Father's Day weekend

It's been a busy weekend for us! We started it off by having Adrian & Abby (Amy's cousin and his wife) over for supper on Friday night. Well, supper was actually breakfast since we munched on pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon. Adrian & Abby are expecting a little boy on July 12 so there was lots of baby and birthing talk around the dinner table. We can't wait to meet their little guy!


On Saturday we made our first long distance trip with Madeline... all the way to Clayton, NC! Roger and Sharron (we consider them to be Josh's second set of parents) made their last house payment in May so they threw a big party for all their friends to celebrate with them as they burned their mortgage. It was so much fun to get out and see our friends and Josh's family, show off Madeline, and watch a mortgage burn.

For Josh's first Father's Day celebration, we joined the crowds out at Kemp's Seafood House on Sunday for huge plates of fried seafood and hushpuppies. We also celebrated by doing those typical father-type activities: watching golf and taking naps (sometimes simultaneously).

This one's for the girls...

For those women out there who enjoy a little motivational/inspirational reading every now and then, I highly recommend We Are Our Mothers' Daughters by Cokie Roberts. It's a collection of essays that are a pretty quick read, even for those of us with many other things going on in our lives. I thought it was especially appropriate for those of us who need a little encouragement as we face new challenges in life. As such, I'm thinking of giving it as a graduation gift to my Theta advisees next May. Happy reading!

Ladies who lunch

Today Madeline took her first excursion. She accompanied Amy, Grandma Bartel and Grandma Lingenfelser to lunch at Ted's Montana Grill (mmm.... yummy burgers and cherry lemonade). Amy forgot to bring the camera along to document this momentous occasion but everyone was all smiles (well, Madeline slept the whole time but the rest of us were smiling).

Highlights

Over the past 12 days we've managed to stay awake long enough to take a few pics of our goings on. If only we were fast enough to capture all the photogenic moments!

Grandma Bartel (Gra-Gra as Katina calls her), Amy and
Madeline leaving the hospital. Thanks for the flowers, Heidi!

Grandpa Bartel getting some quality time.

Pickles checking out the new addition (the kitty was
a little intimidated -- check out her puffed up tail!).

Bathtime with Gra-Gra, the expert.

Practicing for football season -- "Good for a Wildcat touchdown!"