Kitchen Update

For those of you wondering, we are 97% finished with the kitchen. I took off work last Friday to work on the back splash. Here is a before picture...
...and setting the tiles in place to get a feel for what they will look like.

Measuring my cuts...measure twice, cut once!

And here is what the tile looks like freshly installed...

...I still need to finish wiping the grout off the tiles and then swap out the outlets.

Then all that is left is some work on the baseboards and the kitchen will be done!

Chair re-do

I found this little gem of a chair at a garage sale a few Friday's ago. My friend Derek and I go to garage sales over our lunch break every Friday. I found this little guy for only $1. It is the perfect fit for our little IKEA table...only problem was the color.
Thanks to a little painters tape and some spray paint...we have a new chair.

Perfect size for when nieces/nephews/kids come over and need a place to play and color!

Stargazer Lilies

The flowers are in bloom in our backyard! We got these stargazer lilies from our friends Ryan and Ashley. The flowers were the gifts at their wedding...what a great idea.
Each year these beauties keep coming back!

This year we trimmed them and brought them inside to enjoy. Here is a great picture of my beautiful wife with beautiful lilies!

Taste of Hope

Saturday night, we meet up with our small group at church for Taste of Hope. That is Hope's summer festival to celebrate the end of VBS. Taste of Hope is a time of fellowship, with lots of free food and fun! There will be inflatable rides, water slides, carnival games, a gamers area, free food, an art show, Hope's Got Talent Show and so much more! Come and enjoy a time of celebration to thank God for all He has done through Hope.
We enjoyed a great dinner of hamburgers and corn dogs out on the grass. Except for Thea, she didn't have a corn dog, but she did enjoy her bottle of milk.
Hudson had some food and a bottle of water, but as you can see here, most of the water ended up on his shirt.

Hudson really enjoyed running around and Josh had just as much fun chasing him!

Once it got dark...fireworks! What a show.

We had a great time chillin' with our friends. Taste of Hope is always a great event with lots of fun stuff going on. I can't believe that VBS is over, which means the State Fair is right around the corner...and that means summer is almost over.

Lunch with the Pella V.L.'s

Saturday, after the walk, Heather and I met up with the Pella Vande Lunes for some lunch. They were in town running some errands and it was great to catch up with them. Nathan shows us what a great big brother he is and how nice he holds Aaron.
Auntie Heather and Aaron smile for the camera...

...not to be excluded, Nathan says "Cheese!"

After lunch, Nathan noticed a funny bike in the back of the truck, so I gave him a ride.

Chad wanted to test out the bi-cart too, so he took Nathan for a spin.
After lunch, we headed to Jared and Laura's house to drop off the bike, one last ride!

Big thanks to the Pella V.L.'s for taking time to join us for lunch, it is always great to see you guys. Another big thanks to Jared and Laura for letting us use the bi-cart. It was definitely a crowd favorite!

Walk for Military Marriages

Saturday morning at Gray's Lake, America's Family Coaches put on the 1st Annual Walk for Military Marriage. It was a huge success! Heather is the event planner for America's Family Coaches and this was her first big event and it went off without a hitch. There was a lot of planning and work that went into this morning and everyone had a great time.
We got to Gray's Lake at 5:30 to start getting set up. Our good friends Jared and Laura have this thing called a Bi-Cart, the front is a shopping cart, the back is a bicycle. We asked if we could borrow it for the day, since I would be going around the lake to put up signs and deliver water to the water stops. The bi-cart work famously! Gary Lydic could resist taking it for an early morning spin as we were setting up.

Aaron Siskow also got to bring his bike and pull along trailer to help out with signs and water.
First things first, he needed to count his money.

Then we mounted our bikes and headed around the lake to post signs on the route and get water to the water stations.

Once everything was all set up and ready, the walkers began showing up!

Then at 8:45 Gary and Barb Rosberg said a few words

It was a prefect morning for a walk...
...and there were a lot of walkers who came out! At 9:00 the walk began, 1.9 miles around the lake.
WalMart was a big sponsor of the walk! Go WalMart.

After the walk, it was time to party. There were inflatables for the kids, Chick-Fil-A, Blue Bunny ice cream, all sorts of fun things to do! Aaron ran into the Chick-Fil-A cow while he was counting his money.

Being a big fan of Chick-Fil-A, I got my picture taken too!

Then it was on to the sumo wrestling ring...Aaron and I suited up for the showdown of the day!

I give a thumbs up, which translates to "he's going down!"

It's go time...
...and we are ready to rumble.
...and down we go.

I bring out my secret sumo move...

...which clearly didn't work.

In the end, good triumphed over evil and I won, leaving Aaron on the ground...face down. He is lucky I didn't throw him into the lake, Andy Bernard style.
Miya shows off her cool face paint!

Our friends, Josh, Kelly and Hudson came out to volunteer. Josh and Hudson test out the bi-cart!

I missed most of it, but caught the tail end of Joni and Heather sumo wrestling.

After the walk was over, Aaron and I headed back out to collect the signs and the water from the lake.

Nice job Heather on such a great event. You did a great job of having your ducks in a row and you were quick to put out any problems. You were well prepared and it showed! You did a great job and it was great to see such a turn out for a great cause. It seemed like everyone had a great time and I can't wait for it again next year!

Ragbrai in Indianola

Tuesday evening Ragbrai rolled into Indianola. Heather and I headed down there to check the festivities. This days ride was the longest of the week at 77 miles...

...and there were plenty of hills for the riders along the way.

Heather and I got into Indianola around 5, I would say about 1/2 of the riders had arrived by that time.

We parked at my parents house and met up with our friends Josh, Kelly and Hudson and headed up to the square. It was crazy...people everywhere, but it was pretty fun too! There was a lot of people watching and plenty of people to watch.

Along with all the bicycles there were also a lot of hot air balloons flying. We walked back to my parents house and saw this one in the air.
My mom had some watermelon for us. It was a big hit, Josh, Hudson, and Kelly all loved it!

Heather and my mom, Keri, are all smiles enjoying the watermelon and lemonade. I think Hudson may have enjoyed the ice even more than the watermelon.

After the refreshments, Josh, Hudson and I played a little catch in the backyard.

We had a great time hanging out in Indianola and seeing all the bike riders. We ended up heading out of town around 9:45 and to my surprise there were still riders getting into town. I can't imagine trying to set up a tent in the dark after riding 77 miles, but that is what memories are made of! Big thanks to my parents for hosting us for the evening.