Weekend Fun

This last weekend was so much fun for all of us. The kids had a blast at my parents house (and they even went down to Rochester to visit their great-grandpa---twice!!). Chris got the annual "deer hunting fever" out of his system and it was totally worth it: he got an 8-point buck! Whoo-hoo! (This also means that I didn't clean out the chest freezer last week for nothing---whew!) I was home while my family was having their own fun, but I, too, was doing something I enjoy. I was scrapbooking and having a fabulous "girls' weekend" with 4 of my favorite scrapping buddies. They stayed over from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon and we had a blast!!

Here are a couple pictures that were taken:

Ashely & myself (minus make-up and nice hair) :)


Sarah & Brittney



I didn't get as many scrapbook pages made this year as I did last year (17 pages done this year, about 25 made last year), but I got some other crafty projects finished and of course spent lots of time chatting. :) Thanks for a great weekend, girls! And thanks to my parents for making it possible by taking my kiddos for a couple days. I'm very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. :)

M.I.A.

I've been getting emails and phone calls from people asking why I haven't been blogging, so here I am!! Actually, our week has been super-duper busy and every time I would get a chance to sit and relax, my fingers just didn't feel like typing. Here's a quick catch-up as to what we've been up to:

Last week, my grandma passed away and her funeral was on Tuesday.


While it was so wonderful to see family members that I never get to see, it was also our time to say "good-bye" to such a special lady. My mind has been reeling on how to best commemorate my grandmother through my blog and I've decided that I just can't do her justice. I have so many memories of Grandma that I could talk about until the cows come home but I'm going to defer to my brother on this one. He has written such a wonderful tribute to her, so if you would like to read it, please click HERE. My grandma was a huge inspiration in my life and I will always keep her in my heart.

While Chris and I spent the day in Rochester with my extended family (for the funeral), Caleb and Hannah spent the day with my in-laws. They had a great day eating honey jumbos (special cookies that Grandma makes):


...checking out the new boat in the family...



(to find out more details about this boat, please click HERE)

...and also going to a favorite play-place called Little Kids Big City (which I've posted about in the past). They had a great day!!

Wednesday through Friday were spent getting all the put-aside house-work done and also spending time with some good friends. On Saturday, I went to a baby shower with my mother-in-law while the kids hung out with Daddy and Grandpa. Grandpa got a pretty good picture of Hannah smelling the flowers on the deck:


We then trekked over to my friend, Marisa's, home an hour away. It was her daughter, Ava's, second birthday and we helped them celebrate with a backyard party. Caleb spent a good two hours jumping in an inflatable bouncer and Hannah had a great time eating sand. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Luckily, she decided that she didn't like the sand after she stuffed the 5th fist-full in her mouth, so it was a short-lived panic that Chris and I endured. :)

Today (Sunday), we had family pictures taken at the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens. It was really neat to see a family of ducks by the "cherry and the spoon". The baby ducks came right up to us and Hannah really had a field day chasing them around the pond. (She would have liked to jump in and swim with them, but Daddy said "no".) I'll let you know when some of the pictures are posted on Bri's blog---she always does such a great job, even though our kids are so wiggly!!

For those non-Minnesotans, this is what the cherry and the spoon look like:


I just had to add this picture because my Iowan sister had no idea what I was talking about when mentioning this sculpture. Now you know!! :)

So, the long and the short of it is: I'm back! Sorry for the lapse in posts and expect more from me this week! (And I really am "okay", as many people have been asking. Thanks for thinking of me during these hard times!!)