Falls Park

Last night we had the opportunity to enjoy time with our nephew Logan (as well as Dan and Jenny of course).

Together, we visited Falls Park. We don't get to the falls that often, but it is always fun to see them. We seem to be in a habit of forgetting our camera lately, but this night we made special effort to remember.

Enjoying the scenic background...


Dan, Jenny, and Logan...


Logan meeting the ducks...


Logan telling us what he thought about the ducks...



It is always great to spend time with family; we had a great night! Thanks Dan, Jenny, and Logan.

The Return of Zubaz Pants!

Our vacation week was very relaxing and fun. We spent a couple days at the farm and then headed up to the cities for a night where we got together with Mike, Joni, and Ava. We had supper and caught up.

The next day we headed up to Duluth, MN to stay at a bed and breakfast for a few days. We were both very surprised at the city of Duluth! Whenever we go on vacation, we usually have a lot of interesting things happen to us and we meet very interesting people.

Our first night there, we went out for dessert at a little ice cream shop that overlooked Lake Superior and the boardwalk. All of sudden, we heard the song "Rock Me Gently". We thought it was coming from the tour boats that were on the water. However, to our surprise it was coming from right below us. Of all times I wish I had my camera to capture an image, it was this! Unfortunately, I forgot it back at our room. There was a man strolling down the boardwalk in black high-top tennis shoes, American flag Zubaz pants, and a stars and stripe shirt with a big black boombox on his shoulder! He was rocking out to the music while he was taking a stroll down by the water. It was quite fitting for how the rest of our night had gone up until that point!

Later in the week we thoroughly enjoyed a couple's massage. It was a first for the two of us and a great experience.

At the end of a relaxing week, it was great to come home and pick up Gracie. She got to spend the week on the farm with Marlene. She enjoyed watching the animals, barking at cats, and taking lots of walks. We are afraid she is now going to be bored with city-life.

Jared and Angie

Vacation

Well, the beginning of our week was bittersweet.

On Tuesday, we had a doctor's appointment. At this appointment, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat! It was sweet. Jared and I were surprised at how fast and loud the heartbeat was:160 beats per minute! The doctor said everything was great. It is so reassuring to hear those words! In five weeks, we have the big ultrasound! At this appointment, they will do all the major screenings for our baby's health; it usually lasts about an hour. We will also find out if we are having a boy or a girl! So exciting-we cannot wait :)

The bitter part of this appointment was that the doctor advised me not to go on our trip to the Boundary Waters since I would be too far away from medical care and there could be complications if I were to get a disease from the water or from the mosquitos. Our baby's health is way more important than any trip. It was hard to hear because we had been planning this for a year and it is the only week of vacation time we have together.

After much prayer and communication, Jared and I arrived at a comprimise. We both wanted to please the other. So, Jared is coming out of the Boundary Waters on Wednesday morning and then we are headed to the Cotton Mansion (bed and breakfast) to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. This place is absolutely gorgeous! We also scheduled an hour long couples massage, which we cannot wait for! We are both excited and ask for prayers for both of our travels.

4th of July Festivities!

We spent the weekend in George celebrating the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time!

• It started with the duck races at 9am, and though it was drizzling we still had a fun time watching our ducks. They did not win, of course, but we did get to see Tyler's duck take 6th place for $50.
• We followed the ducks with breakfast at the Strike Zone where apparently Jared has a "usual". We also found out that we didn't need to tell anyone in George that we were expecting, apparently the whole town already knows!
• We went to George and Genola's house to hang out with family, but first made sure we staked out our places for the parade. If you do not have your chairs in place 3+ hours in advance there is no way you are sitting along the street!
• Before lunch was served we went across the street to the George Museum. Although we didn't know going in, Grandpa George gives tours at the museum on Sunday's so we had a professionally led tour.
• After lunch, we headed down to the carnival for 25-cent games of BINGO. After 8 games and not a single sniff of victory, we gave up. The most exciting part of the game was witnessing Fred the cop have to take away a man for public intoxication!
• We spent some time in the late afternoon relaxing out at the farm and taking Gracie for a long walk. She had spent the whole day alone at the farm, and did a great job not causing any ruckus. Whenever we were there, she could not stop from going window-to-window to take in all the sights. One window had a view of the cattle, another the sheep, and the third the cat and her kittens. Suddenly our windows at home which hold simply cars and people walking by were boring in comparison.
• We ended our night by heading back to town for the fireworks display. Although the pie auction took some extra time, we heard it brought in around $14,000 so that was great! The fireworks were also awesome, though our favorite part was listening to all the little kids oohing and ahing over each display. We anticipate future year's displays where we can listen to our own little one doing so.

We hope you all had a great time on the 4th, we sure did!

Jared and Angie

The ducks coming around the first corner...


Getting closer...


And the finish...