new camera

We got an awesome dslr camera for Christmas (thank you to Kent's parents & my parents!!!) and we've had so much fun playing with it and taking pictures.

Figuring out the focus points...

And playing with the aperture...

I'm in love with the bright colors...

and the crispness (aka the focus) of the pictures...

Anyway, we're having fun!

Jesse's Birthday

A few weeks ago we celebrated Jesse's 4th birthday. Seriously? I still can't believe he's 4 years old! Seems like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting his arrival, but...well, you get the picture.

Anyway, his birthday fell on a weekday, and since he had chosen to go bowling for his birthday, we waited until the weekend to go out and celebrate.

On the night of his birthday, he got to open and play with his presents and of course have cake. I will note that I need to think twice before getting him any more legos...at times it seems like legos have TAKEN OVER OUR HOUSE! There have also been some monster fights between Meredith and Jesse over the legos and who gets to play with what...so...I'm not sure if more legos are a good or bad thing!

We had a blast going bowling. Much different than Wii bowling, but just as fun!

(I'm now a total fan of bumpers for the kids and whatever the metal guide things are called that kids can put the bowling ball on the top and then just push it a bit so the ball rolls down the middle of the lane...or at least in theory it is supposed to go down the middle of the lane!)

But of course the metal guide thing got to be too baby-ish for Meredith, and she wanted to bowl for real.

Yay! She got a spare!

Then of course if Meredith wasn't using the guide, then Jesse didn't want to use it either.

Can't wait to go bowling again.

Stay tuned for pictures from the party...hopefully it won't take me months to get them posted!

Greene Center Market

If you live in southeast Iowa, make sure to stop by 3167 WW Ave., rural Wellman next Saturday between 8 and 3...because it's the Greene Center Market. And it's gonna rock!

Greene Center Market is a yard sale/market of items from 6 or 7 households in the Greene Center, Iowa general area. There will be so many fun things for sale: antiques and vintage finds, regular household items, repurposed things, handcrafted items, and many, many other awesome items!

Check out our website for directions to the market or for more pictures!

You won't want to miss out!

the storm's a comin'

In honor of the rainy/overcast/stormy weather that we've been having this weekend, (this summer, really) I thought I'd post pictures from a storm earlier this year. I think this may have been from April.

And judging from the dandelions, it had been a while since we mowed. :)

Yes, we did go inside shortly after this picture was taken and at the first sight of lightning.

I think we maybe just dodged a rather large storm tonight. For now, at least!

back to blogging

Well I don't know that I'm actually back to blogging.

I mean, I don't want to make any promises that I can't don't keep.

And since I've taken such a long break, I feel like my first post has to be really good. Or...interesting, at least. 

And where do I start since it's been almost 3 months since I've last posted?

Maybe I'll take another few months to figure out what to say. Or type. I'll leave you with pictures from one of the best days this summer.

Our time at the beach in Florida. I'd go back in a heartbeat if I could.