Cheese buttons

I know for most of you summer is still in full swing, but for us we know it will quickly be coming to an end. Some mornings and evenings you can feel the fall breeze settling in. It is nice b/c fall is our favorite season, BUT NOT IN AUGUST! The other morning when Brian went to work it was 48 degrees! That was a shocker. Anyhow, so we have been as active as possible to soak up all our time outside before the snow comes.

North Dakota is made up of a lot of Eastern European immigrants. My dad says our family is from Texas and that is pretty much the end of the story. These people though, are very into their heritage. So, on Saturday we went to the "Northern Outpost Ethnic Food Festival". Yummy! It was located at this museum/park where they have relocated several old buildings. A school house from 1917 and a home from 1912, a railroad station, and a church. Baker found it very interesting.

Then, each "country" had their own little food stand. The Czechs were selling chicken noodle soup and kolaches, the Norwegians were selling Scandinavian waffles. We had sausage on a stick and fry bread (see pic) made by the Germans from Russia, who inconsequently could not tell me what a German from Russia was. Hmmmm....

We also tried cheese buttons, which are HUGE up here. By far the dominating culture is Ukrainian. We even have a Ukrainian Cultural Institute in town. The cheese buttons were not so great. They were stuffed with potato, cheese, and sauerkraut. You can see that they don't even look good. Anyways, it was really fun to try and be there with some of the townspeople.

You'll have to see the next blog to the rest of our adventuresome Saturday.

Ice Cream Social

So, this last weekend Brian and I had an "ice cream social".

I saw the idea in my "Better Homes and Garden" issue and thought.... we just have to do that. And we did! I figured out it is much easier to entertain with just desert, and you can invite more people that way. We are party people and it had been a while since we had a party!

So, Baker and I made little ice cream cone invitations and sent them to his friends and our friends.

We had some people bring toppings and some bring their favorite flavor of ice cream. Then we set up our back yard into "areas" (I guess you would call it). We had the serving table on the deck. I tried my best to make it as festive as my mind would allow. I found some ice cream art and just tried to make it colorful. Then Brian set up a tent for the kids to play in, we had a fire pit area (b/c it is in the 50's at night), and an area with 2 tables for eating/visiting. Brian is very good at envisioning layouts and then putting them together. It didn't hurt that our backyard is huge and we had lots of room, but he really made the space useful.

So, people came and could make ice cream cones or sundaes or what most preferred to do was eat Julie Beam's famous peanut butter ice cream pie. Man, that thing is always such a hit! Then we just sat around and talked while the kids played. We had 32 guests, several of which weren't even 3ft tall, but they might have had the most fun of all.

So, from the pics you can see the set up and our friends and the kids. I was proud of our party b/c one- we did it, it takes courage you know to throw a party. And #2- people came! I don't know if it was just a low activity weekend or what- but we were thrilled that we had guests. I think it boosted our North Dakota confidence a bit that maybe people really do like us and making extra effort to be social does pay off, for more than just us.

I also made these spoon shape cookies. I wouldn't call them a success at all. They sure looked easier on Martha Stewart's website. Oh well.

And the last picture is just Beau bee dobee.

I think he had a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and then a sundae with oreos on top (which you can see now cover his face). It was a very, very good night.

Wishing... aka Fishing

We have been doing a lot of fishing lately, or wishing as Baker calls it. We finally found a small lake/pond to take the boys to. They can catch small perch very quickly... and a lot of them. Just thought I would share some pics of Baker ha

ving fun.

Our first real family vacation!! Or a mini one

So we went to Rapid City, SD this weekend and had a blast. We travel A LOT, especially for people our age with kids our kids' ages. It is something we love though so we don't mind spending money on it or going through all the hassle of dragging kids through the airport and all the crap that comes with it. It dawned on me though that since Beau was born, we have not taken a trip that was not for Brian's work or to see family. The thought sounded outrageous to me, but I couldn't think of any exceptions. So, we made an exception this weekend!

Rapid City is only 4hrs away and full of things to do, especially for kids. We went to a free, outdoor, Christian music festival, which was why we picked this weekend. We couldn't stay for the awesome 3rd Day b/c it was too late but we did get to see Matt Maher and Neworldson, both of which we loved. The bottom pics are of the boys at the festival. There was a river behind the music and the boys of course had a blast playing it in. You can see that they were great entertainment for other music listeners.

