This post should catch you up all the way to... today! :) Ya can't get any better than that!
An Iowa Sunset...
Our cherries ripened fast this year!
Abi and KK taking a walk :)
Isn't Iowa gorgeous?
We think that Doughy looks like a Precious Moments figurine. :)
Mom, Abi, Sam and I went into town to try to solve KK's wedding outfit problem. We found him a vest and pants from the same brand... You'd think that they'd be the same black, but no, they looked awful together! So, we had to go back to JC Penny's and Kohls to find pants that would match better. We went through both stores, matching that silly vest to all the different brands of pants! We did finally find some dress pants that matched a lot better than the previous pair! We also had to get Sam togged out... He had to try on multiple pairs of pants. In this picture, he was hamming it up in his new pants near Kohls dressing rooms. :) We had to order his vest from Kohls as they didn't have any available. Thankfully, his pants and vest match! ;P
Iowa... America's front porch
Mom is in seventh heaven with all her landscaping!
Sweet, precious, Cupcake girl! She's so fat!
Cutting my bridesmaid dress out!
We babysat Zook kids from Thursday to Saturday a couple weeks ago. I took the little girls out to see the cows. They loved trying to feed them grass! :)
Abi and I went on a two mile walk one evening. It felt good!
Tanya and Amy slept with us. This is the sight that met our eyes the next morning... Nearly the entire contents of the toy box had been carried up to our room the previous day. Amy didn't even sleep on her bed, she wiggled around so much! :)
The week that we had Zooks was just crazy! Several of us had gotten home from SOP around 6 Monday morning after driving all night. Wednesday, Abi and I cleaned a house, then we went into town for the boys' clothes. Thursday, I cut out my bridesmaid dress, then Zooks came. They stayed over night, but we took them home after lunch on Friday as we had a family gathering to attend. We spent all of Friday morning cooking and preparing for the gathering. Friday afternoon, I cleaned another house. The elderly lady doesn't use AC, so Aunt Carol and I were smoking hot! I got home in enough time to take a shower, then we left for Omaha. We didn't get home that night until nearly midnight. :-/ The plan was for Abi, Josh and I to go directly to Zooks to stay overnight with their kids, then leave the next day after lunch. We attended a funeral on Saturday after getting home from Zooks. It was an exhausting week, but fun! :)
Abi's garden is doing superbly!
Before I started into my bridesmaid dress, I thought it'd be a good idea to clean my machine out. I was appalled at how dirty it'd gotten!
I was rather frizzy and flushed after cleaning that lady's house on Friday. :)
Here we are at the Lowis Family gathering! My second cousin, Mikayla and her husband Chris were in town, which is why we got together. Everyone was there but three of my cousins! :)
They had set up three pools for people to cool off in. As you can imagine, they instigated random, explosive water fights. :)
Another second cousin, Keith and his wife Angela. They were just married about a month ago.
Doughy loved the squirt guns!
Once it started to get dark, we gathered back inside. Uncle Mike put in a couple old family movies, some from when they were little and some from when his kids were little. He also put in CDs of pictures from past family reunions. It was so fun walking down memory lane!
All the Lowis siblings :)
On Saturday, we attended a memorial service for a good friend of ours, George Rush. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer awhile back. Sadly, it took him quickly. He loved restoring Farmall tractors. When we got to the Griswold Community Center, someone had lined up all of his tractors. It was so sweet!
The place was packed! When we got there, there was standing room only! It was so touching seeing how many people turned out to pay their last respects to Griswold's beloved George.
Dad got a grill for Father's day! :)
We cooked out for Father's day.
Doughy loves pop!
He's so skinny his pants don't like to stay up. :D
Cuties!
I love this little guy!!
Sam... Playing with Doughy...
Abi's first garden harvest!
So vibrant!
A cleaning client of ours has this adorably naughty kitten!
Our own naughty cat...
Lil' Bud
I've been looking for a loveseat for Abi and my room for a long time. I finally found one after several fall outs with Craigslist people. Dad and I took off to pick it up after a busy day of work for him and a busy day of cleaning for me. I treated Dad to Taco Bell for supper. I just love their fiesta potatoes! :)
After carrying the loveseat into the living room, they discovered that it was too big to fit through the stairway door. Plan B, lift it up onto the porch roof and carry it through our window. Rather than carry it all the way back out, they took the living room window out and carried it out that way. :)
Lifting it up onto the roof! Yes, I did help lift it. With one arm. You may come over to feel my amazing muscles, but you have to promise to close your eyes so that I can substitute Josh or KK's arm for mine. ;P
The loveseat's final resting place! (I hope!)
It's really comfy with microfiber fabric and memory foam cushions!
Some little people like mints and gum way too much...
A fabric store in town is closing, so I was able to get some swimsuit fabric for a good price. I'm going to make Brie and Grace swimsuit dresses. I found a pattern that will work well. I'm excited to try it!
My finished bridesmaid dress! Well, almost. Virginia is making white sashes for us to wear.
I bought this sign at the fabric store.
My handsome brothers :) All the brothers are supposed to wear vests and the groomsmen will wear suits.
Gin sent me this :)
Doughy loves whipped topping. He calls it "ice cream." :)
A pile of grandchildren :)
LOL :)
This past Monday, Mom, Aunt Carol, Brie and I cleaned a massive house. It took all four of us five hours! It's a newly built house and the owner wanted us to clean it before they moved in. We had to wipe out every cupboard, wipe and polish their fronts, polish all the trim, clean the bathrooms, shopvac, sweep and mop floors... It was hard work, but a lot of fun!
Their laundry room was my ultimate dream for a laundry...
The office
Kitchen, informal dining room, formal dining room and living room. The master bedroom was off of the living room. The bathroom in there was huge! It took me like forever to clean it! Thanks to Mom, I finished a lot sooner. :) The entire basement was carpeted. It was enormous down there!
Abi is making new culottes for us. When we go to Texas this winter we plan to go horse back riding on the beach. (I can't wait!)
Just yesterday, I finished Katelyn and Alaina's dresses for the wedding. This is Lynna's.
Alaina's
After sewing eight dresses, two blouses and shortening sleeves for some of Gram's blouses, I'm about sewed out. :)
Mom took the little guys swimming at Viking Lake today. They had so much fun! :) Aren't they just utterly adorable and all together too much?!
