10 Years Together!!!

I just noticed that this entry was still listed as a draft... sorry it is a month late!

We have had a fun few days! After the boys finished preschool we took them to Chuck E. Cheese's in Cedar Rapids to celebrate. We closed the place down. Someone in our family couldn't stop playing "Deal or No Deal." Seriously. Carter was obsessed. It didn't help the situation when I played and WON. :) He smoked me in Skee-ball, though. (I know what you're thinking... Chuck E. Cheese is for KIDS, right??? Ha. They put up the pretense of it being for kids just to sucker men-of-a-certain-age to spend all of their cash beating their wives at goofy games!)

We also got a piano this week. A very huge, heavy piano! It took 4 guys, a trailer, and a few adult beverages to get it moved into our house. It was given to us for FREE, though, so how do you complain??? Look out piano lessons... here we come!












The weather has been beautiful this week, so after the boys' tee-ball game yesterday (I couldn't resist this video of Harrison in the outfield... hilarious!)




we had a picnic at the park/splash pad. It was a great way to celebrate our 10 year Anniversary!

We also watched our wedding video last night. Palmer fell asleep but Harrison asked us a million questions about weddings and getting married. He was too funny. He was also surprised to find out his Uncle Daniel is a pastor... I wonder what he thought he was doing all those Sundays at church??? It was fun to see how much has changed in 10 years. As the camera panned across the crowd it made me cry to see both of my grandfathers there. I never would have predicted that 10 years later we would live in Iowa with three kids... but we both love where we are and wouldn't change a single thing about our life adventure!

2 Weeks without the boys!

Our house sure has been quiet lately.  The boys went to Texas with the grandparents for two whole weeks!  Carter and I have never had just one child to take care of... it was a new experience.  :)  Annabelle has been spoiled rotten with attention for two weeks, and after speaking to the grandparents, so have the boys apparently!  I will put a post together with their trip photos later.  Carter and I took a trip to Wisconsin last weekend for a wedding.  It was fun to travel with just ONE kiddo.  We are lucky that all three kids are excellent travelers, so we took our time getting there and getting back.  It was about a 700 mile trip.  Here is a map of our entire route:

We drove to the Twin Cities and stayed in St. Paul the first night.  The drive was really pretty, and my goofy husband wanted to stop and have his picture made with corn to show how tall it is getting.  :)

Carter wanted to eat at this place called "Mickey's Diner" in St. Paul which was made famous in the Mighty Duck movies as well as several Food Network specials.

 

From here we drove to Amery, WI to stay in a cabin near Lake Balsam for the wedding.  Thursday's festivities included a hike and a campfire (both firsts for Annabelle!).  Here is a picture of us on the hike...

And the group of us hiking along the St. Croix river...

Friday we went with a fun group of new friends to the Chateau St. Croix Winery for a tour and tasting (YUM!) and lunch in town before attending the rehearsal dinner.  Saturday was the wedding, and we had an amazing time.  It was supposed to be an outdoor ceremony, but just as the bride was about to walk down the aisle the sky opened up with rain so they quickly moved the ceremony into the church.  At the reception Annabelle slept through dinner but woke up in time to dance!  She looked adorable.

On our way home we drove a little bit out of the way to Chippewa Falls, WI to tour the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewery which is home to our favorite midwest beer.  The tour was free and included three tasting coupons!  I wish we had taken a picture at the Leine Lodge.  Darn... we'll have to go back there to get one!  Seriously, though... they have 7 brews available year-round and 4 that are seasonal.  I have yet to try one I didn't love and I'm really not a beer drinker. 

From here we drove along the Mississippi river for one of the most beautiful drives we've ever taken.  It was slower but absolutely worth the time.  We kept seeing these gorgeous churches in several of the small towns, so we finally stopped and took a few pictures.  This is the St. Boniface Catholic church in New Vienna, Iowa.  Folks... we're talking a population of 400 people and a church like this.  Amazing.

Once we crossed back into Iowa we stopped at the Field of Dreams movie site which about an hour from where we live. 

It was a really fun getaway... one we probably wouldn't have attempted with all three kids.  Carter does want to take the boys back to the Field of Dreams site, but I want to make sure they have seen the movie first.  My favorite quote from the movie... "Is this Heaven?  No... It's Iowa."

8 months old

Annabelle is 8 months old today. The time is going by WAY, WAY, WAY too fast! She is growing and changing so much that it makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Joy was definitely the perfect choice of a middle name for her... she is definitely that. She looks just like my baby pictures and is hilarious. She is enjoying her time alone with Mommy and Daddy right now while the boys are vacationing in Texas with the grandparents. I think she must miss them, though. We played in their room yesterday so I could pull out some of their old toys for her to play with. Her favorite by far was the old classic stacking rings... she was entertained for quite a while! Here are a few pictures of our girl over the past few weeks...

* Annabelle and Harrison (who adores her, by the way... Palmer does too, but she and Harrison have this crazy precious bond)

At at picnic at the park feeling the grass

Swinging at the park (love this pic!)

Standing up holding her crib rail...

Humiliatingly... here is the proof that she looks like me.  :)  I was 9 months old in this picture.  Yes, my cheeks are much chubbier.  No comments please.

 

And just to go along with humiliation... here I am with my mom :)  Love you, Mimi!  Hee hee!

And we'll spread the humiliation around to include my handsome Daddy, too!  What a jacket and glasses!

Here's what I hope Annabelle looks like when she's this old... this cuteness can't count as humilation for my mom!!!