Big ol' apple pie!

Mom gave me some apples from her neighbor's orchard. She gave me quite a few of them and they needed to be used up so I made a pie...

Bluesmore at Brucemore

We got together with friends on the first Saturday of August to listen to some great music, eat some fun foods and enjoy catching while at Brucemore. This is actually the first place that that I had met the Schaefers and the Roberts families when Michael and I were dating. 

Meredith

The weather this summer has just been crazy in the Iowa City area.  Floods, warm weather, drought, and now record cold!  2013 has really been the summer if extremes!  

And here's a picture of Meredith. 

He's much better at picking it out

Michael gave me a beautiful bracelet for my birthday.  He is so much better at picking that stuff out than I would ever be.  He also got me a really cool insulated lunch bag, too!  I needed one and he totally understands the practical side of me too. :-). 

The Color Run Milwaukee - 7/28/2013

When I found out that the Color Run was going to be in Milwaukee on my birthday I HAD to get Melissa to do the 5K with me. The Color Run is advertised as "the Happiest 5k" - it's a 5k walk/run where they throw colored cornstarch on you during the run. They have them all across the country. I missed it last year b/c I couldn't drive due to a seizure. And this year I couldn't drive either, but luckily Michael was able to get off of work so that we could go to Milwaukee to see Melissa.  

We had a great time!  I was glad Melissa was an "experienced" Color Runner. She had all sorts of pointers when the color stations came up.  She and I chatted while alternating walking and running. That was actually a SUPER cold day across the Midwest.  On July 28th I think it was around 50 degrees at 8am in Mikwaukee!  50's?  In July?!?!?  I think that Dubuque even hit a record low that day. 

And you can see from the pics below we definitely got hit with color. And although Michael didn't participate, he still got colored while trying to take pictures of us during the run. 

Aaaay and Solly's burgers

On Saturday, July 28th we had a fun day in Milwaukee with Melissa. In the morning all three of us took a nice, long 3 mile walk along the lake by Melissa's place. So pretty, but chilly!  It was only 60 degrees out. Can you believe that?  60 degrees on July 27th?  

After we got back we got ready and then went to do a little shopping and then went to Solly's Burgers. These were the REAL definition of a butter. They had a HUGE slab of butter on them between the burger and the bun. Now, I love butter, but I thought that this burger was kind of gross - way too much butter.  But Michael thought that the burger was good. But I will say that Solly's had great malts. They were yummy!  Melissa and I split a chocolate malt.  Michael had a Chocolate Cherry malt.  They were great!  

After burgers, fries and malts we went to go see the "Bronze Fonz". 

For supper it was delicious spinach lasagna rolls by Melissa, Fincel's sweet corn, sourdough bread from the Milwaukee Public Market and cabbage from mom's garden. Delicious. 

Wisconsin Fish Fry!!

We headed to Melissa's in Milwaukee on Friday, July 26th. And since we were in the land of Friday Fish Fry, I HAD to have some.  We went to Adaberry's - cool little  restaurant/sports bar. Fish Fry was AWESOME!   I would highly recommend.  

Stupid seizures

Unfortunately I had another seizure on the morning of 7/14 and missed the Arnold family reunion.  

I didn't bite my tongue this time but I really did a number on my calf during this seizure.  The bruises are all colors of the rainbow. :-s

Alex our Big Broadway Star

Alex was enrolled in a weeklong theatre camp at the Civic Center in Des Moines.  She is a wonderful performer. She is a gifted actress and singer.  We got to attend her performance of Blackbeard the Pirate. She was a mermaid and even had a line. These aren't the best pics but you can still see that she had a great time.  

Olivia at Bat

Michael and I were able to go see Olivia play varsity softball with her Ankeny H.S. in Ottumwa, IA. She had an awesome day offensively and defensively. Here are some pics: 

Independence Day 2013

We had a great time over the 4th if July holiday weekend.  Schwake came down from Madison on Thursday the 4th.  After he got here, and after Lis and John arrived, we had a wonderful meal of smoked ribs, potato salad, chips and guacamole!  After eating, we all went to Cedar Rapids for a Kernels baseball game.  They were playing the Timberrattlers. (The team is from WI - up by Becky's near Green Bay). The weather made it a great day for baseball.  After the game we came and snacked on more ribs!  

Since the Fourth of July was on a Thurs I had to work on Friday. So Michael, Lis and Schwake went to Des Moines to meet up with some old Wartburg college friends. They all had a great time seeing people that they hadn't seen in years.  Friday night after I got home from work, Schwake, Lis, Michael and I went to Jazz Fest in downtown Iowa City.  We listened to some fantastic music on the Pentacrest.  Then walked to the back side of the Pentacrest and watched the spectacular Iowa City fireworks.  They always do a fabulous job and this time it was no different.

Michael's driving an Army truck!

We went to my cousin Sue's place for a visit. While out there, she told us of the army vehicles (yes, plural) that her husband had bought.  Chris showed Michael the vehicle, let him practice and then Michael took us out for a spin.  The shocks weren't great :-) but it was awesome to ride in it and have just a little taste of what something as simple as driving is like for the men and women in the army.  

Just hangin' with the goddaughter

How cute is Johanna??

Auntie Melissa....

... I need you to make me a bigger basket.  -Carver

Pre-Independence Day Test Ribs

Michael want to smoke some "meats" for Independence Day so this was a practice run.  Doesn't look too bad, huh?  (The ribs, I mean)

The Nieces and Nephew

A couple of pictures of the nieces and nephew after the baptism. 

Homemade Mulberry Pie

Michael and I spent an hour in the park by our house picking some mulberries.  We got enough for a pie. I used Ellen's recipe for crust and both the pie and crust turned out great!  I was pretty happy with it.  

And I had to make the cinnamon sugar crust with the leftover dough from the pie.  

Johanna's baptism

Johanna's baptism was celebrated in Eagle Point Park in Dubuque.  And I was the lucky one that was asked to be her godmother.  The day was windy, but the view over the Mississippi River was spectacular.  We even got to see a boat go through the lock and dam.  We also managed to squeeze the ceremony in just before the rain showers started. 

Wisconsin Trip - Just the Girls

This trip was a great time to catch up with the girls.  Teri, Kristin, Dawn and I got to spend some quality time together eating authentic Japanese food in Mineral Point, doing a little local shopping and then eating some AWESOME bread pudding.  And of course there was all sorts of chatting and gossiping in-between. I miss all of them. 

Trip to New Glarus Brewery

It was time to go to New Glarus Brewery in New Glarus, WI.  The beer is only distributed in WI, so it was a chance for us to stock up on some Spotted Cow and some seasonal brews and pick up some for Michael's beer buds in the Iowa City area. 

Dawn and Guy met us in New Glarus for lunch at Glarnstub restaurant. Then we went to the Brewery to buy beer and sit outside in their on site beer garden. It was a gorgeous day and we could not have asked for better weather when driving through the beautiful Wisconsin countryside and then drinking a beer at one of our favorite breweries with good friends.