Long Time No Blog

Well, it certainly has been awhile since our last blog, and a lot has happened during that time, and that's for sure!

On Saturday the 13th, Jim and I planted our tree from the adopt-a-tree program here in West Des Moines. We thought it would make a nice addition to the front of the house, and somehting that will always be here from us, even when we move on. We selected the Autumn Brillance Service Berry. It will have small white petals in the spring, small green leaves and little berries in the summer, and it will get red in the fall. It should be really pretty and it is quite perfect for our house.

That afternoon I headed home for a couple days of vacation. My friend from high school, Ariana, was going to be in town with her family as well as Mother's Day on Sunday and my Mom's birthday on Monday. That night, my Mom, Frank, Chelsea, Josh, Jayke and I headed to dinner together. I gave my Mom a digital camera for her birthday and mothers day at dinner and she really liked it. It was a nice way to begin the weekend.

Trying to take our own picture together....too funny!

Sunday I didn't do too much in all. Rested and relaxed which is what vacation days are for. Monday was the girls big day out (plus Jayke) to celebrate my Mom's birthday. My Mom, Chelsea and I had decided to spend the day together. First we started with lunch at the Olive Garden (love that soup, salad, and breadstick meal). We wanted to do something different and fun so we headed to this drive through wilderness place. It was a great place to test out the new digitals and Jayke had a blast as well. After a very full afternoon I spent most of the evening at my mom's chit-chatting and having a good time.

On Tuesday I didn't do much of anything. I was looking forward to spending the day with Jayke but that didn't happen. I did get a chance to see Ariana, her husband Jonathon, and their daughter Addison as well as much of the rest of the Wright family. It was so nice to talk for a little bit before I headed back to Des Moines.

The rest of the week was filled with catching up at work, training the new person for my job, and getting ready for my new job to start. For those of you who don't know, I took a summer position as a 1st grade lead teacher with Kids West, a program I had worked with before and I am so excited to have a nice fun summer before school starts again.

Well....that's about it for the moment. I will keep more updated from now on, going home must have thrown me off. Have a good Memorial Day Weekend.

Tulip Time!

Going to college in Pella meant always having to deal with Tulip Time. At the time it was a bit of a nuisance since we all knew we needed to participate but were also trying to study for finals and finish the semester. Last year, living off campus, I didn't really get a chance to go so I was actually really looking forward to going this year.

I worked on Friday and we needed to clean the house and what not on Saturday so I debated going for quite awhile, but Jim and I decided to go Saturday evening in time to enjoy the festivities and catch the lighted parade that night. We had a pretty good time too!

The tulips were beautiful as usual. There were tons of people as usual. And lots of food as usual. This time, however, it was different not being a student, in fact, it was more enjoyable just to be a spactator. Jim had a good time too. We enjoyed dinner and siteseeing, and then we found a good spot to watch and enjoy the parade. The floats are always big and fun, impressive for a town of Pella's size. It got a little chilly by the end, but we both still had a great time!

Prayers came through...

First of all, I have good news to report. Jim's dad came through his surgery very well. This weekend Jim and I went to Dubuque for his friend's wedding and we were lucky enough to be able to help his dad home from the hospital on Sunday and spend some time with him before heading home. With some rest and recovery time, Harry will be doing great, I can't tell you how thankful we are.

The wedding we went to was nice as well. Jim's friend Brad and his fiance Kelly were married. Other than it being a rainy day it went well. The wedding and reception were in Farley and I was lucky enough to experience the famous Farley Hall....Afer all, I had heard so much about it at the last wedding that it became a little joke between Jim and I this weekend.

Aside from that, not much to report, below is a picture of our bikes though, we wanted a couple people to see them and here they are....and we are still loving riding them!