Happy Anniversary in Heaven Mom

One year. How has it already been one year since mom passed on to heaven? This is the last of the firsts. This past year I have been surrounded by family and friends who have supported me in my grief. Many of my friends who reached out to me have walked and are continuing to walk the same journey of grief. I am so thankful that through Jesus I have the hope of heaven and the hope of being with my mom again. 

Happy Birthday Papa!

Last Thursday we celebrated Papa over dinner, brownies, and ice cream. We are thankful for him, he has always been a rock for our family. The kids love going for hikes with papa and exploring the outdoors. They also enjoy it when papa reads to them. Papa has been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia series with the boys. He is currently reading The Magicians Nephew to them. We love you Papa! Happy Birthday to you!

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday we had a delightful time celebrating 13 beautiful years of marriage and a lifetime to go! I love this man! My Dad came over to watch the kids and we went to The Dancing Dragonfly Winery in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. It was lovely to sit outside on the patio and enjoy some wine and appetizers. After that we went to dinner at The Watershed Cafe and went for a hike by the river together.  

Some pretty flowers from our yard.

Lovely evening!

Brian showing how he is a wine connoisseur!

Karen's Birthday Bash!

We had a fun time celebrating Karen on her birthday! Greta and I took her out for lunch and then Karen, Kristi, and I went to get our nails done together! That evening we meet up with family and her friends to be on a pretend game show. Kristi and Ben had the idea and it was a fun one! It really felt like we were on a show as two teams. They had us play games like Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right, etc... It was poetic in that Karens' team won! As the winning team we got to hold the glory trophy and get our picture taken to be on the wall of fame. It was a memorable time!

Girl Time and Man Camp Weekend

We had the best girls and guys weekend! Us girls planned a sweet mother daughter time over the weekend. My friend Angela hosted the prettiest tea party! We all got dressed up and our daughters were able to bring their dolls. I love how all of the girls look like their dolls! It was such a sweet time and the food was yummy!

Greta and I, Angela and Lucia, Lydia, and Lelah, Anna and Bella, and Anna and Sienna

The other day Brian got some pictures of Greta in her sweet tea party dress!

We were so excited to go to the tea party!

After the tea party we all got to tie dye t-shirts together. 

They turned out so fun!

On Sunday we went to church and then we met at my house after lunch. We all wore our tie dyed t-shirts and baked deliocus chocolate cupcakes. Afterward, we wanted an American Girl movie and ate popcorn and our cupcakes. The girls brought a picnic dinner and we ate outside on my back deck. It was a lovely time! We are so thankful for good friends!

Greta and the girls enjoyed playing dress up in Greta's clothes!

The boys had a blast at Man Camp for the weekend! They went to our friend Erik's cabin on a lake. I love the t-shirts that they made for their father and son time!

Brian and our boys, Erik and Hans and Nels, Eric and Greyson, and Shane and Austin, Jason, and Jordan. They had a great time having chapel time with camp worship songs lead by Brian, went swimming, fishing, made using shots and bows and arrows. They had a blast and were so tired when they got home! They played hard! So thankful for good friends! 

Afternoon Teatime with Greta

Last week I told Greta that I would take her to the Mad Hatter Restaurant and Teahouse when it opens for teatime again. It opened and we had a lovely afternoon tea together. I love my sweet girl. It was also fun to wear these pretty matching dresses!

Our picnic afternoon tea boxes!

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Happy Birthday to Mom/Nana in heaven! After Mom passed Asa said to me, "Mom can we still sing Happy Birthday to Nana on her birthday each year?" I said, "Of course, we want to always celebrate and honor Nana." 

The kids did a beautiful job painting rocks for Nana for her birthday. We brought them and some flowers growing in our yard to her gravesite this morning. The kids always loved doing art projects with Nana. I also made one of Mom's favorite desserts, Strawberry Pretzel Jello dessert. We sang Happy Birthday to Nana, the kids blew out candles, and we ate dessert in honor of her today. We love and miss you Mom! You are always in our hearts.

This is a picture of Mom and I on her birthday a few years ago. I treated her to pedicures. We loved getting our nails done together.

Mid July

Last week we had a great visit with Uncle David! We went up to Duluth for a couple of days. We spent time hiking in Gooseberry Falls and lots of time swimming in Lake Superior! Usually I cannot swim in Lake Superior until August, but it has been a warm summer and the water felt amazing! On Saturday Kristi and Ben came back from their trip to Tennessee, so we had a dinner hangout at Papa's as a family.

The Rose Gardens in Duluth were beautiful.

Brian captured David and I laughing about how the kids cannot stay dry by the lake, even in the evening!

The boys had fun pretending to rock climb on the flat rocks!

Dad, David, and Brian went fishing together one morning.

The kids were excited to see that our first Monarch butterfly came out of it's chrysalis this morning! We have one more that is still in its chrysalis. Every summer they look forward to finding caterpillars, feeding them milkweed, watching them form their chrysalis, and then turn into butterflies. 

I love this picture of the kids with Uncle David!

The other day we had a fun time with friends out at the sandbar!

Yesterday Asa and I enjoyed a morning bike ride together. I cannot believe he will already be 7 next month. Love him!

Yesterday Brian and I realized that we matched each other on accident! Haha, I guess we have been together for awhile and we think alike.