ah crap!

Okay, I totally forgot to mention that John starts his new job tomorrow morning as well!! He'll now be a diesel mechanic at Precision Excavating in Hayden. The commute will be cut in half...no more nights or weekends!! It's going to be great!!

End of August

Well, here it is, the end of August already!! I can't believe that the summer is already over!

The month of August was a busy one!! We started out by having John's parents come and visit us. It was a nice visit and great to have them here. Even though we didn't do much exciting--it was still a great visit!

The weekend after that, Shila's parents came to visit and babysit Brenden. They needed to babysit, because John and Shila decided to fulfill a dream, and take motorcycle riding lessons. :) It was great!! After one weekend of day-long classes, we are now certified and legal to drive motorcycles!! woohoo!!! Now the itch has only gotten stronger to get our Harley! It's only a matter of time before we head down to Junction and do some shopping! ;)

The same weekend, John surprised me with an early Christmas present!! Little Bella Daisy Mae was added to our family! I have wanted a beagle puppy for a long time, and John surprised me by having her flown in to join our family!! It was tough naming her....At first we thought her name was going to be Daisy--then Shila kinda liked Daisy Mae, but had always wanted to name a beagle, Bella. So...the deciding factor--Brenden said Bella. It was set!! ;)

Now we get to the middle of the month: Due to construction, we weren't allowed into our classrooms until the 17th. The problem with that was that I had trainings the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, of that week. Plus more trainings/meetings the next Wed., Thurs., and Friday. Which leaves virtually no time to put together a classroom, before the little angels come on Monday morning. :)

It is now Sunday evening...I don't feel that I have things set and ready for tomorrow morning, nor do I want to leave the comfort of spending all day with Brenden watching Phineas and Ferb, Seseme Street, and the Price is Right! ;) But such is the way it goes...vacation can't last forever....so here we go!!! ;)

The summer

This summer has been fun and relaxing. We have been able to see friends, family, and distant relatives. Of course, this meant a lot of traveling was involved as well. But we survived! Good thing our car is comfortable!! :)

We started out the summer with the Iwanski/Kaputska family reunion in Elyria, NE. Always a good time! This year we rocked it out Elyria style, and in our Grease attire (thanks to Mandy!). It was great to see family we hadn't gotten to see in YEARS! Grandma took it upon herself (it was tough to convince her!) to watch Brenden while John and I went on the canoe trip. It was definately an adventure with John, Shila, and Alisha in one canoe. The highlight was the three of us chasing our things down the river, while trying to turn the canoe right-side up! :)

This was the first year Brenden got to meet all of the relatives. I really think he fit in perfectly! ;)

































The next adventure was to travel to Winter Park, CO. There, we met up with John's side of the family to take part in the Jessen Family Reunion. It was great to see this side of the family, too. Brenden had a lot of fun getting to know his cousins Carson and Liam. Carson and Brenden are definately a pair of trouble makers! :) They especially had a lot of fun with a rock that they found. Oh, to be young again! ;)


















And all this fun, only took place in May and June!!

more to come....