biking across Wisconsin

Our family participated in Coast 2 Coast Wisconsin for the first time this summer! There were about 70 others in the group, both from our church and from other churches around the country.

The bikers started on the western border of Wisconsin on the Mississippi River and ended at Lake Michigan after 5 days of riding 50+ miles each day!

 

Off they go!

There were about 70 total in the group- both from our church and several others as far as Wyoming. It was cool to be able to bond with so many people over a week’s time- through riding, eating, playing games, worshiping, cleaning up or loading vans together.

These riding buddies found creative ways to get up tough hills!! ;) (Ok, Adam and Peter only grabbed on to the van once…)

Lydia and I had some great company on the road!

Adam and I traded a day so I could ride. I went 60 miles. It was tough but it felt great to finish!! Here we are on the 5 minute Merrimac ferry in the middle of the route.

Each day we’d find a public pool to shower and swim.

Each night we slept at a different church. We had to find creative ways to keep Lydia clean :)

In the evenings we’d have great worship time led by Peter. Adam borrowed a bass guitar and played along a few times. It was the first time I’d ever heard him play! Turns out he’s quite the rocker ;)

Lydia’s first watermelon!

Overall, it was a great experience! I think the three of us grew a bit and learned how to be flexible and enjoy special moments being surrounded by great friends.

a model baby

Lydia had her first photo shoot at 8 days old!

Erica Lynn had some great ideas for little Lydia…

She crocheted a little cocoon for her baby photo shoots and Lydia snuggled right into it.

Bottom right: Lydia was done being posed on her boppy and was trying to crawl away! (She got some great height for being only 8 days old!)

Here she’s modeling her cute hat made by cousin Carly.

Thank you, Erica!! We had so much fun. Please come again!

Check out more of Erica’s great work at: http://ericalynnphotography.blogspot.com/

Meeting Family and Friends

Lydia has had many excited visitors!! Here she is meeting Grandma and Grandpa for the first time.

Aunt Robin and Uncle Jon came to visit. As you can see, she instantly fell in love… :)

Peter and Erica also visited. Here’s Peter (aka Dwight Schrute) making a distinguishable mark on Lydia that only we know of so that we can be sure she doesn’t get switched! ;) (It’s an Office thing…! And don’t worry, no mark was made!)

Jeff and Erin got to meet Lydia also. John and Lydia hit it off immediately ;)

And of course, Lydia couldn’t wait to meet her cousins!!

Hannah and Micah LOVED holding her!

Lydia got to spend a morning with “Auntie” Erica while she did a photo shoot! (Pics coming soon!)

Lydia can’t wait to meet the rest of her new friends and family!!

MGB owners!

A friend of Adam's coworker was looking to get rid a “project car” he had sitting around. When Adam found out about it, he was more than willing to take off his hands!

So we are now the (blessed?) owners of a free 1974 MGB roadster!

Since it’s not currently running, it was quite a task transporting it to our garage. Here Peter and Adam are working on backing it into the garage. The front right tire went flat during the move which made it much harder to maneuver (but pretty fun for me to watch from our bedroom!)

As you can see it needs A LOT of work- both inside and out. This would be a pretty intimidating task for me, but Adam is THRILLED about it! He is totally up for the challenge and I know he’ll have so much fun working on it!

Despite the body damage, you can tell it’s going to be a really cute two-seater convertible someday!! (Sorry baby Hunter- no car seats here!)

David, Hannah, and Micah had some fun playing in it. Adam heard David call it an “ugly” car- hehe :) Oh well. It’ll just make the total transformation even more impressive someday when it’s finished- and I’m sure David will be begging to borrow by then :)

Adam is contemplating starting his own blog about this exciting project- don’t you think he should!?!

Good luck, hun! I’m behind you all the way!

Just one request- can we install an intercom between our unit and the garage for when I need help with the baby!? ;)

friends with a photographer!

Erica is just getting her photography business off the ground and she graciously offered to do our maternity photo shoot!! 

It was a cold blustery day, but the leaves were beautiful.

Help me out- which one should I use for my new blog header??

Erica has such amazing skills with the camera- you can barely tell I had a stuffy runny nose that day!

Here’s little Dufry- the teddy bear Adam bought for his little girl on his last trip to Europe :)

Thanks again, Erica! I love how you were able to capture our hearts in these photos!

check out more of her awesome work at: http://EricaLynnPhotography.blogspot.com/

Showered with love from my family

My family threw a shower for me to get ready for our little girl!!

My family is spread out all over the country, but amazingly, EIGHT states were represented at my shower!!! AND EVERYONE except me and the hostess had to travel OVER AN HOUR (some up to 10!) to get there! What an amazing demonstration of love! :)

The states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, Virginia, and Connecticut.

Karen was our hostess. She did an outstanding job of leading the devotion and games.

While I opened so many generous gifts, all the ladies played “bingo” with gift items.

Thank you ERICA for hosting the beautiful shower!! Everyone felt so welcome and comfortable in your beautifully decorated home!

After the shower, all the family and two friends who traveled a long way came back to our house to meet up with the guys to hang out for the afternoon. We made a new record for guests in our little condo: 33 people!!! (18 adults and 15 kids!)

Here are all the 4th generation kids on the front steps! From Mom’s side of the family, we’re just missing Matthew, Matthis, Jonas, and Ila. So 15 for 19, not too bad! Can’t wait for the next time we all get together!