We're off to Utah!

We are so excited to be heading to Utah tomorrow. We have been looking forward to this trip all summer long. It's been since December that we've seen most of our family, so we are really looking forward to our trip. We will be in Utah for 3 weeks. What a nice long break! Jon is really excited, because tomorrow is his last day of classes, so he will have 3 weeks off until he has to be back for fall semester. I am really looking forward to getting away, just to take my mind off of things. I know many of you are always thinking of us and wondering how things are going in regards to having kids. Well, I just found out yesterday that our third attempt, while living here in Mankato, at IUI was unsuccessful. I am doing okay today, but I was having a tough time yesterday. Once I initially find out that I'm not pregnant, I grieve quite a bit, and I try real hard to not feel bitter or frustrated, but it's hard. Yesterday I asked myself, how many more times can I put myself through this. The next step we take will be seeing an infertility doctor in Minneapolis. I've been working with an infertility nurse practioner, who has been wonderful, but now she would like his imput on what to do next. I was feeling much more positive yesterday about adoption. I've never been opposed to adoption, but I wanted to exhaust all of my resources on trying to have our own first, but after yesterday, adoption sounded like a great way to go. We don't know what we'll do next, but I thought I'd let you know where we're at right now. Please keep praying for us, that someday we will be given the chance to be parents. We can't wait to see all of you in Utah.

4th of July

Tanner Jeffrey, my little buddy.

The kids love watching the fireworks that Aaron bought.
Look how intently they are watching.

Jon & Tanner

We had such a great 4th of July weekend. Friday Jon and I spent the day together. We had our traditional 4th of July breakfast. Every year we have waffles for breakfast on the 4th and then we have strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream or we just have strawberry and blueberry flavored syrups with whipped cream. It's a fun tradition that my family started over 10 years ago. After breakfast, we just hung out at home for a while, until we decided to go to the pool. Unfortunately for me, the pool wasn't open yet, so we came home and washed the car instead. By the time we finished washing the car, we decided to see a movie instead of going back to the pool. We went and saw Kit Kittredge, An American Girl. I know it's a movie for young girls, but I knew it would be clean, and I really like Abigail Breslin, besides the movie was worth seeing. I really liked it, and Jon didn't mind it too much either. We invited a bunch of friends and neighbors over for a BBQ and fireworks. The city sets off their fireworks at the stadium, which is 600 yards from our backyard. We had the perfect spot to watch. It was really nice once the fireworks were over, because we didn't have to drive in traffic to get home. Our friends the Jeffreys had bought some fireworks also, so Aaron kept the kids entertained for a while before the big show started. Thanks Aaron for the fireworks!

Saturday was another fun day. We slept in which was wonderful. We stayed up until 2:00 the night before visiting with our neighbor and her boyfriend. It was the first time we'd really gotten to know them, and they are great neighbors. Anyway, Jon and I went up to St. Paul with our friends Aaron and Carrie Jeffrey to the Taste of Minnesota. If any of you have been to Taste of Bozeman, I don't think this was quite the same. We never went in Bozeman, but this was basically a free concert, which we didn't care for the band and food you'd buy at a fair. We thought they would have some good restaurants but they didn't. Since nothing appealed to any of us, we decided we'd rather go out to dinner for the price we would have paid. We went to PF Changs and it was Aaron and Carrie's first time eating there. Carrie was in heaven, she wanted to try so many different things. Aaron is a vegetarian, so there weren't too many things that really appealed to him, but he liked it. When we got back to the Jeffreys, we roasted marshmallows and made S'mores for dessert. What a great evening. Aaron and Carrie have four kids, so it was fun for them to get away for the evening and go on a double date.



Sunday was very relaxing. We had such a an enjoyable weekend. We talked with our parents on Sunday and it sounds like our families had a great weekend too. I was having a tough time on Friday knowing that our families were getting together. Jon's niece and nephew were baptized on Saturday, so the whole family was together for a couple of days having fun since Grandma and Grandpa were in town. We wish we could have been there. We like Mankato, but there are times that we really wish we lived closer to our families. I sure miss all of them. I can't wait to see everyone in a few weeks when we go to Utah. We love all of you and miss you lots! We'll see you in three weeks. Yeah!!!

Happy Birthday Nick!

Nick, Nicole & Tara

I just wanted to wish my brother a happy 25th birthday. I feel so lucky to have such a great brother. Maybe because I just have one brother, makes him seem more special, but Nicole and I sure think he's neat. I can't believe he is 25, but I guess I did just turn 29, which I can't believe either. Nick, we miss you lots and can't wait until we see you next month. We hope you have a great day even if you do have to work and go to school. Nick is the best brother anyone could ask for and I hope this year will be a wonderful year for him. We wish you great success in school and in life this year. I love you lots and miss you just as much!

