Seattle & beyond

Mom and I took a trip to Seattle to visit Grandma and do some exploring.  We had amazing weather the whole time we were there.  Wednesday afternoon we went to downtown Seattle.  Had lunch at Pike Place Market.

And went up to the top of the Space Needle. 

Thursday we drove north and took the ferry to Whidbey Island for a little exploring and wine tasting.

We spent the whole day with Grandma on Friday.  Saturday we drove to the north end of the Olympic Peninsula to go to Hurricane Ridge.  I had never been ther.  It was amazing! 

We did a hike on the Hurricane Ridge trail.  Incredible views!

Some pictures with Grandma before we headed back home.  It was a great trip!

Clearwater Beach

Gayle and Shaun's wedding was this weekend in Clearwater Beach, Florida.  Twelve of our Pathways church group traveled with the bride & groom to the wedding.  We made special t-shirts to surprise them and got lots of looks & comments along the journey.  They said "We're going to the J wedding...and honeymoon!" with a goofy picture of them on it. 

It was a great trip and a wonderful wedding.  The bride & groom were so happy and enjoyed their moment.  I'm 2nd from the left. God gave us amazing sunsets each night, saving the best for the wedding!

It's been awhile

Life has been busy lately.  The washing machine malfunctioned and flooded half the basement.  Took about 2 weeks for the professional cleanup to be completed.  I have barely started putting things back in place.  My goal is to not put anything back with out going through it first.  I already have a pile of craft supplies to give away.
Then we had a big storm move in last week.  We haven't had rain in a really long time.  60 mile an hour winds and 2 inches of rain overnight.  Our power was out for about 12 hours.  I found this in the front yard the next morning.  Sigh.  Thankfully it didn't land on anything and my tree guy took care of it and cleaning up the tree. It's been a rough home-owner summer for me.

Some fun busy-ness has been preparing for the wedding I'm in this weekend in Florida.  I made these cookies for her bachelorette party and Wichita wedding reception. 

The Black Hills

Last weekend I went on a roadtrip with 2 girlfriends. None of us had been to Mt. Rushmore before so that is where we headed. It's about a 12 hour drive from here. We had a great trip. Crammed a lot into our 2.5 days there. Learned that there is a lot to do & see in the Black Hills.   The trip started with the amazing sunrise above. Our first stop was in The Badlands.  Amazing...and hot.

 Mt. Rushmore was first on Saturday's agenda.  Magestic, yet it is hard to wrap your mind around how large the scupture really are.

Crazy Horse Monument.  Still in progress.  This is 50 years worth of work.

Sunday was a lot of driving thru incredible scenery.  I did the driving that day.  This was the first tunnel carved through rock that we drove through.  It is on Needles Highway.  It is barely one lane wide.

This spot was my favorite of the day.  We took a gravel road a few miles off the main highway and had these amazing sweeping views in Wind Cave National Park.

We saw a herd of wild donkeys, 2 elk, and scads of prairie dogs but by the time we were close to the end of Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park all we had seen were 3 lone bison.  But then we came across a herd of over 100 bison right on the road.  We even saw these two fighting it out.

It was a great trip! I would love to go back and do some hiking in the area and see more of all there is up there.

Sicky McSickerson

I woke up a week and a half ago feeling miserable.  Thought it was just a summer cold but after a week of not getting much better, I went to the doctor.  It's a sinus infection that's also in my chest.  Yippee.  I am on 5 different medications to kick this thing.  I am getting better now but not full recovered.

Diesel has been taking a little advantage of my not feeling so well.  I'll let him on the bed in the morning so I can get a little bit more sleep.  It cracks me up when he sprawls out like this with his head on the pillow.  I don't know why my mom thinks he's spoiled.

 My sweet friend Gayle is getting married.  I am one of her bridesmaids.  The bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower for her on Saturday which went well.

 I made baked blueberry french toast and Amish breakfast casserole for the shower.  Both turned out well.

I laughed when I saw the bear wearing shorts & going shirtless this morning.  He's also trying to deal with our 100+ degree heat.

A/C and the bear

The biggest news of the week is that my new air conditioner and furnace were installed.  It's not the most exciting picture ever but I am happy to have the new & shiny equipment in.  I also had them install a programmable thermostat. It's nice to have a more efficient a/c in this 100 degree heat, and one that won't freeze up and stop working. 

I drove by the bear and smiled to see him decked out in his 4th of July regalia. 

Little House and little men

On Friday, Janel, Gayle & I drove to near Independence, KS to visit the Little House on the Prairie historic site.  We were giddy girls just to be on the same land that the Ingalls family used to live on. That is a replica cabin of what the family lived in. 

I then went to Lawrence for the weekend for a little family time.  Got to spend some time with JT and Sam.  Sam is almost 5 months old.  He's an adorable little guy.  JT is a precocious 6 year old.