Trip to Grafton, ND

Anthony was asked to preach in Grafton, ND, this past weekend, so we left after the birthday party on Saturday evening.

Our tired travelers.

We saw a moose cross the highway in front of us.  You never know what wildlife you are going to see here in North Dakota!

The kids were asked to sing in the service on Sunday morning.  They each got a microphone.  They enjoyed it, and did a good job!

After service, we had a pot luck with the church people

Pastor Schueller is known around town for his big red tractor.  He took the kids for a ride in the bucket. They had a great time!

It was a quick trip.  We left for home after service on Sunday night because I had to work Monday morning, and it's a 4 hour drive.  The Schuellers are sweet people, and we enjoyed getting to know them.

Happy 50th, Pastor!

Ruth threw a big surprise 50th birthday party for Jesse. We all huddled in the garage waiting for him to come home.  It was warm and cozy for sure!  I think he suspected a little, but it was a really nice party.

 The garage was dark and everyone had a glow stick.

 The table of all of his favorite snack foods

 Cheri made this adorable fruit barbecuer.

The strawberries were roses. So creative!

 Selfie time

Happy 50th Birthday to our wonderful pastor!!!

Putt-Putt Golfing with friends

As a surprise, for the rest of Talon's birthday gift, the kids and I went putt-putt golfing with Shawna and her kids.  It was a bit crazy, but we had a good time.  The kids had never golfed before, so it took a bit of time to get us organized.  We quit keeping score.  We decided it was more important for them to have fun.  The weather was beautiful the whole time we were golfing.  We were going to go on the big slide when we were done, but the rain clouds moved in, and it started to pour down rain.  In about 3 minutes, we were all soaked!

Our little celebration snack at the end.  Complete with cupcakes.

And this would be the downpour that I was talking about.  We all went home soaked!  Instead of the slide, we went to McDonalds for lunch, and the kids played in the PlayPlace.  They didn't mind that too much.

More birthday fun

Today, we did a little more birthday celebrating.  Natalie had a few more small gifts to open, and we went out for dinner at Mi Mexico.

Happy Birthday, Nattie bear!  We love you to pieces!

Happy 3, Natalie!

 Natalie turned 3 years old today. She is growing up so fast!

She wanted the traditional 'birthday donuts' for breakfast.

We had a little birthday party at home with Papa and Granny, and the Witmers stopped by in the evening, so they had cake with us and we opened presents.

He request for her birthday was for a Hello Kitty watch, so that's what Papa and Granny got her.  She loved it.

We went out for dinner at Badlands and she got her favorite... chicken strips and fries with lots of ketchup.

I asked her what kind of a cake she wanted.  She said, "a pink cake". So I made a pink cherry chip cake.

She really likes new clothes, so she got some new Summer outfits and clothes

and Hello Kitty sport bottles

And a Hello Kitty sleeping bag

Pretty excited about her watch