Our Busy Weekend ~ 4th of July and Much More ** PICTURE OVERLOAD AHEAD **

*** So Sad ... the last picture taken of Charlotte with her Bear Lovey **

~ Charlotte sitting in her stroller @ Jenny & Kevin's house ~
~ Jaden flying her balsa wood plane ~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well it seems as though I fell off the face of the earth for the long Holiday Weekend!! Well I am happy to report that all is well and we had a really wonderful and long weekend. It started Thursday – Jason had the day off from work so I got to work early in order to leave early to get Charlotte in for her 6 month check-up. She is doing GREAT! She weighed 19 pounds EVEN and was 26” long. She started sitting up all by herself a week or so ago so she enjoyed sitting on the examination table and shredding the sanitary paper that covers the table. She LOVED it and really tore into all of it. When Dr. Bob came in he said that he refers to the 6 month visit as the “I discovered paper”. Too funny! He rechecked her ears and all was clear. Her heart murmur that was detected a week ago was still there but he said it was very very faint and that this mom should stop worrying about it all together – sounds good to me! He also said not to buy too much more baby food because pretty soon she will realize that her food isn’t nearly as tasty looking as our and she will start grabbing and watching everything we put in our mouths! Sure enough … she is grabbing at everything these days! Growing too fast for my liking but her little personality is so cute it is easy to watch her grow up – albeit too fast but fun!
After Charlotte’s appointment I headed to the grocery store in order to pick up stuff to make my taco dip and the oreo cookie balls. I spent the evening cooking and packaging up all the taco dip ingredients and then we headed across the street to hang out with Jenny and Kevin. We had a few drinks while Jaden played with her balsa wood airplane and Charlotte sat in her stroller playing with her toys and making cat eyes at Kevin – she LOVES him! Later we ordered pizza while I got the girls in bed and made the Oreo balls … it was a fun night and the weather was beautiful!

~ We're On Our Way ~
~ Herb, Carol, Charlotte, Rebekah, Jaden, Jason and Adrienne ~

~ Charlotte sleeping @ the parade ~
~ A Solemn reminder ~

~ Charlotte watching Jaden swim inthe lake - look at those cheeks ~

~ The Cross on the Church given in memory of Jason's Grandparents ~

~ The Plaque inside the church telling parishioners about the church cross ~

~ Carl Johann - Mararetta - Bengt family visiting from Sweden ~

~ Jaden and Charlotte standing by Jason's Grandparent's headstone ~

~ *GASP* Another photo of me and Charlotte ~

~ The Yummy America/Sweden Cake ~

~ Ardell feeding Charlotte - she is Jason's mom's good friend ~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Friday we all had to get up fairly early in order to get packed up and ready to drive to Albert Lea for the Johnson Family Reunion. Jason’s mom had her cousin and his family fly in from Sweden and she decided it would be a fun way to introduce all of us to him. We had a great time and there was WAY TOO much food. Charlotte got loved on by everyone and Jaden enjoyed hanging all over Melissa! Poor Melissa – Jaden has used her as a jungle gym since she was able to walk! Next will be Charlotte’s turn to climb all over her! The gathering was held at Jason’s grandparent’s little farm church in Lunder, MN and we got to go out to the cemetery and ‘visit’ Beatrice and Stanley. It was a beautiful and warm day out and Jaden asked lots of questions. It is such a bummer that they are no longer here with us … we all miss them very much!
After the reunion we headed to my Mother In Law’s house to cool off. Jaden got into her bathing suit and then I walked her and Charlotte down to the beach so she could swim before heading to the parade. Jaden enjoyed cooling off and Charlotte liked sitting all by herself watching the waves. It was cute to see Charlotte sitting up all by herself … maybe now we can grow that hair on the back of her head!

