Father's Day Weekend

It's always a great time when we head to WI to spend time with Ben's family. It's relaxing and most times just what we need in terms of jokes, laughter, and of course Emma loves playing with "cousin". It was a great Father's Day for Ben!

Daddy's are the BEST!

Emma loves her daddy! I love watching them play together; you can tell how much Ben loves spending time with her. He's an amazing father to our daughter!

Emma's Easter Dress

My Random, but Profound thought for the day...

After washing Emma's "Easter" dress for what seemed like the 100th time, I realized some thing. I am so thankful she's worn it more than once. Usually people buy a "special" dress for Easter or another holiday and kids will wear it once, before it's hanging in the closet collecting dust. I'm glad I don't care that Emma's dress is faded and that the bottom lace has fallen off. She's gotten good use out of it. For some reason it just struck me as profound today, as I thought of so many kids in other countries (including the US) that only have one article of clothing. Most aren't given the chance to fade their clothes because they come already faded. Our daughter is BEYOND blessed; she has several dresses to choose from. (I'm sure you've noticed from the pictures I take which ones she likes the most.)

I hope this strikes a chord...in a good way =)

Day in the Life of Emma

I guess I should say Emma's afternoon since I was working up until the time I took these. As you can see, the afternoon was filled with quite the activity (playing w/ her baby and cat, making stick faces and caterpillars, blowing bubbles, baking cookies, and of course fishing off the deck.)

A nice day for a walk

We had another great day together as a family! Even though it looked like it might rain, we weren't going to let that stop a nice walk on the bike path. It was beautiful! All the greenery was very therapeutic, especially with some of the apartment frustrations we encountered today. God is so good and He gave us a glorious day!

What a GOOF!

Emma's a silly, silly girl! She makes me smile every day!

Petting Zoo Fun!

This past Sunday after church, we went with some friends to Randall Oaks Petting Zoo for a picnic and to feed the animals.  It was a lot of fun!  Lorelei and Emma always play great when they're together; we're praying that continues.  Randall Oaks has a playground too, so the girls were able to play while the adults talked.  It was very relaxing and a great way to spend a glorious day!

I honestly don't know about Ben some times.  =)

Lorelei eating her yummy sandwich.  She's so good at sitting and patiently waiting to finish her food.

Let the FUN begin!

Goof balls!

You can't see it, but I'm making the same face as Emma.  =)

Emma was excited to feed the animals.  She tries feeding her stuffed animals, but that's pretend.  She liked the real deal.

Emma checking out how life looks on the other side of the fence.

The girls trying the cutouts! Yes, even Ben couldn't resist.

Who wouldn't want to be a deer and horse for a day?!

Our Family!

The Gruening Family...we love hanging out with them!

Enjoying a push pop is the shade...ahh the life!

This girl loves her sweets!

Trying to get both girls to smile at once was really hard.  Lorelei is better at it then Emma.  Emma gets distracted a lot.  This the best one of them with their messy faces.

getting washed up after eating a push pop

still holding onto her "flowers" even though she's exhausted

All tuckered out