.
 |
| Daniel's suave looking |
 |
| Congrats to Rick and Jackie Elsasser. GREAT addition to the family! |
I was also able to enjoy some time with some old high school friends at my 10 year high school reunion (I know, I know..I'm getting OLD). It was great catching up. Unfortunately, we missed a big fireworks extravaganza in our neighborhood, but it sounded like it was a real BOOMER! (Thank you, Jen for watching Daniel...also, thanks to my sister, Tina for watching Daniel when we had the Bachelor/Bachelorette party before the wedding). We were able to have my father and Kate's parents over for July 4th and I made some burgers that were either charred beyond recognition or practically still in the packaging..not my brightest moment...BUT..I'll never give up, never surrender. Keep on trucking. I won't back down...etc...etc..I've turned into an old curmudgeon though for our Independence Day. I'm not as big a fan of fireworks or flaming lanterns or whatnot. It kept my son awake, almost caught my house on fire, and made mowing a big pain as half my lawn is littered with debris. I guess I should lighten up (no pun intended)...but whatevs. I've been there before.
 |
| Loved it. Although...he IS a boy. |
Vacation time! I had a presentation at our NSBA summer workshop in Crete, NE (it went very well) and headed up to Glenwood, MN to meet up with the rest of the fam. It was a nice drive until it got dark and I entered Minnesota. The bugs were just really bad and the storms were quite intimidating...but I overcame it and arrived amid little fuss. The weekend was great. So nice meeting so many people, relaxing, swimming, golfing, walk/running, playing cards. I'd say sleeping, but sleep was a little off because of our...well...umm...yeah, I'll just say it, our wonderful firstborn. It wasn't terrible, but we always worried about our roommates waking up, so we spent much of the night coddling our young one so as not to cry and awaken our compadres. Thank you so much again to Grandma Ruth for setting up our cabin and everyone else who organized the event. So nice. We'll have some pictures below.
 |
| Traveling happily! |
 |
| Danny and Dani. She was SO helpful (along with many others). Thanks! |
 |
| Grandma Ruth's siblings. So cool. |
 |
| Taking care of his lil' cousin...although she looks terrified. |
 |
| Sisters playing with Aunt Leona. |
 |
| Walking with Grandpa E. |
 |
| Lots of singing going on here! |
After Glenwood, we headed to Minneapolis to stay at a hotel and see the Mall of America (MoA if you're local). We did so with Kate's brother and his family. It was a grand ol' time. We swam in the pool, ate some pizza, slept lightly, shopped, ate at a restaurant that had a fire in the kitchen and had to close down WHILE we were eating (we finished our food and got out...don't worry). It was great. Following there, we headed to see some of my family in Fairmont, MN. Thanks to my Aunt Tammy and Uncle Randy for hosting us. It was such a blast and I only wish we could have visited more. LOVED IT! Got to spend time with my Grandpa too. Really a great time. He has a new cat that's a lot of fun to HANG with. Thanks, Grandpa.
 |
| Jack and Taylor. Hanging out before we head to MoA. |
 |
| Dad and son....and Mader (spelling?) |
We arrived home on Wednesday...I think and have been keeping busy with school/family stuff since. Congrats to Jen and Queño on Elaina's baptism! She's going to be a wonderful person (she already is) It's been a great couple of weeks and summer's drawing to a close more quickly than we'd like to admit, but...hey...I'll never complain that I get to enjoy as much as I do. Keep looking to the stars!
 |
| Baptism, sad I missed it, but it looked wonderful. |
 |
| Just lazing around with his Uncle and Aunt. |
 |
| Reading at a 1st grade level...upside down, but we'll take it. |
 |
| He's practicing to be a chameleon. |
 |
| Sleepy pants. No..I'm serious, look how tired those pants are! |
 |
| Face paint or food... |
 |
| Alright...no puns..let's just wrap it up here. |
