Moments 03 21 :: Week 04

On the last night of the soccer tournament, C and I ordered from the restaurant to take back to our room. While we were waiting, we got to see the most amazing sunset. 

The view while waiting.

We had brought most of our own food for the weekend. Besides dinner on the last night, we also ate out once for lunch. C's last game was 4:00pm, so after we checked out of the hotel, we went into Crown Point and sat outside. It was a really nice afternoon. 

Came back to this crazy guy. (We both slept so good while away...). He's discovered the bird feeder.

Finished this book. It was ok. I actually found the storyline and characters interesting, but couldn't really get into it and when I finished, was like "meh."

It was National Puppy Day. Here's Gretel & Van at approximately the same age. Can you tell who the biggest trouble maker is? (It's Gretel).

Van in a tree. 10 weeks old. 

He loves his sister so much! I can't believe she puts up with this. 

The car C drives was in the shop for over a week thanks to needing a new clutch (he drives a manual car). Not an inexpensive repair, but cheaper than a new car, which is not something we are about to do for a new driver. I kid you not, the day after we got it back, he side-swiped a garbage can and knocked the mirror off.  He was able to tape it up, but we are still trying to figure out what we are going to do about it. 

Brian is obsessed about mushrooms, so for his birthday, I got him a lion's mane growing kit. He named it Digs.

Sweetwater Donuts means one thing -- someone was in Kalamazoo. This time, it was Brian, who helped H move out of school. He finishes the last month online, and will be home for 5 months now. I'm excited, but that's a long time. So crazy that his freshman year is already over! I know it wasn't what we all had envisioned, but it flew by.

Big tree. Little dog. (So many puppy photos, I know. But they get big so fast.)

Moments 03 21 :: Week 03

First sofa snuggle session.

Daylight Savings ending meant witnessing a spectacular sunrise.

Van at 9 weeks old. 

This guy loves the snow.

Ok, so this happened too. It was slow. He inched his way onto the bed. But by the end of the night, this is what it looked like. They are too cute. 

This does not mean he isn't a trouble maker. This guy is nuts!

On March 17th, Brian turned 50. 

 

He's thankful we didn't burn the house down. I thought it would be a good idea to use torch candles. The packaging did say use outdoors, but I didn't listen. They were pretty intense. I did have the fire blanket close by just in case. 

It was a small but mighty celebration. The big surprise was a birthday video with friends from next door to around the world. It turned out pretty great. We had our traditional corned beef and cabbage, then C had soccer until 9pm in the pouring rain. We met up again for homemade funfetti cake. It wasn't what we envisioned for his 50th, but we'll have more celebrations in the future. 

C and I are in Indiana for a soccer tournament. (They tied the first game). We are right in the middle of nowhere Indiana. But, the Fair Oaks farm is close by, so against his will, I made him do the tour. The robotic dairy farm was really very cool. 

This was at the pig farm. So many piglets! We actually got to watch a cow almost being born in the birthing barn. We couldn't watch the whole thing and C was mortified, of course, but it was very cool. I'll stop by again tomorrow.

Born yesterday. So cute. They grow really fast though. It's kind of crazy.

Moments 03 21 :: Week 02

WARNING: this post is basically all about cute puppies. Because we got one! Meet Van Duke. We are calling him Van. 

He came with the name Duke, which Brian really liked. C was the one who got to name this guy, and he and liked Van best. 

Van is another crazy German Shorthaired Pointer. In fact, Gretel's dad, is Van's grandfather. 

Brian and I drove to Iowa, there and back, on Saturday to get him. 

The next day, C had soccer in Madison, so Van went on his first field trip - he got to visit the State Capitol. (He's not very sure about his collar though).

We were a little worried about Gretel. She isn't always great with other dogs. But I think she kind of likes that this guy is into the same things she is. 

Here he is on Monday. His 8-week birthday. 

Seriously! Look at these two. I'm pretty amazed, actually. 

I'd say he's pretty comfortable here.

Gretel is showing him all of her favorite things to do. 

Including her bad habits. Haha! Seriously, this is really pretty cute. He's a ton of work, that's for sure. But he's also pretty cool. I think we'll really like having him around. 

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Here's the Facebook post that started it all. We couldn't resist. 

Moments 03 21 :: Week 01

Pretty branches and a cute dog. Cool book too. 

It was Granny Joan's 81st birthday so we stopped by for a quick visit. 

C had a photojournalism class last semester. It was actually really great, because it meant he got to attend a few sports events to take photos, even though students normally couldn't attend. He really liked the course - so much he signed up for photojournalism 2 next year. His class made a book about taking photos, and this was on the title page. 

Look who's home for the weekend. He's been pretty bored on weekends at school. I really hope next year can be a little different again. Only a few weeks until he moves back home for the summer!

I've been killing the cookies lately! Seriously, I've never been good at baking cookies, but bought a new cookbook, and both recipes I've made have been perfect. These are Peanut Butter Pan Banging Cookies - from 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More. 

Took a walk with Gretel and H. Just look at how beautiful this is! On our way back, we saw a flock of turkeys hanging out in the trees. Witnessed a couple flying too. I didn't realize how good they were at that! It was crazy.