Camping

Wow...what a fun few days. On Tuesday afternoon we left to go to Pokagon State park and went camping for a few days. My grandpa and grandma recently got a camper so we "had" to try it out. We were totally amazed at how easy it is to set up with a camper. (so long little Coleman tent!!)

Madison helping mommy make breakfast.
She LOVED playing on the beach. We had beautiful weather, but she still turned blue and wanted to be wrapped up in the towel after a few minutes of swimming.
Mike and Shari are up on Lake James with Shari's family, and on Wednesday afternoon we spent a few hours with them on the water. Madison loves to go on the tube, and Chad did a great job driving.
Most of the time Madison is scared of Chad, but when he asked her if she wanted to drive, she practically dove into his lap. Thanks for letting us spend the afternoon with you guys, we had a great time!!!

By the way...did you notice that I actually posted two times within three days?!? I think it might be a record :)

Weekend Fun

Ok...I know I could come up with a million excuses for not updating sooner, but the reality is that I am lazy. This is hard to admit, but I guess I just enjoy reading other people's blogs and don't really think about those that enjoy reading mine. I'm not very confident in my writing abilities and think that I might bore some of you...but once again, not an excuse. So without further ado, here's a new post.

On Sunday night we had some friends over to mom and dad's house for a cookout, swimming, games, and 4-wheeling. Now this last activity was NOT in the plans, but some of the kids were getting restless, so us moms took them on a Gator ride. This led to the guys coming in the shed and discovering four 4-wheelers. How could they resist? We looked quite funny driving down the road, but we had a blast. Here are a few pictures of our fun evening...
Madison enjoying her watermelon for supper. Sad to say, but besides maybe 2 bites of corn on the cob...this is all she had.
All of us before going to my aunt and uncles house to see the turkeys that they are "babysitting" for. I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but the dad's have all of the kids in their laps, and they stayed like this the whole time...what troopers!! (except Tristen)

The "moms"

These three little girls get along so well, we have so much fun when we are with them. Thanks for coming Grayson & Tara...Madalynn and Haleigh too.

This is just a random picture of Madison, but I thought it showed her attitude so well, so I couldn't resist.

A NIght at the Fair

Last night was the opening parade for the 4-H fair and we took Perry's truck through to advertise Isch Seeds. We were watching Ashlyn and Abby so they rode with us, along with Tom and Brenda's kids and my brothers. Altogether there were 12 of us in this little truck. Between the fact that there were 12 of us and the fact that it was so unbelievably hot, the truck gave up the ghost (it overheated) before we reached the end of the parade and we got the horribly embarrassing pleasure of pushing it off the road into a parking lot.
After the truck was taken care of, Travis entered a greased pig contest. The Bluffton Fire Department was putting it on in the grandstands. The pigs were covered in vegetable oil and released into a muddy pit surrounded with straw bales. The object was to catch a pig and throw it out of the pit within 3 minutes. The last group consisted of 7 guys from church, and it basically turned into big mud wrestling competition. They had a blast and made great memories!!!

Apples and Slides

I think she was antagonizing the buffalo here... maybe someday she'll realize that that puny little fence couldn't keep in a ticked off buffalo.



The other night we took Madison to the State Park to feed the buffalo, play on the playground, and ride bikes. She had a blast. At first she wasn't too sure about the buffalo, but she eventually got a little closer and actually gave one of her precious apples up. Most of the time she would get really close, then quick put it in her mouth and eat part of it then give the apple to me to feed to the buffalo. (No wonder she had 4 dirty diapers the next day:) She's never really gotten to go down a big slide by herself, and she LOVED it. She screamed when we left the playground.

**If you ever have any fruit or veggies going bad...don't throw them out, take them to the park and feed the buffalo. I don't really know if it is legal...but we've done it a lot and have never gotten in trouble:)

Heavenly Birthdays

It's crazy to think that it's been three years since mom got to go home to meet Jesus. She got to experience a true Independence Day on July 4, 2005. At the time I barely knew her, but over these past three years, Blare has told me countless stories about her and I feel as if I know her a little better. For those of you who don't know, mom had breast cancer and Blare and I were engaged when she went Home. She always wanted to make sure that she got to meet her daughter-in-law before she died, and she got that wish when were engaged in April. We were married 3 weeks after she died. I'm so thankful for the 2 1/2 months I had with her, and for all the advice she gave me during that time. We are also so thankful for all the prayers and support during that time, and over the past three years, we know that God is good and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.