Inspirational Quotes

It has been a while since I have posted some inspirational quotes. As 2016 comes to a close, I thought some of these might resonate with a few of my readers! I hope you enjoy them!

Christmas Goodie Recipes

Baking Christmas goodies is always my favorite time of year. I love spending hours upon hours in the kitchen making delicious treats for family and friends to enjoy. This year, I made 20 different things. I decided to share a few of my favorite things with you.

Trip to Phoenix (April 2016)

This post is a few months late, but time seems to slip away from me. In April, Dave flew to Phoenix for a work conference. The day the conference was over, I flew down to join him.

As I flew into Phoenix, I had to be sure to get a photo of the dessert. Everything was brown, but it was warmer weather so I was looking forward to that.

View of the dessert as I flew into Phoenix.

Labor Day weekend 2016

Labor Day weekend was a busy, yet relaxing weekend with neighbors and friends. Friday night we spent it with good friends we have been friends with for years. I met them while teaching cycling classes at Accel Fitness, now Fitness World here in Ankeny.

Dave, Janet, Angie, Matt, Jen & Andy

Ryan turned 3 (July 2016)

In July our little man turned three. It's hard for me to believe three years has already passed by. We had a fun day with family, and he got a cool cake. We also celebrated Caroline's 1/2 birthday. Since her birthday falls in December, we felt like it would be fair to help split her birthday and Christmas gifts up.

First off, I wanted to share a few photos that Kari Bruck Photography took of the kids. She always does an amazing job. The moments she captures in an hour photo shoot are amazing. Especially the third photo here! Ryan will love this photo when he's older I'm sure!

Vacation in Branson, MO (August 2016)

This past week, we took a family vacation to Branson, MO, our first family vacation. We wanted something fairly close to home because we were not sure how the kids would do on a long road trip. My niece joined us on the trip to help with babysitting the kids while we had adult time, so to make sure we had enough room to travel, we rented a minivan. The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever and loved pushing the button to shut the door every time they got out. They also loved the built in DVD player (we didn't like that as much as it made for a long drive listening to movie after movie).  After we returned it, they said they were sad they didn't have the minivan anymore. The space was nice, but I'm still not sure I could own one!

Staycation with my sister's family - July 2016

Dave and I took Thursday and Friday off so we could spend time with my sister and her family when they came up to visit. We didn't plan on it being 100 degree heat index, but we dealt with it. On Thursday morning, we went to see the High Trestle Trail Bridge. It was a hot walk out there, but my sister and her family loved it once they arrived to the bridge. The view was absolutely amazing and the hot breeze actually felt good. There wasn't much of a breeze on the trail.