i'm here!

Long break between posts...we have been busy!! July is almost over and it went by just as fast as June did. Ugghhh! I feel like I am missing summer. We haven't even been to the beach yet! But most of the things we've been doing are fun. Friends, family, etc. We did have a good time on vacation though! A few days away from normal life was really nice. I took a bunch of pictures, but they do not do justice! The Black Hills is soooooo gorgeous!! I could go there every year and not get sick of the views. We were only there for 2 1/2 days by time we drove out there and back, and one of those days was spent at Paul's Dad's Cousin's ranch (confused yet?) not too far from the ND border. AKA in the middle of nowhere. I'm talking 45 miles between towns, 3.5 mile dirt trail for a driveway, free-range cattle. It was fun to visit and all, but I could only handle living out there for like a week, and then I'd be ready to see some peeps instead of cows. Ha!

This was right after Paul's hat blew off his head! It was flippin' windy the day we were at the Badlands! We had to make sure we found a Runnings the next day to purchase a new one...it's his special IH cap...

Mount Rushmore

On the Needles highway

Look! Cows! I loved the 'Cattle at Large' signs, but I didn't get a good picture of one b/c someone didn't want to stop for me...

This is the driveway to the ranch we spent the day at. Yeah.

I have this feeling that August is going to fly by like the last two months have...lol. Lots of fun stuff going on though, and I am looking forward to it! Hopefully in the next couple days I will have a new baby nephew to share pictures of! So excited! I attempted making a blanket. It's cute, but not anywhere close to perfect...and if you know me, it annoys me. I wanted to start over, but my mom talked me out of it. I'm glad she did b/c I don't have time to make another one. :) I'll share some pics later once I finish the last couple stitching. Which I should be doing right now!

r&r

Tomorrow we are heading out to the Black Hills for a little vacation, and both Paul and I are pretty excited! Mostly just because we're both looking forward to getting out of here and having a break from work/life. It should be a fun trip, and I am planning on taking a boat load of pictures, so I'll be sure to share when we get home!

Friday at the end of the day at work, we got to go watch some of the guys that work at the hog barns we manage play soccer against one of the dairy teams. That was a pretty good time! Besides being stinkin' hot, that is. We also go some darn good fajitas for supper! The Mexican restaurant in Benson catered the employee supper for them and we got in on it. YUM!! Love that place! Here are a couple pics of the team, and the guys in action!

4th of july weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun. Again, we stayed pretty close to home. The parade in Hancock is always good, and we usually go to that on the 4th. It was extra-fun this year since the girls were there! They make things so much more entertaining!

 
 Pretty cute shades, huh?

The car in the top pic is representing where I work! (Nice signs too, I wonder who made them!?) The girls absolutely LOVED the horses! Especially since there was a baby one. It was pretty dang cute, who can resist any sort of baby animal? We sat pretty close to the beginning of the parade, so there was plenty of candy. I had to sneak any if I wanted it, otherwise it was snatched out of my had before I knew what hit me! Haha!

Saturday night we went uptown to the street dance. That was another great time! The band was really good too. And lets just say it's a good thing we walked home...

On another note, received this lovely package in the mail today! I am super excited to make a mini album. I've never done one before but I think this will be a great start. Now I just have to decide what I'm going to make it about...I'm thinking I'll do our vacation this year to the Black Hills. WHICH, might I add, is only a week away! YES!!!

This awesome little album is from Memories in a Binder, and you can find more here.

july!?

Can anybody tell me where June went? Because last time I checked it was like May. Seriously, I can't believe it's the 4th of July this weekend! That means that summer is half over! :( But we have plenty of things to look forward to in the next couple months, so it will be good.

I am happy that tomorrow is Friday, obviously! Long weekend ahead of us, nothing too strenuous planned. Saturday is when the parade and festivities in town are all happening, and I think that Paul's family are going to come to our place for a bit after the parade, so that will be fun! I went and bought a few outdoor toys for the girlies to play with since I'm sure that's where we'll be hangin' out. Saturday night there's a street dance uptown, so we'll probably go up there for awhile. I haven't decided if I will be having any adult beverages yet or not though. Sunday we're heading down to the big village of Renville to hang out with my family. Fun times! I'm sure I'll be taking plenty of pictures, so hopefully I'll have some good ones to share! I'm going to attempt to get some good fireworks shots, so we'll see how that turns out! If anyone happens to be reading this (hehe), I hope you have a fun, safe weekend! :)