Spring Review

Spring had definitely flown by for us! But before I get to the really good post - the one that everyon has been waiting so patiently for, I figured that I would take some time to review our spring happenings! Easter was beautiful, as it was stressfull. With Dad's heart surgery on the horizon at the time, we needed a distraction. The Easter Egg Hunt at Mom and Dad's was a lot of fun! Haley looked adorable in her new Easter dress, and CJ was dashing in his suit that he has been getting a lot of use out of. Even Shaun and CJ got into the spirit of things and

searched for the eggs hidden just for them. Though a little joke played by Sarah helped liven up the hunt for CJ a bit more than expected!

At the end of Spring Joe's cousin Travis, and his wife Nikki, host a Memorial Weekend Party that re-knowned in East Troy as being The Party of the year. With live music from the country artists David Marshall Band people come from all around. CJ enjoyed some ladderball competition with his friend and neighbor Brady.
Joe showed off his special TRV's Pub t-shirt. His status as a pub regular earned him a shirt with his name on it - thanks TRV!
Travis gets the bonfire started! Joe had been waiting and working months for this fire by collecting 50+ christmas trees just for this occasion.
This spring Laura and I attempted to kick off our goal for a healthier lifestyle, so we headed down to Chicago's Millenium Park for the workout of our lives!
Chicago was host to SELF Magazine's workout in the park, and with the added bonus of seeing Biggest Loser Star Trainer, Jillian Michaels, Laura and I bought our tickets and headed south. Though we never did get to see Jillian, we definitely had our butts kicked working out. Despite the mud, it was cool, and we had a great time! We plan on returning next year.
Before our field of a lawn was trimmed for the first time, we had a pleasant surprise in the form of this tulip that randomly sprung up in the back yard. Joe's sister, Janelle, reported that she too had the same phenomena in her yard, and it was determined that it must be their Grandma Marilyn's way of letting us know that she was still with us.
After the appearance of Grandma's tulip, Joe and I were inspired to attempt a garden of our own, and we bought ourselves some seeds, a starter kit and off we went. Everything started out well, the seedlings seemed to be taking off...
but to date we have one stalk of corn, no beans, some onions, some baby carrots, and the tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins have all died off... We will try again next year!

8th Grade Graduate!

On June 10th CJ's took his rite of passage, by participating in East Troy Middle School's 8th Grade Graduation Ceremony. It was a wonderful event. After we went over to Lauber's for some celebratory ice cream (Grandma and CJ stand outside the parlor). Pictured below CJ receives his 8th Grade Diploma from his homeroom teacher, Mr. Parr, who predicts that CJ, "will go far" CJ stands with classmate and neighbor Kayla (who swiped CJ's fidora) and later with his longtime friend and classmate Timmy.

Progress

Small changes have been happening at the house. Because we are not going to finance any of the remodeling of the house, we are doing small projects here and there. Currently Joe and his good friend Danny have been working on replacing all the cast iron plumbing and preparing for the installation of our water softener and laundry appliances (that have been patiently waiting in the garage). Joe worked hard one weekend and put in our camp fire. Eventually the the stone will lead a pathway to a deck off the back of the house. We have enjoyed the nights sitting round the fire with family and friends roasting some smores and counting the stars.

On Mother's Day, Joe's Grandpa Walt surprised us with a great present. Joe and I had just been talking about how we could cut our lawn that was actually more like a field. We sat down to dinner with our parents, sisters, and family and wondered where Grandpa was - he was late and Grandpa prides himself on being timely. In the middle of dinner we hear this noise, CJ comes running in the dining room to report that Granpa Walt was outside... on a tractor? Sure enough! Grandpa had fixed up a tractor for Joe and I and drove it almost 2 miles from his house to ours! I caught a couple pics of Joe mowing the lawn, like the happy homeowner that he is. Cj has been making good use of the fire pit as he has become more social. Below CJ enjoys a campfire and smores with his friends on the last day of school.