June Recap + What I’m Looking Forward to in July

It’s time for another monthly update! Here’s a peek at our past four weeks (plus a peek ahead at the month of July)!

June Recap:

We celebrated Signe’s graduation! Bjorn’s sister Signe graduated from college (a whole year early!) at the start of June. Her graduation ceremony was in Las Vegas, and we had been planning on going, but with how things were going with planting season this year, we ended up needing to be at home. However, we were able to watch her walk live online! We hooked it up to a television and had a mini viewing party with family members who weren’t in Vegas. It was a special celebration and we are so proud of Auntie Signe!! The following weekend, when everyone was back home, we had a family grad party for Signe. Bjorn had army drill that weekend, but Sophie and I stayed home to hang out with people and attend that party. 🙂

^^ watching her auntie (and godmother!) graduate!! ^^

We began to do some babyproofing around here! Well, since we live in an older home with some tricky floors/walls/stairs/etc., we went the route of buying a baby gate enclosure for now. And it’s working out so well! We purchased a large one (almost 40 square feet) and Sophie just loves playing in it! It gives her a lot of freedom to crawl around and play with her toys, without us constantly picking her up and moving her away from our front rug or sharp furniture. It’s a large enough space that at least a couple adults can hang out with Sophie in it, too! We have it set up in the “piano room” portion of our living room downstairs.

We had a baby shower to celebrate! Bjorn’s sister Amy and her husband Tyler are expecting their first baby, a girl, in August!! We’re so darn excited! This sweet little girl will be Sophie’s first-ever cousin. Can’t wait to see them together. They’ll make great memories over the years! It was a lot of fun celebrating the upcoming arrival of their baby this month. And then later that day, we celebrated Bjorn’s cousin Eliana’s birthday as well! Lots of celebrations this past month!!

^^ Working on the party mints before the baby shower! I wish we had snagged even more photos during the day! It was a special time, though! ^^

We shingled the house that we own down the street. You may remember, Bjorn and I bought a house in our neighborhood that we rent out. We knew from the start that the house needed a new roof, so that’s been a recent project of ours! Bjorn, my brother Tyler, and Bjorn’s cousin Hans have all been hard at work shingling the house. They got half of the roof done before we left for Kentucky in June, and recently got the rest of the roof done. It looks so good! And it feels good to have that project done. 🙂 We’ve had my brother here with us multiple times this summer already, which has been a lot of fun! We love it when he visits!

Bjorn finished planting. 🙂 Planting season comes and goes with such swift force around here. It’s an all-consuming time, and then suddenly, it’s done! (Although there is always still farming-related work to do!) We’ve had a ton of rain around here, though, so a lot of farmers have had standing water in their fields. 🙁 Ours wasn’t hit the worst, so we’re grateful for that. We’re praying for a good enough yield for our soybeans this year!

^^ Sophie and I frequently delivered drinks and meals to Bjorn – she was such a great little helper buddy! 🙂 This photo was right before a storm rolled in as Bjorn was planting. ^^

I’ve been attending a Bible study this summer. It’s a women’s study held at a local church, and I’m so glad I took the leap of faith and signed up when I didn’t know anyone. I knew it would be stretching for me (in many ways), and it’s already been a blessing. Sophie plays in the nursery while I’m upstairs with the other adults, and she’s been doing so well!!

PS – this Bible study is amazing!! I’d never heard of Priscilla Shirer before. So many “truth bombs” – and her teaching is so engaging. It’s been a lot of fun to learn from her, and I always walk away with so much to think about!!

Bjorn is home for the summer (from teaching). I guess I should say he is more or less home. 😉 Bjorn is always busy and there are still things he has committed to, but at least it doesn’t include teaching for right now. It is a lot of fun to have him around more during the day, and Sophie sure loves playing with her daddy!! The two of them have such sweet times together! We’re getting used to this new kind of routine (as much of a routine there can be in the summer!) – it’s different from Sophie and me being home alone together for 9 hours at a time (normal days) or even 16 hours on farming days.

