Happy Birthday Gina!

Happy GOLDEN Birthday G! Even though the years and the miles have separated us, you are still my most cherished friend. You came into my life when truly needed a friend and have been the best friend that I ever could have wanted. I have the best memories of fun times that we've shared. I know that I can always count on you to be there, no matter what, or how long it's been since the last phone call. I have loved seeing you become a wife and a mommy, and you are wonderful at both. You will always have a special place in my heart. I love you!

A penny for your thoughts?

The other night we had some friends over. Paige was going to the bathroom before getting her pajamas on and when she was finished, she came out with only her shirt on. She walked over to Mark and said, "I have a penny in my butt!" What?! She was waddling around like a penguin, with no pants on stating, "I have a penny in my butt!" When Mark picked her up to take her upstairs to get pj's on, sure enough, a quarter fell out of her bottom. I remembered that at the grocery store she found a quarter on the floor and put it in her pocket to put in her bank. It must have fallen out while she was going to the bathroom. Apparently the only place to put it was between her cheeks. I seriously have to watch this girl.

State Fair

We took Paige to the State Fair. Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Myra kept Alaina for us, which was fabulous. The fair is the same as it's always been, only bigger and more expensive. It's fun to see it through Paige's eyes now. She was a trooper and did extremely well with the crowds and all the walking. We packed a lunch, so the only food purchase we made was a Dole Pineapple Whip we couldn't pass up. The last time we had one of those was at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii on our honeymoon. It was worth it!

I had to take a picture of this calf. It was so cute.

We did do a little splurging/spoiling that day. We let her get her face painted. She picked out the windmill.

Paige and Daddy with the heaviest cow.

Paige and the heaviest sow.

Of course, Mark had to take Paige down the Giant Slide. I remember going down this as a kid, boy has inflatation affected the prices. They are making a killing on this old thing.

As you can see, Mark lost his cap.

And had to hold on to Paige. She is so light and determined to "do it mydelf".

I think they had a good time.

We had a great day and the highlight was going through the exotic petting zoo right before we left. The camels were totally obnoxious, and the goats tried to eat Mark's shirt.

Past and Present

So I know this post is way out of order and I will rectify that in a few days, but I wanted to make sure everyone saw this. We went to Old McDonald's Farm in Cedar Rapids on August 1st. We took Paige there when she was about Alaina's age and when I was looking up the old pics of Paige, I realized we went on the exact same day 2 years ago. So I've also included a couple of pics of Paige when she was 15 months, one month younger than Alaina was.

Alaina on the rocking horse.
Alaina on the pig statue.

Paige August 1, 2007 (I threw in this pic because at the time, I thought she didn't have any hair. She has tons compared to Alaina.)
Paige, August 1, 2007
Paige, August 1, 2009
Alaina riding the duck. I realized that Paige and Alaina don't really look all that much alike after seeing these pictures. What do you think?

The best pic I could get. I love their expressions and how each is unique to them.

Faith Family BBQ

Last night we hosted our Faith Family BBQ. It was lots of fun and is nice to get to just fellowship with each other for a few hours. We are so blessed by this group of people.

All the kiddos! Aren't they adorable!

We ended the evening with piggy back races. Totally hysterical! They were to run around the tree you see in the distance, come back, and the kids had to slide down the slide to win.

Team Mark and Paige won, only because team Thad and Christina went to the wrong slide.

Iowa born and FED!

We had the best lunch on Saturday. Most ingredients were from my garden and the corn was from Grandpa and Grandma. We had BLTs, homemade salsa, corn on the cob, and cantelope. Yummy!

"Stupid Mark!"

This is what I heard Mark saying from across the room. He and Paige were sitting on the couch so I went over to see what all the fuss was about.

This is what I saw.
This is what they had been doing.

This is the result.

High Flying Fun

I went home for a few days with the girls. My Aunt Pam, cousin Kristen and her kids Esther and Cyrus, were visiting from Virginia. It was good to see them and meet Kristen's kids. I didn't have my camera along, so I only have the pictures nabbed from my parents.

My Aunt Deb and Uncle Tim have a couple cabins on a lake nearby, so we all got together out there to visit. My cousin's wife was also out with her 4 kids, so Paige had plenty of "friends" to play with. Elissa is about 6 months younger than Paige and showed her how to swing over the water on the rope. They took turns swinging for HOURS.

I think this is my favorite pic.

Lainey all ready for bed.