Memorial Weekend 2020

If you saw all of this on Instagram already, I apologize.  We had the best weekend, so I must recap it here as well.  When our family trip to Nashville was cancelled {thanks Covid}, my sister, her husband, and their daughter decided to come to spend the weekend with us.  So, I made a little plan for the weekend.

And then watched the forecast turn to rain every day.  :(  But luckily, most of the rain came each night, so we continued as planned through the day.  Plus my sister showed up with red, white, & blue everything -- hats, shirts, balloons, paper products, etc.  We were determined to enjoy every minute of this weekend.  Boat rides, swimming, Ranger/JEEP/4 wheeler rides, s'mores, lunch at the marina, and all the red, white, & blue food you can imagine.  We started working through our Summer Bucket List and found our days filled with fun activities like eating Breakfast on the Boat, making Donuts in the Driveway, and spending the entire day on the water.

This & That

Did this:
Had the most chill week {thank you Jesus!}
Went ice skating with the kids
Took the kids skiing {so much fun!}
Shot photos for my sisters business
Had a family dinner date
Finally made it to church {I can't even tell you how long it had been, sigh}
J had a playdate
Decorated the bar
Painted the AV closet -- just need to hang the shelving now!
Spent almost all of Sunday outside!
Adam smoked a bunch of meat and we took a long Ranger ride again

Instagrammed {@MurdocksMamaBlog} that:

Scheduled this:
S: February Goals -- How they really went

M: This & That
T: Skiing
T: Snow 

Ate that:

M: Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Skillet + Steamed Veggies

T: Tacos + Enchiladas at Burger Night
W: French Onion Beef Sliders + Green Beans
T: Honey Mustard glazed Chicken {would not recommend} + Coconut Oil Roasted Potatoes {so good!}
F: Family date at Burger Shed

Thanksgiving 2016

The weekend stirred a lot of emotions as we hit the one year anniversary of Murdock's passing.  I ended up getting just one photo with my camera all weekend {this is the phone version of it, as it's still on my camera waiting to be uploaded}  

After work Wednesday, we loaded up the car and headed to the lake. We had our annual Friendsgiving at the lake that evening.  We decided to forgo our typically potluck thanksgiving and make sushi instead since everyone would get their fill of turkey the next day.  It was the best decision ever, except we bought way too much of everything!  Seeing fresh seafood go to waste breaks my heart.  But the evening was so fun.  My heart fills every time we get together.  The conversations are effortless, the laughs are endless, and our kids are making memories at the same time.  We are so incredibly blessed to get to live life with these friends!  Who would have thought that Adam's highschool friends would grow to become some of my closest friends.

We take turns going to Thanksgiving, and this was the year with 'Adam's family'.  We spent the morning watching the Macy's Day Parade with the kids at the lakehouse before going to Adam's sisters house for her Thanksgiving day lunch.  We show up with a side, eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and spend the rest of the afternoon lounging in the living room as a family.  I typically play games while others watch football.  This year I did more online 'Black Friday' shopping than I'd ever done before. I'm 100% done shopping for my kids, 25% done with my nieces and nephews, and about 5% done with our parents -- they're always the most challenging for me!

Friday started early!  My mother in law picked me up at 4:30a and we spent the next 12 hours shopping! :)  That was pretty much the entire day other than an impromtu family dinner to the pizza resturant in town.

Saturday and Sunday were a perfect way to round out the holiday weekend.  A mix of sleeping in  and staying up late.  Meeting up with friends and staying in with Adam.  Eating a homemade meal as a family and sneaking out for late night Mexican food with friends. Hunting for him and painting fingernails for me.  Packing fall decor up and pulling out the Christmas books. Hanging exterior lights for him and trimming the tree for the kids and I. A sleepover at Grandma and Grandpas for the littles and a night of wine, charcuterie, wrapping presents, Jeep rides and the first indoor fire of the season for Adam and I.  Lots of football for him and the start of Christmas movies for me. I even found time to read.  Long weekends spent at home will forever be my Love Language!

