June 21st our only niece on Mark's side of the family was married.
Missy Swanson married Zach DeYoung at Happy Apple Orchard in Norwalk.
It was an outdoor setting and it was a beautiful ceremony. The weather
was a bit hot and humid but that was better than rain!
Mark
and I went down the night before and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in
West Des Moines. Megan and family joined us later that evening after
work and arrived from Peoria around 9 pm. The next morning Andy took
the kids swimming, joined by Megan's friend Brooke and her husband and
children. They went to UNI together so it was nice they were able to
meet up for a few hours. Matt arrived that morning from Omaha so we had
a nice time together as a family.
Mark's brother
Milt, the father of the bride, came to the farm after everyone left on
Sunday and is spending some time with us. We are enjoying having him
and Pumpkin (a cute little dog who does not care for me!) staying with
us. In Pumpkin's defense, about the only dog that does like me is Sox,
Megan and Andy's dog. :-)
Last night the three of us
drove to Paton's new bar and restaurant called 209 Main. I could not
believe this place, considering it is in such a very small town. It is
beautiful and the food was very good! I hope to return again soon!
Video and pics from Des Moines:
Dad teaching Ryan to walk the side wall.
Everyone having fun with dad.
Kayley is not particularly happy about something!
Father and daughter dance
On special occasions Ryan gets his pacifier, when needed!
June is a busy birthday month for us! We left for Peoria on June 5th, Mark's birthday. June 6th Ryan turned 2 and June 9th Kayley turned 6. We were there to celebrate them all!
We also were excited to see two of Drew's baseball games and to see Kayley play in her very first t-ball game. Such fun to see how Drew and his team have improved with another year and it is always a chuckle watching the t-ball group learn this game. No one quite knew what they were doing but they were having fun doing it.
Friday the kids stayed home with us. Matt had also driven over for the festivities of the week-end so he took Drew and Kayley fishing that afternoon. No catches but they both learned how to cast their lines! Grandpa stayed with Ryan.
We stayed through Monday since that was Kayley's actual birthday and I took her and Drew to Monkey Joe's jumping house while Grandpa stayed with napping Ryan once again.
Everyone went back to summer daycare on Tuesday and Mark and I drove back to the farm. It was a fun week-end filled with laughter, lots of cake and great weather!
Kayley's very first t-ball game:
Drew's game:
Misc. fun over the week-end:
Getting all the bugs off of Grandma's car
Kayle loves wearing pretty dresses!
Drew modeling his new ball uniform
First time at catching!
Nothing tastes better than garden strawberries
Kayley loves her "Frozen" cake
Ryan ready to have some Mickey Mouse cake.
Ryan opening his presents
Fun at the local park
Drew and Kayley are always reading to Ryan.
Had to add this field of garden peas planted west of our home. The company will harvest them this week and the farmer will then go in and plant his soybeans. Interesting....
The farm was filled with lots of relatives so that was exciting but it was also a very sad time as we laid my niece Lisa to rest on that Sunday. Her wishes were to be buried by Grandpa Stan so everyone flew/drove to the farm. Jan and her four children drove down from MN on Friday. I picked Sharon up in Des Moines on Thursday. Arne, Erik and his daughters flew into Omaha and rented a car. Lisa's sons Nick and Taylor flew into Omaha and Matt drove them to the farm Friday night. Larry, Kevin and Sarah, Katie and Dan came Saturday night, also.
One bright spot for me was the fact that Megan brought Ryan with her when she came Friday night. Drew and Kayley went to Omaha with Andy for a graduation. Ryan had LOTS of attention from so many adults but did manage to catch a bug, too, but it didn't last too long.
We managed to fit everyone into the house, but only because no spouses or children were here. The family has ballooned to such a large number that an all-family farm reunion is impossible. We will have to do gatherings like we did in Estes Park several years ago! That was very fun and less stressful on us and our septic tank!
Some pics from our time together and of course, a video with my grandson! :-)
Stan, Ryan and Matt
Jan with daughters Marla and Britt
Lisa's urn covered in rose petals
Lisa's stone
Sharon with cousin Joyce
Matt and Taylor
Checking out the old barn and its many sky lights!
