Our New Addition

We did not think this would happen so soon, but the opportunity came for us and we decided to take a chance. We our now proud owners of Nala, a 4 1/2 month old orange and white striped American Shorthair kitten. She was found by some members in our ward at our church building just wandering around. They put out an email, and we decided to take her and make her part of our family.



She is very curious and has added a lot of fun and excitement in our home since we took her in this past week.




She also has a very sweet side and will cuddle up to you, and want to be right there to get the love and attention she needs, while giving us the love we need. We have all enjoyed her and hope she can remain apart of our family for a long time.

Birthday Celebrations

July has been the month of birthdays. We first celebrated Dean's day by going to Fayetteville. This is the main city in NWA and is about a 30 minute drive south of where we live. We had not been there as a family yet, so we thought it would be a good chance to see what the city had to offer. We first went to the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks. We were fortunate enough to go during their free time on Saturday, so that made it even more of a plus. They have about 6 different types of gardens and all were very pretty and enjoyable to walk through and see what nature had to offer. Bryce and Connor loved the children's garden the best, which had tunnels to walk through, a few bridges, and even a fort to climb.


I've been caught!


a beautiful day at a beautiful
garden, with a beautiful family!


This was a very steep bridge,
and at one point while going
down, Bryce thought it was a slide
so he got down and tried to do it,
but it just did not seem to slide
as easily as he was used to.


The keepers of the fort


Taking a nice swing


Of course the parent's had to
relax in the zen garden, even if
it was just for a minute.

We then went to the Arkansas Air Museum to watch the jets land and take off, and also to see some of the ones that were on display in the museum part. It was pretty fun to see all that was there.

Bryce wanted to stay here the
whole time.








We hope you had a great birthday!!
We love you!

On to brithday number two!


We had a nice little family celebration where Edie made Bryce's favorite dinner of spaghetti. We then turned on Skype so Grandma D, and Aunts Gen and Julie could watch him open his presents.










Bryce loves Thomas the Tank Engine
So Edie tried her best to recreate
him on Bryce's cake. Bryce thought
it was fun and the cake was good too!

It was a successful day and Bryce
had a great time with everything and
we hope all his 2 year old wishes
come true!

Independence Day Weekend In Minnesota

We were all excited for this weekend to come. We took a mini vacation and traveled through Missouri, Iowa, and up into Rochester, Minnesota, to make our first ever visit to see Uncle David, and Aunt Adrienne and their family (Edie's brother and sister in law). Both of our children are the only cousins on Edie's side of the family so it was a neat experience to have all the grandchildren together for a few days. The first day was spent just hanging out at their house playing, laughing, and having fun. The kids all enjoyed being with each other and doing kid things.

First were the chores of taking care of the garden


Then came the playing




Tree climbing at its best


Riding bikes


Thinking about riding a bike


Playing with cars


Playing with the hose and water


Dean also joined in on the fun and
loved it just as much as the actual kids!



The next day was spent first by attending the ward's
Fourth of July pancake breakfast and participating in
their annual parade around the parking lot.



Everyone was then treated to a box of Pops
to throw down


Edie even did a few


We could not pass up this moment in time



After fueling up on pancakes and participating
in some morning festivities, we all made the trip
up to the Twin Cities to see one of the biggest malls in
America.



There were the usual stores and things
that you see in malls, but it was the unusual ones
that caught our attention. A mirror maze
inside of a mall? But of course!

That is a long hallway . . . Or is it?


Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to
find the real Bryce


Following the leader, but which one?


The funny mirrors at the end



The Lego store was a sight to behold


All the kids had fun creating, and building.
You can just see their imagination juices flowing.







Rides inside a mall? You better believe it!
Connor choose to do the bumper cars with
his cousin Mathew


Ready, Set, GO!!!


Happy Fourth of July with all of the cousins

Fireworks at the end of the day
What a great holiday we had!
A BIG thank you to David, Adrienne, and
family for a wonderful fun filled holiday!