This & That {w31}

Did this:
Took C  to the pediatrician {Hand, Foot, & Mouth}
Met a friend for lunch
Photographed a newborn
Took C to his follow up eye exam {waiting 6 months for glasses}
Went out for maidrites & milkshakes 
Got my hair done
Spent the weekend at Guthrie River Ruckus with friends
Watched Zootopia with the kids

Instagrammed that:  

Scheduled this:

M: This & That 

T: 

W: Kids 31|52 
T: 

F: A Photo 

This & That {w30}

Did this:
Took J to church camp all week
Had lunch with a coworker at the food trucks
Took the kids to an iCubs game with friends
Got the 'all clear' from the ENT for J's ears--for the first time ever!
Went to my sister's Keep Collective party

Instagrammed that: 

Scheduled this:

M: This & That & An Update

T: Tropical Sno

W: Kids 29|52 & Summer Bucket List Progress
T: Summerfest

F: A Photo 

This & That {w29}

Did this:
Had dinner with a guy we met in Mexico 4 years ago 
Took photos for a 6 month old
Added rock to the landscaping out front
Went out to dinner with the dance parents
Photographed a wedding in Davenport

Instagrammed that: 

Scheduled this:

M: This & That 

T: Watermelon

W: Kids 29|52 & Saying Goodbye
T: Picnic at Jasper

F: A Photo {Jonah 6 Months}

This & That {w28}

Did this:
Listened to live music at Jasper Winery
Ate TropicalSno
Went to Summerfest
Drove to Nashua to see family
Spent the weekent at the Lake
Listened to Adam's band
Took several Jeep Rides
Photographed a 9 Month old

Instagrammed that: 

   

Scheduled this:

M: This & That 

T: A Trip to Nashua

W: Kids 28|52 
T: The Drive In

F: A Photo {Kayden 9 Months}

Independence Day | 2016

This independence day was so different that previous years, for several reasons, but we still had a great long weekend!  We spent it at the lake as we usually do.  

On Thursday night, the kids had tumbling and then I met my mother in law so she could take them overnight.  The next morning, a friend was being induced to have her third baby girl and asked me to photograph it {YES PLEASE!} Unfortunately, she ended up not being able to go in for her scheduled induction because the hospital was filled, so I packed up, met Adam for a quick lunch on the patio, and headed to the lake.  I picked up the kids and we headed to the lake for some root-beer floats!  I made them each one, but they wanted to share, how adorable, right?!  After that, we went to our friend Kim's parents lakehouse for dinner and an amazing fireworks show that they put on each year.  I only took one photo! :( 

It stormed like crazy Friday night, and by the time we woke up on Saturday, temperatures plummeted into the 60's!  That's unheard of for Iowa in July!  We went into town to watch the annual parade.  It was a little stressful because all of the big kids kept getting closer and closer to the parade floats so the floats started throwing the candy really close to the cars {by the kids, obviously}, so my kids wanted to run up there for the candy {expected}, but I wasn't comfortable with it.  Note to self, next year sit by adults {or just bring a bag of candy and throw it around your kids so they think they're getting candy, as suggested by my genius friend Brooke!}  Either way, it was one of the nicest, and longest parade's Montezuma has had since I've been going. 

After the parade, we went to the 'square' and listened to a band of high school boys before going to listen to Adam & Mark plan an accoustic set. I didn't take a photo again {I blame this on Snapchat! MurdocksMama if we aren't friends already}

After that, we went home for naps before our friends Mark & Kathy came to the lake for the night.  We ended up making dinner, taking a Jeep ride, and ending the night with cocktails and a jam session around the bonfire after the kids went to bed.

Sunday started nice and slow, but had me missing my family {my sister, bil, mom & dad were in South Carolina -- more to come on that and my other sister & bil were in Des Moines because he had to work} since they usually come to the lake over the 4th.

We went to Joe & Kim's for brunch and then hired a babysitter to watch the kids during nap-time so we could go out on the boat for the afternoon.  That evening we went to our friends Brooke & Jesse's for dinner.  We headed for home early {everyone was sleeping before 10!} because we had the kids and everyone was going out to celebrate Jesse's birthday!

On Sunday, Independence Day, we lounged most of the day, too.  We took a Jeep ride over to feed the goats and then to the Farm for lunch and an afternoon of skeet shooting and 4-wheeler rides, before coming back to our house to make s'mores and light sparklers.  Unfortunately, our sparklers weren't very 'sparkly' if you will. However, the kids will happy with them, until we went over to our friends house and they had better ones.  The kids ended up playing with sparklers, snakes, and 'poppers' for the rest of the evening {sadly, I didn't have my camera with me!}