Thai Elephant satee

We finally received our Thai furniture. We ordered this piece of furniture when we were in Cheing Mai in January. It has taken over 6 months to receive this furniture! It was definitely worth the wait. It works great in the spot we picked it for, and the carvings are beautiful. Receiving this furniture reminds me of the wonderful trip we took there. We had so much fun with family, ate great food, and spent a wonderful time together. I will have cherished memories of this forever, and I now have something in the front room of my house to spark those memories. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I have a really bad memory, so this piece of furniture will be a constant reminder of our wonderful trip.

Best toy ever!

This homeade toy from my sister Jill is Eliza's favorite toy. She spends 5-10 minutes at a time dumping the bucket and then putting the orange juice tops back in. Eliza doesn't spend much time playing with toys, so this is exciting.I think the sound of it is also exciting. Jill just took an old coffee can, took off the label, cut a slit in the plastic top, and saved

Clara's almost 4!

Clara had her first of many 4th birthday parties. Her good friends Abel and Tessa aren't going to be here when it is Clara's "real" birthday. We had to celebrate a little early. Clara wanted white cupcakes with white frosting, and plastic rings on top. Ella, Tessa, Abel and Sarah sang Happy Birthday! It was fun, but we will miss them for 6 long weeks! I am hopeful we will have many many more birthdays to celebrate together.

Grandma's visit

Grandma came to visit us for a week while JG is on the high adventure with the scouts. Thank you Mom! We have had a great time so far. She keeps saying how beautiful it is here. " The weather is perfect, the grass is so green. I can now see why you live here." We began noticing that she has been here at horrible times of the year, and when she is here she is watching a newborn. I am grateful that she is here this week and that we can just play with the kids. I tried to keep the schedule pretty open so we can choose what we want for the day. Ella has chosen grandma as her piano and reading buddy. Clara has chosen her as her snuggle buddy. Eliza just kept her very busy at church today. The girls really love having her here. Now if we can just get Grandpa to come visit! The girls are really good at reminding Grandma that: "if Grandpa were here he wouldn't let you tease us."

4th of July, 2008

While in Iowa over the 4th of July the kids always enjoy the kiddie parade. We woke the morning of the 4th and started decorating the wagon. JG, sewed the fabric to the sides and back of the wagon(what a guy!) The girls were busy blowing up balloons and fixing the hair. Clara was afraid to ride in the wagon, and Eliza sat in it for about 30sec. Ella pulled the wagon up and down the street. They were fun to watch. At the end they received popsicles. That is all Clara cared about! It was a fun day. You should see the amount of candy they received at the big parade. My dad was in the parade for his 50th high school reunion. He poured a whole bucket of candy right in front of the girls. You should have seen the look on their faces. He told us later that his class had discussed throwing candy during the parade. They decided not to throw it because it was a hazard to the children. Boy did he get a hard time when he showed up with a whole bucket of candy. He said, "It is for my grandchildren." They all said, "well we have grandchildren too!" I am glad he put off the peer pressure! My kids loved it!

Youth Pavilion-July 3, 2008

This was such a fun day. Oma and Opa took us to the Phelps Youth Pavilion in downtown Waterloo, IA. The girls had a great time, and so did the adults. Eliza and Clara loved the play bus and interactive staircase. Ella loved driving the tractor through the countryside. There was something for everyone.

Father's Day 2008

This was a special fathers day. We were fortunate enough to spend Father's Day at the farm. We wanted to check on Sherri to see how she was doing with her hip replacement, and we wanted to celebrate Fathers day. It started out with the girls letting JG sleep in. Then we made omelets(JGs favorite breakfast with a diet coke of course), and took it to him in bed. He was so excited! SO were the girls. We then opened presents. The girls gave JG some photographs they had suprised him with for his office, along with a stepping stone they had made. They gave Opa some kitchen utensils and a stepping stone they had made. They both enjoyed their presents. We missed being with Grandpa Eyre and Papa. We are so fortunate to have such great fathers in our lives and the lives of our children We have such great examples to follow. I love the opportunity to celebrate Fathers Day. My children have a wonderful Daddy, and we are forever grateful for his dedication to our family.

 
Clara is the worlds best snuggler. She loves to curl up on your lap and talk or read a book. She prides herself on being our families best hugger. Oma had a hip replacement in early June, Clara just enjoys snuggling up on her lap. What else would help her recover quicker!

puddles

 

One of Ellas favorite things to do at the farm is jump in puddles. This year over Father's Day was no exception. I just love to see the joy of splashing in the puddles without a care. Ella has always been my girl who could care less about a mess, especially a wet mess.

Bike ride of tears

The smile on Clara's face was well earned. The Henstroms let us borrow their tag-a-long bike while they borrowed our bike trailer. We thought this was a great idea until Clara got on the bike. She screamed for the first 30 minutes! She hated it! We stopped at the Bodily's to say hello. Clara jumped off the bike and said she was never getting back on. Little did she know we still had to ride home. After visiting for awhile we decided that I would ride with her(she had previously been riding with JG). Again we put her on the bike and rode off. She continued to cry. I then asked Clara to help me pedle the bike. I insisted that I needed her help to get home. Wow! Did she ever take off. She wanted to keep riding all night. She now loves it and wants to go on a bike ride every day. Thanks Henstroms!

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

To celebrate the end of the school year we took Ella and Clara to see a play called Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, in Minneapolis. We went with the Wheelers, good friends who have a daughter the same age as Ella. What a fun trip! We left Eliza at home with Stephanie Spohn (she had a lot of fun at home, trust me), and we enjoyed the play. Ella and Clara had read the book the week before the play, so they were familiar with the story line. It was amazing! The costumes and sets were very impressive. We will definetely do this again. There are season tickets available. We might wait till the girls are all a little older.

Banana bread for Logan

Logan and Clara playing at local park, Castle Park.

The minute there are any black spots on bananas, Clara begs to make banana bread for her good friend Logan. Logan makes the "best banana bread" according to Clara. Logan is Claras best buddy who lives one house away. They are so cute together.