4th of July

Forth of July was spent at some friends of ours, the Hodson's. They live way out in the country and so have a perfect spot for some fireworks. Alex also likes the fact they live amoung the big windmills. We had a great time eating, hanging out with friends, and eventually seeing fire works. (Because of daylight savings, our area experiences daylight pretty late into the evening/night. Fireworks can't begin until well after 10pm. Makes for a late night!) This fourth of July was probably the coolest I can remember. We'd had a string of really hot days, but a cold front came through and it was the least-humid, most pleasant holiday I can remember! I was glad I brought jackets for me and the boys because the evening was cool. But it was so nice!

Here's some pictures of the kids playing.

Gunnar Berger

(He was the only one who would pose for the camera at the time!)

Gunnar, Anna Hodson, Alex, and Adam in the treehouse

Adam watching Daddy play volleyball.

Alex couldn't wait for the sprinklers to come out!

Adam and the windmill

Yeah, I think Alex and Anna are fighting over the flower sprinkler.

Anna's little brother, Nathaniel, loooves the water!

Brrr! It's a little chilly, Mom!

Ok, so Alex looks like he's picking on the little kid, right?

However, Nathaniel loved it! It's water!

Throwing snaps on the ground.

No pictures of fireworks, sorry. Adam is scared of the booms. We bought a little pack of fireworks and did them at home a couple nights before the holiday, just to see if he would get used to them. But each time he made me take him in the house. And the fourth was no different. Adam and I spent our time playing in Anna's play kitchen while everyone else enjoyed the show. And eventually Gunnar joined us. So at least he had a playmate. :)

It's a...

We had our ultrasound this week and it's a girl! Sorry no pictures to go with this post. I just wanted to let people know who haven't seen it on Facebook. The baby didn't give us a real great view of her bottom, so the ultrasound tech said she wouldn't go pink crazy until after the birth. However, we did get one decent look that showed it would probably be a girl. I've been thinking it was a girl anyway, so I'm going with it. What's the worst that can happen...it comes out a boy? I think I've got that covered----done it a couple times! :)

Thomas the Train

This past Saturday, we drove two hours to Connorsville, IN to see Thomas the Train. Adam's starting to really get into Thomas, and Alex is on his way out with Thomas. So we decided now would be the time to go. For those of you not familar with Thomas, he's a blue steam engine in a kids' tv series. We watch him mostly on PBS or Netflix, but also have many books about Thomas and his friends (more steam engines or machines).

So anyway, Thomas was going to be in Connorsville and we had tickets for a train ride! Alex was so excited, he kept waking up the night before asking, "Is it time to go ride Thomas?" When we finally got there, they had games, activities, rides, and story times in addition to the train ride, all which was included in the ticket price. Suprisingly, the boys really just wanted to go on the train ride and weren't really into too much of the other activities. Altough they did like the gift shop alot. They had all sorts of characters to go on the wooden train track set then I've ever seen in a store---even Toysrus! We had a hard time getting them out of that one. But we did finally make it to the train ride. Thomas was in front, but Andy and I noticed a real engine in the back of the train that was doing the real pulling and pushing. I guess Thomas was just for looks. :)

an old engine for picture taking

Adam always smiles good when I say "cheese",

but that day, he kept closing his eyes and squinting!

On the real train (really old train cars)!

Waiting at the "train station" for Thomas

here he comes!

I just threw this picture in. We had the gokart out and cleaned it up a bit today.

We'll need a friend to come help us get it started. It doesn't get much use, so it takes some fiddling to get it going at first. But once you get it going it wants to take off! So we always need two people to do it, especially with the boys around. But Alex still likes to "drive". :)

Wedding

Natalie (Andy's sister) and Jeremy Lederhouse were married on June 18th in Wakarusa (same place Andy and I tied the knot). We went up a few days early to help with preparations. I didn't get a good chance to take too many pictures since I had to watch the boys most of the time. But here's a few of the ones I did manage to snap.

The rehersal

Pete's wife, Kelli, played the piano for the wedding

Wayne and Nat

The guitarist and celloist




The Wedding Day

Alex and Adam's outfits
Alex was the ringbearer, and we got him into his outfit.
We just thought Adam would look cute if he matched, but the tie and vest wasn't happening!


Playing in one of the classrooms---where the boys spent most of the morning

Alex and Pete

so cute with his flower and tie!

Sorry, no pics of the wedding. We were all in it except Adam, who thankfully slept through the ceremony. So we were a little busy to be taking pictures! But I will tell you a few of the highlights of the wedding. Alex did pretty good going down the isle, but it was a difficult one. It had two turns, and he made it almost to the second turn when he made eye contact with a stranger. Then he dropped the pillow and did a silent scream/cry. Thankfully, Andy was quick to get him so the half of the audience who couldn't see his face, thought it was all part of the plan! The other notable happening was how Andy performed duties of matron of honor. :) They had the bridal party line up according to family, not boy-girl. So Andy and Pete were on Nat's side instead of the girls being on her side. After the lighting of the candles, Nat's dress needed...a little straightening. Jeremy's sister gave Andy the evil eye and at first he woulnd't do it. But then he swallowed his pride and bent down and straightened out his little sister's dress. It wasn't a perfect job, but I've never been so proud of my man! :)

At the reception...

The wedding party just consisted of Nat and Jeremy's siblings.

It worked out well since she has two brothers and he has two sisters :)

Alex was pretty well wiped out by reception time. Adam was pretty cheery, considering he'd just had a nap. But even though Alex isn't taking naps anymore, it had been a marathon of long days and it was catching up to him. After getting some food into him, he livened up a bit, but he was still a bit cranky. :)

VBS

Well, I've been consumed with preparations for VBS the past couple weeks. I was in charge of the decorations this year. The story line is the wanderings in the Sinai desert. There's not much to work with in a desert, but there are oasis! So the past couple months I've been cutting leaves (just short of 400) and in the last couple weeks straightening wire hangers (for the leaves...so almost 400 also). We made about 25 palm trees from carpet tubes, wire hangers and green paper. We didn't get a lot of help setting up, but the few who came got it done! Thanks so much for those of you who helped!

The stage in the sanctuary

The foyer

The weather turned from hot and humid to cool and dry this weekend. What a relief!

We decided to have a little campfire and cook hotdogs and make s'mores.

The boys just ate chocolate though. :)

Birthday Party

Grandma Doll turned 85 and what better way to celebrate then have a party! We all met at Prairie Moon and had some good food and family time. The kids enjoyed getting together and playing with one another. It was a beautiful evening and can't wait to for the 100 yr-old birthday party! :)

The birthday girl

Alex just ate the frosting.

All the great-grandkids