IT'S A START!!!!!

Elyse is knitting herself a sweater. 

The pattern required eight (8) skeins of yarn.  So far, she has used ONE (1).  I think we will head back to the store to return several of them.

Isn't she amazing?

Here is just the front:

MEMORIAL DAY 2012!!!!!

Betsey & Micah came to visit this weekend.  They left Zelda with the Vastbinders.  The whole time they were here, I was trying to put a puzzle together (the one Lacey bought from the library).  I started the puzzle before they got here.  After awhile, Betsey, Micah, Zachary and Elyse tried to help.  Betsey and Micah left and I finished the puzzle.  BUT, it was missing one piece.  I wondered if a used puzzle would have all the pieces.  We did finish everything else though.  Here is the finished product with the one piece missing from the tree on the right.

The kids were watching Jurassic Park while I worked on the puzzle.  I yelled that it was finished.  They paused the movie and checked it out.  I told them about the missing piece.  I figured we dropped it on the floor somewhere.  Nope!  Zachary pulled it out of his pocket so that he could be the one that put in the last piece.  The evidence:

Proof:

The TRUE finished product:

Thanks Lacey!  We enjoyed putting it together!

For dessert (while they watched the movie and I worked the puzzle) was Strawberry Shortcake.  I asked Zachary to make me two scoops of ice cream, some strawberries and some whipped cream.  He decided to make it HUGE!  I had two small scoops of ice cream and a little strawberries with my whipped cream.  Silly boy!

Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend!

ANOTHER HOT DATE!!!!!

Thanks to gift cards, we were able to go to Maggiano's Little Italy.  Their special let us pick one appetizer, two pasta dishes, one dessert and two pasta dishes to take home.  The amount of food per serving was HUGE.  We have enough to take home to feed the four of us dinner tomorrow.  Emily & Dan, notice the outfit (thank you!).  After dinner, we stopped at a friends' house to catch them up on the job hunt (or lack of the hunt).  It was a very nice night.  Me and my "hot" date!

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!!!

Miss Genius is at work again.  Elyse is making a baby bunting for her Youth leader whose baby is due in August.  We had yet to purchase the buttons, but other than that - it is finished! 

I think she is as proud of her accomplishments as we are!  Good job, Elyse!

PARK, KIDS, BASEBALL!!!!!

The zipline park is always a place the kids want to go over and over.  This time, Caleb talked Gpa into climbing the jungle gym (made out of bungy type cords).

Another shot of the jungle gym...

The next day, the kids wanted to take their Mom and Dad on the zipline.  Heading to the car:

The extra person has a "special" seat.  Such a good sport you are, Lacey.

Even Luke got in the act...

Zachary wanted Luke's family to watch his ball game at noon on Saturday.  The best shade was behind the bleachers and the dugout.  It was hard to see, but the shade was worth it.  We took a picnic lunch to eat while we watched the game. 

One beauty with brother behind her...

One little boy more interested in the surroundings than the game...
 

Zachary was the catcher part of the game...

Zachary did a great job as catcher... 

Isn't she gorgeous?  Notice the red face, did I mention it was hot outside?

When we got home, I checked weather.com for the temperature.  It said it was 87.  I thought I was hot.  When I talked to Lacey, she said the outside temperature reading in their rented van said 92 degrees.  It was stinkin' hot.

When I got home, I couldn't drink enough water.  I had several glass of milk with my dinner.  I took a nap and was a mess when I woke up.  I think I was dehydrated.  It felt awful.  I am fine now - I guess buckets of water will help end that feeling.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  Those kids sure are fun!  They were such good sports at the game in the extreme heat.  I hope they aren't too sunburned, we forgot the sunblock.

GRANDS!!!!!

The grands are here.  After dinner, we headed to the zipline.  Everyone had a great time.  Jaden fell off at the end.  He was more embarrassed than hurt.  He kept hiding his face when you asked him if he was o.k.  Of course, he didn't want to go on it again!  He liked sitting on the twirly thing (we would stand on it, but he isn't tall enough to reach the handles above).  Grace felt low, so she and I headed back to the house.  She is fine now.  Gpa and Caleb walked home, the rest of us took the car.  We will blog more tomorrow about our escapades.   

Hope you can tell who is who - I can't get the computer to work correctly.  Sorry!

More zipline today:

POLISH FIX JOB!!!!!

When you don't want to spend $15, you make do.  Zachary is proving he is in my family line - a pollack to the core.

Here it is in use: 

 

The boy does come by it honestly...

THIRD TIMES A CHARM!!!!!

To give you an idea of what Be-fridgy looks like, we took many pictures - here are a few.

A house that we could never afford - but we liked.

Another one:

Our "huge" airport:

Some shots from the airplane (37,000 feet in the air). 

They even have freeways:

There are even "some" tall buildings:

Clouds.  I missed taking a picture of the black thunderhead though - that was awesome looking. 

Lots of lakes:

Lots of rivers snaking through the countryside:

We are waiting for Be-fridgy to make their decision this week.  Tim also has two other interviews this week.  We'll soon know what God's plan is for us - we hope!

Second verse, same as the first!

While Tim was in meetings, I walked around the campus and took pictures (yes, I remembered the camera.  Yay me!). 

Current students playing Frisbee in between the dorms.  It is finals week and they need to move around.

Dad and I took a tour of Bemidji.  Yes, we finally got a car to drive around.  The area is famous for Paul Bunyan memorabilia.   You can tell how tall these statues are because of Dad's height.

Or, my height.

Another statue - we didn't get close enough to read the sign, so I have no idea what the point is.

Bemidji is that start of the Mississippi River.  

There was a gorgeous rainbow (picture doesn't do it justice).

This is the start of the Mississippi River.  It isn't very wide at this point.

Dad & I took a detailed tour of the school.  All the buildings are pretty old (creaky floors, just like our townhouse).  It was nice to get a feel of the land. 

We went out to dinner with the president and his wife.  They are down to earth folks.  Had a good dinner with them.  We ate far too much food.  Now we are stuffed to the gills.  Thankfully, breakfast in the cafeteria isn't much to speak of - they are trying to get rid of all the extra food.  I had a yogurt this morning with milk and juice.  That was all that appealed to me.  Tomorrow, I will do the same. 

While Dad is in his last two meetings tomorrow, I am going to look at houses in the area.  I have about ten picked out from online searches.  We saw one tonight - no way!

Enjoy our little tour!

Day 1 in Be-fridgy:

Frustrated couple in the airport:

Tires that caused the brakes to catch fire, thus delaying our departure:

The chapel (sorry it is so dark, couldn't get the flash to work).

The gorgeous lake:

 

The dock (which is in the process of being redone)

The beach (about 25x25 feet).

The "campground" - would house about 20 trailers/tents, but not much entertainment.  I guess it is for conference options only.

The view of the lake again:

Dad is in meetings all day.  I will get together with him again for lunch in 30 minutes.  The "real" tour of the campus comes at 3:00 - the above is just what I did this morning on my walk.  More to follow!