The 11 Day Party!

We just came home from an eleven day visit to Utah. We went because my brother, Kyle, was getting married. While we were there, we partied every day, went to a wedding and celebrated Abi's 6th birthday. We saw friends and family, went to the zoo, candy factory, Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House, attended a bluegrass concert, got pedicures, waterslid down a giant slide, broke a pinata and just had a blast! Thanks to our family for having us for so long and for all the great late nights and desserts. We loved being with you and can't wait to come back in September. We love you, Kyle and Breck, and wish you the best life together. Being married is the very best--the pictures below prove it!

Oh, Those Summer Days!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the strawberry fields and picked strawberries. We gathered these....

Then made this! The jam is delicious!

Pleasant Valley Orchards lets you pick your own strawberries, and the kids were so excited to see the patch and pick their own berries. Abi and Max both said they wanted to come back everyday! Who knew work would be so fun?!

We took home 13 lbs. of DELICIOUS berries, and made 12 pints and 12 half pints of jam. The kids say the jam is "way better" than store stuff and have been asking for jam and bread for days. Next we're going to try picking our own raspberries!

Kids say the greatest things!

Yesterday the kids and I went to Culvers for lunch (it's kinda like Hires). Culvers cooks all their food when you order it and the kids insisted on fried chicken, so it was a little wait to get their chicken cooked. I explained that we would have to wait a bit because they make our food and cook it right when we order it. When it arrived, Abi & Max asked me to cut into the chicken so it could cool down. Here's the conversation that followed:

ME: Wow! This is super hot! Why is this so hot?
ABI: You know mom, they gotta make it so hot so it kills the chicken first then cooks it for us!

What in the world!? Ha ha ha ha ha!

Fun Times in Minnesota!

We've lived here in Minnesota for a little over a month--can't believe it! Time is flying! Before we left my mom gave me a scrapbook project. She made a fabulous book that has a spot for a journal entry and picture every day during Aaron's residency. A picture and journal entry a day! Whew that's a hard one for me, but I decided to tackle the project since I know it would be really cool and worth while in the end. The kids are getting to know the routine and now have just started asking, "What picture are we taking today." It's actually been fun, and "The Book" is looking very fun even just a month in. Today, I decided to post a few of the pictures I took for "The Book". We've had a great time and have a long list of things we want to see and do here in Minnesota. Thanks, Mom for the great idea!

This is Abi & Max at the Como Zoo. St. Paul has a FREE zoo! It was so cool! They had this awesome butterfly exhibit which featured HUNDREDS of butterflies. Here, Abi & Max are holding very, very still so a butterfly would land on them. I've never seen Max hold this still, ever! No such luck at a landing, but we did see some really awesome butterflies. The favorite was the Blue Morpho.

This is Lake Elmo! It's our summer hangout. We love this place and it's only 5 minutes from our house! The Lake Elmo park reserve is really big and actually consists of 2 lakes, a fishing hole, camping sites, 3 playground areas, horse riding and a million trails for bikers and walkers. As you can see we love the beach area and all the sand.

Here's the giant playground at Lake Elmo. Notice the long slides! I've never seen slides so long! Max thinks they are the coolest things and especially likes to get going fast then land in the sand afterward. I'm not too big of a fan of all the sand that comes home in his pants and crack, but what can you say, Max is a heathen and he's having fun!

This is a picture of our pattle boat ride on the Taylors Falls Princess. We rode the Princess for 80 minutes on the St. Croix river and had a great time. The highlight was visiting the captain and driving the boat. Max was a little "excited" aka crazy (no surprise) and the captain had to tell him he couldn't turn the "pirate's wheel" so fast!

Here' we are in Taylors Falls in front of our tent. Yes, we went camping! (You gotta click on the picture to view it a little bigger and see Aaron's face. I love that crazy guy and his funny picture faces!) We had a great time even after the monsoon that soaked us all the last night. I did miss Bishop Derksen not being there with his truck full of stuff we usually forget (the broom, wood for the fire, hatchet, etc). I did not miss, however, his singing bright and early in the morning to wake us all up! Ha ha! I love you, Bishop! We miss you!

