Home improvement....continued
Aaron and I painted the dining room today. When we put siding on the house, we decided to get rid of one of our really huge windows. Of course, that left us with quite a bit of patching and texturing to do to make it look as though there was never a window! I figured while we were at it, we might as well paint the room a different color. We'll eventually do the living room in this same color, which is called "Cocoa Rose." I realized when I looked at these pictures that the color doesn't really look different, but belive me, in person it's quite a bit different.

Before--the lovely light pink that makes up about 99 percent of our walls. The previous owners apparantly loved pink, because my carpet is also a rose color.

The wall where the window used to be

After--Cocoa Rose

And the patched wall

Miranda's Baptism, and an afternoon at the lake
Miranda made a decision a while back to be baptized this summer. She said, "I want to show people that I am following Christ." It was a really neat service. She and 3 others were baptized in a nearby lake. We took this opportunity to spend some time at the lake, as we hadn't done that at all this summer. We pretty much had to drag Olivia away when it was time to go home and take naps!

Another week down....summer's flying by!
Not much has happened around here this week. Maybe that's because Paul and Miranda spent the week at my folks' in Chadron. They're the ones that did all the fun stuff. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of them at Reptile Gardens, Evan's Plunge, etc....But Olivia and Sonya managed to keep things interesting enough.....


Here are a few pictures that Beverly took from when the little girls stayed with them. I think that Duane's thinking, "let's see, only 24 hours until peace and quiet."

Hills Alive!
We went to an event in Rapid City, SD called Hills Alive this past weekend. It's something I went to a couple of times as a kid, and also once when Aaron and I were dating. It's an awesome outdoor concert that lasts for 2 days, and is FREE!!! It was an incredible experience to listen to music, and praise God with about 40,000 other people. It was about 100 degrees out, but it was totally worth it. Sharon, Jenn and Vicki went with us. We went to Mt. Rushmore on Sunday morning, as they had never been there before. Also, on the way back home we went to Carhenge. I know that was the highlight of the trip for the girls!! Ha! But it's a pretty interesting little Nebraska touristy thing :-)

Swimming Lessons
Paul, Miranda, and Olivia took swimming lessons this week. They all passed their levels. Olivia, especially, made huge strides. She started the week not wanting to get in the big pool at all. "I'll just take lessons in the little pool, ok, mom?", was what she said to me on Monday. Today she was jumping in and going under the water. I was proud of all 3 kids. I know I'm certainly not in good enough shape to do what Paul and Miranda had to do to pass!

Why I love summer

Sleeping in

Slip and Slide!

We don't have to fix our hair if we don't want to!

Harvest time

This is a typical sight in front of our house these days--tons of trucks taking wheat to the elevator. Aaron is helping a local farmer with harvest this year. It makes for long days for all of us, but we're doing ok. Aaron is such a huge help to me, and I'll admit I'm more than a little spoiled by all he does--especially in the summer. Anyway, I certainly appreciate him even more than I did before. Hey, we're about even for Germany now, huh??!! Except, I suppose, that I spent money to go to Germany, and he is making it. Hmmmm....well, it sounded like a good trade-off at first.

Such a big girl!

This picture of Sonya just made me realize how quickly she's growing up. She doesn't want to ride in the "baby" swing anymore.

Welcome to the world, Gabriel!
I'm excited to announce the birth of a new nephew, Gabriel Robert, who was born to my brother, Perry, and his wife, Katy. Little Gabe was a few weeks early, but both baby and mommy are fine.


getting a smooch from big sis, Elizabeth

The whole fam--Perry, Katy, Elizabeth and Gabriel

A long-awaited day

Miranda got her ears pierced today. She and I went to McCook after lunch and had it done. She's been wanting to have it done for ages, but we wanted her to show us that she could take care of her glasses and her bedroom. Well, it has taken some time, but she's definitely improved a ton in both of those areas.