A Week in Minnesota

We were so fortunate to spend a week on vacation in Minnesota with my family. I treasure this time, and I think it was so needed for us. The past several months have been so busy that there's been little time for relaxation or time for Eric and I to even just talk. We had a great time relaxing, fishing, wakeboarding, playing games, and talking. I'm also thankful for the time for Madelyn to spend with family, getting to know her grandparents and aunt and uncle. It truly was a time of refreshing! Here are a few pictures.

She loved this chair!

Walking on the beach with Daddy

With Grandma on the boat

Playing in the sand and water. We'll have to get a sandbox....she loved this!

With the fish!

A Tractor and 4th of July

Well, here it is! Eric bought a tractor! I really can't tell you anything about it other than Eric is very excited, it was very well cared for by the previous owner, and Eric can use it for lots of things like plowing snow and pulling equipment. Talk to Eric if you want more details! :)

The 4th of July weekend was spent doing lots of work and having a little fun. My brother and sister came to help us paint the basement. They were troopers. It was pretty hot that weekend and the basement was not a very nice environment to work in....very humid. We got a lot done though.

We also saw some fireworks and did a little swimming. Madelyn loved the fireworks and sparklers.

Aunt Amanda also painted her toenails!

Harms Family Get Together

We were able to spend some time with the Harms family for my grandma's 80th birthday earlier this summer. We all had a great time!

Madelyn and her great-aunt Janice, who was here from Kansas!

Giving Oma a kiss

Rubbing Uncle Ryan's hair. (She decided for some reason that rubbing his hair was really fun!)

Opa and Madelyn

Trying to give second cousin Brayden a hug

Our Silly Girl

Here's a few pictures of Madelyn from the summer....she is so much fun! We're seeing her personality shine through more and more. She loves to make us laugh and is learning so much. She'll be 18 months tomorrow! It's hard to believe! She loves dancing, and her dancing gets funnier and funnier every day. She also is jabbering constantly! We're finally starting to pick up some more words. Her vocabulary currently consists of dog, cheese, please, hot, horse, hi, mama, dada, and several animal noises. She loves being outside and playing in the water. She's such a lover....loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses. I think sometimes the little boys at the babysitter probably don't know what to do with her hugs! We love you Madelyn Ann!

Trying on Daddy's boots

Painting a picture for Daddy for Father's Day

Playing with the sidewalk chalk

Funny faces!

Life on the Farm

Eric's been busy this summer with baling hay, plowing the field, and planting beans. I didn't take any pictures the day that he and some friends and family baled hay, but it was a HOT day that day. We were so appreciative for all the help Eric got in doing that.

After the hay was baled, Eric was then able to till up the ground to get it ready to plant beans. Here's a few pictures.

We spent the first weekend in June (our anniversary weekend!) at my parents' house tearing down this machine shed. My dad is getting a new machine shed, so Eric, along with my dad and brother and a couple friends, spent the weekend tearing down the old shed so Eric can put it up at our farm.


Hopefully sometime this fall we'll have a building that looks like this up and ready to be used!

I don't know where the time has gone this summer! We've continued to be really busy with the house, the farm, and regular summer activities. I'll try to get a little caught up this morning while the little one is still asleep!

Madelyn is showing off her "necklace" of tape that she pulled out of a cassette that she found. She loves necklaces!

Here are a couple of pictures from Tulip Time back in May!