Doug Visit #2

Doug brought Julie home to us for a weekend in May while she was still student teaching. It was fun to have them both at home and to get to know Doug even more :) Laura came over for supper and got to meet him too!

Date Day

A couple weeks ago I had the day off work so I was able to go out and have some fun with a couple of my good friends.

Josiah Schofield and I went out in the morning and went to Starbucks since his family doesn't go there very often - he's one of the few that likes it. We played some games and then went to the park and played pirates. It was raining, so we got pretty wet, but it was still fun :)

Josiah posing for the camera

I also have a video Josiah made, but blogger won't upload it right now...maybe later.

Victoria and I went on a date Monday evening and went shopping, took a walk by the lake (by then the rain had stopped), and then went to Perkins for supper. It was so fun to have some girl time together! :)

Discovery World

After Julie's Graduation on Friday morning (May 2nd), we all had a cookout at Doug's house along with a few other friends. It was so much fun and delicious! Saturday before Jenny and Jordan headed back up to Northland, we went to Discovery World and enjoyed looking around at all the neat stuff - especially all the hands on things, such as "creating" a few souvenirs on the Dream Machine.

Ate Supper at a Pizza place that I can't remember the name of - but it was good! :)
Julia & Kaden Dean!
Takin' a rest - Matt, Jess, Jules, Jenny, & Me
Doug & Julie by the beautiful Lake Michigan!
The Octagon House: The first Kindergarten in America!

Mom having fun being Grandma!
They had a place to pet fish - even a stingerless stingray! pretty neat! And the fish actually seemed to ejoy it! Found a neat place to chill! The headphones magnified all the sounds around you. I would like to have a hanging bubble chair like that at home! It was quite comfortable ;)
Julia snapped this candid - it looks like everyone's posing for a CD cover for a singing group or something. Haha!
Julia lying on the bed of nails. We all took a turn - even Grandma!
The guys providing power for the giant fan!

Visiting our dear friend, June O'Neil Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..it's so wonderful when we can all be together!
Jason on the Segway - he was a natural at it! I tried it, too - it's a pretty neat little form of transportation!
Julia and I - we found all these round mirrors and thought it made for a pretty neat background! I love Julia - she's totally like another sister!

Julie's Graduation!

Julie Graduated! She is now officially an Early Childhood Education Teacher! YAY!I'm so proud of my sister! Love you, Jules! Here is the picture of Julie's graduated class. Jessica Asire is behind her giving the bunny ears...silly girls!
This is Mom and I as we're waiting for the ceremony to begin.
Fun Surprises: I saw Bobbi there! (along with Abigail Utley, Paula Burch, and Lindsey Rew who I was not able to get a picture with cause my camera batteries died) Miss you girls!
This is my favorite picture of Julie's graduation pictures! Both Julie and Kaden look so happy and adorable here! Priceless! :)

Hewy & Jewy

They're dating!

Laura Date

Laura and I have been trying to get together whenever possible before she's married and moves to IN. It's been difficult to plan dates around each other's jobs, etc...but whenever it works out we have so much fun together! I went to her house after work and we got to sleep in the special guest room (somehow that's still just as exciting as it's always been!) I think we were up until 5:30 talking and catching up about everything under the sun in each other's lives!

Then we went to Mankato for some girl time shopping and ate out at Olive Garden.

When we got back to the Swensons we munched on chips and salsa while we watched a movie! Then I had to head home so we could both work the next morning. All good things must come to an end eventually, I guess...but I'm thankful for the fun times and memories...until next time! :) Love you, Laura!

My Tulips!

These are my tulips! These are my favorite flowers, so dear Mrs. Swenson planted some bulbs in this flower pot last fall and gave them to me. I've been so excited for them to bloom, and they lasted for a long time and brought me many smiles :) I can't wait to see them again next spring! Thank you, Mrs. Swenson!

The Races from the Sponsor Box!

Grandpa Mel has owned Mel Carlson Chevrolet in Truman, MN for about 30 years. The last few years whenever he sponsors the Fairmont races, he invites us to invite friends and watch for free with him in the box seats! He's so sweet! I went with Charise Schofield this year. Between Grandpa Mel's jokes, the funny commentators, the people who'd had a little too much who were up there in the box with us, and of course the races, we had a grand time together! :)

Here's our excited faces because the car we wanted to win the heat was winning!I finished my water, and got tired of my sunglasses being on my head, and we had our tickets out in case we won anything when they read off ticket numbers, so we made a little aquafina friend :)This is the car that won the final race of the hobbystocksHere is the Mel Carlson Chevrolet Sponsor truck. Before each of the races it leads each group of cars on their warm up laps. I couldn't get a very good picture of it cause it was so fast! heehee! or maybe I'm just not a very good photographer...but it was a very cool truck! And finally, here is the winner of the Modified 360's - those are my favorites! They are SO fast, and the rumble of their engines always vibrates straight through to my bones!

Rubix Cube

I've never been good at these - but i finally found a way to win!

Bertha & Thelma's Babysitting Adventure

It has been fun being home this year! I haven't had to miss all the fun showers for all the people in our church getting married and having babies, and have even been able to get involved. For this particular shower, it was the celebration of 2 babies being born, Elliot Flohrs and Emma Pankonin. Laura and I put the skit together as Bertha and Thelma who were babysitting in order to earn the money for a 2-seat power scooter! heehee! It was fun - I'm going to miss my pal, Bertha when she moves away :(

I MISS YOU, HELAINE!

Love You!