Melissa's Bridesmaid Shower

The bridesmaids hosted a "Monograms and Margerita's" Shower for Melissa.

Everyone was asked to bring something monogrammed.

These two cuties were looking extra special!

Here's Grandma Barb Luedke holding baby Cassidy.

Bridesmaids: Ashley Tilton, Autumn Burmeister, Jennifer Luedke, Kyler Luedke, Melissa Boos, Angela Johnson, Shelby Davis, Jessica Lackey, and Lyndsey Koehler

Sisters!  And a niece!

Cutie girls in their comfy clothes!

Golfing and the Royals!

A little Father's Day weekend family dinner!  Jed, Jerry, Jay and Carl went golfing, and we all met up for supper at Willie's in Atchison afterwards.

Jerry and Janie celebrated their 35th Wedding anniversary.  That is the same day as Jed's birthday...so to celebrate we all went to a Friday night Royals game.  This was Jace's first game!  And it was buck night, and they had fireworks afterwards...it was a fun night!

I told them we picked Jace's shirt because it was their 35th wedding anniversary....maybe not but it was a good coincidence!

Summertime Playtime

And sleeptime.  Jace gave Connor this tiger to play with one day....she fell asleep on it that day (just laying on the living room floor), and has been sleeping with it since then.  

We LOVE being outside.

And we love playing in the water!

Connor loves playing with Daddy...

But then all of a sudden she gets tired and doesn't like it!

And a random picture of Connor and Cassidy "playing" together...

And just Colton.  I mean Cassidy!  Geez they look alike!

Goodbyes.

We said goodbye to the swing this week.  Decided that at almost 9 months, Connor had outgrown it.  She hadn't been using it for awhile anyway...but we really finally put it away.

Some fun comparisons:  Jace and Connor, both first time in the swing.

And their last times in the swing...Jace was about 6 months old...we let Connor stay in it a few months longer I guess...even though at every checkup she has outgrown Jace at the same age!

And just Connor....and a 9 month difference.

And another first and last....Jace's first time holding Connor at home, and most recent time.  It won't be his last I can assure you.  He LOVES her.  And she ADORES him.

And now for the tough Goodbye in this blog post.  I knew this day was coming....but I had no idea it would be so hard to let go of my truck.  I know how silly that sounds....but think about it.

 This truck brought home my first baby from the hospital...with so many gifts and flowers shoved in there, we barely had room for Jace.

This truck moved us to our new home when we bought it.  And again, with so much stuff packed in there on each load we couldn't barely find Jace.

This truck brought home my last baby from the hospital.  It has taken my babies to checkups, it took Jace to his first day of preschool, went on so many trips to Manhattan to see I think 4 of our siblings/in-laws graduate.  The first dog we had, Frankie, was allowed to ride in the back seat of this truck.  ALL THE TIME.  Went to two of our siblings weddings.  Brought home Jace's first bike.  I LOVED the KSU stickers on it--especially the family stickers.  In fact, I used that picture to announce when we were pregnant with Connor.  I know it sounds silly....but this truck was family.  And I miss it.  We definitely needed more room...so we got an Acadia.  It's nice to have the room in the back....but I would go back and get my truck today if they would let me.  There were a lot of miles but a lot of memories too.

T-Ball Again.

Intense base running....

Our buddy Cooper again...

Is Jace crying here?  I think so.  What are they talking about?  I have no idea.  I'm sure it's something important...like Jace wants a drink or something like that!  (And the little girl in the picture is Charley Rush---she was born 3 days after Jace)

Are they related?

I LOVE this picture.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Jace must have seen me....

Kyler gets some base running tips...

And a little coaching from her Mom too!

Rodeo

Jace was super excited for the Rodeo this year.

He insisted he was doing the mutton busting.  Before I signed him up we watched YouTube videos so he knew exactly what would happen.

Colton and Kyler were signed up to do it also.  (The picture on the left is Brennan Smith...)

Colton was the first to go.  They yanked him off the ground, put him on a sheep and sent him on his way so quick he couldn't back out.  And this was the only picture I got.  

Kyler decided not to go, and pretty soon it was close to Jace's turn.  Brennan Smith went right before Jace.  He got thrown off, and stepped on, and he walked off crying.

So that quickly changed Jace's mind about mutton busting.

There's always next year.  But hey, we still got to watch a great rodeo, and Jace loved that.  He got some kettle corn, which he LOVES....

And the kids that did the mutton busting got a pop.  (Even if you didn't end up doing it...)  And he picked out Mountain Dew...which he never gets to have, even though it's Grandpa and Jay's favorite drink.  So, we still had a great night!