Weekend Fun

These last couple of weekends have been quite a bit of fun! Actually, mostly all these weekends while I've been back in the midwest have been fun, but I'm just going to post pictures from the last two. A week ago I was able to hang out in LaCrosse, WI for the weekend, spending time with my boyfriend and his parents. I know... I haven't said much (or anything) about Brent on this blog yet, wanting to wait until we got to spend time with each other's parents and friends. Well, that's gotten to happen now so here are a few pictures!

Last weekend, we went to one of my favorite parks in LaCrosse on Saturday morning, and it was fun to see the trees with leaves on them, versus all the snow that defined my assignment in LaCrosse last winter. You can see it was also a pretty foggy morning.

I love the fog through the trees.

We laugh together - A LOT!

I love this bench. Wouldn't it be fun to sit and just watch the river a while from this bench?

I think this bridge is really pretty.

After spending the afternoon hanging out at his parent's house, we all went out to dinner together, and then Brent and I went to the LaCrosse Symphony's opening performance for the season. Brent used to play cello in that same symphony, so it was an especially fun treat. It was a beautiful concert, by the way! Fun pieces by Debussey, George Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and others. Here we are all dressed up for the symphony.

After church on Sunday with his parents (where we happened to run into my friend, Stacy!!!), Brent and I went up to Grandad's Bluff to look around. We saw some beautiful colors:

and I was able to see LaCrosse without all the snow piles and white! Can you remember what the winter was like for me? :) It was great to finally see THIS view from the bluff:

Here's a closeup of my old hospital:

And one of my favorite bridges.

Practicing the self-portraits. :)


This past weekend, Brent was able to come this direction. We checked out a State Park only a few miles from Mankato that I had wanted to visit. It looks like it would've been perfect a few weeks ago, but it was still very beautiful. Minneopa State Park has a great "falls" I guess, but this weekend it was only a small trickle. In fact, many leaves just fell to the water and never moved again!

Another wonderful bridge.

After driving to the Twin Cities, we had to make sure our first stop was seeing this amazing little guy! I know he looks pretty mad in this picture, but it's actually that he has a cold and was stuffed up and having a hard time breathing. He was in a great mood, and let me sit and read to him a while. Cute kid! Even tonight when he and his parents came over, he seemed to be feeling better.

After Julie and David and David headed to the other grandparents house, Brent and I went to my parents house. We were able to sit and chat a bit with them, and then my dad took us on a small tour of The Cities. Here we are at the park by Minnehaha Falls.

At the pavillion right by Minnehaha Falls, there was some big Halloween festival going on. They had all sorts of food, games, mostly kid-stuff. But, they also had Dracula come by for a visit with his princess.




My mom snapped this picture overlooking the falls. It was also just a trickle of a stream, so I look forward to getting back there again in the spring with the huge falls that I remember.

After Minnehaha Falls, we also went down by the Locks and Dam on the Mississippi River. I guess bridges and parks are the themes of these two weekends!


They were a couple of terrific weekends! We get to head to Fergus together on Thursday, and of course it will be wonderful to introduce him to friends there. It's nice to have a few days off with my 12-hour shifts, and Brent works for a local school district and it's their conference weekend. He's a really great guy, so I'm excited for more of my friends to get to meet him. If you're in Fergus, see you soon! :)

Hanging out at the Apple Orchard!

About a week and a half ago (I know, I'm getting behind in posting things!) I invited my mom and David to join me at a nearby apple orchard. It was a wonderful day! We enjoyed great weather, lots of sun, a HUGE apple orchard, ducks in a pond, horses in the stable and also a field, pumpkins ready to be purchased, and then also a great store with apples, apple products and lots of other yummy treats for sale! We had lunch in the little cafe, David learned he LOVES apples, and picked up some treats for some friends. David was in the BEST mood all day long and laughed a LOT! He's usually really happy, hardly ever fusses, but this day he especially had a blast! He was so intrigued by everything he saw, and I guess he was fast asleep within a few feet of leaving the orchard!

