On Wisconsin

Just after we arrived home from our trip to North Dakota we headed north for an anniversary celebration. All of Mom and Dad's kids and grandkids were around so we celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. Grandpa and Grandma Bickel were also visiting so Luke and Ben got to spend some quality time with their great grandparents.

Here's Luke and Great Grandpa watching the boys cut down a tree...hope they're doing it right!

Ben's just watching some tv (he's even got the remote close at hand)

Here's Mom and Dad's anniversary dinner. We had a nice "quiet" evening complete with cake and gifts. (For those of you who were in on the "get rid of that ugly carpet" fund...we raised over $500! Thanks!)

The gang...all of us! Man, they're gonna need a bigger living room.

Ben tried on some dress up clothes that Cousin Jenni had sent.

Luke helped Great Grandma clean the house.

The cousins! We're so glad the girls have moved back to our neck of the woods (don't tell Aunt Kathy!)

Ben wasn't real comfortable in Luke's arms...so we gave him to the OLDEST cousin, good job, Maddie!

Emma says "Look, Grandpa, I can hold the baby too!"

We even managed to squeeze in a birthday party for Emma while everyone was around. There were princess things everywhere!

And Luke seemed very interested in all the pink
Blow out the candle!

Four generations. Trust me, Ben, you'll think it's cool when you are older.

Best part of visiting Germantown....24/7 babysitting service! (From real professionals!)

And here they are, Great Grandpa's only two Great Grandsons

It was a great time. Hope you enjoyed your party Mom and Dad. Thanks for helping throw it together, Josh, Ben, Kendra, Lydia, Kurt, Erin, Chad, and Aunt Kathy.

Yeah well...Chad's still in MAY!

I know I'm behind but I've been doing all my blogging at Trinity because we only have dial up at home. Since we're now in St. Charles for the last event of our summer, I can finally share the rest of our summer with you.

It start with the trip to Chad and Anna's wedding in Bismark, ND. We spent the first night at the Peterson's. Luke and Claire rekindled their spring romance.

right up until Luke pulled the dog's water bowl on his foot and we thought he had his first broken bone. He toughed it out until we got to Bismark. Then we met the nice people at the pediatric walk-in clinic. Luke was a big boy and sat very still during his x-rays...nothing was broken but mommy promised new dvds and mcdonalds for sitting still so Luke enjoyed an afternoon of lounging in the hotel room.

The boys picked us up after their rehearsal and we headed to dinner. It was very nice and we had some awesome entertainment. Anna's younger sister and some friends have a great accapella (sp) group. Here's Luke with his new best friend (and traveling buddy) Neil as they listened to a song.

And here is the "look I dressed my kids up!" picture of Luke

And BEN!
The wedding was beautiful...me and the boys watched from the nursery. And then it was on to the reception. The food was fantastic. The company was wonderful. And the chicken dance...well, ya look good, Steve!

Scott walked me and the boys home after the chicken dance. We caught the bride airing off on our way out. You are goregous, ANNA!

Scott kept the camera and caught his college friends in their finest moments!

Jon, you should run for office with that smile! The CUW gang
And the boys on the ride home. Thanks for putting up with us, Neil!

It was a great trip...now here are some borrowed pictures from friends. We had fun...congrats Chad and Anna!