We didn't fall off the face of the Earth

Ok, so we are still alive. Sorry for the delay in posts. We have been so busy with the 4th of July, traveling to Michigan, Jesse's test, Jesse starting his 3rd year of school, and me starting my job (which I'm sure most of you don't even know about!) I got a part-time job at South Dakota Public Broadcasting which comes with benefits which is totally awesome! Enough blab, you want to see the pics!

Here's Maverick chilling in his stroller. Carlee was pushing him all around the farm!Jesse and all of his fireworks! He was being a bad example...Maverick and Grandma Arlene just hanging out at the park on the 4th of July.Here's Grandpa Jerry, Jesse, Cristian, and Brandon in the Willow Lake 125th Celebration Parade. The parade was hilarious. There were maybe 10 actual floats, 50 old cars, and what seemed like 100 old tractors! Lots of candy though. Dad threw out popsicles which was a hit!Maverick in hit swim garb. He looks like a surfer-dude. Maverick and Uncle Seth. Maverick is wearing a doll's hat.

Maverick took his first dip in a pool. I'm not sure you can count it as the real deal since it was a 95 degree therapy pool. He's swimming with Anna, Lexi, Millie, and Grandma Sue!While in Michigan, the main event was Seth and Kari's wedding. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful ceremony. Maverick partied with all of us until midnight!Here's Maverick just being cute. He weighed 16#10 oz and was 27 1/2 in at his 6-month check-up yesterday! He's a healthy little boy!

Three Blissful Years

Wow, it's crazy to think that just 3 years ago Jesse and I got married! Oh, how our lives have changed. Not only that, but it's been a busy 3 years. I started my first "real" job at USD. Jesse graduated college, entered med school, and now has 2 years done. Not only that, but we've become parents!! Let's look back at a few of the highlights...obviously, the wedding was a BIG day. It was a blast.

Here we are in Ireland. That was an amazing trip! We also visited London, Spain, and Morocco. The picture over the river was our first morning in Ireland after our red-eye flight. We were exhausted but ready to go. After endless searching, we finally found a coffee shop where we could get our french vanilla latte! Of course we also had to take our matching red D-Days coats. Jesse and I are already known as that "old couple" who dress the same. This was our countryside tour of Ireland.

This was our trip to Washington, D.C. where Jesse presented his chemistry research. We got the chance to meet all 3 SD representatives. Here we are with John Thune; he is a really tall guy!! It was great seeing the sights.
This is a picture in Morocco overlooking the ocean. To Jesse's dad surprise neither Ahna or I were kidnapped! This was the day I had camel poo all over my shoe and the tour guy was yelling at me to "just get in the van, we have to go." A whole different world.
To this day, we don't know what we were thinking dressing up as clowns for Halloween. We looked like idiots! I really think we could have spent our money more wisely =) When Jesse and I look at this picture, we just shake our heads. Wow, we're weird.
This was our trip to Kansas City. I had a national college fair to go to, which we almost missed, that Jesse got to go along to! We were so lost looking for the high school. Luckily, Jesse navigated us to the right place. Not sure what I would have told my boss! We got to go to a Royals game-it was so windy that day. We also ate at George Brett's restaurant and added a glass to our collection.
And, Vegas; that was a lot of fun too! Throughout all of these adventures, there's no one else I would want to go with. Jesse brings the fun and love into my life and I thank God for him everyday. Really, how many get to marry their high-school sweetheart that they met October of their kindergarten year? To many more happy years.

It's been awhile

Well, it's been awhile since I've made an entry. The time seems to be flying. Jesse is continuing to study for his test on July 1st. Maverick and I have been busy going for walks. We made a trip back to the farm a couple of weekends ago. We helped celebrate the Spirit Lake Church 125 year anniversary. We were also home to celebrate dad's birthday! After countless trips to Walmart, Target, and Kmart, I had to settle with Catch Phrase for dad's birthday even though I wanted to get him Sequence. Apparently, it's only a "holiday" game and not regularly stocked. It's a good thing mom and dad don't have the internet because dad will know his Christmas present!

Jesse also had a great time reconnecting with nature. We went out picking wild asparagus and found this skull. Pretty cool...

Jesse climbing the windmill up north. He has mad skills; the new Spiderman!And, you can't beat a South Dakota sunset. Jesse was also practicing his photography skills.

Now, on to Maverick! At his 4 month check up he was 26" long and weighed 14 lbs 6 oz. The doctor said there was just a 9-month old in who was 26" long! He's already outgrowing 9-month summer clothes. He has a spit-beard. He wants to be like his dad!

