Ben's 10 Year Reunion

Ben, aka the class President, had to plan his 10 reunion. With the help of some classmates, they pulled it off. It was at the Chillicothe Country Club. They only had around 50 people, that included spouses, but everyone seemed to have a good time and stayed a long time to reminisce the good 'ole times.

More Ohio Events

Some shots from the scramble and camp. Celebrities for the weekend were were Casey Cramer, Simon Fraser, Craig Krenzel, Rob Harley, Ben Utecht, Joel Penton, various OU players and the countless volunteer coaches and "behind the scene" people that allowed these events to take place without a hitch. Thanks to everyone!

From the golf scramble...

And the camp... The Death Station with Joel

Casey playing a joke on someoneBreak timeAll the campers...160 kids!The "Celebrities"

And now the real celebrity...Miss Whitney! I was just trying to entertain her while we waited for daddy so took her out to jump over these cones. All the boys and coaches were sitting in the stands getting their picture taken, but when she jumped over the first cone all the boys errupted in cheers, then she jumped the second. Again with the cheers. Then suddenly it dawned on her that they were all cheering for her. She looked at me and smiled so big and then proceeded to finish jumping over the rest, each with a cheer from the crowd. It was one of the cutest moments and her daddy was soooo proud!

Time Keeps Slippin'

It's been almost a month since my last post. Craziness, I tell you! Anyway, we went back to Ohio in early June for a whirlwind tour. We got in on a Thursday night, Friday morning hosted a golf scramble to raise money for our scholarship fund, Friday night hosted a coaches dinner for the football camp on Saturday morning, then Saturday night had Ben's 10 year high school reunion. Sunday was a "visit with family" day, then back to the airport on Monday to head back home to Georgia. It was pure madness! To which Ben even said we wouldn't be doing again, before I even said it! Needless to say it was a fun weekend. We raised lots of money for scholarships, played hard with some great little boys and caught up with friends and family.

It's not easy travelling with two kids, but we made it work.

Lindsey's first flight, less than 2 months old

Lindsey, Whitney and Grandma LykowskiUncle Rande, Aunt Meghan and WhitneyGreat Grandpa and Grandma Painter and the girlsGreat Aunts Lucinda and Charlotte with WhitneyAll us girls with Great Aunt Faythe and Great Grandma MitchellAt the airport with Grammy and Grandpa Hartsock (they were heading to KC to visit new cousin Andrew)

Lindsey Update

Our little Lindsey is 8 weeks old now. She is starting to smile some, although not very regularly, just every now and then. Same goes for her talking, every now and then you'll hear a "coo" out of her. She's starting to be up much more now and is able to hold her head up for a short time. Her sleeping habits are improving. A few days ago she slept through the night two nights in row! Since then its been down hill, still not bad, but not through the night. I think I'm wanting it too soon, plus the inconsistency is killing me! Oh well, she'll get there...someday. The best news we have to share about her is that the small hole in the ventricle wall of her heart is closed! We had a follow up appointment today the cardiologist and he gave her the all clear. So we are very happy and grateful about that. In fact, the doctor was surprised it had closed in this small amount of time. Apparently it usually takes longer, so that is an absolute blessing from God!

Matching Outfits?

So, apparently in the south its a big deal to have your little girls in matching outfits. I've never really been a big subscriber to this theory, I don't know why. I guess its just my northern roots...but I have to say, this is pretty darn cute. We might just become southerners yet!

Banjos and BBQ

Ben found out about a great little summer festival called Banjos and BBQ in Gainesville, GA, which is just a short drive for us. We went with our good friends, the Hendersons, who are always up for any kind of outing, Chad especially when there is food involved! There were maybe 50 vendors or so set up to get judged on there BBQ. Apparently the festival is part of the Memphis in May BBQ competition. We are still learning about all these "southern" things. At any rate, Ben and Chad had a good time hovering at each vendor until they had something to divvy out to them, be it ribs, pulled pork, brisket, jerky...they weren't picky. The music was a lot of fun too. The kids especially had a great time dancing and carrying on. The heat is kickin' up down here...baths were definitely in order after being out in the hot sun all day, but it was great!

She's a dancing machine...especially to bluegrass!

Kallie, Cole, Whitney, Luke

Show Day at Little Gym

Whitney had another show day at Little Gym. She is getting more coordinated and can do her somersault completely by herself now. And she is getting better at listening and saying her name in front of the group at circle time. By far her favorite thing is hanging on the bars. She is able to pull her feet up to the bar and with some help, flip on over.

