Golfing: our new hobby

Ben and I have taken up real golfing, and we absolutely love it! But this time we went mini golfing...the first time ever together. We went with our friends, Erik and Jamie VanWoerkom. Below we are posing as golfer models:

My pool skills come in handy...

Ben takes it seriously.

Such a cheese

Sometimes you just gotta be a little cheesy to have a little fun. :)

I planned a romantic french cuisine dinner night for Ben and I. I'm practicing my sewing skills so I made the place mats and napkins. Then I used what I had for the centerpiece...jewelry and bowls. HAHA. The food: "Poulet Saute Aux Herbes De Provence," and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I am having fun cooking new things and poor Ben is the guinnea pig! I put french sayings on the table and it was hilarious to hear Ben, a spanish speaker try to speak french! All in all I must say the night was a success and we look forward to many more themed dinner nights. :)

Prayers for 'lil Spencer

Just a few months ago My brother Jared and his wife Natalie found out that their youngest of 6 children, Spencer, who is just 2 years old, has Cancer. I can't imagine the hardship it is to see your own child suffer in such a way. Spencer has two tumors the size of grapefruit, one is in a kidney and the other is inoperable because it is attached to major arteries. He has been undergoing chemotherapy. It is wonderful to see how technological advances through time can help but it is miraculous to see how the Lord intervenes. Spencer has received many blessings by the power of the Priesthood and our prayers are being heard and answered.

The opportunity arose and I was able to visit my family for a week this past July. I was excited to see Spencer! He is such a 'lil trooper! He was still his cute 'lil self, very spunky and full of fun. One of the saddest moments was when I was taking his brothers and sisters to the pool and Spencer climbed in the van, pretending to drive and wanted to come along. Unfortunately he had to stay behind and it was the hardest thing for all of us to leave him. He doesn't quite understand and I feel for Jared and Natalie because that is an every day event for them.

I made a trip home to CT for a week, sadly Ben couldn't come along because of work. I was able to help watch Jared and Natalie's 5 other kids as our family took a trip to Palmyra NY for the Hill Cumorah Pageant (a summer tradition) and to Niagara Falls. Jared and Natalie had to stay behind with Spencer so we wanted to make sure the other kids still got to go and have fun with their cousins. Our family had a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed catching up with everyone, especially my cute nieces and nephews...who are growing up so fast!!

Just can't get enough...

...of Baseball!

We went to another Brewers game! This time it was against Bens favorite team, the LA Dodgers. But we stayed loyal to where we are and rooted for the Brewers. We got the BEST seats...right behind the Dodgers dugout! I have never sat so close! The game was another exciting one...real close with the Brewers pulling through in the end to win the game!

Ben and his buddies, Pepper, and Skyler.

Ben found some Gorillas that he just HAD to take a picture with. We saw the players, like Manny Ramirez upclose! Then after the game we grabbed a bite to eat with our friends at Chilis.

Surprise Surprise!

Ben surprised me one day with the new 32g i-phone!
Ben=red, Brit=white.
We are crazy about our new phones!

Out with the girls

L-R: Lauren, Me, Kristin, Jamie

Us girls drove to Chicago for the day to visit the Temple, and see the city!

We ate at the famous, House of Blues

Stars and Stripes

Our Fourth of July weekend:

Friday night: A classic American meal...I even made toothpick flags to be festive.





Saturday morning: I sent Ben off with dozens of cupcakes I baked to share with his co-workers.
















Saturday Afternoon: Jamie, Kristin, and I ran the "New Berlin National Dash" 5k race. We rocked that race! Afterward we stayed to watch the PARADE:

(I want that mini!)

Saturday Night: A group of us went tubing and wake boarding on our friend Clint's boat. Ben was a pro and didn't fall off the tube once! When it got dark we watched fireworks from the boat on the water...it was the prettiest sight. Afterward we got burgers and frozen custard at Kopps. What a day...the perfect way to celebrate.

Take me out to the ballgame...

"For its root, root, root for the BREWERS!

If they don't win its a shame!"

We are happy to say...there was no shame, BREWERS won in the most awesome way.

I'm going to do my best to give you the "play by play" but I'm not a sports writer, and I can't give this game the justice it deserves. Ben says out of the hundreds of games he has been to this was pretty much the best.

We arrived when the San Fransisco Giants were winning by four. The Brewers eventually caught up, but by the ninth inning they were down again by two runs. The Brewers fans are hardcore and very hopeful but it seemed almost a certain loss for the Brewers...



Prince Fielder is our favorite player on the team. He hit a 3-run homer in the sixth AND hit the winning run. We were amazed that in the last inning the Brewers made a comeback and won 7-6!

After Fielder reached second base, he then took a few steps toward the mound, stopped and raised his arms in celebration. He was immediately tackled by his teammates! What a game! The crowd went WILD with excitement. We were high-fiving just about everyone!

Miller Park is one of the newest baseball parks. It has a retractable roof and it really is so PRETTY! There is something about being at a baseball game that makes me feel American and good all over. :)

This is the Brewers Sausage Race. It is a race of sausage mascots held at the bottom of the sixth inning at every home game. It is hilarious to see the sausages run.

Superhero Wannabe

SIX FLAGS!

S is for Superheroes and Super human power!

I is for Ice cream and dying of thirst for Ice cold water

X is for Xtreme Roller coasters!

F is for Freaked out little girl Forced on the ride by her mother

L is for Laughing as we paid quarters to spray water at people on the boat ride

A is for Almost puking

G is for Gross, stinky, sweaty lines

S is for Screaming until I lost my voice

Ben likes to call himself, BATMAN (usually when he makes reservations), so you can imagine his excitement when he saw Batman and the Bat Mobile!

The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Carousel...

Practically empty.

People must have forgotten how completely __________ it is!

(Fill in the blank. I would say "AWESOME," you might say "RAD" or whatever. Nothing negative please.) Haha.

SIDE STORY:

To this day I can't forget when I was little and how my mom took me to a Carousel in Hartford, CT. I looked forward so much to riding it and was VERY disappointed to find it was closed when we got there. Yes, that dramatic experience left scars. Life can be so unfair.

CHICAGO

CHICAGO

After a l..o..n..g drive through b-e-a-utiful countryside we FINALLY arrived at our destination: a small town outside of Milwaukee, Brookfield, Wisconsin. We love our new apartment, it is spacious and pretty and right next to a golf course. We hadn't even been here for a week yet and decided to take a trip to CHICAGO! It is only 1hr 30mins from us and I had never been there!

Saturday Ben got out of work early and surprised me by taking me to Chicago. We stayed at the Marriot hotel downtown. Saturday night we ate at the famous HARRY CARAYS! Ben loves baseball, so of course he wanted to eat here. We took a picture by the "Holy Cow!" which literally had holes in it and by the Harry Caray statue. We bought a magnet and Christmas ornament...because it is tradition.

We took a double decker bus tour the city. We had the BEST views from that bus and took so many pictures. The city is beautiful, especially by the waterfront. We took pictures at Millenium park of the GIANT BEAN and the waterfall/fountain. There are two fountains and they show faces of Chicago citizens, the faces change and about every five minutes the face will shoot water out of its mouth. We took a picture of Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, it used to have a Renaissance look but with the upgrades it looks like a UFO landed on it.

Next visit: Wriggley Field...we love Baseball! And i'm crossing my fingers to get tickets to an Oprah show!

FACT: Chicago is "the windy city"...not neccesarily because it is windy but because the people are long winded.