Here are some of the fun pictures we took. If you're in the area just 20+ minutes south of the Twin Cities on Hwy 169, check it out! Minnesota Harvest is a great orchard to just pick up something quick, or spend a whole day. It's fun for everyone, but especially geared towards kids. I'm SO glad it worked out to go!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!! I hope that you're able to enjoy a wonderful day, and that you'll have the time to do something fun, just for you. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you in person, but know that I'm thinking about and praying for you today.

Thank you for being an amazing mom. Thanks for praying for me, teaching me about the Lord, and being the biggest example to me regarding spending time with Him faithfully. Thanks for being a wonderful wife, mom, grandma (I know -your favorite role!), sister, sister-in-law, aunt and friend. You have made an impact on many people and we'll be thinking about YOU today!

Here's a little preview of the next post I'm working on, when my mom and I took David to an apple orchard last week. There's a big one that I pass every time I head to my parents, so I asked if we could make plans to check it out. I'm so glad that it worked, and it really was a perfect day!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day: I love watching my mom love watching David enjoy or learn about new things. She's a wonderfully loving grandma!

Updated Look

For those of you just joining me on this blogging adventure, you might not have known that one of the things I like to do is change the look of my blog with each new location I'm living in. I love to tie the look into the location, so desert colors in Phoenix or ocean blue in California. Well, I've been in Mankato over a month now and am finally getting around to showing off the fun fall colors that I love. The midwest is a wonderful place to be in the fall!

Fall Fun in Door County, Wisconsin

I have been blessed with a wonderful fall back in the Midwest! It's been really good to be around, and I'm looking forward to telling you more about it later. I know I have been terrible at keeping up with my blog, but there are some things I've wanted to share with you! One of them is the fact that I have had so much fun exploring a few new places, specifically in Wisconsin.

A week ago I had the extreme pleasure of hanging out with some friends from LaCrosse, WI. We were all coworkers at the hospital there, and I'm so thankful I was able to make some lifelong friendships. We had been talking about how fun it would be to hang out again once I'm back in the Midwest, and planned on a fun weekend in Door County. I wasn't sure what my work schedule would be like and if it could actually work to join them, so I was THRILLED that it worked out! I had often heard great things about Door County (such as it being one of the most beautiful places in our amazing country) and those things all came true. It was an incredible weekend!

It turns out that Susan, Stacy, and LaVonne all enjoy taking pictures JUST AS MUCH AS I DO! and I never thought that could be possible! So, we actually have a few hundred pictures between all of us, and I've wanted to share them with you but obviously narrow them down first. I was able to post some on Facebook but of course wanted some on here for my friends and family without Facebook. I'll put a link to that photo album, though, if you'd like to check it out. I haven't done that before but am hoping it's easy. If not... well... nevermind.

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=738545481&k=R2DTPWW5U54M5GACUB32TW

(Ooooo.... it worked! Just copy and paste it into your browser and then click on the album name to see all the pictures!)

On our way to Door County we had to drive through Green Bay. As I lifelong Vikings fan, I wasn't so sure about this... Was it okay to be in Packer country? I had been in Appleton the week before and learned that many, many, many things on that side of the state are decked out in green and gold, but I have to say I was a little surprised to find that even the fire hydrants in Green Bay are painted Packer green!


I was able to narrow the 100's of pictures down to just 51 (yes, that was a very difficult task, but I was up for it...) and wanted to put them all in this post individually. But, since my loving father pointed out that my posts seem to be getting longer and longer, I opted for a slide show. So, if you're up for it, grab a cup of tea and enjoy the show!

There, now that wasn't too bad, was it?

I left our fun weekend early on Sunday morning to meet up with a friend and head back to MN. It turns out that the girls didn't forget about me while I was gone, however. It seems as though "I" was able to enjoy the fun with them, and while there are many pictures I won't post, I thought you might enjoy seeing "me" playing Scrabble,


and going to Lambeau Field!


It was one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had, and I'm so glad I've now shared it with you! If you ever have the chance to go do Door County, Wisconsin, don't pass it up. You'd be missing out!

