Chicago

The summer is drawing swiftly to a close, but there was one thing left on the list of things to do before fall. A road trip...

Katie was going to Chicago to visit her aunt and uncle and invited me to go along. She did not have to ask twice.

We saw God's protection right away. 10 minutes into the drive, a semi right in front of us kicked up this piece of steel into our hood. It only did cosmetic damage but if we had been 10 feet closer to the semi I would not be blogging this or anything else for that matter.

Uncle Paul has a beautiful collection of cars. He took us out for a ride in his 1986 Ferrari...

And his 1965 Jag...

Aunt Cindy also has some gorgeous cars. When she handed me the keys to her Aston Martin (number 33 out of 99 ever made), I thought I would faint. I didn't, faint that is. Drive I most certainly did.

The next day we went downtown, which included a trip to Willis Tower. Willis Tower used to be both Sears Tower and the tallest building in the world, until Sears sold the name and Dubai built a taller building.

The observation decks, with glass floors, were the highlight of the tower. 110 stories up, stepping out on what feels like nothing over the city, oh yeah baby...

Yep, we were just up there! This is pretty much how I walked around downtown. Hand on the back of my head to catch my sunglasses and looking up everywhere making this same "country mouse in the city" face the whole time.

The skyscraper-lined streets were swarming with humanity. I got a thrill out of smiling at anyone I could and at the same time was overwhelmed with the thought that God loves each of the people passing me and knew their stories.

The 'wedding cake' building flanked by Willis tower. From the top of Willis Tower the wedding cake looked like a doll house...

The last day we went to Cindy's ballroom dance lesson. After watching her and her dance instructors work on a number they will be competing with in nationals we each got our own introduction to ballroom dancing lesson. If I was not addicted to dance before, well, it just got a whole lot more addicting! To top it off, Cindy took us out for ice cream afterwards. Thank you so much, Paul and Cindy, for an amazingly wonderful 3 days! It was the perfect way to wind up the best summer to date.

Happy Birthday Timothy!!!

Happy 13th birthday, Timothy!!

I am not sure when you grew up from my sweet little buddy who asked me to marry him into the handsome young man you are today.

It seems like just yesterday I was teaching you your alphabet, and now you are a bookworm....

And I used to tease you about how you would one day get bigger than me and carry me around instead of me carrying you. As you proved the other evening, that day has come!

I love the way you put your whole heart into whatever you do.

And your creativity that overflows into everything.

And your well timed hugs, especially when you see someone is having a bad day and needs a little cheering up.

But most of all, I love that you are my little brother. Just like I told you back when you asked me to marry you, it is better that I am your sister. That way I get to see you grow up and experience all those years of life with you. Happy birthday!!! I love you!!!!

Hay and More Hay

God blessed us with a whole field of alfalfa hay, just waiting to be baled. The baling party worked until midnight getting it all off the ground. The next day the unloading party worked most of the day getting as much as possible into the now exceptionally full hay shed.

Sarah came for a few days to visit and ride along to the Rebelution Conference. Turns out she is a pretty awesome hay hauler and stacker.

We love you, Sarah, come back and buck hay and wash dishes any time you want!!! :D

The regular hay bucking crew was depleted to the point that I even got to don my overalls and throw a few bales in the direction of the stack.

Like I said, the hayshed is about as full as it gets...

Timothy finished up his project so he could come join in. The addition of a 4th person to the team made such a difference! It is amazing how shortening the steps in the assembly line can improve everyone's energy and sense of humor...

We made Superman look like a pansy, didn't we Benjamin?

Thank you Lord for the provision of more hay and for the energy to get it all into the shed!

Trina's Graduation

As previously mentioned, I got a total of zero good pictures from Trina's graduation. However, one of my favorite bloggers was there. Her blogpost about the graduation was excellent, so for anyone who was not there and wanted to see some pictures, here is the link to Mrs. Grady's take on the graduation. Thanks so much for blogging about it!

Trina's Graduation

And here is the one good picture we did get of the day, Grandpa introducing Caroline to Herk. They were both pretty smitten. Congratulations again, Trina!

Timothy's New Bike

Mom, Grandpa and Bubbie all got together to get Timothy a bike for his birthday. He has been doing research and trying to find the perfect one. It just so happens that this summer I spent a little time around one of the best bike shops in Omaha (in my humble opinion) and hence knew right where to go when the time came.

There is a lovely flag man line between us and Omaha. We are getting quite familiar with this particular line and are closely keeping tabs on the progress in repaving 75...

But, just because you have to sit in line does not mean you can't be having fun!

We combined trips and made a Walmart run. I was searching for something in the household section and John amused himself while waiting for me.

The guys at the bike shop knew just what Timothy needed. They had him all set up with a bike, a helmet and gloves in no time. We had fun getting everything in the back of the station wagon.

Thank you Mom, Grandpa, and Bubbie! Great things happen when men and mountain bikes meet... (Slightly altered quote from a fortune cookie)

The Zoo With Mom

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo holds more memories for me than I could dream of capturing in a blogpost. Mom loves the zoo and all my growing up years she found a way to take us to the world of adventure and discovery at least once or twice a year. They say more is caught then taught and I never lost my wonder for the zoo, even though I know more than the average bear about what the animals like to do and how to get to each exhibit.

Mom came into town for Trina's graduation and Sunday she took us to the zoo. A place with that many good memories can only produce more good memories.

And going with Mom pretty much ensures that it is going to be a blast. For anyone who thinks I am crazy, you have not seen anything until you meet my Mom. She is the best! :D

This is me in frog.

I know he is brighter green and kind of slimy, but you can see the resemblance, right?

The monkeys put on an awesome show for us. *Insert random comment about entertaining for family*

So many awesome picture taking places. I know there is a picture of Leah right in this spot when she was about 5...

Some pictures don't need captions.

Look, Leah, the sloth has moss growing on it!!

This picture is for Hillary. And yes, as you have probably guessed by now, there was a predecessor to this picture. And no, I am not going to blog it...

John kept posing everywhere he could. I finally got one where the lighting turned out! I love you handsome little man!!

It's a Hipps' thing. If you don't know, feel free to ask... :D

Thank you, Mom, for another awesome trip to the zoo I won't soon forget! I love you!!!

Getting Ready for Trina's Graduation

Trina's graduation was on Saturday, but we spent the better part of last week getting the farm and house in shape. It was a big job since we have not cleaned things up like that since Hillary's graduation two years ago.

I hardly got any pictures of the graduation (I know, it is terrible, but I wanted to visit with people and hence forgot to take pictures of them), but got several documenting our preparations.

Everyone helped and no job was too big or too small.

Leah was in charge of the outside crew and they had it looking completely lovely.

Many thanks to Christopher for the use of his mowers and weed-wacker, and helping us use them!

And to Laura for doing all the nastiest cleaning jobs without complaint. And to the Katies, who more than earned their sainthood. The only reason we are not canonizing you all right now is because we want to keep you around for Leah's graduation party next year...

We cleaned everything.

Like I said, everything....

But it was worth it! Thanks so much to everyone who helped make things lovely and the graduation so much fun. Congratulations again, Trina, on all your hard work. We love you!!