The Return of the Sock Monkey

Our niece, Shelby, had her 2nd birthday party last Saturday. She belongs to Kelley (my brother) and Jennifer. We wish we could have been there, but I have to work every 3rd weekend and it's hard to switch. But, I sent her a sock monkey and she seemed to really like it. She left me a voice message with her sweet little voice thanking me and told me how a monkey goes! She is such a doll. That's my Aunt Trish looking on in the background--looks like lots of fun!! Thanks for the pics, Mom!






Looks like Monkey and Backpack are in for some fun!!

From Drab to Fab!

My dear sweet husband has stepped into the dark abyss of the unfinished bathroom once again. It is amazing how a fresh coat of paint can change anything! The walls are almost done, just the tile and fixtures remain and it will be beautiful! Thanks honey. Love you.

All About Baby!

Our small group girls had a baby shower for Jamie at Becky's house last Saturday. It was so much fun. She had so many cute things for Baby Boy. There was definitely a lot of ooing and awwing going on. Can't wait to meet the little one.






Jamie with her Mom. Becky making the awesome Banana punch.







Becky had this adorable clothes line up in the window. So cute!!




Jamie with her Mom, Sisters, and Grandmother.




Us girls!

Fun With The Girls

In our Church group there are 8 of us married couples. We have so much fun together. Especially when just the girls get to go out!! Me, Lindsey, and Lauren all have summer birthdays so we celebrated at The Cheesecake Factory--it was wonderful!!




Lauren and Lindsey smiling pretty for the camera.



I'm ready to dig in!!



The presentation was adorable.



Left to right: Lindsey, Lauren, Me, Jenny, Heather, Andrea, Becky, and Jamie.



Becky, Jamie, and Lauren are all expecting this fall. We are so excited for them. It will be fun adding kids to the mix!

The City Museum

www.citymuseum.org

What is this place you ask? To most of us it may look like a huge pile of junk all welded together, odds and ins, antiques, you name it. But to the rest of us it is art. Art you can play on! Michael and I met some of his family there on Sunday. Who would have thought it would be packed and nearly 1000 degrees? Eric, Beth, Meghan, Max, and Michael were visiting from Colorado, and it was so good to see them (sad that I missed you Renee, Sam, and Al when you were here!!). Craig, Melanie, Claire and Grace toughed out the heat with us as well. It was a great time.



An old shoe factory has been made into this amazing museum of stuff.



It goes from indoors to outdoors, and you can climb on most anything, if you dare!!



That Max is quite the dare devil!!



Into the ball pit!! Little Michael was a trooper in there.






So was Claire, Meghan, and Max.



They had to be tough in there, since Uncle Mike was dominating the entire ball pit. Family or not, they were going down!!



What a fun bunch of kids.



Wish we could get together much more often!!

August Already

Today is August 1st already. With all the summer birthdays, quick lake trips, and working, the summer has really flown by. Now it's time for me to update you on Michael's new job. Around the middle of June, Michael accepted a graphic design position for MiTek (a building components industry). They gave Michael a position that hadn't been created before. Therefore causing a lot of anxiety and pressure regarding their expectations of him. He has been there for about 6 weeks now and working on his first project. I am so proud of him; he is so talented and goal oriented, that even though his heart is not fully in this yet, he is still going to produce an exceptional design layout for their existing software.

Let me tell you where his heart is right now...

This past spring, he participated in the Citizens Police Academy...and loved it!! He learned a lot about the police department, went on tours of it, enjoyed the shooting range, and went on ride-alongs with police officers. He gets so excited just thinking about joining the Police Academy. So, if graphic design doesn't quite work out, I may have my very own Barney Fife on my hands, (look out Sheriff Andy Taylor!).

This was Michael graduating from the 13 week course. I took these pictures with my cell phone!! Technology sure is amazing.