Duncan

Our sweet little Duncan...so innocent yet so naughty. Got to love that face!

Another Beautiful Week-end

What a great week-end! The weather was so beautiful and we were able to enjoy it outside on Friday night at a wedding and then again all day on Saturday and Sunday. My absolute favorite place to be in the summer is our patio...my Mother's Day gift this year was patio furniture and it is so comfy. We also spent a few hours at the pool (inside) the weather was a little chilly for outside swimming. So I thought why not try out this swimming thing that Brian has been doing, oh my! I had no idea how hard it would be...so I went back for day 2 thinking maybe I was just tired from being out late on Friday but, no it really is hard so much to remember to do (breather, reach, pull, turn your body, look straight down, breathe again, ahhhhh!!!!).

Oetken Family Trip to Omaha

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Sunny Saturday in July

What a fabulous day! Breakfast with the two men in my life outside at the Market, shopping for a few bargains at the mall, home to hang out on the patio and catch up on some reading with Brian, beautiful day on the patio and loving this spot, (my favorite place to be in the summer), grilling out with the family and trying to teach Ethan to do cartwheels in the backyard, I remember them being so much easier to do when I was younger. Hope everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful weather today!

Baseball Season

One of the highlights this summer was going to watch Ethan play baseball. He enjoys any sport that we put him in and really tries his best. He is goal driven just like his dad and works hard, he really improved a lot this year and had a few double outs when he played pitcher. His least favorite position was catcher, too many ups and downs with all of the equipment but he did look cute wearing all of the extras.

Beautiful June Day

Here is a family picture taken in May, I graduated from Drake with my Masters. Finally this summer I have had a chance to relax and enjoy myself. I can get used to sleeping in and taking my time reading the morning paper with my cup of coffee outside on the deck. I love summers and all the relaxation that comes with it. I also like to have days where we have a focus and have things to do, but I am finding that this summer playing it by ear seems to be our plan every day. I am just enjoying time with Ethan and Abigail and time to get a few projects done around the house. I am enjoying our new patio and being outside in the cool mornings and cool evenings. I am enjoying reading books for pleasure and not for work. I wish everyone could have a summer like this to refocus and rejuvenate and to really love and appreciate your children.

Memorial Day

Ok...I am trying to get used to my new laptop and realizing that I have no pictures downloaded on here to update my blog so I will have to do that later. We had a great week-end together as a family! Friday night was beautiful so we grilled out and had a fire with Smores out on our patio. On Saturday we went to a great movie, Night at the Museum 2, boy is it not cheap to go the the movies as a family! Sunday we finally got my Mother's Day gift and spent the day hanging out on our new patio furniture followed by another great night with a fire, SMORES, and a few glasses of wine. Today I watched my little guy mow the lawn with his daddy and realized that he really is growing up fast. Abigail and I spent the day cleaning out her bedroom and boxing up many, many clothes and toys that no longer fit or are played with. She too is getting so big and I can't believe is actually 10 years old, I feel like yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital. Brian is asleep right now and here I am posting on our blog, he is up at the crack of dawn as many of you know getting ready for the triathlon. He took another spill on his bike on Saturday morning, AHHHHH! I would rather not hear about the accidents and cringe when he comes home telling me about them. Is this really better than a motorcycle? My hope now that summer is close is that I will get some pictures uploaded in a few weeks and fill everyone in on the last few months. They have been busy, fun, and full of milestones. Enjoy the last week of May!

Ledges State Park

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