Sunset on a Lake

I don't have mountains or oceans around anymore, but was still able to enjoy a fun sunset this past weekend. I thought you might enjoy seeing what I saw.

My Favorite Face

This is my favorite face. I love those eyes and that grin that's often just under the surface and then bursts out. He makes my heart melt!

On the 17th I was at my parents house and Julie and little David came over to play for a while. We had so much fun together! It was a perfect day outside, so we had fun with his new basketball hoop and just running around.
David with Mommy and Grandma.
He didn't hit us over the head, but sure looked like he was going to in this shot! Really he was just so proud of lifting these heavy bars and carrying them around.
Running up and down the hill in my parents back yard, and playing peek-a-boo around a tree. By the way, this hill used to be HUGE, when did it shrink? Or did I just get taller? :)
A new favorite activity, rolling down the hill! Hours and hours can be spent doing this!
After dinner that night, we had a little ice cream. David enjoyed a spoonful with some strawberries in a tiny bowl that my mom had. Of course, it promptly got turned over (my mom's prepared with a plastic tablecloth cover -not unlike the couch cover in My Big Fat Greek Wedding!) and played with. I'm not sure how much actually got inside his tummy, but spread all over his hands instead!
He had lots of fun playing...
Then decided to stack the strawberries up on top of the bowl...
And voila! He did it! Can you beat that proud look he has?
What a fun face. I could just watch him all day long! I'm so glad I'm closer to him right now!

My Heart is Full

(I actually had this blog all ready to go just after I returned from Fergus, having typed the exact words I wanted, balancing humor and gratefulness... and then Blogger lost it all. I was pretty discouraged since it had taken a chunk of time that's been pretty limited in my busy life. But, I absolutely wanted you to see and hear about the great time I enjoyed in Fergus, so here's version #2!)

My Heart is Full

That's how I described my visit to Fergus Falls to someone, and it's so true: my heart is full. I had a great few days there! I was able to spend about 36 hours there (Saturday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon) and those 36 hours were PACKED! I had an amazing time! I have to admit, I was a little nervous about going back, thinking "maybe it won't feel like home anymore, and it will feel like it's right that I'm gone." I know, I know, pretty dumb, but I did get nervous about that. Well, it was the exact opposite! It completely felt like home, and like it was just right for me to be back.

I was able to spend some good time with friends, but like expected, wasn't quite able to see everyone or spend enough time with everyone. Thanks to those of you who were able to get together and I'm really looking forward to coming home again soon! Here are some fun pictures from the trip. (I'm going to write like you know the people I'm talking about, and if you don't, just look for a link to their blog -many of them have one!)

On my way up to Fergus, I had to snap this quick pic of the truck I followed for a bit -looks like it should belong to me! :)
I was able to stay at my friend Tara's house for Saturday and Sunday nights, so after I dropped my stuff off there, I headed over to the quilt auction for Inspiration Point Bible Camp. This is a favorite event of mine, since I love camp and want to support it, and since I also love quilts! It's always a great place to get some fun ideas, see what other people are up to, and just admire some beautiful quilts. It was fun to see a few quilts from across the room and know who had made them, based off of patterns and color choices (we get to know what other people like to work with!). It was also fun to see some of what the Bethel Stitch-a-Quilt group had been working on since I left last year. They do amazing hand-stitching.

Another great part to the auction was seeing old friends! I walked in the door and could see the look of surprise on some people's faces, and I love getting to surprise people like that! Very fun!!!

One of the HUGE blessings of the night was getting to hang out with Carrie and Christine! These are dear, wonderful friends, and it felt so NORMAL to spend time together again! In fact, to be honest, we realized that we weren't always watching the auction because we were so busy chatting with one another! But, all three of us said how great it was to be around close friends again, and that was the start of feeling like my heart was just full.