After swimming we walked back to the house so we could get ready to go to the parade. Jason, Jaden, Charlotte, Uncle Dale, Carl Johann, Bengt and I walked to Adrienne’s work to meet her there. We sat right behind her truck and watched the parade and as always it was a WONDERFUL time. Charlotte was SO tired and eventually she gave in and fell asleep on my lap … once she fell asleep she dropped her head to her hands, opened her mouth and the drool just poured out – it was pretty funny! We had a really great time meeting so many family members as well as learning so much from Bengt, Margarita and Carl Johann – we hope to someday visit them in Sweden! We stayed visiting in Albert Lea until around 10:30 and pulled into our driveway around midnight … it was a long but fun day! ~ Jaden and Alanna with their sparklers ~

~ Jaden waiting for the fireworks to start ~

~ Alanna holding Charlotte ~

~ FINALLY - Charlotte and Mommy ~

~ Had to post this - do you see the HEART? ~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We didn’t really have any plans for the 4th of July except for me to paint the kitchen. I did manage to sell my old appliances on Craig’s List for $150.00 but the kicker to the deal was that the person buying REALLY needed a stove ASAP. So his son came to pick it up Saturday afternoon – Jason helped him load it into the truck when they managed to drop the oven resulting in the glass oven door being smashed into teeny tiny pieces ALL over the garage as well as a few slices across Jason’s hand! UGH! So we took $50.00 off the price and they new owners will return after our new appliances arrive to pick up the rest of the ‘old’ stuff. So I am without a stove or oven for 2 weeks - if I miss it I guess I cook – if not then I can put a plant in place of an oven right? But seriously I am already missing my stovetop – how do you make Kraft Mac N’ Cheese without a stove!!??

After the oven fiasco Jaden, my neighbor Jenny and I headed to Home Depot to pick out new coutertops and paint for the walls. I decided to paint my cabinets high gloss white instead of staining then so here is hoping they turn out well – I am starting them tonight!! I started painting around 6 and was done with the 3 coats by 8:30 – just in time to walk to the beach and watch the fireworks. We walked down with Jenny, Kevin, Dustin, Kathy and Alanna. We brought out sparklers and some beverages and had a good time. Charlotte was unfazed by the fireworks and enjoyed swinging on the playground while they were going off.

~ Katie looking cool in her shades ~

~ Charlotte in the kiddie pool for the 1st time ~

~ Hannah and Jaden - Best Friends since they were babies ~

~ Charlotte sleeping with her lost lovey - sad! ~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sunday we headed to Jolene and Jeff’s house for a BBQ and so the girls could play and swim. Charlotte played in her first kiddie pool and kind of liked it. She also managed to fall asleep in the baby swing outside again – I’ve gotta get one of those! Hannah and Jaden played well as always. We had a great dinner cooked by Jeff and I got to spend time with my best friend so it was a win-win! After dinner we did some sparklers in the driveway and then headed to the trail down the street to walk around the pond near their house. We enjoyed the walk and stopped at the playground for some play time. We got back to the house around 8:30 – packed up and headed home … that is where I was when I realized that I lost Charlotte’s pink teddy bear lovey with her name on it – Jolene gave it to her at my baby shower and Charlotte was just beginning to snuggle with it … I am SO beyond bummed and sad that he is missing. Jolene and I have looked every place we could to try and find it – she even walked around the pond again to see if it fell out of the stroller. I SWEAR I put it in the stroller and can’t figure out how it would have fallen out without me stepping on it but we seriously have no idea where it is. I have ordered her a new one and will take it to get embroidered at the mall but it is still sad to think her little lovey is lost somewhere!! Thankfully she isn’t old enough to be so attatched that she is distraught! So we will move on from this with lessons learned!!! UGH!

~ Ella - Jaden - Madi with their sparklers - or sprinklers as Ella calls them ~

~ Jaden - Madi - Ella watching the smoke bombs @ the park ~

~ Madi - Jaden - Ella swimming~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So THAT in a BIG FAT nutshell is what we’ve been up to – busy busy busy! Monday Jaden headed to Lifetime Fitness with our neighbors Steve, Christina and Jenna. They went on all the water slides so Jaden had a blast. Jason, Charlotte and I headed out for a nice long walk by ourselves and got lost a little bit – hee hee! Yesterday when I picked up Jaden we brought Dani’s daughter’s Ella and Madi home with us. The girls’ swam, played with the hamster, ate dinner, went to the park, did sparklers and got ice cream … so Jaden has been VERY busy and this morning said she was taking a nap today!! Wish I could!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So Have a Great Day everyone … I will post photos of the kitchen as soon as I finish it … and if any of you want – I have a new blog where I am posting a food journal … (I’ve already seen where my ‘bad’ choices are) … I could use any healthy recipes you have … trying to get to a more comfy size not to mention I am in a wedding April 2010 … so if you aren’t too busy – or bored stop by and leave me some of your recipes … I promise to cook them once I have a stove!

Love ~ The Clark Family of Four ~ Rebekah, Jason, Jaden and Charlotte