(The glass door behind the double red post on the North Suites is the door to our old apartment. We now live in the big white house. We have a basement, a large first floor with room for our dining room table, 5 bedrooms upstairs, and a finished attic that we turned into the kids playroom. It's roughly 7 times larger than our apartment was...)
We spent the next two weeks ripping out gross old carpet, cleaning up the old wood floors hiding underneath, and painting everything in sight on the first and second floor. It was hard work, but we love how it turned out and we love having more space than we could possibly have imagined!
About as soon as we got everything moved, unpacked, and settled we spent a weekend in Minnesota and then we headed to California for a week to celebrate Brett and Ally's wedding. We had a fabulous family vacation and made many memories that we will cherish for years to come. We followed that up with a long weekend with the Stanislavs for the 4th, an Avett Brothers concert in Council Bluffs, a quick get away to Okoboji, and a week at Bible School with Grandma Lisa for Mady and Drew. Then we came back and finished gearing up for Kendall to get back to work full-time on Aug. 1. And of course, we can't forget the other major event of the summer. Mady turned 7!
Mady is such a sweet, wonderful girl. She has a deep and abiding love for books and her favorite part about living in the new house is that she has her own room and gets to lay in bed each night reading for about half an hour after the boys go to bed. She loves it! Mady is very kind and compassionate. She's a pleaser and wants to keep everyone around her happy. I've heard that's a bit typical of firstborn children:-) She loves learning and can't wait to get back to school and weekly church activities. In addition to reading, her favorite things include playing at the pool with Kaylee and Maggie, helping in the kitchen, singing, photography, watching Netflix, and riding her new bike. We went from a bike that was a bit small and was so hard to move that it would cause tears during a quick ride up the street to one that is the right size and is well-made. The first day we went out riding on it we went about 6 miles and she loved every second. We were amazed! We are so thankful for Mady's presence in our family and we love her so very much!
To celebrate Mady's birthday on June 6, we went for a (very muddy) family hike at Oak Grove. Mady took a photography class through Orange City's summer rec program so she wanted to bring along the camera. These are a few of the nature shots she captured. She has quite the eye!
On the 7th we had family over for lunch and enjoyed some delicious AKA Gourmet cupcakes!
Then on the 8th she got to have some friends over for a book party. She was thrilled to be the center of attention and share the time with her good friends:-)
Though I'm dreading the cold weather that will be here before I know it, I'm thankful for the wonderful summer we've had and for the wonderful family that I've enjoyed it with!
Yay for the move and for a wonderful summer! We hope to connect with you guys maybe sometime this fall if we get out to NW Iowa. We only made it to Des Moines this summer. :)
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