Justin's fire

As many of you may know, my brother Justin's house caught on fire about a week and a half ago. Everyone is fine and they are actually doing quite well thanks to the donations and prayers from everyone around us/them. Justin and Trish actually put a bid on another house in Randolph and are pretty sure they got it. They are staying in a rental house in Randolph for now. This rental house has a little window in one of the inside walls with a little door on it, so Kyla had the perfect idea to use the fake McDonald's food that someone donated to them and turn it into a drive-thru window!! Only in America, right?!?! So, Ber, Kyla, Jaidyn and I spent the better half of an afternoon playing McDonald's drive-thru. I love my life!

Nick's wedding!

One of my best friends from high school got married last weekend and Ber and I made the trip to the big city of Dolph to celebrate with him and his new wife.

Hunter!

Here are some pictures of Hunter the day Amber and I found out that she's going to be a big sister. Naturally we had to take her to Toys R Us and buy her big sister prize! One picture is of Hunter bargain shopping, one is a close-up cutie pic of Hunter, one is of Hunter munching on an onion sliver (which she loved), one is of Hunter chilling out before it was time to go home, and the last one is of Hunter showing off her walking skills in the middle of Toys R Us.

apparently I have some blogging to do

So....a lot has happened in the life of ME since I last posted a blog...Let's see. I got a new job. I'm working at a place called Affina where I set up AT&T phone service for customers in Ohio. I've only been working there for 2 weeks and I"m not even all the way through training yet. I still have a couple more days to go. It's actually been pretty challenging, supposedly I'm on one of the hardest accounts in the company.
Hunter's birthday was on the 8th. She is walking now and last I checked, she had 8 teeth! That's pretty good concidering the day before her birthday she didn't have a single tooth yet. She walks everywhere she goes now. I also found out a week ago that Hunter is going to be a big sister!!! That's right! Opie and Teri have been blessed with another pregnancy! We find out on Friday how far along she is, she is thinking about 2 1/2 months! YAY!

Scroll Down....my blog's down there...

for some reason the blog's messed up, I think it's because the link to my last post is too long.

Punkie!

So, I put Punkie's picture in a cutest pet photo contest. I can't wait to find out if she won or not!

Nye's Polonaise Room

Okay, remember back in February when I went to Minneapolis and I chronicled my whole weekend of fun and entertainment? Also, remember the guy I affectionately named "Rodge Podge Concoction" who taught me how to dance the polka and waltz? Well......ok, just watch the video and see why this is exciting.
http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=17925@wcco.dayport.com

Another fun thing about the parade...

Another fun thing about the parade is that two of my cousins were in it...(Beth's daughters). Here is Emily as a flag girl and Lindsey wit her saxaphone (obviously not nearly as excited about the parade as her mother). Here's also a picture of the "truck of fun" as I dubbed it. I thought it might have been too much fun for one float. See for yourself.

"They Love a PARADE!!!!"

Since Beth and I arrived at the parade 2 hours early, we had plenty of time to "people watch" And that's when I saw her. I woman that might love a parade more than my aunt, Beth. She was wearing a Dr. Seuss hat that was American flag themed and a shirt that actually says "I love a parade". She lived on the parade route and was passing out doughnuts and coffee from her house (for free) to the anxious parade-goers). Beth was too embarassed to talk to her, so I went up to her and said "Where did you get your t-shirt?" She told me she has an industrial printing press at her house and she made them for herself and the rest of her family. She took down Beth's number and told her she would make her a tshirt of her very own, but as of today, has not called. So, parade lady, if you're reading this...Beth would really love one of those t-shirts. I also asked her to take a picture with my aunt Beth, stating that she's the only person I've ever seen that loves a parade more than she.

"76 trombones led the big parade..."