Lindsey-7 weeks

A picture of Lindsey at 7 weeks...even though she is 8 weeks as I write this...She is steadily growing. At her 6 week doctor appointment she weighed 11 pounds.

Diggin' in the Dirt

Whitney loves playing in the dirt and looking for things with her magnifying glass.

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we walked in the Dacula parade. Our Sunday School class is so large, around 100 people, that the church asks us to represent all Sunday School classes of the church. We walked about a 3 mile parade and had a great time, especially Whitney who was loving waving at all the people and throwing them candy. After the parade, a lot of us went to our Sunday School teacher's house, Ron and Mrs. Pat, to have a picnic and swim in their pool, which was freezing by the way, but we couldn't keep Whitney out of it!

Kallie, Whitney, Luke and Cole

Whitney borrowed this hat from some friends and she loved it!Swimming with daddy

Bragging...

So, I know that bragging isn't necessarily the best characteristic for a person to have, but I am going to do a little bragging on my husband. As you may have read in a previous post, I turned 30 on May 17th and Ben was out of town during that weekend. Even though we went out to dinner with friends to celebrate, he felt he hadn't properly celebrated my 30th so he told me that we were going to celebrate the following Saturday with a day full of activities. I was completely in the dark about what was going on other than being told not to accept any deliveries late in the week and that on Friday he had to go pick up a delivery. The whole week I was trying to figure out what we were going to be doing and what the deliveries were going to be. On Thursday the delivery he was so excited to receive came, but as he told me then, was "completely demolished." He was so disappointed, but still excited about the delivery on Friday...On Friday, he left around 3 to go pick "it" up. He called on his way home around 730 saying that traffic was bad and that "we" would be there soon. "We?" I just let it go. When he finally did get home, he quickly told me that our friends, Chad and Mandy, were coming over, that he wanted them to be here we he gave me the gift. I soon figured out what "we" meant. A few seconds later there was a knock at the door, and I just yelled for them to come in, as this is standard routine for them when they come over, but they never came in so I went to open the door and saw Chad and Mandy, along with two of my other dear friends, Karyn and Nikki! What! Ben then proceeded to tell me that our other good friends Jennifer and Ingle were driving in from Nashville that night and that my friend Teri was flying in the next day. (Unfortunately Teri didn't end up making it due to an illness in her family.) Then he went on further to say that all us girls were going to go get facials and pedicures at a fancy spa the next day, then dinner that night. What a treat! But not only that, I don't think I changed a single diaper that weekend and probably only fed a child once or twice. He really took care of me. And my wonderful friends as well. I can't say enough about my girls. I know how precious weekends are, so for them all to give up their weekend to visit was so awesome! Karyn even left her 3 month old for the first time. Wow! We had a great weekend getting pampered and eating and catching up and talking girl stuff. My friend Jennifer not only surprised me by coming, but told us that she's pregnant too! Karyn, Mandy and I had a good time answering her questions about what she's getting herself into. The spa we went to was in an exclusive, fancy neighborhood. Apparently only people that live there can go to the spa, but somehow Ben pulled some strings to get us in. We went to dinner at Aqua Terra which is a trendy little restaurant in a little downtown area nearby. Since their desserts weren't calling out to me, we went to a little dessert/coffee shop and treated ourselves to some Caribbean coconut, red velvet and chocolate cakes. Then just back to the house to hang out. It was a fabulous weekend thanks to my scheming hubby and friends. I felt so special and loved! So far 30 isn't so bad! Love you all! Thanks for making my 30th a memorable one. Oh, and the "completely demolished" gift was my favorite cake-St. Elmos carrot cake-a restaurant in Indianapolis. Ben, and my friend Jen up there, somehow worked their magic to make this happen too. Even though it didn't look the prettiest, it still tasted unbelievable!

Mandy, Jennifer, me, Karyn, Nikki

Ravioli...

I thought taking the shirt off would prevent a big mess...

Pickin' Strawberries

We went strawberry picking with our friends, Cole, Kallie, Luke and Quinn. Lindsey was there too, although not too much help. :) Whitney did a good job. I basically told her to look for the red ones and for the most part those were the ones she picked. We only had a few green ones in our bucket. Several of our red ones did have little finger holes in them though. Being "easy" with anything, including baby sister, is something we are continually working on. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't been strawberry picking since I was a little girl. My family used to go and apparently I would eat more than what I put in the bucket. I may or may not have had a few this day too...What can I say, I LOVE STRAWBERRIES. And so does my little girl Whitney...oh, and Lindsey will too! :)