Catch up time

A new camera PLUS a long trip MINUS lots of free time upon arriving home EQUALS a back-up in the family blog. (That's the extent of my math, folks!) Today we finally figured out how to download pictures from the new camera we bought before heading to our mid-west trip, so now there will be a flurry of catch up blogs documenting the memories we don't want to forget. (Correction - DARRELL figured out the technology....another area I tend to lack in!) So read the blogs/notes if you are curious and want to see what we've done......or not.....but here we go......from June 4th through June 26th.....

The home stretch.....

We're still in Iowa, to clear up any confusion about my Facebook status updates. Yesterday, I drove to Cedar Rapids and picked up Darrell from the airport. We decided that ten days is way too long to be apart. It is so good to have him here. Now we are in the final week of our midwest getaway, and I am reminiscing already the great memories we have made. I will post photos when I get home and edit them on our computer, but here are the highlights:

• Spending time with my sister, Carla, and her children (Isabelle, age 4; Wade and Will, age 15 months) and sister, Sheila, and her children (Silas, age 2; Nathan, age 8 months). It was wonderful to be with them, to see how they have grown in their parenting (and patience) and to remember back when we traveled with infants (I hope I was able to pass on some empathy when they got stressed!)
• Having family friends drive in to spend an afternoon with us - Jack and Verna Ouverson, Wally MacIntyre, and Cletus Bouska.
• An afternoon spent with my Grandma and Grandpa Conklin (both in the 80s!), Aunt Pat and Uncle Kent (who now live near Grandma and Grandpa), Aunt Jill and cousin Tyler (who drove in from Sheffield, Iowa), and Aunt Sue (who drove in from Chicago to spend a few days experiencing the joy-filled chaos!) Being with my mom's parents and all her sisters makes me feel a little closer to her....and seeing my kids being talked to and played with by them warms my heart.
• Attending Fredericksburg Dairy Days; Tuesday night, half price rides - and me letting Evan try the "Zipper", which we had to stop mid-ride due to safety reasons and Wednesday - two parades...one in the morning and one in the evening. The morning parade we enjoyed with Grandma and Grandpa and all the Aunts and the evening one we enjoyed with Dad and Mary. Two parades equal A LOT of candy in the treat bags!
• Enjoying a BBQ with a family friend, Jill Kaeppel, and her family....catching up and watching all of our kids play together.
• Taking my kids to Gouldsburg, the park my family camped at every summer when I was growing up. I was able to share some of my growing up memories, showing the kids how the Little Turkey River (which runs right through the park) has re-routed due to flooding, and teaching them how to use the "circle" swing at the playground.
• Attending a brunch in which I got to catch up with lots of family friends I hadn't seen for a long time.
• Spending an entire Sunday with my best friend forever, Kasey (we've been friends since 7th grade). Attending their church with their family, going to a one-day VBS, then attending an afternoon potluck and bible study. It was really nice to get to peek into their life and meet some of their friends. Kasey and I have not lived near each other since graduating High School, but our lives have paralleled and even though we might go months without talking, we always pick right up where we left off.

Those are the highlights that I can think of right now. I'm sure when I start going through the pictures, more will come to mind. It has been such a special trip, spending quality time with relatives and friends that we only see once or twice a year. And, of course, having my Dad and Mary spend lots of time with my kids.......grandparent time they don't often get.

Today, we head back to Kasey's house for the afternoon; tomorrow back to Grandpa and Grandma Conklin's for lunch; Thursday we will drive to Chicago (stopping mid-way to have lunch with my sister, Carla); Friday, a rest day spent in Chicago; and Saturday making the long trek back to Pennsylvania. I am ready to get everyone on some sort of summer routine, but I thank God for the time we have had in Iowa and all of the time we have gotten to spend with people that we love.

Trip update

We are safely in Iowa. We left Pennsylvania on Thursday around 1:30 p.m. (we were buckled in ready to go at 1:00, when we discovered the van battery was dead due to the kids leaving on the interior lights....only a slight blip to trip). We had a pretty smooth trip and arrived at my Uncle Lyle and Aunt Sue's house in Prospect Heights, Illinois at 8:30 p.m. We spent a wonderful day with Aunt Sue on Friday visiting the Morton Arboretum. The kids and I were on the road on Saturday at 7:30 and had a relatively uneventful trip to Iowa. Due to some road construction, we were diverted through Madison, Wisconsin - which made our grand total of states traveled through five (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa). We played the license plate game on our drive, and the most exciting license plate find was Alaska! We are now enjoying time with my two sisters and their families.....8 children under 8 years of age! What a nice start to our summer!

Our budding photographer

Yesterday, Evan's 2nd grade class went on a field trip to the Pittsburgh zoo and aquarium. We had just bought a new digital camera, so Evan asked if he could take the old one to the zoo. It was kind of bitter sweet sending that camera with him, because it was the camera we bought when he was an infant.....our first digital camera going off with our first baby! I was impressed with some of the pictures he took and he took very good care of the camera. So these are Evan's pictures.....enjoy!

Photos from a busy week

We have just finished one of the busiest weeks of Spring, so I thought I would share some pictures. We celebrated Memorial Day on Monday at the Bezek house for my niece's 18th birthday and graduation celebration. Above are pictures of the kids hitting the pinata, as well as my niece, Natalie, and I. Natalie is such a beautiful person and we are so proud of her!

Wednesday brought Ann-Marie's field trip to the Children's museum in Pittsburgh. I was able to chaperone and had a great time with the group!















On Thursday, we took a family day into Pittsburgh and saw the new Penguin display at the Aviary. We were very impressed as it is very well done. We were able to see the penguins being fed, which was very interesting and educational. The kids also got to participate in the feeding of the birds in the tropical forest.












The kids have four more days of school left, then it is time for our summer trip to Iowa. We'll keep you updated!

Baltimore zoo fun

A "spur of the moment" trip has always been one of Darrell and my favorite things to do....so when Darrell set up some business this weekend in the D.C. area and we received an open invitation to come visit our precious friends, we took it! We left Thursday night and came back Saturday night...quick trip but well worth it! Even better, we were able to fit in a zoo trip to the Baltimore zoo...two moms (one pregnant...no...not me folks!) and six kids (ages 3 to 8) along with, we would find out later, 3200 Baltimore-area school children! It seems that the day we picked for the zoo the area schools had picked also. It worked out well though as we timed our trip to be more flexible and it really didn't seem that the zoo was very packed. Perfect weather, good friends, fun zoo.....what more can you ask?

What's behind your couch?

I'm always amazed when someone tells me I'm organized or that I'm good at keeping a clutter-free house. The above picture keeps me from getting a big head......this is what I found today behind our front living room couch! I don't know how long that stuff has been there, but the kids have quite a stash hidden away. This reminds me that things are not always what they seem at first glance. The rest of this room is nice and tidy....the "sparse" look. Look a little closer and you'll see the clutter. So what's behind your couch?????

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV