His Name is Nate, And He is Great...

On June 28, our nephew, Nate, turned four. Unbelievable.

He had a pool party. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and perfect.

Raleigh Adventure (Saturday)

On Saturday, we awoke (way early for going to bed so late) and hit up the 4th of July parade.

Sam and Peyton enroute with their sippy cups.

Tom and Jodi's daughter Malia as the highlight of the parade!

This photo of Jac (the hostess with the mostess) was taken by 4-year old Malia but it's adorable.

Jason and Steve with their stogies (oh yeah, and their Bud Heavies).

Fresca Vodkas!

This is such a sweet picture of Jac and Sam.

Jodi is not afraid of leftovers. :)

Raleigh Adventure (Friday)

As we did last year for the 4th of July weekend, Steve and I flew to Raleigh, NC to see Jacqueline & Jason on Thursday.

Somehow we pulled off three nights in a row of staying up until 2a.m. That is so not normal for any of us and very impressive for Jacque considering they are expecting their second child in 10-weeks!

On Friday the boys started drinking their Bud Heavy and putting together the baby's dresser. We later decided it should be tested before a changing table is put on it :)

On Friday night the boys went to a Durham Bulls ballgame with some of the neighborhood guys, and we had a girls night.


My best friend and me...

My sister-in-law, Ann's best friend, Jodi, and me...

The Iowa girls in Raleigh.

Girls' Night Out!

As I mentioned, the boys went to a ball game and had a good time. This photo was taken after 1a.m. Tom (Jodi's husband), Sal and Steve. Sal is apparently coming to live with us according to him.

Kansas City Here They Come

Two weekends ago the McCulloughs came into town!

I have known Wendy my entire life and she is one of my closest friends, and Wendy & Steve grew up together in SL.

In a nutshell, everyone has known everyone forever...

I was in Chicago until Saturday morning so I joined in on the festivities directly from the airport.

We started off with a trip to the zoo. I am apparently Jack's favorite grown up friend which makes me very happy.

After some boutique shopping and Mike's Hard(er) Lemonade, we all tailgated at the Royals game!

The boys. The Godfather already is falling down on his responsibilities. He should be holding Evan.

With four kids, we made it through the entire game. It was a Royals miracle (they won, too)!

Fish Hooks, Family & Racin'

In opposite order of actually occurring:

I am unsure of where the Steve and Ann family photo has disappeared to on the computer.

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad!

The Festival of Testicles

Multiple years ago...Steve first heard about this festival called the Testicle Festival.

We didn't know where it was in Missouri but, my oh my, has Steve been talking about it since. It has been the one place he's wanted to experience.

As we were driving into the greater Ozarks region OOH billboards started popping up promoting the Testicle Festival the weekend we were there!

So on Saturday afternoon the (adult) boys jumped in the car and stood in line for well over an hour for testicles.

Sadly, the organizers didn't forecast the testicles correctly and they were gone before the boys could taste. But regardless, Steve got his wish, has some koozies and can truthfully tell anyone who asks that he has been to a testicle festival!

Babies on the Boat

On Friday of our Ozarks vaca, we rented a boat.

Nate was the keeper of all things maps at all times.

Look, I could totally take him home with me and pass him off for more than my nephew :)

Baby Evan spent 4-hours in this life jacket and was still happy.

Between the life jacket and grandpa's tummy, he had plenty of cushion :)

Nate wasn't a huge fan of the boat so a nap was a good thing.

That was until he was able to "drive it".

My god, little boys (and girls) are cute!

Why do I look so far away?

Book's 40th Wedding Anniversary Vaca #1

My parents celebrated their (wow!) 40th wedding anniversary on June 7!

To celebrate, our family went on vaca to the Lake of the Ozarks and stayed at Tan-Tar-A. We had so much fun!

Oh my! There were so many huge fish and such to feed and catch at all times. Nate loved them all.


E wasn't quite as concerned with the fish, but he does appreciate designer sunglasses.

Father/Son-in-law strategy.

I was not drunk holding my nephew. But I could play a drunk actress on TV.

Summer is here!

and water slides make me look happy (I'm not going to lie, I was very happy at the moment), even when really I'm just trying not to get water up my nose.

Roomie Fun

On Saturday my former roomie, and very close friend, Lisa was in town from St. Louis with Scott.

So much fun is an understatement!

The man who took this photo said we looked like ice skating escapades. Neither of us had a clue what that meant.

We forgot to take a photo at Reverse where we were surrounded by 80's movie characters. But we immediately remembered the camera once we hit the rooftop of O'Dowds.

As you can tell, this is where the photos should stop (they didn't, but they should have).

Then the guys showed up... Scott is remembering how happy Lisa and I do not live close to each other anymore.

It took 20 tries to get Steve's photo. Go figure we ended up with a pic with Steve's eyes wide open and mine almost shut (long, fun night).

It's a Backyard Miracle!

Yes, it's true. A professional is going to build our patio to replace the deck we tore down with our hands way too long ago.

I don't know Cristobol, but I think I love him.