Ode to Joy

Tonight was joy for me. I have been wanting to take the kids to pick blueberries for weeks. Tonight we weren't doing anything, the kids were not tired due to long naps, and a new u-pick blueberry orchard just opened. Mike had scouts, so he couldn't come, but I loaded the kids up and took a beautiful drive outside of town. It really wasn't far, which was nice, but I LOVED the drive. The sun was setting, open fields, and hardly any humidity. It was like Idaho. It was a piece of me, something inside of me that I love. Not to mention the actual berry picking. What a cute farm! It was shaded, I ran into several friends, and the blueberries were delicious. Lydia loves blueberries and didn't stop eating. Colton just kept throwing them. It was all just so peaceful. Did I say that I loved it? I find it interesting that something as simple as picking blueberries with my children can bring joy- real happiness.

She's 4!

Though this photo may not make is seem like Lydia's birthday was a happy occasion, it was! Colton is just upset here because Lydia took one of her new toys away from him.
We celebrated Lydia' birthday a little early so we could have her cousin's there. That morning Lydia went to the movies. In the afternoon we went swimming and in the evening we had pizza at the park and opened presents. Daddy gave her a pink soccer ball. She had a great time trying it out at the park!
This is what Colton did while Lydia opened gifts. He is a mischievous little boy.
Lydia fell asleep after swimming- holding onto a birthday card.
Lydia's cake. She wanted a number 4. Great. Something simple as I try out these new cake decorating skills and my new resolve to decoratively decorate a cake for each birthday.
Lydia enjoying the spoils from a birthday package. Thanks Grandma Playdough!

Whirlwind!

We went to Ohio for Mike's little sister's graduation from highschool. We left the kids there and a week later, we returned to see his older brother get sealed to his family for eternity. Mike's sister from Provo decided to come stay a few days with us following all this excitement, so then we spent the next few days showing them around. We did so much, I will just try to summarize with photos. There is way too much to include everything we did. The above picture is Mike's youngest sister showing us her shotput skills. She is quite good.

Lydia and Olivia. Everyone has trouble with their names because the sound so similar.
Maria, Mike's sister, at graduation. Yay Maria!

Whirlwind!

The Indianapolis Children's Museum. A child's heaven. They always have their displays changing. Limitless things to do. We saw just about all of it in 5 hours, but we didn't get to really linger anywhere and we were exhausted! It never fails that Colton loves this horse though.
Colton in the tree house with Dad. We couldn't find him for a minute until we realized he had navigated the ladder up there.
Lydia preparing icecream for cousin Olivia.
Lydia hatching some dinosaur eggs.
Colton hatching his brood.
We took the kids to the water fountains at Purdue. From left to right, Olivia, Lydia and Landon. Lydia and Landon are the same age.
The Lafayette Zoo with all the cousins.
Colton checking out the cow at the zoo. You could actually milk it. It was fun, but took some serious hand muscles.
Colton adored Jackson, who is 6.
In Ohio with cousin Maddie. They decided to enjoy some lunch on the fourwheeler.
Do two little girls get any more darling than that?
The Hansen Boys. Chris, Mat, Papa, and Mike. Mat is the oldest boy, then Mike, then Chris. Chris is only two weeks older than me.
Mat and family outside the temple after being sealed for eternity. It was awesome.

Father's Day

Father's day is approaching and without even realizing it, I have been thinking about my dad a lot lately. Today I was looking for a photo and as I thumbed through all these old random photo's I have (From before the day of digital cameras) I noticed that I have a lot of pictures of me with my dad. I'm hunting with him, giving him a kiss at my brother's wedding, helping him with a horse. . . Everywhere I looked it was Dad and I. Last week Dad had to go to the hospital because he was hit in the face with a metal irrigation piece that exploded when the water pressure became too high. He is alright, but it sure scared me when my brother called and said they were doing tests to make sure there was no brain damage and to check that Dad still had his sight. It's made me grateful and its caused me to reflect on the relationship I have with my dad. Family is certainly something I have taken for granted. I think we all take for granted our parents especially. There is no one moment that defines the relationship I have with my dad. It is all those little things that culminate in love. Attending countless basketball games, taking me hunting, letting my friends come over for cook outs and fourwheeler rides, tractor rides, trusting me with his semi's, always helping with girls camp, coming in to see me at whatever random summer job I had picked up. That's when I learned that my dad likes grape flavored snow cones. That, or there was nothing else that even appealed to him. I highly doubt Dad has bought a snow cone since I stopped making them. I don't know what the objective of this whole post is. I've just been thinking about my good ol' man lately and I suppose I needed to get some thoughts down. In summary, I sure love my dad.