Engagement Dinner

Chris and I were thrilled to get the chance to help host an Engagement Dinner for our friends Erin and Brandon. I've known Erin since I was a little girl and Brandon was Chris' college roommate. They ended up meeting through mutual friends after college and we were thrilled to see two people we loved meet and get together.

The Happy Couple

Here we are at the "kid table"

These ladies know how to throw a party!

Mom and I made dessert shooters and they were a yummy hit! We did tiramisu, mint chocolate chip, strawberry mousse and lemon bars

Jeff & Laura's Wedding

My cousin Jeff married a great girl named Laura in June. The family traveled out to Kansas to be a part of the festivities. Dad, Allison and I all flew into Wichita, so we got the chance to spend some good time together on the drive out to Great Bend.

My Aunt Judy and Uncle Bryan planned a wonderful rehearsal dinner. It was a great time of fellowship!

The grandkids and Grandmother

Papa and Tater

KU cupcakes

Laura was a lovely bride!

Cousins

This is Allison's face print on the glass door that she ran into at the hotel pool. He he he

We had a great time at the wedding and wish Jeff and Laura all of the happiness in the world!

Cooper's Surgery

My sweet Little Man has had problems with his ears since birth. After a trip to the ENT, we were told that he may have had some birth defects in the placement of his eardrums or there was so much fluid in his ears that it had moved them to where the doctor couldn't even see them. We decided it was necessary to put tubes in and allow the doctor to get in there and see what was going on.

Coop was such a trooper. He was in a great mood while we waited in the room for his to get his Silly Juice. He was hamming it up!

He was crawling around under the bed- GROSS

It was finally his turn. Here he is after drugs...

The surgery was a great success. The doctor said that he was off the charts as far as the amount of fluid in his ears. He thought there was a good chance that Cooper wasn't hearing much at all before the surgery. They were able to clean them out and everything looked great.

We have noticed a significant change in his behavior since the surgery. He's finally started saying a few words and babbling a ton! We are so thankful that everything turned out so well!

NM 2010

We just returned this week from our annual trip to New Mexico. We ended up staying in a different area called the Upper Canyon. We were right on the river! We tried to sleep with the door open to enjoy the sound but we were so close to the river that it was too loud!

Mom gave into me again this year and agreed to do some fun cooking!

This is how Dad spent the majority of his week! This is how I always remember him!

Mom, Caroline and I took a Girls Day. We got our nails done and ate at a cute French restaurant. It was so much fun. All that was missing was Aunt Allie...

We made a stop at our favorite pizza stop- Cafe Rio!

Cooper spent most of the week growling at the wooden bears around the house and town. Here he is playing with Papa and the bear.

We did a LOT of this...

and this

and this!

Caroline, Daddy and Papa built her a fort down by the river

Cooper carried this pillow around all week! He would plop down, especially when there was a movie with boys playing ball and a big dog in it!

We had to ride the horse of course. Caroline was so serious as always!

We took a picnic up into the mountains and did some hiking

They jumped out to take a picture at this lookout and Dad left his camera bag with his flash and other lenses there!! Bummer!

Fried Quail

There's a cupcake place in town now!

We ran into Smokey

Caroline helped the firemen fight a "forest fire"

Homemade Calzones. Thank you Pioneer Woman for providing most of the new recipes we tried!





This was one of our best trips yet! I think I say that every year... It just is so much fun to experience all of these special places through the eyes of your children. We are so blessed to be so close to our family!

Camp Travis

Chris and I had the immense privilege of going to Camp Travis with the youth this summer. We have loved working in the student ministry this year and this was a wonderful time! We both commented on how we liked going as counselors as much, if not more, as when we were kids! We both had so many great memories from going to camp that we were excited to make some new ones as adults.

We went to Camp Windowmere in Missouri. It was quite a drive, but that is always half the fun!

This is my rec group- The Underdogs. We were VERY aptly named, but had a good time none the less!

Dad and Me at the luau. So special to have shared so many camps with him!

Me and some of my very favorite ladies!!

The 9th grade guys in their Thriller poses. They were the winners of Travis Idol!

We had a wonderful time on the Lake of the Ozarks! It was a beautiful lake and we had a great time skiing, wake boarding and tubing with the kids.

This was the best way to kick off our summer. We built new relationships and strengthened many old ones! What a blessing!