Lots to Catch Up On

Now that summer is here, there's much less time for blogging! Anne is keeping us busy these days with her amusing tricks and general needy-ness. She just really likes attention. Here are some pictures to tide you over for a while. We are headed to see Grandpa Steve for his birthday this weekend; Annie is looking forward to her first boat ride and first swim in the lake.

Playing with the camera cord while Mommy blogs!

Surrounded by toys, blankies, and her best pup.
You got real purdy hair.
Anne shows off her new skill. She can wave hello and goodbye; and it isn't that normal kid open-close palm thing. She waves her whole forearm from the elbow. You're amazing!
Again, a shot from the computer desk. We do go outside, I swear.

Annie and Sam on Father's Day. Anne has her super-happy grin on.
At church for Mother's and Father's Day we get name tags with the name of the appropriate parent on them. I guess it makes you think about your mom or dad for a least a couple seconds. Anne is proudly sporting her first "Sam" name tag.
If you've been to our house, you've had the pleasure of meeting Mikey, our Dachshund/Pomeranian mix. Above is his pre-grooming picture, and below is the after shot. And that underbite is 100% real. Jealous?

We're pretty sure he lost 5 or 6 lbs of hair! Lookin' good, Michael!

Father's Day and New Toys

Annie's new favorite toy is her "cottage" play-thingy. It has a mailbox, garden, gate, flowers, and a birdhouse with bird. She sat in there and played for half an hour yesterday. I was amazed! Thanks to Abby, Sam, Grace, and Lucy for passing on such a great toy to us.

Sam got his Father's Day gift a week early, and he had to build it himself. It is a fire pit for our backyard, made of retaining wall bricks. Thanks to my sweet photography skills you can't really see it at all, but I got a nice picture of Dad and Baby.
Don't burn me, Dad! I don't want to go in the pit!
Spicy! Anne helps season our dinner.

More pictures of Anne and her new favorite spot.

Dad Time

Several of you asked what Sam's new job was after I mentioned it in the last post. He's installing satellite dishes for Dish Network. He's not selling the service, but he's the guy who comes to your house and puts the dish on your roof and sets up your tv. So far it has been a great job for him, but he had to spend a lot of days in Chanhassen for training and classes. That is a LONG drive from our house! Tomorrow he takes his final test and then will be out on his own. Here he is sporting his new toolbelt that he got for work.



Daddy and Anne, ready for a trip to the state park and a hike to the river. Anne had her "hiker shorts" on and looked oh so cute. The trip was a success except for our bad-parent moment when we pinched her ankle between the baby backpack and Sam's back. She's not scarred for life (we hope!)