Fun with Family

During my time off, I was able to go to nortern Illinois to visit my brother and his family. I don't get to see them often, so I was amazed by how much my niece and nephew have grown. We had such a fun time. Even though my time with them was short and I don't see them nearly often enough, I'm thankful for the time I did have. I'm very blessed with a wonderful family.

Here we are baking some brownies. They are great baking assistants!

Here I am with my favorite big brother.

Yep, he's a goofball...but you gotta love him.

And here is my gorgeous mother. My dad doesn't seem to be around when I have the camera out.

My time off has been very restful. Lots of naps, lots of time with my family and time with my Savior, which is the most important.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Okay, I'm not leaving on a plane, but in my Jeep. I'm taking off tomorrow morning for 2 1/2 weeks. I'm headed to my parents' for some much needed rest and relaxation. This isn't really vacation time, but a time to find some refreshment physically and spiritually.

To put it simply, I'm drained. I need to rest my body and feed my soul. Please pray for me as I take this time away. I want my heart to be in tune with God's.

I may or may not blog during this time. We'll have to see how it goes. Not that I've been great at keeping up anyway. Maybe some refreshment will give me creative ideas again.

Thanks for your prayers.

Ahhh - Vacation

So I know it's been awhile since my last post. Just to update you a bit on my health. I've had bronchitis again and I'm simply very tired. My appointment at Mayo is June 5. Thanks so much for your prayers. So now, on with the post!

My best friend, Bekah, came flew here two weeks ago and last week we went on vacation to Eureka Springs, AR. We rented a little cabin in the Ozark Mountains and just spent the week relaxing. It was so much fun and just what I needed. Enjoy the pictures of our trip.

The Jeep is loaded and ready to go. Now, if I can just get Bekah to get in so we can go!

This was our nice little cabin in the Ozark Mountains. It was very clean and tidy, which was very nice.

This is the view just down the road from our cabin on our morning walk. It was breath-taking.

Here we are on our morning walk. Let me tell you - taking a walk in the mountains is quite different than northern Iowa.

See that little gazebo down there in the clearing? Well, we walked all the way there and back up again.See that little clearing up near the top right of that hill? That's where we took the picture of the gazebo. This picture was taken from the gazebo. Our cabin is just around the corner from that clearing. It was a challenge to walk that, but felt so good!

Anybody know what this plant is? We saw it when we went on the walk at Blue Springs. They had gardens along the walk and I just loved this plant.

Here are some more pretty flowers from our walk at Blue Springs.

This picture and the next are for Amy B. I guess Chick-fil A is her favorite place to eat. It was my first time there and it was really yummy, but not very healthy (I didn't have a salad).

We did go up to Branson for a day. We ate at the Hard Luck Diner. This was our waitress Stephanie. It's a neat place to eat. All the waiters and waitresses sing and entertain you while they serve tables. A couple of the waiters have been finalists on American Idol.

This was outside the diner. We thought it was a fun photo op.

We saw "Noah the Musical." It was amazing! I would recommend that anyone see it if they are in Branson.

Last picture...taken just before Bekah left on Wednesday. It was such a nice time and I'm thankful for the time spent with Bekah. I'm blessed to have her as my friend.