~boots~

My girl and I have a lot of things in common. 

We love our boots, we love animals and we love the state fair.  

Our family had a great visit to the fair with our usual stops and a few new ones.  

It was cool and cloudy -  pants and even sweatshirts!  That's not a normal happening in August in Iowa.  

Friends!

Life is so good when surrounded by friends.  

Casting Crowns concert at the Iowa State Fair.

When you have friends that are good examples - good people, good parents - it only makes you try harder to do good, too.  

We are thankful these are our people.  

~ Maddens ~

A hot summer day with the Maddens was a good excuse for water balloons, slip n slides and Sky Zone.  

battle of the buckets! 

Maci, Ellie, Hannah, Ryan, Lucas and Cade.  

Dads in the background :-) 

Help? 

Dodgeball!

Cade and Lucas. 

Cruisin' = Hannah, Maci and Ellie. 

the work it takes to eat delicious food

It's an annual tradition and we would miss it all winter long if we didn't go to all the work.  

Great Grandma will do anything to clear her calendar and help!

The pile is diminishing. 

It was Lucas' turn to learn the technique of cutting corn from the cob.  

Working hard on the clean up. 

The aftermath.  

4th of July

We celebrated the holiday weekend with the Perry family in Galena, IL.  We rented a house and enjoyed the quality the together.  The adults and kids alike had a great time!   

We attended the Shenandoah Pro Rodeo and it was so great.  

The girls loved the pony rides, of course!  

A roaring game of Cards Against Humanity after all the kiddos were in bed.  

Leslee and Brian. 

Teresa and Brent. 

Connie and Steve.  

Michelle and Brad.  

The girls enjoyed a day at the spa and the next day the boys went golfing.  

Early morning snuggles! 

Sadie, Gramma and Grandpa's doggy, enjoyed the weekend, too.  

Michelle and Nolan. 

Just some feet on the ceiling...

Hannah and Leslee. 

Hot tubbing! 

Jumping in the bounce house with a photo bomb by Leslee.  

Pool time!  

My favorites.  

A fun time with our lovely family!  We hope it's an annual tradition.