Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!

That's right. They said it on Hollywood so it must be true! And if you're wondering why you can't see us at the top of our blog.... We disappeared in the corn!

We went back to Cedar Falls to surprise my dad for his 70th birthday! Unfortunately Mark had to stay home and work. Two of my siblings live there and 4 of us flew in so we had quite the crowd. Then my mom had planned a surprise party for him with all the friends and neighbors.

Here is the birthday boy.

Here are all of us that came for the event!

Then we had another surprise... Sarah had baby Charlotte on my dad's birthday, Aug. 8th! It was so fun to be there and see the brand new baby. Macey already loves being a big sister.

Another shot of Charlotte.

Adriana loved playing with all her cousins!

These 3 were all born 3 months apart! Lots of fun to come!

Grandma with her grand babies!

Of course I have to put one of the fields of Iowa.

We picked corn from our friend's farm which was a first for most of us. It's totally different than detasseling. We picked enough for my parents to freeze a bunch for the winter and when all was said and done we had 400 ears! 

The girls had fun playing in the mud while we picked.

 Look at those muddy shoes!!

Mmmmmmmmmmm the fruits of our labors. Adriana has developed a love for corn on the cob!

Aside from picking corn and having fun with the family we did a small sewing project making decorative pillow cases, took a girls afternoon to the movie Julie and Julia, which we loved, and I got to see one of my best friends from High School! I forgot to take pictures, but it was fun to catch up. We hadn't see each other in 5 years so it was time!

Here are a few more fun shots of Adriana

This smoothie is sure delicious!!

We had a little issue with the smoke alarms and Adriana loved helping grandpa as she modeled Kathryn's swimsuit over her clothes. She went to the very top of the ladder, no fear.

Our future seamstress!

Our adventures continue next month when we go out to UT for my brother's wedding party. This time all three of us are going!

A visit from the Tanners

We have had a very busy and fun month! The end of July Mark's parents and his younger brother Johnny came out to visit us. We had a great time seeing a few sites downtown and hanging out.

Here are some pictures from the Dallas World Aquarium. We were very impressed with all the sea and other life they had. We even got to watch the sharks at feeding time!

It was sleeping up in the tree so this was very tempting...

Do you know why flamingos are pink? It is the shrimp they eat that gives them the color!

Here are a few of the 6th floor museum where JFK was shot.

We also went to see the Dallas soccer teem play Kansas City. Knowing the soccer is a low scoring game we were hoping for at least 1 goal.... Dallas actually won 6-0 so we lucked out. It was a great game and our seats were awesome.

And of course we have to add a few unrelated, but cute pictures of Adriana!

Stay posted for our surprise trip to IOWA.