Maverick and Jesse just chillin' in their undies!

Maverick is discovering his tongue and becoming a spit master. He thinks it's pretty fun!

Parades, Parades!

Here's Maverick being stronger than ever! We had a good weekend. On Saturday we made a spontaneous trip to Hartington, NE for their 125th Anniversary Celebration. The parade started at 1:00, and we left Vermillion at 12:30. We got there just as the first float was making its way down the street. Of course, Jesse was yelling "CANDY" the entire time. We got lots of yummies during the 2-hr parade. We stopped at a good restaurant in Newcastle called the Copperstop on our way home. We met a little old couple-both were 90! They were fun to visit with. They also invited us to the Newcastle Labor Day Celebration...maybe we'll have to make another trip over the bridge. This week Maverick has his 4-month check up. We visited a new baby in the hospital on Friday and it's so hard to believe Maverick was once that small. The time is flying!

Tulip Time

For the 4th consecutive year, we have represented our Dutch heritage at the Tulip Time Festival in Orange City, IA. To think, Jesse actually didn't want to go this year. It's a good thing we did because this is the first time the tulips were still in bloom, and boy, were they gorgeous! There were so many different colors and varieties. And, this year, we were even there early enough to get Dutch letters...of course, they were still all S's. Jesse will go to his grave wishing they made the letter J. Maverick was pretty good all day. It was really windy. We left before the parade was over, but it is the same every year, so we didn't miss much!

Although he wasn't in costume, we thought we had the cutest kid at the festival. We're hoping to get him dressed up next year. Maverick has really taken to drooling...sometimes he's like a little puppy.

We like to think that we can get Maverick to "see" and "smell" the flowers, but he really has no idea what we want him to do. The bright colors were catching his attention though!

At the end of the day, we had a very tuckered out little baby boy. He was asleep in no time in the car. We stopped at the Ice Cream Capital of the World (LeMars, IA) and had a cone. It was great. It was much fresher that the store...right. It was a cute little ice cream parlor. When we got back to Vermillion, our friend Angelica stayed with Maverick and we headed to the new Narnia movie; we both really liked it. I also helped plant the garden this weekend. We're having a community garden at our pastor's house. More on that to come.

Going Away Party

Well, yesterday I was "officially" done with my job when I had my going away party. It was a great couple of hours. The best part was the cool cake the office got me; it was even a Cake by Monica! It said, "You will always be our Top Gun." What an appropriate slogan. It was the best cake I had ever seen at a going away party at the office-any cake was better than trying to cut through the ice cream cake. Thanks to Darnell we each got 1/12 of a cake-the pieces were huge. Before we ate the cake, Steph had everyone go around and tell their favorite story about me...I think it was just to prove my weirdness. Of course, my childhood stories were brought up, my Dolphin Boy dance, and da, da, da, da, da, da... Barracuda. I look back at my time as an admissions counselor, and I really enjoyed it. I had the chance to do a lot of traveling. Pittsburgh and Austin were a blast. If anyone is ever up for the Melting Pot, just give me a call...I'm up for dropping a hundred bucks on a meal anytime. Oh, wait, I no longer have a job. Get back to me in a few years! As good of a time it was, I am very thankful and glad to spend my time with Maverick. He is growing and changing so much every day. This weekend we're planning to head to the Tulip Festival in Orange City. This will be 4 years running. We're hoping the tulips will still be in bloom to get some pictures of Maverick. And, darn it, they better have Dutch letters this year.

Baptism

Here's the gang that was able to make it to the baptism! Maverick was baptised on Sunday and what a beautiful day it was! It was a great day we shared with all of our family (we were only missing Ahna, Grandma, Sue, and the girls). The service went well; Maverick hardly cried when he got dowsed with the water! The weather was gorgeous. After church we had a reception with our cake with the fighter plane on it-it was awesome and tasted good too! After that, we went home and had a great lunch. Maverick got some neat gifts. However, there was one that stood above the rest-the brown bomber jacket from uncle Jeff. You can see I'm pretty impressed. After lunch we went to the park and played football and frisbee.

And here's Maverick just being cute and lounging in his boppy. He was so exhausted after all of his company that he only work up 1 time last night. I'm hoping to get a repeat. Thanks again to everyone who was able to come visit this weekend. It was a lot of fun! And, Happy 20th Birthday to Ahna today!!