Week in Indy

I am on my way home from Indianapolis. I was there for the week for the American College of Sports Medicine conference. I gave a talk there on Wednesday and then the rest of my time was spent listening to good talks and spending time with all of my colleagues. I had a lot of quality time with my friends from Oregon and it felt so good to be around close friends again. Jon and I miss our friends so much and it was so refreshing to be around friends that you are close to like family. I shared a room with my Oregon friends Lacy, Brett, Tom and Grant - so I really got some quality time with them, but I also got to see maggie, britta, dr. klug and friends from sdsu.

Ava J

While we were in SoDak for the baby shower we also got to spend some quality time with the Meendering family. Mom and dad Meendering live in the same town the shower was held, so we got to stay with them. Sam and Nick and Ava also came home for the weekend and it felt great to all be together. We went fishing together as a family on Sunday and then came home played games in the yard, watched ava run through the sprinkler and play with water and worms, and grilled out and just enjoyed each others company.

Baby Shower

We had so much fun in SoDak last weekend for Rachel and Sam's baby shower. It was great to see our cute pregnant friend and her awesome husband who will have a new member of their family in July. After the shower we enjoyed some time hanging out with the quam family. They have always treated jon and I like part of their family and we truly enjoy our time with them. If you are a regular J2meendering blog checker then you may remember the pajama pants post from when rachel and sam came to visit Omaha this year. If so - you will all be happy to know that Jon no longer has to be left out of homemade pajama pants club. Rella presented him with his own pair at the shower!! I have posted some pictures below, but you can see more on rachel and sam's blog.

Rachel and I.......
Sam and Rachel posing with their new car seat - aren't they cheesy!Uncle Sam and Aunt Rachel playing with Brody......Who can guess what the PJ pants have on them? Bonus points if you remember what is on rachel, sam, and my pj pants fabric ...... GOOD LUCK!

OHHH BABY....

On Saturday I get to go to my friend Rachel and Sam's baby shower!! Jon and I are driving to Huron, South Dakota after work on Friday for the event. I am so excited to give Rachel and Sam my gift that I have been working on for a few weeks now. I appliquéd polka dolts to match their baby bedding on a memory board for their babies room. I am so proud of how it turned out!! The pillow you see in some of the pictures is from their baby bedding set. You can see their baby's room on their blog.

Moran Kids and Birthday Treats

These pictures were so super cute I had to post them. The first one is of my niece and god-daughter Sophie. She is posing before bed with her birthday presents from Jon and I. Her sister Rita is in the picture too dressed up as the "big scary witch".

The second picture is of my nephew Harry on his birthday. He is really into football and his parents (Julie and Joe) got him the coolest Vikings helmet and jersey for Easter (which he loved) so Jon and I got him a Vikings poster and my other sister Jen got him the goal post. Cute huh......

Sweet Life .....OMAHA???

For those of you that know and love the dessert shop SWEET LIFE in Eugene, I have made a cookie that is definitely sweet life quality. I made home-made nutter butter cookies for Jen and Rodger's rehearsal dinner and I don't want to toot my own horn, but they were awesome. People were fighting over them and the personal attendant took 2 and hid one in her purse for later on in the night! Jon said this should be my calling - which is really funny because my friend Nicole (who's personality is so similar to mine in so many ways it is almost frightening) has also been on a baking kick and was told by our friend Steph that making sweet treats was her calling as well. Hmmm.....we have always said we would open a business together doing something we love someday....maybe we should forget the crafting and start a bakery!! I know I am crazy, but I even had to take pictures of the home-made nutter butter cookies for everyone to see. I will try and post the recipe later so others can enjoy!!

Beautiful Baby

I have a rival for Nicole's cute baby picture......
This is Sydney. She is the daughter of my dear friends Steph and David.
Here are a few pictures of her beautiful parents too....
We Miss You Guys and can't wait to meet Sydney when we are in Oregon for Grant and Nicole's wedding.

I knew the bride when she used to rock and roll.....

Does anyone else know this song? Don't ask me why - but I really like it. It is catchy and I have been signing it all weekend, but Jon doesn't know this song. I really have to get a copy of it so he can hear it because my signing is not doing it justice.