Christine's little guy is so much fun, and has such a great smile! He's a pretty happy kid, and it was a blast getting to see him at this age (I hadn't seen him since last September, so he's grown quite a bit since then!).
He loved the camera!
Here is one of the especially beautiful quilts, made quite well, and the colors seem just a little distorted here. It was in soft greens, blues, browns, and tans.
After the auction, I went with friends Tara, Kristin, and Shelly to go hang out at Pete's place, by camp. There was a bonfire, but we instead spent our time enjoying some delicious homemade smoked salmon and other goodies, sitting around the kitchen table. How is it that we always end up back at the kitchen table?? Tara and I got home around 1:30, stayed up talking until maybe 3:15? and had a great time catching up! Not much sleep, but lots of fun!!

On Sunday morning, we went to Bethel's 11am service. Wow, was it good to be home!!!! It was so nice to worship in a familiar setting (my worship settings change really frequently!) with familiar people, and in a familiar way. It was fun to see Pastor Dave do a double take from up front when he saw me! Brad and the worship team really blessed me, and oh, it was just good to be home. Of course there were too many people to talk to and not enough time, but that's the way it always goes...

Knowing that might happen a bit, the social organizer in me wanted to get a few friends together so I'd be sure to have the chance to talk with some people. So, we planned on meeting at the park by the big Otter, but since it was really windy and cold, we went to plan B, which meant going over to Danny and Mandy's house! It was so fun to see my old house, and especially nice to see it as their place so I can really think of it that way! Not many people get to go back to their old home, so I know I was fortunate to get to do that! There were maybe 12 of us adults, and around 6 kids that were able to come, so of course it was fun to spend time together!

As some people were starting to leave, I realized I hadn't really taken any pictures yet. Since many of these friends have blogs themselves, you can check out their links for more updates. Here's Kevin and Brooke's little guy -SO HAPPY!
Their oldest is also pretty happy, and just a fun kid to be around!
Trust me, he really was having a good time, just didn't want to be interrupted for a picture!
Mandy found this great puppet show set-up she loved, and Danny surprised her with it for a gift recently. Well, S & A had a fabulous time playing with the puppets! They were very creative with their play.
Little S has been a good friend of mine since she was even younger, and she gives the best hugs! Some wonderful memories for me are when she used to come sit with me at church on Sunday mornings, or wave to me from across the room. It was so fun to see how she's grown this year!
And her sister, A, has just shot up like a weed and looks so mature now! No more toddler left in her!
Here was some of the group just chatting. I had wanted to not be intrusive with my pictures, but now I wish I had taken a shot of the whole group!
S and A with their dad.
We have a similar picture to this from a while ago, so fun to see how much they've grown. I really love these girls!
Danny and Mandy and their little guy were wonderful hosts. THANK YOU so much for opening up your home to all of us! I'm so glad we got to spend a little time together, and I'm looking forward to the fact that Danny is on the team going to Africa in November.
After spending that time at Danny and Mandy's house, I was able to hang out at Christine and Eric's house. It's still a little strange for me that this guy I was in percussion with in high school later married my roommate and that we're able to stay in touch! How fun!! Christine's friendship is one I treasure dearly, and I'm so thankful for her and the chance to spend time catching up in person. I also think her little guy is pretty great, and we had some fun reading time together. He's such a cutie!
With a really great grin!
After hanging out at Eric and Christine's house, I was able to make some fun plans for the next day, and then met up with Jenn for a great chat at Perkins. I knew I was going to get to spend some good time with their family, but we were looking forward to spending some time together without the little ones around. And, where else could we go but Perkins? The site of many, many, many good conversations that have been had in Fergus! Jenn is such an amazing friend, and I value her opinion so much. We were out too late, but neither of us wanted to leave! I'm so glad she and Ryan are in Fergus now, but so sad that I'm not there with them.

On Monday morning, I was able to enjoy a nice cup of tea at Candis' house! I'm a big fan of tea, and no one makes it better than her! It was fun to see all the redecorating she and Wally have done in person, and we had the added blessing of her mom's company as well! Candis, I appreciate your wisdom and advice so much, and am really thankful for your friendship! Thanks for the warm tea, yummy muffins, great conversation, and wonderful blessing of your friendship. I can't believe neither of us thought to take a picture, but I guess that's because we see each other so often through our blogs!



