Friends..........

Celebrating Jodi's birthday.  We are the housewives of Newton Ave.

Valley fair with the Sprik family.  1st up....The Wild Thing

Carter was very sad that he missed the height requirement by 1 inch for all the big roller coasters.

One of my all time favorites is Thunder Canyon

The kids loved getting soaked on The Wave

Another fun night out with pedicures included for Laura's birthday.

Our final summer road trip

Our last road trip of the summer was to Sioux Falls SD to visit the Zobels and to see their new home.  the girls love to spend time with Kensie and little Harper.  So very priceless to see them interact and play.  We wish we lived closer.

 We were able to catch up with some old friends in Sioux Falls and hit the pool.  The kids were pretty pumped that it had a high dive.  They each dared to jump off!

 The next day we went to Rally in the Valley in Rock Valley IA.  The day started with the 5K race at 8am.  The kids and Grandpa did the fun run which was the 1 mile run.  The rest of us did the 5K.

 The three girls did the mile in 8 min 30 seconds.  Awesome!

 Here is Grandpa and Carter in the home stretch with a time of 13 min 12 seconds.  Grandpa had to do some encouraging to keep Carter moving.

 The kids really loved exploring the fire trucks at the pancake breakfast.

 Pony rides in the park!

We loved spending time in Rock Valley.  The kids walked away from the parade with full bags of candy.  What a great weekend!

Storm Damage

 On Tuesday, August 6th around 7:30pm we were struck with a high wind and hail storm that managed to take one of our trees down in our back yard as well as lift branches from our backyard neighbor into our yard.  It was a mess.  

Mike was on his way home from golf and was also caught in the storm with resulted in some significant hail damage to his car.  The kids and I had went to Lakeville to get Carter a bigger bike and managed to avoid the storm but return to no power and melting hail on the ground.

 Clean up of fallen trees is exhausting.  The kids did a good job hauling all the debris to the front yard.  Our neighbors were such a huge help!  We then cut it all into fire wood and bundles for  pick up.

We are thankful that no one was hurt in the storm or in the clean up.

Cross Lake

In 2001 Mike started medical school.  During the first week of school he met several guys that have turned into lifelong friends.  We have attended weddings of one another and watched as the group grew and grew with the birth of each child.  Each has gone into a different area of medicine but all are now practicing in the twin cities.

This past weekend the Gengerkes' opened there lake home to three additional families with a total of 10 children and 8 adults for a fun filled weekend in northern Minnesota.

Todd and Jeanne with all 10 kids. 

Carter caught this northern all by himself off the dock at sunset in his spiderman pjs.  He was so very proud.

Hailey, Shea, Taylor

Todd's pontoon was the source of endless happiness as we spent hours cruising around Cross Lake pulling the tube and smiling children.

Jaxon and Carter

Jaxon, Carter, and Dexter

The kids don't get to see one another very often, but it didn't really matter.  They were instant buddies and having 10 kids around was surprisingly calm.

Carter loves his sisters

Lily, Shea, and Hailey

The kids explored a small island

Todd allowed Taylor to drive

The lily pad flower that got us all in trouble

Priceless memories with lifelong friends.
Thank you Todd and Jeanne

Vis Family Vacation at Lake Shetek

It was a cool weekend for July at Lake Shetek, but it allowed the cousins lots of time to fish, paddle boat, and canoe.  The kids went out multiple times with Kensie in tow. 

Carter took an interest in fishing with Grandpa and occasionally stole his seat at the end of the dock.  They caught just two little fish from the end of the dock, but did lots of reeling and casting.

The 10 year olds, Maddie and Hailey.  (They say that they are going to room with each other at Dordt College in 8 years)

Damon, Taylor and Makenna

Ladder golf was dangerous with Carter!!!!!!

Bean bags was also popular with the cold weather; Stephanie and Eric remain undefeated.

This year the boys took on a new adventure with Michael out on the canoe.  They paddled through the lake inlet and then across the lake to Scheirers campground.  Their stories are already turning into legends of great waves and amazing adventures along the trip.

The sun decided to make an appearance on the final day. Hailey did some skiing and both Taylor & Carter attempted skiing for the first time.  They love love love to tube.

Little Harper was the most angelic baby ever to spend a weekend at the lake.  It did help that she was held and talked to continuously for 4 days straight.

Michael and Carter on the Gladiator

Kensie's very first tube ride with her mommy and Hailey.  I do believe this was the only smile for the ride.

Grandma, Maddie, and Hailey

Our group at Key Largo minus Cassandra Sue.