Ozarks for the 4th

We celebrated the 4th of July at the Lake of the Ozarks with our friends Dylan & Jen and Heath & Shaylyn. We had a great time boating, hanging out at the pool, talking, grilling out, eating at Outback (one of my faves) and watching fire works. Josiah, Heath & Shaylyn's 2 year old, made up his own word for firework....."wawa". After every firework he'd point and say, "Big wawa!" It was so cute. Besides being a little crabby on the car ride, Brenna was a trooper and seemed to enjoy the boat rides and the different scenery. She got in the pool for the first time and seemed to enjoy it......she had her perplexed look on most of the time.

Brenna taking a snooze on the boat with her daddy.

Playdate with Ella

Melissa and Ella came to Ames last week to hang out. We had a great time together and enjoyed a picnic at the Iowa State Campus. Ella is about the same age as Brenna, so it was fun to see them interact with each other.

Visit from our Floridian's

Jared's sister Lydia, brother-in-law Matt, and nephew Micah came to Iowa from West Palm Beach, FL for a week and a half to visit. We had a wonderful time with them. Some of the highlights were having a family meal at Caleb & Maranda's to celebrate Matt finishing his Masters degree, going to the Des Moines zoo, celebrating Lydia's birthday with an awesome steak dinner and yummy strawberry cake, watching The Office and So You Think You Can Dance together, and celebrating Father's Day (the first for Jared & Caleb) at Johnny's Italian Steak House (which I would recommend to anyone living in the DM area). There were a lot of great memories made. We had so much fun with them while they were here and we are looking forward to the next time we get to see them. Maybe we will make another trip to FL this winter.
Lydia, Matt, & Micah, we love you guys and miss you already!!!


Lydia's birthday celebration!

Jared's nephew, Micah, playing w/bubble sword.

Brenna with cousins Easton & Micah.

Brenna with Aunt Anna and Grandma & Grandpa VC.

Caleb (Jared's brother), Easton & Maranda.

Happy Father's Day, Jared!

Jared is such a wonderful daddy to Brenna. She loves him so much already. Some of their favorite things to do together are playing on the floor, making goofy noises, playing peek-a-boo, and riding on daddy's shoulders. As soon as Jared walks in the room, there is a huge smile on Brenna's face. I am so thankful for a husband who spends time with our baby. He not only plays with her, he helps out a ton. Thank you, Jared, for being such a great daddy to our beautiful baby girl. You are already a great example to her of what our heavenly Father is like. I love you!

Clothes Swap

Last night I participated in a Clothing Swap. It was a lot of fun! This is how it works. Everyone who participates cleans out their closets and picks 10-15 items they don't want anymore. It could be shirts, dresses, jackets, pants, purses, shoes, belts, hats, jewelery, etc. You drop them off at the hostess house a few days before the event so she can sort through and organize them by size/type/etc. When you arrive at the swap, you rummage through the clothes and try on anything you want, but then you have to put them back so other people can try them on. To make it fair, everyone draws a number and then you take turns and pick one item each round. After 4 or 5 rounds it's a free for all. I drew #3 last night, so I fared pretty well :) My first pick was a pair of dark jean trousers from Express. They are really cute, but of course I have to get them hemmed!!! I had a ton of fun since it included some of my favorite things.....people, clothes, food, and good deals. :)

Congratulations Ryan & Dana!!!

My brother, Ryan, got married this weekend to Dana Miller. We are so excited for them. The wedding was beautiful and Jared & I had the priviledge to stand with them as a bridesmaid & groomsman. We love Dana and are so excited she is officially part of the family now!

A little bit about me.

My friend Nealy tagged me for this. She is a great friend from college and has a great blog. This is actually my first post...thanks Nealy for getting me out of my comfort zone. :) I actually wrote out the answers on Sunday afternoon, but am just getting time to post it.

I am…a mommy of a 7 month old.
I want…to go to the Caribbean sometime.
I wish…I could blog as well as my friends Nealy & Steph :)
I hate…to be late.
I miss…free time. I feel rushed lately.
I fear…mice.
I feel…tired. I just got back yesterday from my brothers wedding. Tons of fun, but exhausting.
I hear…nothing. I'm the only one not napping at my house.
I smell…the after effects of a yummy lunch my wonderful husband made us!
I crave…chocolate M&M's.
I search…for good deals, especially at garage sales & thrift stores.
I wonder…what life would be like if my first pregnancy wouldn't have ended.
I regret…not going on a nice vacation before we had a baby.
I love…my babe, Jared.
I ache…after I hold Brenna too long. I'm definitely out of shape!
I care…for my beautiful baby girl Brenna.
I always…am ready for ice cream.
I am not…creative.
I believe…that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I dance…the Swing w/ my awesome partner Jared.
I sing..."You Are My Sunshine" to Brenna every night before bed.
I cry…on Monday mornings...well, not every Monday morning.
I don’t always...remember to put the laundry in the dryer.
I fight…hardly ever.
I write…in a prayer journal.
I never…enjoy cleaning the bath tub.
I listen…to the radio.
I need…lots of sleep.
I am happy…with my life right now. God is so good.

Now I'm tagging Hollie C. & Kristy S.

Weekend on the go, go, go!

We had a fun-filled crazy weekend...glad for the gorgeous weather. Friday night we helped a couple in our Connection Group move...all their stuff into a Uhaul in 1 hour! Saturday morning down to West Des Moines to participate in the March of Dimes for Babies walk at Raccoon River Park. We walked to support Nolan (Nick and Jacky Sklenar's little boy) who was born premature. 3.5 miles around the lake...pretty windy, but we weren't blown off course. Carl...you da man behind the stroller...get that grass out of your teeth yet? (Questions...ask me sometime) Saturday afternoon went to the Van Cleave farm to visit grandpa and grandma and many other family members...a get together to visit with Aunt Betty from Michigan. Check out dropshots for the up-close pic I got of a Baltimore Oriole on mom and dad's deck...amazing orange colors! Saturday evening we traveled to Clear Lake to visit our college friends Kyle, Nealy, Abby, and Andy at the cabin. Enjoyed some much needed relaxation, fellowship, and good food...might have stayed up a little too late, but it was worth it to watch some episodes of the Office (Season 1) and play a little Wii with Kyle and Andy. Sunday afternoon back home for a few minutes and then off to softball practice. Afterwards did the mowing, vacuumed out the Acura, and Steph and I cleaned up around the house. We're beat, but had a great time seeing everyone. Glad we got the weekend on camera...some great memories to bring in May.

Table Manners 101

Brenna usually doesn't join us for meals except while in her exersaucer or bouncy seat on the floor next to the table. A lot of times she gets fussy and seems to demonstrate that she's feeling left out. During one of our evening meals last week, we decided to put her up on the table with us...we think she is an extravert. We could tell she enjoyed that place of honor much better. There was some tin foil on one of the plates to keep some food warm and she couldn't keep her eyes off of it. Pretty soon she was bending way over to grab at the foil, and before we knew it she was nearly up-side-down. I told Steph to run and grab the camera. It was so funny. We'll have to help Brenna with a few of her table manners so she doesn't do this on her future dates.

Can Someone Say Disco Fever?

So we got together with Caleb, Maranda, and Easton the other night to watch some NCAA basketball. Caleb pulled out Maranda's shades and this is what happened. So funny! Easton would stick his tongue out or get big eyes while the flash was going off. Brenna was in bed already otherwise we would have tried it on her too. See more pics on dropshots. Someday these pics will be on his wedding video for sure!