Puppy Love...

We recently traveled back to SoDak to see the family.  We added another family member on our jaunt across the country...

This was our first big car trip with Tessa, and to say that she was a rock star in the car would be an understatement.  She rocked it!

Once we made it to SoDak, there was no shortage of attention for Tessa Sue.  She went of endless walks, was played with non-stop, and was doted on more than she deserved.  But Tessa ate up EVERY minute of the attention she got!

Going for a walk with Judson and Crew.. 

Playing with the cousins...

Playing with Miles and Murphy, Eric and Kristen's dogs...

Out for another walk... everyone took turns holding the leash and walking Tessa, but I didn't have one volunteer to help pick up her poo.  Imagine that!

These two became best buds while we were there.

Judson SO needs a puppy of his own!

Baby Jasmine was interested in Tessa too.  

She loved to "pet" Tessa, and Tessa was great to allow it.

Tessa couldn't understand what was going on.  

Wasn't she the one that was supposed to be inside the cage looking out, 

rather than on the outside looking in?!

After the long days of walking, playing, wrestling and chasing, this poor pup was tuckered out.

But don't be fooled, the naps were short lived.  

This puppy had some loving to soak up!

Gallery Wall

Check out Sullivan's gallery wall in her room... 

When I said she loves to paint, I wasn't lying!!!!

Reminiscing...

For whatever reason, Quinn and Sullivan have been reading my blog books a lot lately.  They love reminiscing about the past and talking about the "remember whens."

Sullivan came across a post in one of the books that showed how she used to like to read her books with her blanket.  She inquired where all her old books went to and if they were somehow available for her to read.  I explained that they were packed away in the basement, but we could pull them out if she wanted.  Of course she wanted to do that!

(Disclaimer:  The picture you are about to see shows our mechanical/storage room in complete disarray.  Don't judge!  It's on my list to get to that room one of these days. The picture was too sweet not to share.)

I pulled out the bucket of books for Sullivan and then got busy doing something.  I came back awhile later to see this....

At first I thought nothing of it.  I thought she was simply browsing the books.  When I got a bit closer, I realized that she had a captive audience! 

Tessa Sue was content to listen to Sullivan read to her... so incredibly sweet!

Later on, Sullivan asked if she could bring some books upstairs and read to me.  Who can pass on the opportunity to snuggle on the couch and listen to some oldie (but goodie) books from the past!?!?

A sweet, sweet trip down memory lane!

A First...

We hit a milestone birthday at our house yesterday.  

Miss Tessa Sue turned ONE!!!

It seems like yesterday that this little peanut entered our family, yet we can hardly remember life without her. 

Now she's all grown up... (sigh!)

To celebrate our sweet puppy's first birthday, the girls wanted to get her a cheeseburger.  That quickly got vetoed by someone in our house.  So... we settled for second best by going to the dog barkery (get it?!) to get a couple scrumptious treats!

They must have been quite scrumptious because Tessa inhaled them lickety split!  

Ryan would probably say she was treated like royalty yesterday, and he's probably right.  But Tessa only turns one once, so we had to live it up!

Happy 1st Birthday, Tessa!

(or Magoo, Tessa Sue Sue, Sue Magroo, Sessa Tue, Mooca, 

Sessie, Mookie, Mookers, or whatever clever nickname we come up with next for you)!!

We love you!!! 

Hanging with Our Friends...

Our dear North Carolina friends, the Hansbergers, were traveling through Indy this week and were sweet enough to make a stop to spend time with us. It had been a year since we saw them last, but you'd never know it.  Everyone picked up right where they left off!

While their visit was a short one, we were happy to soak up as much time and fun as we could.  The girls spent lots of time just talking and coloring and playing games....

We also went to burn off some energy at Skyzone.  Everyone took their hand at the Ninja course, the warp wall, the rock wall, and the jousting pit.  A truly fun time!!!

While there was a little bit of a rain cloud over their visit with us when their car broke down, they were able to get it fixed and get on the road with only a few hours delay. 

Despite that little hiccup, we loved every minute or our time with them and are so thankful that they stopped to see us!  We loved our time with these peeps!

4th of July...

Our 4th of July was much quieter than years' past - as we decided to stay home this year instead of going back to SD.  Despite that, we made the most of the day celebrating our nation's freedom!

We had a quiet morning, followed by a paintball fight and the most amazing grilled food for dinner.  Who can resist grilling out on the 4th of July?

The paintball fight in the afternoon was MOSTLY successful - minus the two times someone got splattered in the face and nearly halted the rest of the fight!

All in all, they had a good time with the paintballs and have some pretty colorful shirts to prove their good time.

Later, we did a few fireworks ourselves - nothing big or flashy.  But fun nonetheless!  

We finished the night with our friends in the neighborhood.  Someone put on quite the spectacular fireworks show that rivaled that of many small towns and cities.  One can only imagine how much money they burned up last evening.  We enjoyed every minute of the display though.

While the 4th was much quieter than we normally are used to, and we missed our family traditions back in SD, celebrating with these peeps was still pretty spectacular!