TIGF

I found myself with some extra spending cash this week and I have a wonderful sister (Katie, although both my sisters are wonderful, I just think you ought to know which one I mean this time) who watched Riley so I could take Rowan for a little retail therapy...very much needed I might add. We went to HomeGoods and I bought some also badly needed new pillows for the bed, a SUPER soft throw (for the new house, whenever that happens) some baskets (for the new bathroom presumably) some stuff to decorate Riley's Fairy bedroom and some treats for Roo. It was time well spent and a gift much appreciated!

TGIF

Ok, so I'm a day late with this, but I think this should be posted anyway. I am thankful this week for all the people who came to the wake to be there for our family. I am blessed to have friends who came from as far away as Lakeville and Clearwater, and friends who don't normally come to these things who showed up too. And friends who are always there too. There were cards of sympathy too. Thank you. That all means so much to me!

I am also thankful for everything my grandpa gave me. My college education, my love of animals, and many fond memories when I was a "kitty cat" growing up.

Thank You!

I have to thank a few people today. First to all of you who came to the wake and funeral for Grandpa. I really appreciate all the people who were there for both me and my family and it really means a lot to me to know I have so many people who are there for us.

Second, we got a call after the funeral today that we were scheduled to have our first showing tonight. We have not been back to the house to clean up the yard after the storms last week and our garden has been badly neglected since we are not at the house much. I need to thank Mark and Pam for all their hard work to make the yard and the house presentable in a short period of time. Thanks to Linda for watching Riley while we got some work done too. On a sad day for my family, it was so nice to have my other family bail us out. We haven't heard back about the house showing yet, but cross your fingers and toes!

We Will Miss You Grandpa

Today is a sad day for my family. My Grandpa Cooley died last night. He was 88 and had been failing in the past weeks, but he went so much faster than any of us thought would happen. I came home from work and he was gone. We will miss you Grandpa!

Beach Time

Ok, I have decided that there are WAY too many pics to incluse of this trip. I'm going to end on this one, but if you want to see a LOT more pics, visit my sisters' blogs. Here's a combo of beach and dock time. And maybe a Father's Day pic or two to round out the fun we had on Pelican. There is talk that we might be headed back to Lake Hubert next year, so this may be the last you see of Pelican Lake for a while, but it was good to us while it lasted:)

Yikes! I'm behind!

I have to appologize, normally I wish my family memebers a Happy Birthday mich closer to the actual date, but living at mom and dad's and having my grandpa in and out of the hospital and now in the nursing home, I have been way behind on downloading pictures and keeping up with the blog. July 5th was Josh's mom's birthday and I totally neglected to post a Happy Birthday wish! We celebrated at Auntie Jessie and Uncle Cory's new place on the 3rd. Happy Birthday Grandma Linda!

Note: (Pics to come, I swear!)

Mini Golfers?

While we were up at the lake, we took a day to play mini-golf in Crosslake with the kids. It might not be adviasable to take kids under the age of 3 to mini golf, but it makes for some pretty funny moments. Kiley wanted to hang with our 3-some and Adrienne wouldn't hit the ball into a hole if it was dirty. Riley and Zack have had lots of practice in Papa's office, so they had the hang of it pretty quick. Meg and I had baby duty and camera duty:)

PS. I had some better pics of Kiley and Adrienne using their hands for clubs, but I can't figure out how to switch the vertical pics after I save them. Ugh. I miss my mac!

Fudge

While we were at Pelican Lake, the kids found a caterpillar and put him Riley's bug box, I think I mentioned this earlier, and he turned into a cocoon. Well, last week "Fudge" as he was named decided to come out and play. We released him with the promise to Riley that he would return to visit, and he already has!

Note: See June 22nd post for a pic of the caterpillar before. Also, Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar says about 2 weeks for a cocoon to become a butterfly, I'd say a week and a half:)

TIGF

Pool Party. Nuf said. Well, ok, I will add, pool party for 6 kids in a kiddie pool with the sprinkler running. Sorry this post is late, I was hoping to get photos downloaded to go with it, but it didn't happen:) Stay tuned. I'm a little behind.

Turtle Races

Every Wednesday in Nisswa they have Turtle Races, this is the second year we have participated and Adrienne's first time...and she won second place out of 243 racers! It was a lot of fun to watch her win and her cousins were excited for her too. Zack's turtle (pictured) didn't move, Rileys did ok, but Adie got to race in 3 races to come in second overall And she got a green ribbon too. FUN DAY!

Finished Letters

Here are the finished letters for both kids' rooms. THANKS JESS! They turned out great:)

TIGF

Hands down, this week I am thankful that Josh has a new job offer and starts at Ameriprise on July 19th. He didn't lose his job, this was a change because of a very bad work environment and has been a long time in the works. He is a little nervous about leaving the place he has worked for the past 10 years, but he is super excited for the new challenge and looks forward to working "normal" hours and sleeping in past 5 a.m.!