Giants vs. Bengals

Tonight Reuben and I are downtown at the Bengals game for date night. Reuben got tickets from a co-worker. The boys are having fun with mema and papa. They went to steak and shake for dinner. 

Evan's first day of school

Evan started fifth grade on Thursday at Herratige elementary. He was attending school at West el. where I teach. Both boys have been at my school for the past three years. We made that change due to Lakota not having bus service. But West only has k-4th grade. So it was a natural transition for Evan to change school districts. Lakota now has busing for Evan to be transported to school. 

On Wednesday we went to the open house. Evan got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Willicut. He got to see the classroom and meet a few of his classmates. We wondered around the school and checked everything out. Evan was most excited about the playground.  He noticed how everything was so nice a new looking. 

He started feeling more at ease with going to a new school. 

The next morning he was up and ready for the day. He has to start getting ready on his own because Reuben and I leave for work before Evan has to get on the bus. Luckily I don't start school until next week. So I have been walking Evan to the bus stop. 

When I saw Evan get off the bus on the first day he was smiling from ear to ear. He said he had a great day. He told me all about his awesome gym teacher. He played with josh from his class who we met at open house. Later that evening Josh called and wanted to talk to Evan. They talked on the phone for nearly 30 minutes. It was so cute to hear their conversation about what they like and playing video games. 

I was so surprised to see how many kids were at the bus stop I decided to take a picture today. 

Beau boy

We had friends of ours dog sit while we were in Indianapolis for the weekend. Bill is a wonderful photographer. He took this beautiful picture of Beau while he had him. 

We absolutely love our Beau boy. 

My first golf outing!

Yesterday was my first time golfing. I have to admit I had a lot of fun. I have had very little practice and instruction. I went to the driving range a few weeks ago. Reuben showed me how to swing and grip the club. I learned very quickly that I needed Reuben to literally put me in the correct position so I could feel the position I was supposed to be in. I can't just watch him and then do the same thing.  I practiced with a six iron. 

The plan was to go to the driving range again last night but they were closing early. So I swung a driver a couple of times. Then Reuben said we should just go ahead and play 9 holes. I thought, what the heck, why not. 

On the first hole, I made it in the hole in seven strokes. Not to bad for my fist time. I always hit the ball towards the right. I also have a tendency to hit the top of the ball. Reuben does a great job of telling me what to think about or what to do differently. The first couple of holes were great. Then we had a group come up behind us. It stinks to feel rushed. Things definitely started to fall apart then. So I would just pick up my ball and play near Evan's ball. 

It feels good when I hit the ball well and it's rewarding to see the ball fly through the air in the right direction. It's also so much fun to spend the evening with my family. The boys are so cute playing golf. I am looking forward to many more golf outings with the handsome men in my life

Indianapolis, Indiana Temple

The Felsheims and Ringhands planed a trip to visit the Indianapolis temple for the open house. Friday we left after everyone got off work. We met up at the church parking lot in Carmel, Indiana. We got to see Jared and Megan before they left to go back home. 

We first went into the stake center where we watched a short video about the purpose of temples. Then we were ushered to the temple where volunteers put shoe coverings over our shoes to keep the temple clean. As we stood in front of the temple doors we noticed the beautiful landscape and large doorway. 

As we walked into the temple we noticed that the temple ceilings were very high. It was very open and had many glass doors. Everything felt regal. The attention to detail in the carving of the furniture and hard wood was amazing. There was a lot of dark woods and colored fabrics. Blue seemed to be the primary color scheme. The Indianana state flower blossom was used in the decor. You could find the blossom in the carpet, stained glass, wood trim and furniture. It was just beautiful. The most impressive room was the endowment room because of the amazing mural on the walls. 

We went to dinner and then to the holiday inn. The kids quickly put on their swim suits and headed to the pool. They got to swim for about an hour. 

In the morning Reuben and Lance went golfing. Lindsey, me and the kids ate breakfast and then we went back to the pool. 

We had a fantastic time together for our last trip before summer ends. 

Evan just HAD to go fishing

Evan woke up yesterday and begged me to take him to the farm to fish.  I told him that we had some things to do but that I would be willing to take him in the evening. 

Logan and I did some word work. He is working through the process really well. Although he tells me that I'm not as fun as Lorain. 

Evan fished from 5-7:30. Logan helped me build a fire and prepared our sticks for roasting hotdogs. Evan would not stop to eat. When we packed up for the night I made Evan a hotdog and grabbed a water for him to eat on the way home. 

Occasionally, Evan gets car sick. When he got in the car he said he had a headache. Then he ate his hotdog. About halfway home he said he was feeling sick. Luckily I had some Tupperware in the car. As soon as I gave him the "bowl" he puked. We stopped and let him out of the car for a few minutes. Then we got back on the road. When we got on 129 we were close to our exit when he puked again. I was concentrating so hard on driving and helping him that I missed the exit. That little detour added ten minutes to our drive. Poor kid. 

La Crosse, Wisconsin

On Thursday, we packed up and headed west to LaCross to Aunt Mary's house. It was about a four hour drive. When we arrived Mary was heading out to go to Rosemary's wedding dress fitting. She invited me to come along. I enjoyed getting to see Rosemary's beautiful wedding dress. She will be the most elegant bride. While we were gone, Reuben took the boys golfing. That evening Debbie, David and Kylie and cami arrived. We ate pizza and sat around talking all evening. Mary had kites for the kids to play with and her backyard  is like a playground.  Oh, I forgot we also went to see tommy play softball. 

On Friday the girls went shopping and the boys went golfing and visited grandpa George.  We met up in the afternoon for ice cream at The Perl. That evening everyone came over to Mary's for a grill out. 

Saturday was the family picnic. We drove to Dodge to the sportsman club. I enjoed the drive. We got to see all the big farms and the most scenic views of crops on rolling hillsides. Great-grandpa George loved seeing the boys. As always we enjoyed visiting with everyone. I loved talking to great-aunt Jean. The chicken and food was amazing and the kids loved the games and water balloons. 

On Sunday, we woke up early to start the drive home. On the long drive home I thought about the fun we had, how much we cram into a few days and before we know it, it's time to go home. Reuben's aunts, uncles and extended family are the most welcoming, down to earth people you'll ever meet. I wished we lived closer to be able to visit more often. We'll be back in two years for the next family picnic.