We also went to "Reptile Gardens", which was Brian's favorite place. We saw a crocodile show and lots of snakes. Yeah. We also went to a fun outdoor playground built by the local Rotary group called Storybook Island. Great place to play. Baker said he wanted to move there!

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This is a huge tortoise. Beau hugged him and petted him and then just kicked his shell. Very embarrassing, but they let us stay.

Bob and Larry attended the music festival and we got to meet them. Baker is a huge Larry Boy fan and so he was so happy to see them. If you don't remember from my Vegas post, Beau does not like large stuffed characters. They scare him, so he just stayed in the stroller.

The best part of the trip though was SONIC. People, it is so sad to live without Sonic. I think we went 4 times in 3 days and the boys LOVED IT. Mmmmmm. Nothing like a strawberry slushee or a limeade and tater tots. Do not take Sonic for granted!!!!

Anyways, it was very refreshing and just nice to get away and be together!

The "H" Family

So, we had some visitors!!! The Hillikers came to visit us. I am still so shocked that they did. We usually do all the traveling so it was nice to entertain for a change. We stayed really busy, seeing as it was over the 4th of July holiday. All I can say is Jessica thought she was living the dream. She loved our small town life in Dickinson, ND. We kept seeing the same people over and over and it was just... really funny b/c she got a very clear picture of what this town is like (of course, it can be very different in winter!).

Basically we went to a Rodeo, a parade, an arts festival, hiked in the Badlands, shot off fireworks, went to a girly lunch spot, and had a terrific shopping experience at the local thrift store. That all was while we were referring of course. That is what we did the most of.

It is nice to visit with old friends, ones you don't have to pretend around and ones your husband loves and loves to pick on. If he picks on you, its a sign of love. It is very rare though and I am certain Jessica is his favorite girl to push her buttons. I missed those days, not sure if she did though.

How funny is this picture? Two of my Tulsa friends in my backyard in North Dakota??? I still can't get over it.

Anyways, we are very thankful that they took time out of their schedules to be with us. If anyone else is interested you can now fly to Bismarck from OKC for $198. That is just ridiculous!!! We have NEVER EVER paid less than $451 for a plane ticket to Oklahoma. So, half price sale only from OKC to BIS going on now til forever I think!

Father's Day

Here are a couple of quick pics from Father's Day weekend. The main highlight was that Brian built a fence. We replaced the final piece of chain link/dog house fence. It looks amazing! It totally improved the look of our yard and now our neighbors cannot peep into our backyard. Brian did a great job.

On a side note the weather is still awful. No sunshine, temps in the 60's. Boo. Oh well.

Isn't that the funniest pic of Baker you have ever seen? He was running at Beau to take the camera away from him. So intense.

Hope you guys are having a nice summer!

Party of Five

Soon, those will be the words out of our mouth, "party of five please". A shocker still for us, but a joy. Deep, deep, joy.

We have wanted a 3rd child for a while now (in case you were wondering if this one was on purpose... yes!!). I am certain I prayed almost every single day for a whole year for a baby girl. The Lord has delivered us at least 1/2 of that and I am very grateful.

I wanted to tell the blog world before facebook since you are my friends and you are obviously taking the time to read this while you are working and since baby Harper was a big inspiration. So, I am 11 weeks along and the due date is December 28, 2011. Please pray for a full term delivery. That is the #1 concern, since Beau came 8 weeks early.

Also, we will be waiting until the delivery to find out the sex of the baby. Brian really wanted to wait and over time I have come to agree with him. This is planned to be our last child and our last chance to experience that surprise that people talk about. I really wanted a girl, but I also know that life could be easier with 3 boys b/c I already know boys. So, the plan is to make a girly quilt and have a couple outfits for both sexes (and a headband) at the hospital and then we will just give the girl clothes and blanket away if it doesn't happen, although I think it will. If it is a girl I will have 18yrs to decorate a room and so that can wait. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with our decision. It helps that we will only be getting one ultrasound this time, but we never would have had the strength with the boys to wait. I didn't think I would have the strength this time either but I have surprised myself- so HOLD ME TO IT!!!

Anyways, hopefully you are celebrating with us and hopefully we get back to Oklahoma soon so you can know this child!

ps- the blog is no longer private. It proved too hard for one important reader so oh well- let the world spy on my life!