Memorial Day

Aubrey is crying for the Veterans. Nana (Kathy) was trying to give her a haircut, and she didn't like it!


Matt reading Aubrey a story.

Me and Aubrey. (Is that her evil eye?)

Richfield, Minnesota, dedicated a new monument to all war veterans. There were two flags raised at Iwo Jima, and this one represents the first flag raised by Charles Lindberg (a former Richfield resident) and four other Marines. The memorial is just in the beginning stages, and it will include several granite tablets surrounding the statue. When seen from an airplane above, it will be in the shape of a teardrop. Today they revealed the first 3 tablets. Anyone can purchase an engraving of a name of someone they know who is or was a veteran of war. We had Matt's dad, Jerry's, name engraved because he was in the Navy during Vietnam. It was a very touching ceremony, including 3 canon follies, and the playing of Taps on bugles. Unfortunately, my videos I took were too long to download to this website. But now we will always have a way to remember what Jerry and so many others sacrificed for our freedom.

The covered tablets, guarded.

The tablets revealed. Jerry is standing by his tablet in the middle.

Jerry L Intihar - Navy. Third from the bottom.

Matt & I in front of the Charles Lindberg Iwo Jima statue.

The family. Me, Matt, Jason, Aubrey & Melanie, Kathy & Jerry.

Installing our new antenna

Yes, that's right. We don't have cable. Matt and I do like the advantages of not having cable; no cable bill, and we're not constantly attached to thousands of shows. We have an HD TV, and with new over-the-air HD, we get crystal clear pictures. This is a picture of the old antenna that didn't work so well.
Here's Matt holding the new mini-antenna. It's so small, and yet so efficient!

Brave Matt, taking down the old antenna. (The satellite dish there on the ground was from the people who lived there before us, but we never used it.)

Matt installing the new antenna!

Sara's 26th Birthday!

We celebrated my birthday on Friday with my family (but my actual birthday was on Sunday). We had traditional summer food; watermelon, corn on the cob, hot dogs, and lemonade. My mom made angel food cake with real strawberries and whipped cream on top. Then we had a bonfire. My nephew, Trevor, was entertaining as always. When I tickled him he said, "Hey! What's the big idea!" He's just so cute!

My pregnant sister, Kacie. She's due in mid-September. Still a long way to go!
Kacie wearing Trevor's cop helmet.

My 2 year-old nephew, Trevor, with gun and holster, and me.

Trevor playing with his awesome cop helmet and handlebars. He gave his dad a ticket. Don't you just love Jon's humor?

A Mother's Day at the Arboretum

Beautiful yellow daffodils!

The fountains are on!

Close-up tulip

A tree house

Me looking into a kaleidoscope

The trees are blooming!

My sister Amy & my mom in "snow" (actually the fallen petals of the trees)

Me & Amy in front of lilacs

A grand view!

The maze!

Me going into the maze!

My dad's brick in front of the maze. He used to work at the Arboretum, and is truly missed.

Me and my mom

The sign on my dad's Linden tree

The view from my dad's tree

Me hugging my dad's Linden tree

Wooddale Women's Brunch

The women in our family got together for the Wooddale Women's Brunch, followed by a wonderful service called "Spa for the Soul". From left to right: My sister Amy, Aunt Deb, my mom, cousin Beth, me, mother-in-law Kathy, and sister-in-law Melanie.
Heather Flies (who was also the officiating pastor at my wedding) was the speaker. She's amazing! She talked about how it is more important to have a Beautiful Soul than to be beautiful on the outside. We as women should not worry so much about how we look. We need to be thankful for the wonderful personality traits that God gave us.

The music was amazing! Singer/songwriter Vanessa Gamble graced us with her musical talent.

My Classroom's Culture Quilt

We just finished up a unit in my classroom on Cultures. For a final project, each of my second graders designed a square of the quilt with different symbols of their culture. It's a very difficult concept to teach. Many of them drew flags, crosses, and some people. I used the bulletin board border from my husband's Aunt Nancy. It turned out great!

Under Construction

The basement is under construction still, but should be completed in the next couple months. We're going to build suspense and stop taking pictures of it until completed! Stay tuned.....

Attracting everything but birds!

I bought some new birdseed for my feeder (fruit & nut blend), but it was too big to fit through the holes! I decided to just put the seed on a plate on the ground, and now I've been attracting squirrels and even chipmunks!

Easter with Sara's Family

Trevor (2 1/2)and his Easter basket. He's obsessed with cars! Matt is always trying to get him to say the name of one of his cars "Dodge Powerwagon".
Trevor and my sister, Kacie. Kacie is 4 months pregnant.

Me & Trevor with his Mr. Potatoe Head Bunny.

Me & Trevor when I was babysitting him.

Easter with Matt's Family!

We celebrated Easter early with Matt's family!

One of the first things we all have to do is find our Easter baskets hidden in the house! Aubrey found hers!

Cuddling with her Easter bunny!

Aubrey and Sara

Our nephew, Tyler (obviously a teenager that makes his own statement)!

Our niece, Teagan. She did her own hair today! Isin't it beautiful!

Aubrey wearing bunny ears.

Aubrey on her first Easter Egg Hunt! She wasn't too fond of the uneven grass. You'd be surprised at how many young kids have a phobia to grass! It's hard to walk on this stuff as a beginner-walker! She found all of her eggs, though!

She found one!

The Easter Bunny hid Tyler's eggs high up in the tree.

Carrying her Easter basket.

Aubrey and mommy. She has Elmo Bunny shaped Easter eggs.

Looking inside the eggs.

Matt & Aubrey

Matt making weird faces at Aubrey. What a goofy Uncle!

The famous Jello eggs! Mmmmmm!

We also celebrated Jerry's Birthday! He has a duck on his cake because he can speak in a Donald Duck voice!

The Valance Has Been Installed!

One of my favorite features is the window-like door; it also has a glass shelf inside!

Oooh, ahhhh.... the lights are so beautiful! The plumbing has also been hooked up. Now we just have to finish the tiling to the left of the vanity.