Family Cook Out

Tonight we headed down to Waseca to see Janelle and Justin while before they head back to Seattle tomorrow. They came in last week, but then ended up going up north to a cabin for an extended weekend with Bob, Val, & Michael. Since they were up there most of the time they were in MN, they decided to have a cook out the night before they left to get a chance to see more family.

Well I guess that Val did not tell Janelle we were coming....and when we got down there we parked in front of the house where I guess no one heard us come up the long driveway. But anyway...we let Bailey make our presence be known. When Bailey went up to greet Janelle, she said "Whose dog is this?" and me the voice from behind says "well that would be ours." Yeah I love surprises. :)

I truly enjoy spending time with Jon's family, we were the last ones to leave and we had the farthest to drive home. :)



Left Bailey met one of their sheep. Right, picture of Janelle & Justin...I know my picture taking skills were not at their finest here, but oh well. Notice the awesome retro couch Val picked up at the Salvation Army sidewalk sale. I think they were free. She is planning on recovering them. They were very comfortable for sitting in the yard.

Keith & Jenny's Wedding

So the reason we went to Appleton for the weekend was for my cousin Keith's wedding to his fiance Jenny. The wedding took place at the Memorial Park Gardens, which is an area in the park that I never knew really existed. Well I had been in that area before....but not since the gardens & building were done. The wedding took place outdoors and was the shortest/quickest wedding I have ever been to. From the time that Keith stepped up to the arch where they were married to that time that they were walking back as husband and wife it was only 7 minutes...and this included the whole processional. The ceremony itself was just the exchanging of vows, which was only 3 minutes. Very quick, but everything looked really nice.


One bummer for their day, was that there photographer did not show up until an hour & a half after the ceremony was all done. My mom & her sisters jumpped in as interim photographers to make sure that Keith & Jenny had some photos from their special day.






Another side note - I was able to meet my cousin Brian's fiance Katie today as well. Katie and Brian are getting married in Rochester NY next October. Currently they are living down in Florida and recently bought a house. Katie is a super nice & fun person. One cute picture below is of Grace & her little boy friend Holden. They were so cute walking around together & playing. It has been awhile since Jon and I have seen Gracie and she is so much more grown up than when she was in our wedding 2 years ago (then she was 2 1/2). I think this is her 3rd or 4th wedding as a flower girl, so she is a pro. :)

Family Weekend

This past weekend Jon and I had a great time with my extended family. On Saturday a bunch of us went golfing at Irish Waters in Freedom. It was a very nice afternoon to golf. We had 3 groups - the men, the women, and the amateur s. My cousin Mike, his girlfriend Skye, Jon and I were all considered part of the amateur group or at least that is what I was calling us. Besides Mike being on the golf team for a year, the rest of us have only been out golfing maybe once or twice this year. Our parents on the other hand, really like to golf and have hit the course over a dozen times. Oh well. Besides being a little slow, our amateur team did really well. I shot a 53 and anything under 60 is pretty good for me. I seem to have a problem with everything else besides driving the ball, but that's because driving is my favorite part since I can hit the ball as hard as I want to every time. :) Here are a few pictures from golfing.
After golfing my parents had everyone over for a cookout....and then some additional family came over as well. Kelly was watching Grace while we were golfing so they came over as well as Pam & Greg who had been up north earlier in the day. Everyone enjoyed fresh corn from our garden that we had brought home with us. YUM!

I think this is not legal....

Okay so Saturday morning we were running around doing some errands and we decided to swing by Kevin & Rachel's new house, which is in the process of being built. The foundation has been poured, the walls are framed, windows & door are in, and even the drywall is done on the inside.

WAIT a minute...if the doors are on and they were locked....how did I know the dry wall was all done???

Well we were curious to see the inside and one of the windows on the front of the house was open, so Jon hoisted me up and through the window and I walked around to open the front door. Don't worry, we didn't mess with anything, but did give ourselves a little tour. Things are really taking shape and I know it is going to be awesome & gorgeous when finished. Per Rachel, their estimated move in date is September 12th....so I can't wait to see the finished product!

A funny side note - the subdivision they live in backs up to my Uncle Dave's parents land. Jan and Dave have a house on the other side of the area from where Kevin & Rachel's is, but you can see their house & G&G Ebben's from the north side of Kevin & Rachel's new subdivision. I was telling my uncle how close they were to each other when he said...."Oh that house...Mike & I walked over there and checked it out when it was being framed." Funny.

Face lift

So our summer project was to refinish and restain the deck, picnic table, and out door bench. We bought this wonderful red color to paint all of these items. I realized that most of these items are in the back yard and therefore it did not change the look of our blah house.

New idea - Let's bring this red color to the front of the house and let's start with the garage.

Here are some of the pictures from the process of painting the garage: Before, Middle, and After

What a difference a little color makes!

