Great Birthday Weekend!

Jason turned 31 on Saturday - another year flew right by us!


I'm not sure if I've ever said it before, but I love the weekends that Jason doesn't have to work on Saturday morning. It's something you just get used to when you work at a bank, I know, but it really does make the weekend seem so much longer and nicer when he doesn't have to get up and leave for work at 7:30 and get home around 2:00 on Saturdays. Since their base ball game was canceled, he was actually HOME the whole day!!!

And what a beautiful day it was! We headed to the YMCA for aerobics class in the morning and then went straight from there to the zoo. It was a little chilly, but it warmed up nicely by noon or so. We went through the whole zoo and even caught a dolphin show before it was time to head home and get Jordan a nap - it was so fun to be there as a family and just enjoy each other!


The kids petting the goats in the petting zoo area! Sadly, the only picture I got of any of us while we were at the zoo. I tried at the dolphin show to get a picture of Jason and the kids, but it didn't turn out very good (Jordan was getting too close to nap time, I think)!


We rested a little bit in the afternoon (after cleaning the house, just in case it rained and people had to come inside for Jason's birthday party). We got some pizza for supper and then waited for people to join us to help Jason celebrate his big day.

We had a big crowd: Matt and Jenny (Brady & Ashlynn), Micah and Angi (Maggie & Faith), Sam and Todd (Will & Ellie), Ben and Elise (Colton), Mark and Suzie (Katie, Michael & Camryn), Eric and Shara! I think I caught everyone - sorry if I missed you, but I was probably busy chasing down a kid or two!

Around 7:00 people started arriving, and we played outside all evening! It was a little chilly again, but I didn't mind it (I'll take that over 90 degrees any day)! Jordan and Faith gave out around 9:30 or so, and then we decided Meggan and Maggie were done and put them in bed around 11:00 or so! The adults got to stay up and talk for a little while, and then people started heading home for the night by 11:30 or midnight. We were in bed (Jason may have been more like passed out, but he wasn't drunk) by 1:00. What a great time to enjoy with our friends! :)


Off to church on Sunday morning and then had some lunch at Famous Dave's and headed home to rest a little/take it easy! Jordan got a nice nap, and we relaxed for a couple hours. Then it was time to go back outside and play! Jordan joined us after his 3-hour nap... Pretty low-key day really!


It really was such a great weekend, and now I'm just excited for Jason to get to start using his Pacers tickets that the kids and I got him for his birthday!!!

I think Meggan took this picture of Boe. Just because he hardly ever makes it on the blog, here he is. This is his new choice of places to sleep ... in Jordan's crib! Jordan thinks it's hilarious when we go in there and Boe is in his bed! :)

It's Been BUSY!!!!!

It's been a while since I posted, but that's just because we've been so busy!

It was fun to be back in Iowa for the Fourth of July so that we could enjoy the holiday with family and also get to be there when Jackson was baptized. He wore Jordan's baptism outfit, which I thought was pretty neat! It was a busy day (church started at 10:30 and we were all leaving in the early afternoon to drive back to Indiana). We had a wonderful lunch before we took off to head home that Jesse's mom prepared for us, which was so kind of her ... and YUMMY!!!

Jackson after his baptism!

Crystal ended up deciding to come back to Indy and spend her last week of maternity leave with us. I had a couple days off last week without much work to do, so it was fun to get to just spend time with her and the baby and chat! Lily, my brother's 4 1/2-year-old daughter, also came back to Indy to spend the week, and her and Meggan had a great time getting to play together all day and all night each day! What special time for cousins to get to do that! :)

Meggan and Lily when they stayed the night at our house one night this past week!

We are all EXHAUSTED today! Matt and Julia were here for the weekend (Matt worked on my mom's flooring almost the whole time they were here, but he got a LOT done) and they all left this afternoon after we all went to the YMCA and swam for a while. We came home and cleaned out my van (it needed it B.A.D.L.Y.) and then just hung out for the rest of the evening. Jordan was in bed at 7:45 and Meggan was in bed at 8:00 - tired little kiddos! Jason and I enjoyed an episode of Big Brother together and now he's fast asleep ... and I'm headed that way too!

Daddy and Jordan playing tonight!

Daddy and Meggan playing tonight (don't ask us why she thought this was a good idea)!

The kids playing "traffic jam because they're fixing the road" tonight! You'll notice Jordan is playing but is laying down ... that kind of sums it up for how we were all feeling tonight! :)

We're looking forward to a little less busy week this week. Jason has the church softball tournament tomorrow night starting at 6:30, but since Meggan has gymnastics (I promise to get a few pictures and post those tomorrow), we won't be able to go. Hopefully they will win it - they've had a great season! We are going to go with him to his base ball game on Tuseday night over in Richmond though, so that should be fun! It will keep us busy, but the kids like to go to his games (well, Meggan likes to and Jordan doesn't really voice an opinion quite yet). Should be fun!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to everyone!

It has been a while since I last posted, but you haven't missed out on much. We got to go away for the weekend last week where the guys played base ball. Jason's parents drove out to Indiana to stay the weekend with the kids, and they ended up leaving Sunday morning and bringing the kids back to Iowa with them. We were kid-free (and perhaps a little bit lost, I must admit) from the time we got home Sunday evening until we left for Iowa late on Thursday afternoon! We watched a couple movies (we NEVER get around to doing that) and just enjoyed the break and uninterrupted conversation with each other...

We're in Iowa for the Fourth of July (neat fireworks over in Reinbeck tonight) and will be heading home tomorrow. Crystal and Jesse are having Jackson baptized tomorrow at church, and after a little lunch celebration we will take off for the drive home.

Meggan is really sad that we have to leave, and it will be hard for them all to pull away from each other! What a special time that Jason's mom and dad and the kids were able to have!!!

I will post a couple pictures soon, I promise! Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday!!!