I'm going to tell you a little story, but before I do, I'm going to give you a little background. This picture is of my aunt Beth. Beth is a fun gal. She has two tattoos, can cuss like a sailor, and is most usually adorned in various Harley Davidson attire. She is definately a product of the 80's. Though her hair and jeans have recently taken a giant step towards the year 2000, she still enjoys the vocal stylings of ACDC, Jon Bon Jovi and the like. Heck, her daughter named her first 4-H calf "Aerosmith". The reason I'm telling you this, is not to poke fun at Beth. In fact, I wouldn't want her any other way. She is my aunt by marriage, but she couldn't be more of a Petersen if she tried (sorry, Beth). But maybe by understanding more about her, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that her favorite thing in this entire world is the annual "North Iowa Band Festival". She has told me of her love for the parade numerous times, but to tell you the truth, I thought it was somewhat of an act. I decided to go this year to find out what the excitement is all about. We got there early (2 hours, in fact) so we could be assured a good spot (Beth's idea). We sat about a block away from the very end of the parade route. This parade was very much like any other parade, only this is where the movie "The Music Man" was based out of, so the first band to come through is the Mason City High School Band playing "76 Trombones". This is when I knew for sure that Beth's love for the parade was not an act. The Mason City band stopped right in front of us and played the famous song. I looked over at Beth and she had goosebumps running up and down her arms and legs. She looked over at me and said "It's like they're playing it just for me!!" I tried to get a picture, but I was using Beth's camera, so I didn't really know how to work it properly. Plus, I was laughing so it's a little blurry. But, nonetheless, here is a little window into my world that day.

Fishing Fun!

Tayler and Emmy have been over at our house since Wednesday evening. We've been busy, too! On Friday, we went fishing with Adam, Amanda, Abby, Lissy and Dew. Here are a few pictures from our day.

A Camping we did go!

We went camping on Wednesday with Amanda and the kids. It was fun....a little chilly....but fun. Amber got a new tent at the truckload sale for $5 and we tested it out.

Fun with Mammzy

Happy Birthday, Mammzy!

My Grandma's birthday was on Saturday and we had a little birthday party for her....a My Little Pony birthday party. My Dad and step-mom came from Nebraska to be there. It was fun getting everyone together. Ber printed out My Little Pony coloring pages and everyone colored Grandma a picture with a special message on it to remember the occassion.

Break a leg, Erin!

My friend, Erin is playing Eliza in the production of "My Fair Lady" which opened tonight (May 5th). I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish her luck!

And the Bonehead of the Year award goes to...

ME!!!!! The most disturbing thing happened. I lost my yahoo! mail account. Please allow me to explain. Ber checks my email so habitually that she usually receives emails before I do. It started to make me feel angry and violated, so last night when I was talking on the phone to my sister-in-law, I decided to change my password. I went to bed. Then, when I woke up this morning, I could not remember what I changed the password to! AHHHHHHHH!! I've had this account since I was a sophomore in high school, therefore wouldn't even begin to know the answer to the password question. Also, my whole life was wrapped up in this email address. I had all of my friends' names and phone numbers and email addresses and pictures from my old computer that no longer exist! AHHHHHHHHHH There are pictures from my nieces baptism and baby shower and TONS and TONS of crap all wrapped up in that one yahoo! account. I'm sad and I could probably puke if I think about it anymore. Anyway, I thought I would let you guys that check my blog know to write me at my hotmail account. It's the same as my yahoo! one, only it ends with @hotmail.com instead. I'm doing all I can to recover the yahoo! account, but for now they have frozen it up, so I will have to wait until tomorrow.

Forgive and forget

Getting lost can be frustrating...but my neices are forgiving kids. Here are some pics of them holding the map that led them astray. I think Jaidyn is still trying to figure out just where exactly she is.

More family fun!

They made it!

So, Trish and the girls have been planning to come out here for a couple weeks now. Little did they know, that their trip was about to double in length. Long story short, they got lost and ended up near Souix Falls. They were supposed to be at our house at 9 p.m. and didn't get here until 5a.m. the next morning. Needless to say, everyone was a bit sleepy. We had a barbeque planned for Saturday. The rain put a damper on any outdoor activity ideas we had in mind, but we made the best out of the situation. When all else fails, crack out the crayolas and get to scribblin' and that's just what we did. I have to say, it was nice hanging out with the family. Although, my aunt Connie decided that she would not be gracing us with her presence. Here are a couple pics from the visit.