County youth fair 2023.

We enjoyed the county youth fair! We've gone for a few years in a row now and it's a fun summer tradition. The girls love walking through the animal barns and the kids activities. Our week was quite busy that week with swimming lessons, dance camp, and it was the last week of softball, so we didn't get to stay at the fair as long as we have before, but I'm so glad we got to go for a quick trip. Kley was golfing league, so it was a girls outing!

All three were very excited for pony rides! They thought it was funny that one horse pooped and three peed (out of four horses) during their ride- when you gotta go you gotta go, I guess!

We had ice cream cones before supper. Who are we? A summer treat! Really, I'll eat ice cream in any season, all the time!

I love that Lucy and Ellory still think these signs are fun. :)

What a fun summer night!

End of T-ball and softball 2023.

Summer T-ball and softball has ended! It was a truly good season and each of the girls really enjoyed it. They were all excited to go and are growing in skill! Norah can really hit and throw! In her age group, they did coach pitch for five pitches and then you could hit off the tee, and Norah never used the tee the entire season- she got a hit every time! They also had to rotate fielding positions each time, but they got to pick, and Norah always gunned for first, shortstop, or pitcher to go for lots of ball action. Lucy has a fierce determination and competitive drive. She puts her all into every sport and truly loves it! Lucy also gunned for first base every time she could get it. Ellory is happy to be out there and tries hard when it's her turn, but isn't super aggressive, which is exactly how I was too. Way to try your best, girls! So fun to watch all three and how different they are and how much they learned. They also had fun with friends and showing good sportsmanship is super important too. Go Twins and Royals! Also, shoutout to Kley for coaching both teams!

They get medals on the last night. Norah's team was bigger than this, but a lot were gone the last week. Go Twins!

Up to bat for Norah.

Thankful we had many nights of beautiful weather for it this year!

Go Royals!

Up to bat for Lucy.

Lucy playing first and Ellory sort of playing outfield (they don't hit it that far this young, so they don't actually play in the outfield). 

Up to bat for Ellory.

What a great season!

Recent reads.

Praying Mom: Making Prayer the First and Best Response to Motherhood by Brooke McGlothlin- I read a little bit of this book each day as a devotional for a month or two until I finished it. I enjoyed it! I love how she weaved stories with prayer tips and advice. My favorite part was the end where they had different verses and corresponding prayers by topic, like prayers for when you feel angry, when you need peace, when you feel weary, etc. I loved how it was encouraging and convicting together, with practical tips to involve prayer more throughout your days.

Rockabye: From Wild to Child by Rebecca Woolf- I followed Rebecca's blog for many years (she doesn't blog anymore), but I always was intrigued by her writing and enjoyed following along with her family. It's been interesting to read her books (this is her first, published in 2008), as she delves even deeper than what she wrote about on her blog. This book is about how she got pregnant when she was 23 with her boyfriend of four months at the time. They got married, had a baby boy, and it's about her journey to marriage and motherhood and the first year or two of her son's life. We personally live very differently and believe very different things (she's definitely not a Christian), but her perspective is captivating. I enjoyed reading it because I felt connected to her from following her blog for years.

Fostered: One Woman's Powerful Story of Finding Faith and Family through Foster Care by Tori Hope Petersen- I have followed Tori online for years and enjoyed hearing her perspective about foster care and learning from her. I was eager to read her book and hear her story. This is an honestly and beautifully written memoir of her story. It was deeply sad to read at times, but I'm thankful she shared and that we can see how her story is shaping who she is today. It's beautiful to see the redemption- what she has overcome and her love for Jesus and helping others. She is young (mid-twenties), so I'm looking forward to continuing to follow her and see how her perspective continues to grow in Him as she ages and how she moves for Him.

4th of July 2023.

 Happy 4th of July, thankful for the USA!

Rapid City 2023- part 2.

More fun in Rapid City! We went to Dinosaur Park and took some fun pictures. I remember going there when I was younger too. Love the views! The girls commented about the views numerous times during the week- so much more mountainous than Iowa!

Love my girls! They were pretty great travelers during our time there.

Norah and Taylor, my cousin's daughter.

Fun with the dinosaurs.

Lucy and my Uncle Jeff. He married Aunt Darla later in life, so they don't have kids, so it's super fun to see them because they can interact and have fun in a different way than others who also have their own kids. So fun to have extended family that we don't get to see all the time love on our girls!

We didn't get to Mount Rushmore last trip, so it was so special to see it this time since the girls had never seen it. Norah wanted to see it because she learned about it in school. It was raining the whole time we were there, so we didn't get to stay long, but thankful we still got a picture!

My mom and my sister, Kayla.

Wet in the rain, but so glad we got this picture and got to see it.

It rained quite a bit during our week there, so it was a great energy burning activity one afternoon to take the older girls swimming while the younger cousins napped. They loved it!

Bear Country USA was another fun outing. It just seems like such a classic Rapid City event. It's super fun to drive through because you get to see so many animals up pretty close, and then you get to walk through a portion at the end too. Loved it!

We saw lots of bears and a few mountain goats, bighorn sheep, arctic fox, elk, and several other animals.

What a fun week! So glad we could come.