golfing fun

This past Sunday we met Uncle Chad and Aunt Jenny out at "Chad and Jenny's green house", otherwise known as Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Course in Jordan, MN. We played 9 holes and the girls enjoyed hitting their little whiffle balls every chance they got. They really have some skills, plus they look pretty cute in their golf hats!

agate lake

Yesterday we returned from a week at our cabin rental on Agate Lake near Crosby, MN. We all LOVE it there! We spent a week with my parents, as well as my brother Marc, his wife Tina and baby Andrew. It was AWESOME! We swam, fed the fish, went for paddle boat rides, biked on the Cuyuna path, had campfires, grilled every night, went fishing....Kate caught her first fish and so did Jason...Kate's was bigger! We ate ice cream, listened to the loons, fed the ducks, collected snails and relaxed on the dock, soaking up lots of Minnesota summer sunshine. Like I said, it was awesome! The girls are already looking forward to next summer......

Washington D.C.

I arrived home from D.C. last night and still cannot believe what an amazing trip I had! What a history that is held in just one city!! Everything was breathtaking! Some of the sights I saw were.....Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, World War Memorial, Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials, The White House, The US Capital, The Supreme Court, Union Station, The Pentagon, Ford's Theatre, The Smithsonian Museums and more!

And thanks to everyone for their prayers....Annika recovered nicely and I was the one who ended up getting sick on our last day in D.C. Yuck! We're off to the cabin this Saturday for a whole week of Northern Minnesota fun on Agate Lake. I promise to post lots of pictures when we return. God bless!!

prayer request......

Hi everyone. I just wanted to ask if you would all say some special prayers for Annika. She has had a fever off and on again since 1:00 a.m. this morning. She is not herself. This is really hard for me as a momma because I fly out to Washington D.C. in 4 hours and I will be gone for 4 whole days.

Please pray for Annika to feel better, for momma's mind to be at ease and safe travel for momma to D.C. and back again. Thanks.

our life list

Five years ago Jason and I were sitting near Lake Michigan at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and we decided to make a life list.....things that we wanted to accomplish in our lives together. If you have seen the movie "The Bucket List" you already know what I'm talking about. There are always going to be things that we need to do in life, but we wanted to make a list of experiences and adventures that we wanted to do. We have already accomplished a few things on the list, the ones in italics. Some of the items we were never really sure we would actually get to do, but it's fun to dream. This summer we will be crossing a few more items off of the list.......check it out!

Jason and Aimee's Life List

have or adopt children

hike the mountains in Norway

go to a show on Broadway

visit all 50 states (halfway done.....)

take our grandchildren golfing

take horse riding lessons (Aimee)

go ice-skating for the first time (Jason)

take dance lessons

go on a cruise

go to Italy

watch a sunset in Alaska

go skiing in Colorado

walk through the redwoods in California

go to the WWII veterans memorial in Washington D.C. (going this summer!)

go to the B.W.C.A. (Jason...I've already been there)

write a children's book

get a hole-in-one

swim with dolphins

play golf in Scotland

take cooking lessons

have a house with a porch (we have a little one)

go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (not the one in Vegas, been there, done that...)

run a marathon (Jason has done quite a few, I've lost count)

learn to speak Spanish

smoke a turkey

make a quilt

get our picture take in Walla Walla, WA

collect rocks from all five of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan done...Huron and possibly Erie this summer!)

play the saxophone (Jason)

read the entire Bible

stay in touch with old friends (thanks to Facebook!)

golf together

have quartz countertops and wood floors (does Pergo count?)

reach retirement

teach for 35 years

go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

work towards MA-60

ride in a hot air balloon (going this summer, cross your fingers!)

parasail

go for lots of walks together

Future Gymnastics Star!

We have always known that Annika is very strong and flexible, in fact we call her our little monkey. She jumps off of the third step on the staircase, climbs the railing like it's a mountain, goes up the slide when she should go down....you get the picture. But this past week she showed off a new talent- gymnastics! We got a set of rings for our swingset and right away she was pulling herself completely off the ground and flipping her legs over her head- without any help! The first time she flipped, she even landed perfectly on the ground. Her eyes were huge! She was pretty impressed with her new talent. Enjoy the video clips and make sure your sound is turned on, you'll enjoy the giggles, too!

Our Fourth of July

The girls and I headed to the north shore for the Fourth of July and we enjoyed every minute of a beautiful Minnesota summer weekend. It was perfect! Sunny, blue skies, a calm breeze off of Lake Superior, hikes in the woods, picking agates on the beach, enjoying campfires in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard every night and watching fireflies dance in the night sky. Perfect!

Of course we had to show off a little red, white and blue! What's the Fourth of July without red, white and blue.