The Bowdens visit

We had visitors for the second time this month. The Bowdens, friends from Bozeman, came to see us last Friday, and they stayed for three days. We had such a great time with them and we felt so lucky that they made the effort and the drive to come see us, especially with the way gas prices are these days. We got up bright and early (early for Jon & I) Saturday morning and we drove up to St. Paul. Jared and Lorae wanted to see the St. Paul temple and they also wanted to take advantage of being at the temple to do sealings. Jon and I stayed outside with the kids while Jared and Lorae did sealings for an hour. After the temple, we drove in to St. Paul to the Como Zoo & Conservatory, and it was a zoo trying to find a place to park. Once we finally found parking we, really enjoyed our time there. We got to see all sorts of animals, monkeys being the favorite. We also got to go in a butterfly exhibit. It was an enclosed area with many tropical plants and all different kinds of butterflies flying around. It was really neat! We also walked around the conservatory where we saw all kinds of pretty plants and gardens. The zoo was really fun, but the kids were more than ready to leave. From there we went to the Minnesota Science Museum. What a neat museum? Lorae and I really enjoyed the area where we learned about different illnesses. The kids got to do a lot of hands on stuff from discovering diseases to creating a tornado. We ended our trip to the museum with a tour of the dinosaurs, which Danny thoroughly enjoyed. Sunday was a much needed relaxing day. We also celebrated my birthday by having birthday cake and ice cream. As you can see from the pictures Ruthie really enjoyed her cake and ice cream. Monday was another fun filled day. We went to the park for a couple of hours and had lunch. When we got home, the kids got to run through the sprinklers and then we ended the day with a yummy BBQ at another park with friends from the ward. Jared and Aaron Budge (Aaron is in our ward in Mankato) grew up together, so we go together for dinner, so Jared and Aaron could catch up. I think they really enjoyed seeing one another again. We had a wonderful, busy three days. It was sad to see them leave this morning. We've sure missed them while we've been here. We keep telling them they need to get a job out here when Jared finishes school. We'll keep our eyes and ears open for any positions open in the Chemistry department. We hope you enjoy the rest of your "two week trip"!

The bruise!

Showing off my war wound

Ouch! What a bruise!

This is a little silly to do a post, but I thought I'd do it anyway. Last Tuesday, Jon and I decided it was time for a little spring cleaning. Our blinds desperately needed to be cleaned, so I started the task while Jon was at the dentist. I should have waited for his help, because I got injured while cleaning the first set of blinds. I figured the blinds would be easier to clean if I took them down and laid them on a sheet. When I went to take the blinds down, all of the wood slats fell out. Obviously the men who put them in when the house was built didn't put the slats in correctly. Anyway, I left the slats out and put the bar that the blinds hang on back up. I didn't latch it back in, so it was still a little loose. A little while later, I had forgotten that I'd loosened the blinds and I pulled the string to make the blinds go up and the whole thing fell on my arm. The bar came tumbling down right on my arm and left a beautiful bruise. I couldn't believe how tender the bruise was. I thought it was quite and impressive bruise, so I had Jon take a picture of my arm. Needless to say, I had Jon help me with cleaning the rest of the blinds. Everyone has been giving Jon a bad time about beating up on me. Thank goodness he'd never really do that.

My birthday!

Me with my new bike.

The new birthday bike.

This post is a little late, but last Wednesday, June 18th was my birthday. I had a wonderful day. Thanks to my parents and Jon's parents, I had some money to spend on whatever I wanted, so Jon took my shopping. Shopping of any sort is not Jon's favorite thing to do, but he was so sweet to take me shopping for four hours. Jon gave me a cute black and white skirt for my birthday, and I was on a hunt for the right shirt to go with it. Thanks babe for being so patient and willing to go shopping with me on my special day. After shopping, Jon took me out to a really nice Italian restaurant called the Neighbors. The food was so good, and we were pretty full when we left. When we got home, I got to try out my new bike that Jon bought me. There are a lot of bike trails around Mankato, and I haven't had a bike for a long time, so Jon bought me one for my birthday. Now we can go for bike rides together. Yeah!! Later that evening, we met some friends of ours, Aaron and Carrie Jeffrey at Dairy Queen for ice cream. I had such a great day. We didn't do anything elaborate, but it was fun, because I got to spend the whole day with my sweet husband. I also got to talk to both of my parents, Nick and Nicole, which really made my day special. I sure miss you guys and I can't wait to see you in July.

Happy Father's Day!

I just want to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day. I have such a wonderful dad. He is someone I can trust, someone I can look up to and he's always been there for me when I've needed a shoulder to cry on. He always knew when something was wrong and he knew just how to make me feel better. Before I got married, he was the number one man in my life; and because of that, it was tough for me to let go. Even to this day, I'm still a daddy's girl. I want to thank you Dad, for all that you've done for me. For the love and support you've given me and for letting me know how much you care. I miss you Dad and hope you know how much I love you. I can't wait until the day Jon has a little girl too, so he can have the same kind of relationship you and I have. I love you!

I really do look forward to the day that Jon becomes a dad. Just yesterday he had an awakening experience. He went to the hospital to give a blessing to a lady in the ward who was having a baby, and being near the nursery and seeing all the babies really made him nervous. He said he was really questioning if he could be a dad. I know he will be a wonderful dad when that day comes. I've seen how he is with our friends kids and he will do a great job.

I also have a good father-in-law who is such a good example to his family. Thanks for all you do for each of us.

Happy Father's Day!