Happy Father's Day!

Walking around the lake - Madeline loved it!

Enjoying the view at the lake.

Maddie and Daddy water the flowers together - it's something that they do!

After church - Madeline often will tell us bye. When we ask her where she is going, she will say, "church!" When you ask her what you say at church she says, "Peace!"

Good morning!

A special day for such special people!!! WE LOVE YOU MATT (DADDY), GRANDPA WELKE, PAPO, GREAT GRANDPA MUELLER, UNCLE JOE, UNCLE MATT AND ALL OF THOSE OTHER EXTRA SPECIAL DADS! We are so blessed!

We had such a great day! Madeline loved saying "Happy Daddy Day!" We took a bike ride to the lake and had a picnic - something Matt has been wanting to do for a long time. It was such a beautiful day and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Saturday at the Track with Miles

It was a beautiful Saturday at Arlington Park! Madeline was very excited to see the horses and Miles. These 2 have known each other since pre - birth :), but this is the first time they really played and had fun together. They mimicked each other all day and evening long. We were all cracking up at dinner, as they kept us entertained with their echo routine!

They also managed to finish off the ENTIRE bowl of guac - just the 2 of them!!!

Singing In The Car

We often sing in the car these days. Madeline just loves to sing! At the end, she is saying "Mommy's turn" as we take turns singing the verses of the song. She is growing up more every day - it's hard to believe how much she changes each week!

Grandma Welke comes for the Week!

Madeline and grandma had so much fun together! I only wish that I had more pictures. They went to the park for a long time every morning, went for walks, cooked dinner together (which Matt and I really appreciated!), read a lot of books, planted flowers for some added curb appeal and more!

Celebrating Father's Day Early

We went to the Newton's last Sunday to celebrate with my dad. We had a great meal and a great time! We all took a walk to check on the lot and talked with some new neighbors. Our house will be hitting the market on Tuesday - crazy!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KRISTIN AND JOE!

We wish you a wonderful day!

A "LOT" can change in a week!

We will be building in the future on this piece of land!!! It all happened very fast! We have been looking for a while, but there is always something that we would do different. I came to the conclusion that Matt would be most happy if we built. After more open houses last Sunday, we increased the offer on the lot and the counter came back promising. On Wednesday we had a deal! :) Our house will be put on the market sometime soon and after it sells, we will start the building process. We don't feel rushed and are excited at what is to come! We will still be in Park Ridge in a very central location. We are just under a mile from the Newton Crew!
Taking a bike ride - we have been taking a lot of these!

Friday Crew

Braeden, Amy and Madeline. These 3 have spent their Fridays together since late August!

Zoo Day!

We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo last Saturday with the Shooks! It rained off and on, but was still a lot of fun! Madeline liked the petting zoo, but was a bit afraid of the larger animals. Hopefully she will overcome this fear soon. We hope to make lots of zoo visits this year! Her favorite part was chasing the pigeons and looking at the rabbits. Who would have thought?!! Hatching out of the egg!
On the farm portion of the zoo

Checking out the bunnies and hanging on chains with Aubriana!

The FISH!

Clinging onto daddy!

Talking to Addison

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very nice, family filled weekend of fun! We headed to Freeport for a graduation party for Matt's cousin with G-pa and G-ma Welke. Madeline had fun calling out to the animals on the drive there ("Animals....are you?"). She had fun going out on the canoe at their house and fun playing peek a boo and dancing with grandpa at the party. We went to the pool and for a long bike ride with everyone on Saturday. Matt and I went to see a movie while the g-p's babysat. We topped the weekend off with a BBQ at the Newtons. It was cute to see Maddie and Nappie play with each other in the backyard. Claire and Mads both enjoyed the corn on the cob! One more week until school is out - yeah! I can't wait!!!

Mads has always loved Claire's car seat!

Co - pilot with Daddy!

At the party...a good shot of her teeth!

So serene!