A long way back...

Mark and I returned from our 2nd Annual (if we can swing it) motorcycle trip on Sunday evening.  This year we decided to take the bike to Lincoln to visit many of our friends there.  The trip down wasn't too bad.  We stayed over in Des Moines with Mark's sister.  I should mention that the BMW doesn't have the most comfortable motorcycle seat on it.  It's a custom seat, and my seat has some stitching and such that make sitting for long periods extremely painful.  Thankfully, we managed to find a really nice stadium cushion (memory foam) while we were at the mall, and that made things much more bearable for the rest of the trip.

This pic was taken at Holmes Lake.  Some of you know about Holmes Lake, and some don't, so I'll enlighten those of you who haven't heard of it before.  It's a man-made lake that you can't swim in, and it stinks horribly, yet, it seems to be a popular summer hang-out.  Lakes are somewhat sparse in NE.  

This is a picture of Mark with his best friend, Andrew.  

We all went to the Sunken Gardens on Saturday afternoon.  The Sunken Gardens used to be the local landfill, which has now been turned into a beautiful garden.  Picture is of Cindee (my friend and Andrew's wife) and their son Jon.

I love water lilies and lily pads!

The guys from L to R:  Jon, Mark, Andrew, Steve (a friend of ours), and "little" Mark (Andrew & Cindee's other son, named after my husband...oh, and "little" Mark is 6'2", I hear....and DATING).  

I was trying to get a really good pic of this bumble bee, but it was sort of inside the flower, which made it difficult.  Still, I love the pic!

I won't go into the conversation that was had about the statue in the background.  

Mark and me

Andrew and Cindee

Mark and the statue

I was in love with these gorgeous hibiscus flowers!  

You can run, but you can't hide..... [wink, wink]

More honey makers!

This was actually taken at the new rose gardens that are being put in across the street.  

For you Amy!  A St. Patrick's Day rose!

Saturday night, for a belated birthday celebration, my friends Romana and Cindee took me out for the evening.  We had scrumptious Greek food and took in a movie.  I had so much fun!!

The trip back home was a long one.  We did the whole 7 hours in one day, and I was more than exhausted when we got home, but we made it safely.  The girls had tons of fun with Grandma and Grandpa, and Mark and I were able to have a nice break.  

Thanks to all of our friends for making time to see us!  It was great getting together with you all!  Can't wait to do it again!!  

Meeting my new nephew

Well, the pictures loaded funny...

Anyway, I think I mentioned awhile ago that I went up to see my sister and family after Baby Masen was born, about a month ago.  Here are a few pics from that trip.

This is a pic of my mom and dad's dog, Tristin.  He'd been very sick for awhile (cancer), and they had to have him put to sleep the same day I left for home.  I think this is one of the last pictures taken of him.

Here are a couple of pics of Baby Masen.

Keatyn painting her nails.  I love the little tongue in the next picture.  She was really concentrating on getting it "just right."  :-)

Here she is in the big sister shirt I made for her.  (Well, I ironed on the patch.)

And, there she is holding her baby brother.

Grandpa Bob and the boy he's always dreamed of!  :-)

Proud grandparents

Masen and his Daddy

While I was in town, I was able to see a very dear friend of mine, Michelle.  We hardly ever get to see each other anymore, and it was so nice that she was in town visiting her parents when I was there.  I also got to see her mom (holding Masen in this pic) and her daughter, Riley (also in the pic).

Keatyn

Riley...this child is amazingly photogenic!  I took several pictures that day, and they all turned out beautifully!  She's just a gorgeous little girl, and very sweet too.

A smile from Masen

Michelle and I....you have to ignore my flat hair.  It was raining when I left at 4:30 am, and my hair straightener was on the fritz.  

I'm so glad I was able to go and help Tarica and Tilden out for a few days.  I felt like I didn't accomplish as much as I'd hoped to while I was there, but we did get a few things done and organized.  Plus, we were busy the whole time!  It was a wonderful trip, and I really have to thank Mark for taking the time off to stay with our girls so I could go help out my sis!      

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago, my friend, Amy, asked me if I'd take some pregnancy photos of her.  Of course, I happily agreed.  Her neighbor is a professional photographer, and she also took pics.  It was a very fun experience, and here are just a few of the pics I took.

This one was completely candid.  Amy's neighbor went up to show her the pics she'd just taken, and I had to capture this moment.  It's one of my favorites.

Here's another favorite of mine.  I loved the angle on this!

It's extraordinary the changes your body makes when you're pregnant, and it all (mostly) goes back again afterward.  A true miracle!

I once read somewhere that God makes babies so cute so all the memories of sickness during pregnancy and a painful labor and delivery will fade as soon as you look at their precious faces. Amazing how that works, isn't it?  ~smile~