SURPRISE PARTY!!

What a DAY!! We started out at Lee & Holly Voss's house/farm for a hogroast in honor of the guys who are leaving. They stuffed the hog with 4 chickens and that was the best! They had tons of food to go along with the pork & chicken too. We had a girl there from California who had never been to a hog roast and boy did we tell her some whoppers! hehe Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long or eat too much because we were meeting up with the Vaughn's for steak dinner at the Amvets in Cedar Falls. Little did Dave know, Kandie had arranged a super surprise birthday/going away party for him. I will let the pictures do the talking here (for cool pics of the roast hog, go to Carrie's blog). Thanks to all who came, near and far (Ed Gabbard and 2 of his daughters came and even Lee and Dominique Gelder were there!)

Fun Weekend!

We had a very nice weekend, only one more to go. Saturday afternoon we went to Mike and Carrie's house for a "short visit." We got there around 3:00 and left at 10:00. We played pool (I beat Carrie twice and Mike beat me twice)and Mike made a bonfire with some 100 year old lathe from the upstairs room he has torn apart. Molly and Peanut (who IS a nut) ran around out in the yard with us. It's such a nice quiet town, everyone seems pretty friendly, and it's really not that far from groceries at all. Carrie and I went to pick up some wine in Denver, which is about 8 miles away. There was a lot of standing water in the fields and there is more rain coming. Carrie and Dave played some songs on the Baby Taylor and everyone took pictures with cameras, new and old. I look forward to spending time there when Dave is gone.




Sunday, we had a special visitor in the afternoon. His name is Brody and he is 3 years old. He had bananas and a hot dog for dinner and the adults had steak. We played dinosaurs and he let us all have one to play with. He is adorable! I've included a picture of Brody and Tyler together laughing. Tyler is a good daddy.

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We have had a very nice week this past week. Taxes are in and we get a refund. Yay! Dave has had fun ordering some "toys" to take with him. A Zoom H2 digital recorder that has many capabilities for recording music and audio files. Yesterday we went to Best Buy and he picked out a new camera. It must be the week for new cameras cuz Carrie & Mike bought one, Tyler bought one, and Dave bought the same one Tyler did: Canon SD 1100 IS. Laura and I are kind of jealous and want cool new cameras too!

Sharon came to see us all on Tuesday and we started out with dinner out at Brown Bottle - Yum! It was nice to catch up. Wednesday, Sharon and I checked out quilt shops. (I promise to take Elaine & Linda next time they are in town.) Now, most of you know of my love of fabric and notions. I have avoided all contact with quilt shops for several years now and didn't realize what a fabulous shop we had right here in Cedar Falls. It was twice as big as it looked from outside with tons of quilts to look at, great fabrics, books, and patterns. Sharon collected several fat quarters for her collection. We drove to Waverly to The Moose Patch, a smaller shop but also nice. When you're a quilter, there are never too many shops! I have been inspired to dig in downstairs and get my room in shape for quilting/crafting. Thank you Sharon, I had a great time.

I'm still struggling with my back; physical therapy is a killer but I just have to keep plugging away with some exercises and the PT. I am told that stress probably has an effect on my poor muscles. Woe is me.

Counting Weekends

Things are just going around here. Sometimes it feels like time is flying by and sometimes time just drags. Dave had his last drill this past weekend and was in Des Moines qualifying weapons, day and night. They wore their vests and put the armor plates in; Dave says they are heavy...Alan says they work. The unit is moving to Des Moines on May 2. We don't know if he will have weekends or not. It starts getting pretty serious now. It's starting to sink in with both of us about being apart too. It's hard for me to do much away from home or Dave. Kind of a "nesting" I guess.

I have included some pictures that will show you my entertainment this past week. There is Friday night when Carrie, Mike, and "little Mike" came over. Tyler and Laura were there too, and after a while, Jason stopped by. We had fun. Laura is modeling her haircut and pink bangs, which are even pinker now. Tyler has been making Laura look "dreadful" this week. Yes, he is putting dreadlocks in her hair but they both promise it is temporary (phew!). She does look cute but it's kind of hard to go on job interviews...hehe.

Blog you soon!