our princess

Becky is really into princesses right now. She picked out this lovely crown while we were at a family outing at Wal-Mart. Fun, I know. Anyway...she loves wearing it around. She also wore a Sleeping Beauty like dress at my dad's this weekend, and I could hardly to get her to take it off. Loved being a princess. She kept dancing around, holding the dress...definitely too cute. Of course, I forgot my camera. Good thing I'm sure she'll be playing dress-up for years to come!

Adventureland again!

On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we went to Adventureland to celebrate my birthday. We had a blast. Becky and my favorite ride was definitely the Tilt a Whirl. We went on it four times, twice two times in a row! That one's pretty hard to get pictures of, though, so here are some of Becky having a blast on the rides all by herself.

Union Park

Larry and Donna came to visit on August 30. After breakfast, we went to Union Park. The kids had a great time on the carousel. They got to ride it three times!

Becky is so polite. Here she is telling the gentleman thanks for the ride. What a sweetie!
The kids managed to get some playing done too before the park got too busy.Bode was trying to show Becky how to go down the slide. It didn't work this time though. She just turned around and came down the stairs. She's not quite the daredevil that Bode is!

who likes the piano?

I think everyone does! Here's Becky taking a turn.... Dusty seems to have made himself at home....
and so did Chewie!I even get to play it once in a while too. This was such a great purchase to make. Although I'm rusty, it is coming back to me. Becky even let me play for a while tonight while she was watching The Little Mermaid. She never even complained. She just watched the movie right through it. I couldn't believe it. I don't think that hardly even happened when I used to play growing up!

park fun

We had a really good visit with Monte while he was here. It was such a beautiful day that Saturday, the 23rd. We ended up going to the park in Windsor Heights. Becky had fun swinging and playing on the slides.

Emma Jo is one!

Becky and I couldn't make it to Emma's birthday party because Monte came to town, so we went and visited her on her birthday, the 22nd. Hard to believe our great niece is one! She is such a big girl. We had a blast. Emma loved the dollhouse (almost as much as Becky did. Becky still says she wants to go to Emma's house to play with her dollhouse!)

We took her a cupcake since we weren't going to get to see her eat her birthday cake. I don't think she ate much, but she sure was having fun!
Becky wanted to hold Emma. It lasted long enough to get one picture!
Talking on their phones. Must just be a natural instinct for girls to talk on the phone!

Pete and Justy's wedding

Al and I had a great time in Sioux City for Pete and Justy's wedding. The girls let me hang out with them on Friday night.... Al in the middle looking sharp in his tux with Dave Bernardy in front and Steve Baumgarten Jr. behind.
Pete and Justy ready to start their lives together...and have some fun at the reception!

state fair

We made it to the state fair on the first Saturday...it was a nice, hot day. We had a great time (at least most of the day!) When it was time to leave, we were all beat and ready to come home though!

not my fault

I have tried three times to download pictures to get caught up....my internet keeps going off. Maybe the key is to do it early. I'm tired tonight and I give up. I've got some pictures of the state fair, Pete and Justy's wedding, and pictures with Al's dad to post. Then I'll be pretty well caught up.

In the meantime...we had a great weekend. It was nice to spend some time with Monte. It was great weather too, so we enjoyed playing at the park. Hopefully I can get those posted soon.

I will also try to post a picture of my piano! I enjoyed playing it tonight, even if it was a little bit rusty. Al and I bought it at the State Fair, and it had to be ordered, so it just got delivered today. Lessons anyone? Just kidding. I am very excited to have it in our home though, and even though I was pretty rusty playing, I'm sure in no time it will come back to me and I'll sound at least as good as I did in high school (although my brothers may argue with me over how good I actually was!)

I will try to post again the next couple days so I can get caught up. I do want to say, though, that I was going to get caught up tonight, and it's really not my fault that the internet won't let me. Quit complaining about it!!!

I'm persistent

Finally got pictures posted. The internet must have been too busy. Everyone else has gone to bed, so it freed up space for me! Here are some more pictures from our weekend in Mount Ayr.

Becky....looking like a big girl and not so much a baby girl anymore!playing the piano with great grandmasitting with Aunt Dawn and Becca (Katilyn got her hands in!)The girls posing for a silly picture first golf outing
Becky loved throwing the ball and carrying around an extra glove

She also had her own putter she could carry. The first time I putted, she knelt down just like me. Of course she didn't for this picture, but it was still fun and cute anyway!
Here is the point where Becky had had enough....with one hole left to go!Playing with Charlie. I think he has definitely become her favorite "toy" at Grandpa and Grandma's house!

bummed

I decided to not bring my computer home to work on transcripts tonight, so I thought I would post a bunch of pictures I haven't gotten posted. Blogger is not letting me now. Figures! Oh well. Becky went with Al and I tonight to play volleyball for a while because it was practice night. She was so good. She loved playing with the ball and messing around with the "rocks" in the sand. When we got home and were rocking a little before bed, she told me, "Had a big day." I said, "What did you do?" She said, "I play volleyball. I eat supper. I play in the sand. I play with rocks." So cute! I have a feeling next time Al and I really go to play volleyball, she's going to be mad she can't go, especially now that she knows how much fun it is!

butterly

Here is a butterly on my aunt's flowers. I thought it was so cool. This was taken the weekend we spent in Mount Ayr while my aunt Janet from California was there. I know my mom loved flowers and butterflys, and I felt her presence in the flower garden. Just a little reminder that she's always watching over us all, even if she's not on this earth.

July 4th fun

Here is Becky playing and posing....
Here she is in the car....those are my glasses, but they look pretty cute on her!
Al and Becky in the hotel room....
Al, Becca, Becky, Kaitlyn, Eric, and Dawn at the water park....
going down the slide..

These are mostly from our July 4th trip to Kansas City to stay at the water park. We had a blast. I'm not sure if the girls liked the water park or arcade better. We almost spent more time in the arcade! Will try to get those pics posted soon.

sweet corn

One of our favorite things to eat in the summer.....
Becky even enjoyed it this time - much more than last year!

Grandma's surgery

Guess I should have posted this earlier this week....sorry. It's been kind of crazy. Grandma's surgery went well. She was released from the hospital today. Becky and I drove down after I got off work to day to visit her. She was tired, but seemed to be doing fairly well and was in good spirits. Thank you all for your prayers.