Surprise Visit from the Gerlach Family!

Today, we had a wonderful surprise. Mark, Sylvia, Melissa, Andrew and the newest family member, four-month old Nathanial came to visit from out-of-town.
We had a wonderful afternoon visiting and catching up, but mostly enjoyed little Nathanial. What a cutie! Congratulations Melissa and Everett on your new baby boy!

It's hard to imagine our little school-girls, Heather and Melissa are all grown up.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat . . .

. . . gently down the Illinois River.

Guess our Lego Project!

We decided to get a summer Lego project to build. Hannah started it this morning, but we will wait for Brian as he wants to help work on the project also.

Here are a few photos of the blocks. Can you guess what we are going to build?














We'll post our project when it is finished.

Do not squander TIME, for that is the stuff life is made of. -Benjamin Franklin

Our new kitchen clock. In the middle of the night, we had bad storms. There was one extremely large crack of thunder that woke us all up. I also heard something fall. I checked, but didn't find anything. The next morning, Brian told me the kitchen clock had fallen off the wall. The thunder had knocked it off the wall. It was broken.

Today, we went shopping for a new clock. Hannah wanted this clock so bad. It was a heart shape and that is her favorite shape. I didn't want to get it because I thought it was too small. I ended up agreeing to this heart clock.

I hung the clock this evening and couldn't believe how adorable it looked on our wall. I was so happy Hannah chose this one and that she persisted in me getting it. Hannah sees hearts in so many things. We photograph things we see that have a heart shape. Every time I look at the time on this clock, I will think of my Hannah who loves hearts and whom I love very much.

Here are some of her current heart finds. Hannah found a heart shaped cloud the other afternoon.
Then she found heart shaped pickles at lunch last week.

Here was one of her first heart shape finds. She was eating an apple and her bite and my bite combined took the shape of a heart. That was one of the first hearts that started her photographing heart shapes in every day things. This one is my favorite. How did she ever see this tiny heart of chocolate milk in the milk lid?
How appropriate for her to find her favorite shape in her favorite chocolate chip cookies.

One Man's Trash is another man's Treasure.

That time again - Garage Sale. We decided to put a few things out at our neighborhood garage sale. Grandma H sent some of her crafts for Hannah to sell. We also have some plants to sell. We got rained out today and put everything away until tomorrow. Then spent the rest of the day riding bikes. Hannah can't stop riding her bike. She is really good.

WAY TO GO, HANNAH!!!!!!!

Hannah and I went to the park tonight to work on her learning to ride her bike. Brian couldn't go. I had to push Hannah to not give up and was a bit tough on her, but SHE DID IT. She finally got the feel and was able to ride. She then rode around the path over and over as I got to jog. It was a wonderful feeling. The lightning bugs came out in the woods and it was the most special evening.


The first thing I did when we returned home was remove the "trail-a-bike" off my bike. It is the bike that Hannah has been riding that is attached to my bike. It is the funnest thing, but she is getting too old to ride it and too heavy for me to pull her.

Then Brian came home and Hannah showed him that she could ride her bike. She rode around the cul-d-sac in the dark. That is where the above photo is taken. We both rode our bikes until 10:00.

CONGRATULATIONS HANNAH!!!!!!

Taking off for our first bike ride together, on separate bikes.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, this is fun!!!!!!!!

To all the men in our lives - Happy Father's Day!

We just wanted to take a moment to express our love to all the important men in our lives . . .

Brian - Thanks for being the best big brother and son. You are wonderful and we love you!

Matt - Thanks for being a super cool Uncle and brother. We love you!

Grandpa H - Thanks for ALL you do for us. Happy Father's and Grandfather's Day! We love you.

Grandpa C - Thanks for being you. We miss you. Happy Father's and Grandfather's Day. We love you.

If at first you don't succeed . . .

. . . try, try again. We have decided that this summer Hannah has to learn to ride her bike. She really wants to, but just hasn't been able to. So with Brian's help, we are going to tackle this challenge - teaching Hannah how to ride her bike.

We went to the path at the park tonight and ran with Hannah back and forth. Brian was amazingly kind and patient. It is going to take a few trips to the park and lots of energy, but we are on a mission.

Emily came with us and was able to get these great photos for us.

So many quilts, so little time.

Today we ventured to a Quilt Show. There were many quilts and many quilt makers.
We saw so many quilts that gave us ideas and inspired us.
The only problem is we just don't have any time to begin another project. We have so many projects already started and better finish those before we start another.
But it was fun to see all the projects others have made.

What to do in the Summer?

Summer wouldn't be summer without joining the Library Reading program. This year's theme is "Catch the Reading Bug!". This is perfect for Hannah who loves bugs.

Today we went to the Library's first event. It was Magic and Clowning with Dustin. He had a neat little show. Hannah invited Jonathon to go with her and the two of them laughed and enjoyed the show.

After the show, Hannah and Jonathon headed for the bookshelves to check out some cool books to read. If they read enough books, they can earn a ladybug. Hannah is on a mission to earn that ladybug.

Summer is for READING!

It's the Little Moments that Make Life BIG..

Summer is here and we are waiting to plan some exciting trips. Hannah can't wait for her sis, Heather, to come home so we can have some adventures. Her sis works at a cool job and is very busy. She also has a boyfriend, Will, that keeps her busy. She will be taking some of her own trips, then she plans on coming home to Our World so we can go rafting, hiking, fishing and just hanging out.

We visited Her World and enjoyed seeing her office. She loves her job and does really interesting things.

Hannah loves visiting Heather and can't wait for her to come home.