Gryte's 40th Wedding anniversary

This weekend Gryte's celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Cyndi is a good friend of Josh's and the Gryte's are her parents. Cyndi and Nikka planned the event months ago and invited all of their closest friends and family. We went to McFarland park where Cyndi had ordered quite the buffet! Shrimp, salad, hummas, sandwiches, lemonade, wine, it was amazing food. Gryte's arrived and we completely surprised them. They thought they were coming to a picnic to celebrate Sarah's (another of Josh's good friends) new job. It was so fun to see the look on their faces :)

--Lake at McFarland Park--

McFarland park is a very pretty park in North Ames. It has a lake with lots of trails to explore, or walk around the lake on. We also got to see Wes and Sarah and learn that they are moving to Ohio soon. Sarah just received an offer to coach a volleyball team at a college about an hour south of Cleveland. They are living in the house that Sarah's mom grew up in! They are both very excited, and we will have to plan a trip to visit them soon!

--Kade, Emmi and Mac--

--Josh, Mac, Me, Chris, Cyndi, Sarah and Wes--

--Happy couple--

--Gona and Baca trying to keep Mac's hat on :) --

Back to School

I can't believe that I am actually choosing to go back to school. I have been toying with the idea of getting my masters degree for months now. I am working 3 days a week, and Best Buy pays for up to $5500 a year towards graduate credits...so why wouldn't I pursue it? I have always wanted to get into counseling, primarily elementary or high school kids. Drake (a very prestigious private college) offers an amazing program in counseling. With little optimism I applied in March. I have a degree in engineering, and no relative experience, aside from what I do at Best Buy everyday. I didn't think I had a shot. I made it past the first round of evaluations, and was asked to come in for an interview. I heard they had 80 people apply for fall term, and thought my chances were quite good. The interview went well, I wasn't nervous, and they laughed at my jokes (all good things.) At the end, I asked how many students they were accepting. They told me 4......4!!!! 4 out of 80! I started looking at other options. Then, on Wednesday, I got a letter from Drake. It was thin - and I was sure that it was going to be a "thanks for applying, but we chose someone else" letter. But it wasn't, I GOT IN!!! I am still in disbelief...but now I have to remember how to study, because I start at the end of August.....woohoo! I should be able to get my masters in education in 2.5-3 years. Who woulda thought?

McKenna is 1!!!!

It has not been a year since my little girl was born. It really seems like it has been hours, not months. We did have quite the celebration though! Gramma Rue flew in on Friday (Mac's actual bday.) We did some shopping and just played. On Saturday we had Mac's party at 2. I made brueshetta, design your own pizza on the grill, veggies and dip, cupcakes for the kids, and strawberry cream cake for the adults. Gona, Baca, Aunti Em, Mark, Tali, Kade, Mommy, Daddy, Gramma Rue, Pat, Claire, Dick, Sam, and Grandma Great came. She enjoyed all of the attention until it was time to eat a cupcake and to sing the happy birthday song. Apparently we all have horrible voices because she instantly started crying! When she finally figured out that cupcakes taste great, and when we stopped singing, she calmed down!

--What a mess--

She got so spoiled with pianos, swimming suits, clothes, an outside water toy, books, money, I can't even believe all of the presents!

--Before everyone got there--

--Mommy, gramma rue and mac--

--Miller/Christians--

--Attempting to take the hat and bib pic--

--Mac playing with her hat after we gave up--

--Mac's response to our horrible rendition of "Happy Birthday"--

--The song was forgotten after she started eating--

--Crazy cousin Kade--

--Time to open presents--

--Spoiled rotten!--

--Water park from mommy, and swimming suit from gona and baca--

Thank you to all who came, we had such a great time!

Gona's Birthday

Today we celebrated Gona's birthday! It started with an 8 am pontoon boat rental. Everyone got a chance to ride, including McKenna! Then Gona, Baca, Emmi, Mark, Kade, Tali, Grandma and Grandpa Great all met back at our house.

We had shrimp and veggie skewers, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, tomatoes with mozzarella and basil, breadsticks, cheesecake and a lemon beehive cake that I experimented with. We ate outside, even though it was a little windy.

The whole family gave Gona a leather journal that she can write about her travels in. Josh and Emmi wrote a little something in the front that made her cry. Grandma Great quilted a pansie quilt for Gona's bed. We also got to look at the slides that Gona and Josh have been feverishly putting on DVD . Josh hooked the computer up to the TV and it was a really good show! Was fun to see what Grandma and Grandpa Great were doing when they turned 60!

Happy Birthday Gona!

Now poor josh is working on our never ending deck project.....sigh.....

--Here we are eating dessert--

--Gona opening presents, a quilt sewn by grandma great--

--Gona and all her loot, Mac is ready for a nap!--

--My experimental honeybee cake, not quite as good as Emmi's homemade cheesecake!--