The Crafts

This past Saturday my younger, rowdy, trouble-maker brother got married. Okay, so that is not at all how I view him any more but once upon a time...  No, now that brother of mine is a kind, fun-loving, and pretty entertaining man. He really is sweet to his wife and she will make for a wonderful sister-in-law. Lindsay and Ryan have been together for 13 years. That is longer than Matt and I have even known each other. But, like Ryan's best man said, "It's not about time, it is the right time." Their dog, Toby, was in the wedding. He walked down the aisle and even stood up with Ryan...and tried to get to them most of the ceremony. There is a whole lot of mutual love between them. The ceremony took place in Lindsay's parents' backyard. CJ was pretty pleased to discover a swing. However, Kate started pushing CJ on the swing BEFORE the ceremony and right after I took this photo CJ took a nose dive into the dirt. Of course.

With the realization that July is coming to a close came my awareness that we are running of time for summer awesomeness. I'm having a severe craving for adventure right now. I'm wanting for bike rides on the nature trails, hikes in the woods, long walks with stops for a picnic here and there... So yesterday I tossed the girls in the van, along with Kate's and CJ's new BFF, neighbor Asher, and we ventured through Hickory Hills. I packed all the essentials like snacks, water bottles, a blanket, flashlights (for adventure on the trails), diapers and sunscreen. But Asher on the other hand...now that kid came equipped. He brought a plastic knife (for pretend survival), binoculars, gloves (to protect hands while lugging sticks), hats for everyone, water, snacks, and a whole lot more. Kate saw Asher's loot and thought she too ought to pack some things. She did well but Asher had planned for a real adventure whereas the girls and I are more "dainty" hikers..

Last Friday we put down our family pet. I got Baxter when she was six years old and she lived with me for eleven years.  She was a sweet, old kitty who loved to shed, beg to be petted and she either grew to love the presence of children in the house or she just merely learned to tolerate it. With the addition of each kid Baxter became less bothered by the inevitable tail tugging. With each passing day this month Baxter ate less and less. In her last days she maybe ate a few bites of food and then immediately vomited. Friday morning she hadn't eaten anything. I watched her drink some water and then a few minutes later she got sick. Things were trending toward the end and I could tell she was miserable.  Last Friday morning as soon as the girls woke I took some pictures of them with Baxter and told them to give her some good snuggles because she would be heading out to the vet. I reminded them that Baxter was old and sick and may not return home and that is exactly

It is sweltering outside, the girls just wrapped up swimming lessons for the day and Natalie just laid her sweet head down for a nap...so I thought why not pop in a movie and crank out a quick blog post. I intended to share Natalie's 9 month stats (I took the pictures over a week ago) but when I uploaded my photos to the laptop I found that I have a whole lotta pictures that I have never shared...pictures dating back to mid-June. So here we go with yet another photo heavy, random blog post...  ***************** Iowa travels: Matt planned a Saturday day trip for us several weeks back. We poked around Elkader with it's gorgeous views, cute shops and delicious bakery (although nothing compares to a twist from the LPC Bakery.) The river was really high at the time and I was nervous to take this photo but we managed to get it done without anyone falling in the river. (Not that there was any real risk of it happening but little kids anywhere near strong currents make me an