Family Fun in July

The past couple of weeks have been a lot of fun for our family. On July 3rd Doug's sisters, Leslie and Melinda flew in from Yuma and Mom and Dad Hobbs drove out from Utah. It only took them 18 & a half hours. (We would love to have more visitors make the trek across the country to come and visit!)

On the 4th we went to a parade and the boys got lots of candy and had a great time. After we came home and pulled out the slip and slide and barbecued in our back yard. Melinda bought fireworks, so the boys had a great time watching them that night.


During the week we went to the Como zoo. It is a smaller zoo, but it was perfect since we were all tired from staying up late and playing games.

Doug and I have found a really nice park that is about 10 min. from our house. We spent one day playing frisbee, baseball and horse shoes.

We also had dutch oven and ended the day with smores... what a great way to end the day!

Grandma Hobbs brought nets and little cages for the boys to catch bugs. I'm not sure who had more fun, Andrew or Melinda chasing dragonfly's. I think that was Andrew's favorite part of the day. What a good idea Grandma had!

The last part of the week Doug and his Dad spent putting together our new swing set. They did a great job. Mom, Leslie and Melinda did a great job keeping the boys entertained so they would stay out of the way. Here Andrew and Jacob have their super capes on being spider man and super man. Leslie, Melinda and Dad also stained all the wood before we started the project. Now that it is done, it looks GREAT! Thanks for everyones help!

Grandma & Grandpa Stott come to visit

This past week my parents were able to come and visit from Utah. It is always nice to have my Mom come and take over the house. She cooks, cleans, gardens and plays Candy Land over and over. I always love the break from being mom when my mom comes to visit. Dad always worries that she is taking over too much, but Doug is thinking about having her come out more often to get this house is order. I guess this pregnancy is starting to wear on Doug a little. Only 12 more weeks to go...AHHHH. Then I will be back to normal...wishful thinking.
Anyway, while they were here we did a little sightseeing.

We went to Fort Snelling in St. Paul which was once the furthest outpost of America in the 1820’s. Today it helps to tell the story of Minnesota from 1820 until it closed in 1946. Andrew and Doug were able to learn how to follow the soldiers and march.

Here Andrew is being enlisted in the army. The guy there said the one requirement for Andrew was that he had to have his two front teeth so he could rip open the gun powder to put in the gun.

This is on top of the fort looking over into St Paul. Karen, here is my one and only prego picture.

We went to a beautiful flower garden.

This is at a park in Stillwater called, surprise-surprise, Teddy Bear Park. We had a lot of fun there. Jacob had become a mama's boys that day and wouldn't get in the picture.

Saturday Fun

This past Saturday we had a great day working out in our yard and cleaning out our garage. It felt great to be out of the house and not getting rained on. After a long day of work we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream and came home and played baseball. What a great day!

Spring FINALLY!

Here are some pictures of our front yard. We have loved being able to enjoy our yard this year. Doug & I planted lots of flowers and a garden for the first time. (We did plant a garden in Arizona once, but we planted way too late in the season and it just baked in the sun.)
The previous owner already had some beautiful flowers in. We added the purple and red, but the rest was already here.
Our garden.
We planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peas, red and green peppers and yellow squash. The boys have loved watching the plants grow.