Bailey's weekend - (from her point of view)

While Mommy and Daddy were away doing their thing, I was left at my friend Nattie’s house on Thursday night. It’s nice to go there b/c I know where EVERYTHING is…..especially the toys that I played with the last time I was there. I have a really good memory b/c the bone was still under Nattie’s bed and I kept pushing at that bed until I could finally reach it. I didn’t really sleep that well on Thursday night so I just walked around the bedroom all night so I could find just the right spot. I’ve learned that Nattie isn’t really a morning dog like I am. When I see daylight, I pop right up ready to play for the day. Here you can see my favorite toy at Nattie’s house. I push it around with my nose and treats come out the sides of the balls. Did you know that I can fit that in my mouth along with another ball? I’m pretty talented.

Friday was pretty uneventful as Nattie’s parents, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Jerad were at work. But after work Aunt Amanda took us on a nice long walk while Uncle Jerad mowed the lawn. We had to rest up that night for the big day that was planned for Saturday.

Aunt Amanda and her friend Cherie took Nattie and I on a doggy outing in St Paul. Here we are sitting nicely waiting for our car ride to start the day!!We drove ALL the way to St Paul and when we finally got there, we were pretty much the first people there. Our first stop was at this remodeling place that was giving away the coolest dog house ( I hope I win!) and we met a doggy couple that was getting married at noon. The Wedding Shoppe down the street was doing weddings and this big girl in the wedding dress and the little guy in the tux were getting married. ( I bet you can tell who the boss is in that relationship) Don’t worry Mom and Dad, Aunt Amanda didn’t even think about marrying Nattie and I even though it would have been really funny! Well we left the nervous couple to head across the street to visit the Humane Society who was going to dogsit us while Aunt Amanda and Cherie had to go look at some dresses for Cherie’s wedding. But that was A-OK for me b/c they had a pool there for me to play in AND they gave us Frosty Paws..mmm mmm Good!! Nattie and I were very excited when they came back b/c we were going to keep walking to check out all the other treats down the street. Our first stop was at Snoopy’s own personal Vet. Snoopy couldn’t come down and visit us b/c he was on an IV and had a broken leg. Well we continued on walking and it has to be said…Nattie and I were the best dogs. Every other dog was stopping to sniff, tangling up in other leashes, but Nattie and I were on a mission to get to the next store to get a drink or to get a treat. Our first real resting place was Jail. Ok it really wasn’t Jail. Aunt Amanda and Cherie weren’t getting treats like Nattie and I were so they had to stop for some lunch on this patio, but the servers wouldn’t let us come into the patio area so we were tied to the other side of the fence from their table. That was okay b/c the servers brought us our own water dish and there were other “inmates” right beside us. Once dinner was done, we walked to this salon to get our chic white bandannas and walked the runway of a fashion show that was held the night before. We are very good models. I think I should be a professional. I smile all the time and I never have to put Vaseline on my teeth like the people models do. After the salon we headed all the way down Grand Ave the other way, I think it was about another mile or so where we finally got our flowers we were waiting for all day long. The nice lady gave Nattie and I matching doggy corsages that were put in our hair. Aren’t we pretty ladies? This was the last scheduled stop before we were able to head back to the car. On the way back we had to hide under trees b/c the rain came down quite suddenly and really hard but every time it let up a little, we would hustle to the next big tree. We sure walked a lot…I’m sure it was over 4 miles. When we FINALLY got back to the car, I couldn’t get in by myself so Cherie had to help me out. We were exhausted.












We didn’t get enough rest on the car ride home so as soon as we got to the house we both just collapsed and didn’t want to move. All of a sudden, I hear Aunt Amanda say those two special words Car Ride. What?! Really?! OKAY Let’s go! We were off to go be models again. Milkbone was having a little contest to find their new spokesdog and Aunt Amanda was going to enter us. If we know anything at all, it is how to eat Milkbones. We are a shoe in….we proved it all day long by eating all those treats on Grand Ave. Plus we still had our chic bandannas on with the flowers. We were so pretty. Well we got there just as a big cloud full of rain passed by and they were already packing up so we didn’t get entered but they gave us nifty red bandannas and lots of treats to take home. That’s fine b/c I don’t think I would have performed that well anyway. I had to sit and shake all day long to get my other treats. Man is a model’s job hard. I was spent the rest of the day. Nothing else happened and I really didn’t see much go on besides the backs of my eyelids.

Sunday I had regained some energy as did Nattie and I finally taunted her enough to play tug-o-war with me. She’s one tough cookie but guess who won that battle…… ME, OF COURSE! I have staying power. If you noticed, I’m on a leash and Nattie isn’t. That’s b/c I decided to go for a run by myself a couple times and Aunt Amanda didn’t like chasing me around the neighborhood. Don’t blame me…blame those Wascally Wabbits!! This weekend was a busy one and I was very tired so I slept really well on Sunday night.

I was outside enjoying the morning on Monday and then I heard some familiar voices. Could it be? Is it really them? They didn’t abandon me!!! Mom and Dad came back for me!! Whoo Hoo!! I didn’t hesitate when that leash came on and when the door opened. Let’s go home….I need to cuddle in the big bed.

