Princess Party Times 2

On Saturday night we had another party for Ava. You only turn 4 once right? My parents decorated the house entirely in a princess theme. There were princess streamers, princess balloons, princess banners, and even a princess pinata. Ava was in heaven. We were so lucky to have Aunt Ann and Emily there to celebrate with us. Ava now has so many princess dresses, crowns,and shoes that she doesn't know what to play with first.

Four Year Check-Up

Today was Ava's four year well check. And she did great. Since she is four there were a few different things that happened at the doctor's office. She got her blood pressure checked for the first time, her eyes checked for the first time, and the best part of the whole day was the gown she got to wear. It was just a simple paper gown with teddy bears on it. She thought it was the best thing ever. The second the doctor walked into the room, she asked him if she could take it home. She has wore it about the house several times today and even Tina got to wear it to take a nap. She was very brave when she got her 3 shots! Poor thing! Thank goodness a sucker and a prize from the special chest still take her mind off her sore legs! She weighs 38 pounds and is 40 7/8 inches tall. Both of these are in the 75th percentile. My big girl!

Minnesota

We had a great time in Minnesota. The girls were wonderful for the 14 hour car trip each way. Thank god for DVD players! The girls enjoyed staying at the funtel in Lincoln Nebraska both on the way there and back. It was so much fun for them to run up and down the halls screaming. The hotel also had an indoor pool which was great to wear the girls out before bedtime.

We kept extremely busy while in Minnesota. The Schmidts were great hosts and we throughly enjoyed staying at their house and their cabin. At the lake the fishing was amazing and the girls loved the boat. Ava got her first taste of tubing and jetskiing and loved them both. Molly tried jetskiing and hated it! You could hear her screams from the dock. We celebrated Ava's birthday at the lake too. This year was all about princesses. She had a princess cake, got princess cards, and tons of princess dolls.
The Mall of America was amazing. We spent one day riding the rides and went back the next day for the Aquarium. Although we kept very busy, it was fun just hanging out with the family and swimming in the Schmidts pool too!

Our vacation ended with a wonderful 50th Anniversary Party for Greg and Nancy. It great to see and meet long distance relatives.

It was a great vacation and the time flew by. Here are some pictures on a slideshow!!

Bittersweet Day

Today we put our house on the market. Mike and I have been working our tails off for months getting the house ready to sell. We have outgrown our house for sure and couldn't wait to move. But, seeing the sign out in front is kind of bittersweet. It's reality! So, we need prayers. Prayers that our house sells quickly and that we get the house we want!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Wow! Birthday's are getting harder and harder to celebrate. And I can't believe how old I look in pictures. Poor me. It's my birthday so I can be depressed right???
We kept my birthday very low key. Had a great celebration at Outback. I am so stuffed right now. My birthday cake was the chocolate thunder from down under. I bet it had a million calories. But, so worth it! Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I had a great day!

Happy 4th of July!

We hope you all had a great day and celebrated America's birthday! After the race yesterday, we watched a parade. The girls loved to watch all the floats go by. Molly's favorite part was all the candy being thrown at her. She had to open every sucker and take a taste of it. That was fine with me. It was 9:00 in the morning and I think she tasted 7 or 8 suckers but, never finished a whole sucker! After the parade, we went to the Highlands Ranch 4th Celebration. There were jump castles, a train, face painting, balloons and a great band.








After lunch and a nap, we went to a chili cook off. It was fun to taste all kinds of different chili recipes. Of course, no one gave their secret recipes away.

Then we went to my parents house for ribs! They were so yummy!! Thanks Mom for the great ribs! And of course we had the now traditional fruit pizza. Mike that was the best batch yet!! When it got dark, we drove back to watch the fireworks at our house. In years past, we watch the fireworks in our backyard but, this year, we couldn't see them because our trees have grown so much. We ended up on the sidewalk on the side of our house. This was Molly's first year for staying up and watching the show. She loved it but had a hard time sitting still! Needless to say the girls were exhausted when they finally got to bed at 10:30!

Mom's First 5 K

After training for months, I ran my first 5 K. What a great experience. It was very hot, and the course was treacherous. I have never seen, let alone ran so many hills in my life. It was so worth it though. Mike said that he heard some guy say that this was the hardest 5k that he had every run. So, at least I got my first one over with as hard as it was. It was all worth it when I saw Mike and the girls waiting for me at the finish line! I am not going to share my time but, I finished 115/231. So, there is always room for improvement. I am addicted to running now and can't wait for my next 5k in August.