After "Tea with Candis", I was able to enjoy "Lunch with Alison"! She and little A had been able to come to Arizona this past spring, so it was fun to see a little recognition on A's face when I came to the door. I love spending time with Alison, and am so glad we were able to do that. Once again, though... no pictures. Bummer...

After hanging out at Alison's, I was able to get over to Jenn and Ryan's house. I was so looking forward to hanging out with them, and playing with the kids!! This is one family that I would love to model my own after someday. They love spending time together, Jenn and Ryan are wonderful parents, and they have such an amazing marriage. I love watching them together. It's hard to believe we've all been friends for more than half our lives! So many memories! I appreciate how they just include me in their family, and understand how much I love their kids. They are all special to me and have such fun personalities.

We had a fun afternoon of playing all sorts of different things, then enjoyed a wonderful taco salad dinner (which is really busy with five kids and three adults around the table!). Then, after dinner Ryan needed to work on some cabinet stuff in the kitchen, so I thought we should all read a book or two and get out of his hair. It was fun to hear him say later "I'm so glad you were here to help with that!"

The next morning the kids got to 'play' a little on my bed before it was deflated. There were MANY giggles heard throughout the house!
You can see that one fell off to the left side, and the others were stuck in the middle.
Almost done!
After the two oldest went to school, Jenn and I had a little time with the youngest three. Here's the newest addition with a fun grin. He's really an easy going kid -must be a requirement with four older siblings!
Little L posing for the camera.
What a great smile A has!!
All of these kids mean so much to me, but little A is my goddaughter and it's fun to have a special relationship with her. She's a beautiful girl with a great personality. It's fun to watch her creative side when we play together.
This picture is so hilarious because we were all laughing and giggling, and then as soon as 1-2-3 was counted for the picture, L would make a funny face and pout. Then, once the picture was taken he was laughing and giggling again. We tried this a few times and kept getting the same result! Silly kid!
That Tuesday morning I was able to do something I had been longing for! Ever since I left Fergus a year ago, almost every Tuesday morning I've thought "I hope I can get a free Tuesday in Fergus sometime and join the ladies quilting again! So, when I knew I was heading to Fergus and didn't have to be back at work for a few days, I instantly made up my mind to surprise the ladies at quilting. It was so fun! I loved seeing their faces when I walked in the door and had so much fun stiching with them and catching up on their lives. Bethel's Stich-a-Quilt group means so much to me. These are the ladies that have taught me so much about life, love, raising families, being a good friend, praying for one another, serving the Lord, and loving Jesus. I am so honored to count them as friends and so blessed to have them in my life. I love knowing that they pray for me.

Here you can see them work on a beautiful heritage quilt.




After quilting, I was able to head to Adam and Rebekah's house for yummy soup and great conversation. It was so fun playing with the kids, and I got to meet this little one for the first time. He's already so big!
Little H has a great smile and fun giggle!
And little C is one of the smartest kids I know. He comes up with the best lines! You can read a few examples on their blog!
Thanks for the yummy soup, and I'm so glad it worked out to spend time together! I miss getting to hang out with you guys, and have longed for a good game of Settlers! :)

After Adam and Rebekah's, I was able to head to the hospital to say hi. I was only going to stay for a few minutes, but had so much fun catching up it got to be a bit longer! I was wondering if everything would seem different, but it really just felt like coming home. I really miss being there! I knew there had been some staffing changes, but I happened to go on a day where I knew everyone that was working. Yippee! It was fun to share a bit of what my life is like as a traveler, and fun to catch up with what they were up to. My only regret is that I didn't get to see everyone I would've liked to, and that we didn't have even more time together. I love what I'm doing for now, but LRHC will always be home and always be the place I compare every other hospital to.

Well, there you have it! That was my super fun, packed, enjoyable, wonderful weekend at home in Fergus. It really will always feel like home, no matter where else I live in life.

Thank you to each of you who helped feed and house me, and for taking time out of your schedules to hang out. I enjoyed a perfect few days there, and my heart is full because of it!