Trip to Grand Rapids (cont)

Jon and Joel had taken turns driving throughout the evening so Betty and I were able to attempt to sleep. I normally fall asleep pretty easily in a car, however, the lack of a reclined seat and all the extra items I had in the back seat with me, it was hard to find a comfortable position. I was able to get some sleep, but it didn't feel like much. One of the fun things about road trips is that every time my eyes closed, when they opened again, we were in a new place and many times a new state.

We arrived in Grand Rapids at 7:45 AM (6:45 MN time) on Friday and since it was too early to check into the hotel we headed out to breakfast at Perkins. After some wonderful food, we stopped at Joel & Betty's hotel in the vast chance that they could check in early. Negative, although I did take advantage of their bathroom to clean up and change clothes for the day.

Our plan for the day was to head over to the Amway headquarters in Ada, which is next to Grand Rapids, to take the 11:00 plant tour. We arrived early, but the cool thing was we ran into a bunch of other people we know in the business from MN. (they were on the earlier tour) Since we had some time we walked around the front of the building as they have some neat picture opportunities. My favorite would have to be the steps below that hold the true essence of what this business is all about....Reward, Hope, Family, and Freedom. One thing that was kind of a bummer was that the flags from all of the countries had to be taken down that morning. I guess the Governor made a law that any time a service member from MI is killed in the line of duty, the US flag gets flown at half staff. Thus when the US flag is at half staff, no other countries flags can be flown at the same time, so they all had to be taken down. Our tour guide said that it takes the maintenance men 3 hours to take down or put up all the different countries flags. We did a tour of the plastics area, which was really neat to see. They make all of their own plastic bottles as well as make & bottle items for other companies as well. After the tour we went across the street to the surplus store, which has a bunch of the items that are remaining from previous seasons catalogs.

After a good afternoon nap, we went to the product expo on Friday night and then headed out to dinner at a fun restaurant downtown Grand Rapids called Mojo's. Mojo's is also a dueling piano bar and the entertainment was in full swing when we got there. We also had some great people watching as there was a bachelorette party that had 2 brides sitting next to us. After we left the bar, my sweet husband and I took a horse drawn carriage ride around downtown. It was a beautiful night although by that time of the night our horse Duke was getting a little tired. On funny thing was when we were going through this park by the river, the sprinklers turned on and got us wet a few times. We both had a great laugh and since it was so warm out it felt kind of nice. That was until we had to walk back through the Amway Grand Plaza where we stayed and the air conditioning felt about 10 degrees cooler than it actually was. :) We always enjoy function weekends as it is a great time to hang out and connect with amazing people not only in our business but also from all around the country. I don't have any pictures from the function as my camera was in my purse in the hotel room, but both Jon and I had a great time.

Road trip to Grand Rapids

This weekend we took a road trip over to Grand Rapids Michigan for a Worldwide function called family reunion. The actual function started on Saturday at noon, but there was a product expo on Friday night, as well as plant tours during the day on Friday so we decided to leave on Thursday night so we would have plenty of time to check things out.

After dropping Bailey off at Jerad & Amanda's for the weekend, we headed down toward Waseca to pick up Joel & Betty, since the 4 of us road over to MI together. On the way down to Waseca we caught a beautiful summer sunset, however, with the car moving the picture turned out a little shaky. After picking up J&B we started on our 10 hour drive to MI. We were all talking about a variety of different topics, when all of the sudden Joel starts to pull over. Betty and I were just talking about her putting on her other glasses (which were in the truck), so we both inquired...what are you doing? Joel: " Ahh....the flashing lights behind me indicate I am getting pulled over." Turns out he was driving about 8 miles over the speed limit. The officer was really nice...but we did laugh at the conversation that ensued. Officer: "Ah good evening sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"
Joel: "Ah, yes, I was driving a little fast there, huh."
O: "Yes. Can I ask where you are coming from?"
J: "Waseca"
O: "And what is there?"
J: "That's where we live sir"
O: "Okay, and where are you headed tonight?"
J: "Grand Rapids, Michigan"
O: "Very puzzled....ahhh...okay."
He then asked for his drivers license and proof of insurance and then headed back to his vehicle. When he came back he asked Joel if he knew how fast he was going and he let him know that he was going about 63, which is what the officer the confirmed he clocked him at. The officer gave him a verbal warning and said they were working on a drunk driving initiative on that highway and mainly are trying to find drivers who are under the influence. Obviously since we were not, he asked Joel to slow down a bit and then let us on our way. As we continued down this highway, we saw an additional 3-4 cars pulled over...so they were really checking anyone who was going a little bit fast.

And then another storm...

So after watching the tree cutting, Jon, Sarah and I went out to dinner at Fridays. We sat by a window and Jon was nervous the whole time because we could see another storm was rolling in and he was again worried about his garden. (sorry I like to pick on him for this) It was very very hot and humid today so there was a very good chance for a storm.

By the time we were done with dinner and back to our house, you could definitely see that it was going to be a strong storm, as well as, the meteroligists confirmed the red line of the storm heading through the whole metro. Sarah headed home hoping to make it before the storm and Jon and I stood outside for awhile to watch the sky. Here are some of the cool pictures I got before the rain came.....although it was very hard to see above the house/tree line in our back yard.