This past week was busy, but fun. We had 2 parties at the house, and also had a group over on another night. We still found some time to catch up on a few things and do a few things just for fun. It was a good mix.

Alan was out of town for a couple of days for business in Denver. We always miss him while he's away. Thankfully, Jadyn is handling his trips so much better than she used to.

Kaitlyn and Bryan went on a trip to Wisconsin with a church group. They had a really great time. They returned on Saturday. Lauryn and Aaron joined us for pizza that night.

We had our playgroup friends over for a little pool party on Friday. It was fun but busy, busy with 10 children and 8 moms. We always have fun, no matter what we do.

Kaitlyn left for school in Missouri on Sunday. We were sad to see her go and we will certainly miss her. But we know she will enjoy getting to spend time with Chris and her college friends. For a day or two, I had to remind myself that she wasn't here. I kept thinking that we needed to be quiet because she was sleeping in her room. :)

She started classes today. She decided to change her major from Political Science to Accounting. It will be interesting to see how she enjoys her classes.

We experienced the Great Minnesota Get-Together today. Jadyn and I went to the State Fair. We stayed for about 4 hours and it was fun. We may be going later in the week with family too. I decided to go today as well though, because you can never see too much of the State Fair. Usually, I leave with the feeling that I didn't see enough stuff. You can walk forever and never see it all. Hopefully some of our photos will be nice and I can post those soon.

Something exciting which happened this week is that 2 of the families we traveled with to China adopted little ones. The Grant Family was blessed with Emma. The Peed Family was blessed with Jackson. We are so happy for them. Hopefully, we'll get to meet these little ones one day at a reunion.

Here are a few more photos of our Texas trip. I think maybe they are "old news" now, but maybe you'll enjoy them.

Enjoying a snack at Grandma's.

Kaitlyn had a birthday while we were at my parents' house, so my parents invited family over for a hotdog cookout, cake and ice cream.

Bryan and my brother, cooking hotdogs over the fire.

Some of our family enjoying dinner.

Happy birthday, Kaitlyn!

One evening, we visited with Alan's brother and his family. This is our nephew Zach, playing with his daughter. I think she looks a bit like a doll in the air. Wow, that's some serious air!

On our way home from Texas, we stopped in the Kansas City area to visit with Chris and his family, at his parents' home. It was very nice to meet his family and they have a very lovely place.

Here's a photo of Kaitlyn, Jadyn, and Chris. Chris and Kaitlyn hadn't seen each other in almost a month. They look pretty happy here, don't they? Chris' family has raised 3 raccoons as pets, since they were orphaned babies. How cute they are.
Here is Jadyn with Chris' mom in the raccoons' cage. Don't worry, they are quite tame.

Jadyn with Chris' mom, Teresa petting one of the horses. Checking out the miniature horse.
A baby horse had been born that morning and what great timing it was. Jadyn was able to see and pet her.