Vacation: Part 2

One of our first adventures during our vacation was a cave tour. None of us knew that Missouri has the most caves of any state in the country! We all enjoyed the beautiful and cool tour.

Vacation: Part 1

Our vacation this year was to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. We enjoyed a wonderful few days there! The best part was that our house was at a golf resort that allowed for us to utilize their pool. Each of our five nights there was spent with the kids at the pool, which was the perfect way to wind down from a hot day! The best part, by far, was playing the "Color Game" with Justin. His intensity was scary at times but made everyone laugh!

More Cousin Time

In July, we traveled up to Wisconsin to meet the Koppa ladies and celebrate Lizzie's birthday. We met at a small beach and had a beautiful day to spend in the water. The girls swam the entire time and soaked up each moment with their cousins. The best part of Kate's day was discovering a new love of Noodles and Co., as they have the best parmesan noodles she had ever had. 🙂 That is a high compliment coming from Kate!

Happy Birthday, Lizzie!

Mabel

Saying goodbye to our sweet Mila in April left a big hole in our hearts. Millie is a nice kitty, but she is independent and skittish. We kept an eye on kittens at shelters and finally, we felt like an available muted calico was a sign. We adopted Mabel in early July, and she immediately brought joy into our house. Millie is still VERY skeptical, but we hope, over time, they will grow to enjoy each other's company. Welcome to the family, Mabel!

Cousin Time

Our summer has been filled with some quality time with family. In June, we traveled back to Elkader to watch a baseball tournament and hang out with cousins. The girls swam, laughed, rode/drove the golf cart, visited great-grandma, and shopped a little.

We love any time we get to be with family!

Volleyball Camp

Kate and two friends attended volleyball camp at Mt. Mercy again this summer. She had so much fun and did well! One interesting part of camp this year was having to go into the underground tunnels on campus to wait out a tornado warning. Kate said it was one of the worst 45 minutes of her life.🙂

She is about to enter junior high sports this year, so we hope her confidence continues to grow!

End of School

As we near the end of summer, I will try to catch up on blogging!

The end of the school year came as such a relief for Aud. She came back with two weeks left and had to maneuver the halls with a heavy bag and on crutches. She showed some grit, and we were proud of her! Aud had a great 8th grade year. She stayed organized, had very few social issues, and finished the year with nice grades. We felt very proud of her!

Kate had a great first year in middle school. She is SUCH an organized lady and is sometimes too hard on herself when it comes to grades. She finished with wonderful grades, too, and really had a great year socially.  We felt so proud of her, too!

Choir Concert

Only Kate performed at the spring choir concert, as Aud was still in her early days after surgery. Kate's 6th grade group does a beautiful job singing, and our brave Kate tried out for a solo two different times this year. She enjoys singing, so her career is only beginning!🙂

Easter

We had a beautiful Easter weekend back in April, complete with decorated eggs, an egg hunt at Geeka and Grandma's, and a beautiful church service back home. We love our time spent with family!

Mila

 After seventeen wonderful years, we had to say goodbye to our sweet/grumpy Mila in April.  She was such a loyal member of our family and stuck to a strict routine each day that makes us still miss her!  We love that girl so much and are so grateful for all the love she gave us.