We met up with my mom halfway and spent the day together. Sophie and I drove one hour and my mom drove one hour, and we met up at a mall halfway! It was a sweet, special day!! 🙂

^^ Hanging out at Barnes & Noble with Grandma! ^^

We went out to Fort Knox for army training. Bjorn had 5 days of training to do in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Sophie and I got to accompany him out there! 🙂 It was Sophie’s first road trip (besides trips 2 or 3 hours away to visit family around here). She was a great sport and traveled really well for the most part. Nights were a different story…but the sweet girl was teething and wasn’t a huge fan of sleeping in her pack ‘n’ play instead of her crib in her room at home! Nevertheless, we three had a wonderful time together! We stayed in a hotel room on post at Fort Knox, and when Bjorn was at his class, Sophie and I enjoyed some Starbucks dates and even an afternoon at the splash pad at the pool!!

^^ Sophie practiced sitting like a big girl in highchairs on our trip! She loved it! ^^

^^ Bjorn doesn’t pose for photos in his uniform 🙂 but I think he looks so good in it! When he’s got weeks like this when he has to be in uniform, it always reminds me of when we were dating in college and he’d be wearing his army uniform when we met up for lunch (he had army in the early mornings). ^^

On the way out to Kentucky, we visited a monastery in Dubuque, Iowa, the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, and the Amish community in Arthur, Illinois. It sure was a fun road trip!

Sophie got to meet her great-grandma Eleanor! We visited some of my family on the way home from Kentucky as we came through St. Louis. It was special because Sophie hadn’t gotten to meet her great-grandma (my maternal grandmother) yet. We visited with her for a while one morning at her living community, and it was a sweet time with special memories.

We spent time with my aunt and uncle! After the morning with my grandma, Bjorn and Sophie and I met up with my Uncle Dale and Aunt Rhonda for lunch! It is always such fun to spend time with them. 🙂 We enjoyed lunch at the Mission Taco Joint in St. Louis, followed by incredible ice cream at Jeni’s! We are so glad it worked out to see them on our way home!

We celebrated Sophie’s great-grandpa’s 90th. When we returned home (literally, the afternoon we got home!), Bjorn’s maternal side of his family was having a huge party for his grandfather’s 90th birthday. We were tired from traveling for several days, but we’re glad we were able to get home just in time for that celebration. There were a lot of people attending and sharing special memories they had with Howard.

^^ A 4 generation pic! So special. ^^

Sophie has continued to grow and blossom more every day! It’s absolutely incredible how much she is taking in and learning each day!! A lot of these changes, I’ll be sharing in her monthly update post in a couple weeks, but every single day with her is just so much fun!! For example, Sophie now knows how to play peek-a-boo all by herself!! She’ll hold a blanket up in front of her face, pause, and then whip it down and giggle!! She’ll do it over and over again. This month has been full of sweet memories and discoveries like that. 🙂

What I’m Looking Forward to in July:

• 4th of July festivities are always fun. By the time this post goes live, it’ll be past the 4th, but we always end up having meals with family. This year, we probably won’t stay up really late with Sophie for the fireworks, but it’ll still be a good time. :):
• Double dating with my friend Jordan and her husband Alex! We get to double-date with them maybe a couple times a year, and it is always such fun when it works out!! We can’t wait!
• Time with my family. It’s been a while since my dad has seen Sophie (maybe 6 or 7 weeks?) and she’s changed a lot since then! We’re looking forward to time with my family soon.
• Branson, Missouri!!!!! This month, Bjorn and Sophie and I will be heading to Branson for our first official family vacation. (Kentucky was full of army training during the day for Bjorn, so this will feel more like a legitimate vacation for him!) We’re so excited!! I’ve never been to Branson — what are your recommendations??
• The county fair at the end of the month. Always a great time. I just love fairs!!!

That’s about it, friends! What a good, full month June was! And we’re looking forward to all of the fun things coming up now in July! What are you looking forward to in July??