So there is a little snipit of the fun things we've been doing. I do have more pictures that I've taken and put in "The Book", but you will have to come visit to see them all. Are you getting the message? We want visitors! Minnesota is a really cool place in the summer with a ton to do. We've enjoyed it and want to share! Get ready for more cool pictures coming soon...re-upholstering the couch ourselves, Minnehaha Falls, and more!

My Latest Projects

I have had the crafting bug lately! Here's a look at a few things I've been working on lately...

I have been making these fabric flowers. I found a little tutorial at wise craft and have just made a bunch of these cute things with Abi. They are so easy and can be used for a million things. You have got to try it!

Here's what the back looks like....

Here's what it looks like on a present. Abi has used them in her hair, on her clothes and on her purses. So cute!

I also used the flowers on these pillows I just made. Breck helped me refinish my dresser to a beautiful creamy yellow before we left Utah. I absolutely love it, but didn't have anything to really tie it into my room. I decided to make pillows! Here they are! It was so fun and now the room looks complete!

Here's the awesome dresser Breck helped me with. She is a furniture GENIUS! Check out her stuff here and start saving your pennies for one of Breck's awesome creations!

Here's the book I made for Aaron for father's day. I got the template from the fabulous ladies at House of 3 I really am addicted to their stuff! Their site is especially perfect since Minnesota doesn't have Roberts or any scrapbooking stores. They do have Michaels, but the scrapping section is as long as I am. Boo! Thank goodness for the House of 3 genius'!

This book lists 10 things we love about our dad...

The kids helped me with their hand prints. They thought that was really fun!

I even let Abi write in it. Her writing is so cute and it's fun to have it in a book.

I think Aaron liked it. I had a great time putting it together and can't wait to try a new Ho3 project out!

That's it! All the crafts I've been doing this last month. It's been super fun, and I have a few more in the line up for the month of July.

The inside of our house

OK, everyone keeps asking for pictures of the inside of our house. Here it is! This first picture is what you see when you walk in the front door. I've really enjoyed having a great room. Everyone can enjoy what is going on whether they are in the kitchen or the living room--nice!

Here's my BIG kitchen! I love it. There is space for everything that I have. I even have a big pantry to the right of the fridge. The wall you are looking at is the wall we painted when we moved in. It used to be dark, dark, dark purple! Too dark! Now it's a pale green, blue and feels very open and bright! Yeah!

Here's my baking center. It's not as fancy as Chad's invention, but it works out pretty good. It makes baking nice, and I know one day Chad will make me the dream baking center...right Chad?!

Here's the dining area with my newly painted red armoire. (Thanks, Breck!) Our T.V. is on the wall now, so I'm using the armoire as a "china cabinet".

Here's the back patio. We've really enjoyed eating and lounging out here and watching all the cool birds come feed from the feeders we have out.

Here's my storage room (aka "mini GORM"). It's not as big as Mom's but it is it's own room and I love having it! My #10 cans are in another room right next to it; I love having a storage "room" it's way better than an unfinished basement!

Here's a mini view of our room. Notice the beautiful pillows I made to match the fabulous yellow dresser Breck helped me paint before we left. Breck you're a furniture genius! Soon I'm going to paint those nightstands black. It will be cool!

Here's Abi's room with her bombed bed. She loves the princess bed and plays in there all the time. So much for keeping a nicely made bed! Princesses just wanna have fun!

Here's Max's room. He really likes his bed and plays in his room quite a lot. It's a good place for him! The drawers in the bed are really cool and he stores all sorts of crazy items in there...rocks, sticks, straws, etc.

This is our "book nook". It's a mini loft we have at the top of the stairs. The kids love to come up here and read and color. Abi is reading to Max all the time. They are working on the Library's Summer Reading Challenge. For every 10 hours you read, or are read to, you get a free book. Abi is trying to get 3 books for her and for Max this summer. She can probably do it! She has become a really great reader!

Here's our T.V. and fire place and view of the deck. The kids are so happy to have such a big T.V. like the Grandmas and Grandpas and they can't wait to try out the fireplace like Caleb & Shawna!

So that's it! Our house. It is really a nice place. There a few places I didn't take pics of like the craft room, our office with the luxury chair, our 3, I repeat THREE, bathrooms and the awesome view off the deck because I want you all to come visit to see it all. We are excited to show you some of Minnesota, so start saving your money!