On Wednesday my brother, his wife and 3 boys came to WI to visit! It has been really fun having them here. We went down to Lake Michigan Wednesday night to just throw rocks in the lake and hangout. David had the brilliant idea to bring his sling-shot so that everyone could have the "opportunity" to hit birds. Rude I know. It was good for the kids to just play outside. Yes that is my 12 year-old nephew that is taller than all of us.




After the lake we went to Solly's for a butter burger. David and I were lucky enough to see the stick of butter on each bun as they made them so we quickly wiped it off when they came. We got some strange looks from others when they saw us trying to be as healthy as we could here in WI.

Calling all chocolate lovers

Seriously this cake stuff is getting a little out of control. If you scroll down this page you will see that every other post is Chicago, cake, Chicago, cake. I guess I need a new hobby.

Today was the BYU/Kohl's BBQ and I had to miss it (dang work) so David went to represent the Luke name and took this cake with him. It is a dark chocolate cake with cream cheese/cool whip filling and a milk chocolate frosting. For those who cannot tell what this is it is a grill with a cheeseburger and hot dogs. I made the hamburger and charcoal out of oreos and the dogs and cheese are starbursts. I had a fun time making it!

O'Hare O'Hare is my sister in-law?

Today David's sister had a 6 hour layover at the O'Hare airport in Chicago so we translated that as ROAD TRIP!!! It was SO wonderful to see her. She is such a fun person and I was really glad to be able to spend some time with her before she headed back home. We pretty much just walked around Chicago, looked at the face fountains, ate pizza.

On the way home David and I were talking about how we've been to Chicago a good handful of times yet we still don't really know what to do or where to go. Hopefully this summer we'll risk it and stray to a new part of town. Anyway it was great seeing her and again if anyone wants to come out you know who to call!





Yes I know this picture of David and I looks like a wedding announcement or something. Well who really wears their sunglasses and holds a jacket in a wedding announcement???

It finally happend!

OK after living here for exactly one year I finally said my first real Wisconsin word...and this was SO not on purpose! I was doing a return for someone at work and said "ok so 47.53 will just go BAAACK on your card." I like stopped for a second and just thought about what I had done. I started to chuckle to myself and then realized that if I explained why I was laughing that would probably be really rude (you know not that laughing for no reason isn't rude but whatev)anyway I just couldn't believe my own ears...and mouth!

Good read

Ok so I was a little skeptical about reading this because my sweet dear friend who basically forced me to read it (jk Miriam) is like a book worm and then there is me who still loves Super Fudge and Goosebumps. Anyway I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! It is seriously such a page turner and once you get through the first like 3 chapters(I had to reread chapters 2-3 and then I was like "pish...forget that")everything is so fab. I would definitely recommend this to anyone or everyone for that matter.

Childhood is calling

My mom used to make these cupcake cones for us when we were little and this past Saturday one of my primary kids was getting baptized so I decided to whip up a batch. Hey I loved em' when I was 8 and have times really changed that much??? David was afraid they would be too messy (ba humbug)and I was afraid I made too many. Anyway they were a hit and the kids stayed clean! I had a little run-in with the food coloring and it won...a little on the bright side but at 10:30 pm whatcha gonna do?

In good company

A few weeks ago my mom came out and stayed with us for a few days which was just what we needed. It was great having her here and gave us an excuse to get out and do some fun things. We did the usual shopping, eating, Kopps custard, etc. We also took a day trip to Chicago because she had never been there before. David and I had never been to Navy Pier either so we strolled around there for awhile, climbed up the Hancock Building (by elevator!) ate yummy deep-dish pizza and just walked around the city. It was wonderful having her here and for any of you thinking about a little vacation spot we're always happy to have visitors!

Hidden blessings

For those who don't already know on May 2nd the Lord had other plans for our little family. It has been 12 days since we lost our little (boy) Luke and I can honestly say that this has been the most traumatic yet peaceful and eye-opening experience in my life. I have had time to reflect on how loving our Heavenly Father is and how blessed I have been. This experience has helped shape me into the kind of person, mother, friend, daughter and wife that I want to become.

Some things I have gained from this experience:
*I can not control everything in my life and that is okay
*I have a VERY loving,supportive and kind husband who I feel so blessed to be with
*The love from friends, family, neighbors and strangers is sometimes overwhelming
*The meaning of true charity and compassion
*The power of prayer
*What a blessing life truly is