Anyway - I had this song in my head because our friends Jen and Rodger got married on Friday night and we were busy with wedding festivities Wednesday (the bachlorette party), Thursday (the rehearsal dinner) and Friday (the wedding). I was a bridesmaid in the wedding and so we were in on all the pre-wedding events and had a great time meeting all of Jen and Rodger's family and friends. For those of you that don't know - Jen works with me - she has the office right next to mine and Jon and I hang out with her and Rodger quit a bit outside of work. The events were a good time and the wedding was beautiful. Here are some pictures of the fun......

Kelly, Lisa, Jen, and I at the bachlorette party....

Jen and I at the bachlorette party....
Jen and I before the wedding....
Jon and I at the end of the night.....

Playing Photographer

We had so many things blooming in our yard when we got home from Minneapolis that it made me really feel like spring was here. After a long day at work today I decided to take a few pictures in our yard.

The Meendering's Hit the Metrodome

On Saturday the full Meendering family (Randy, Sue, Sam, Nick, Ava, Jon and I) went to the Twins vs. Red Sox Game at the Metrodome. We took the light rail to the game from the Mall of America. On the light rail AVA decided that there was nothing better than her Uncle Jon and she stayed glued to him all night.......it was so cute!!

Sue, Ava and Randy in entertaining Ava at the hotel......

Jon and Ava at the metrodome......
Treats at the Twins game.......
We made a "circle me bert" poster for the twins game to try and get on TV. Bert used to pitch for the twins and now he is the annoucer for the games. Tons of people make signs that say "circle me bert" on them and when the camera shows the sign he circles them with his pen. Unfortunately we didn't make tv....bummer - but the sign was still awesome thanks to Jon and his awesome creativity and Sam and Nicks great coloring!!

Gee Family Fun

Jon and I went took last Friday off of work and drove up to Minneapolis to enjoy a long weekend. We stayed with Julie and Joe on Thursday night and then got to spend Friday morning with them in their normal routine of getting the kids ready for school and daycare - which felt so good because we are never there for school days!! We got the added bonus of taking Harry to school. He usually goes to school early with Julie and hangs out in her room until it is time for school to start, but since we were there we decided to take him. I was getting ready and Jon said that harry seemed really concerned and asked "Uncle Jon, did my mom tell you when I had to be at school?" We got him to school on time and before we walked in the building I asked Harry if he would take a picture outside his school with me, to which he replied "No Thank You aunt Jess" and looked at me like he was totally embarrassed! It was so cute and one of the highlights of our day. We also got to go see Julie's classroom and her students. I love being able to picture my sister at work now. She had such a cute classroom of 4th graders!!

Then Jon and I did a little shopping at IKEA before heading to Jen's house for dinner. She was the hostess with the mostess and we had fun grilling hot dogs for the kids while the adults had lasagna and the best mango salad with hot chili peppers and brown sugar glaze (it sounds crazy - but was sooo good). Julie and Joe and kids came over and so did Jon's parents. It was great to be all together. We played some street hockey and had a belated happy birthday celebration for Sophie complete with brownies - her favorite!!

Here are a few pics of us hanging out at Jen's house on Friday night.....

Thanks Neighbor!!

Did I take these beautiful branches from my neighbors tree.....I sure did!

Now, I didn't downright steal them from his yard - jon had to trim our neighbors tree today because one of the branches was leaning on our electrical line. So, after he was done trimming I made good use of the beautiful pink flowering branches!

House Updates....It has been awhile

So we know we probably bore you with our house updates and the pictures when we are really the only ones that care, but just in case one of you out there gets into home improvement here are some of the updates we have made and/or things we are working on.

The kitchen before....

The kitchen after....(although the floor is still in the works, we are peeling off the linoleum and refinishing the hard wood underneath, but is testing our patience.......
The bathroom and closet in the bedroom upstairs are still a work in progress. Here is a before.....
Here are a few current photos....
Crazy huh - Jon went upstairs one day with a sledge hammer and the bathroom was history.....now he has been working hard to build it back up. He is doing such a great job!!! I love having a handy husband!!

Here are other pictures of our living room and dining room in the present state..
Our house will always be a work in progress, but we have enjoyed seeing the positive changes so far and look forward to all that is ahead!!