Another weekend has come and gone, and there are a lot of things to celebrate. The annual Iowa Irishfest kicked off Friday afternoon, and we took the chance to browse some Irish goods, eat some really great food (not so much Irish, but delicious), listen to a couple Celtic bands, and watch the world-famous Trinity Irish Dancers. Thanks to Jane and Dwight for inviting us to go!
Saturday brought some sweet memories and more celebration. The day started by heading to Manchester and enjoying some homemade ice cream with Mom and Dad. The folks are stripping and re-sealing their deck, and I wanted to help Dad get some of the old stuff off the deck. We worked for a few hours, then enjoyed grilled burgers, grilled potatoes and onions, sweet corn, cucumbers and onions, potato salad, zucchini cake, and more homemade ice cream. After a tour of gardens and some potato digging it was back to the deck. Knowing that we had a wedding to get to, my work ended early, and I showered and we headed to First Lutheran to see the group that just arrived back from West Virginia (Carlos included). We celebrated and prayed with the group, returned the van to Dubuque, and headed to Bellevue to celebrate the marriage of Kyle and Alisha. The drive was scenic, the weather beautiful, and the outdoor service was a nice touch for the bride and groom. We enjoyed catching up with old friends, eating some delicious roast pork, sweet corn, and a variety of salads and pies, and learning more about how the pig's head ended up in the roaster! It was a great day, and would have been better without the 2 hour and 1 minute drive back to Waterloo!
Sunday, we worshipped and celebrated the visit of our friend Greg! He was on leave for the weekend and it was nice to see him and hear stories from his last few months away! With any luck, he will be back permanently in the next week! After church was mowing and dinner. After dinner was our big interview for childcare. Our friend Karen operates a daycare out of her home, and she has an opening in January! We ended up spending 3 hours at her house, catching up with the family and talking more about expectations and the logistics of daycare. My eyes were opened to the different aspects of daycare and all the work that goes into operating one! At the end of the night we agreed that Karen is our top priority now! So, we are a bit relieved that we have so many good things going for us!
As the month of August rolls around, we continue to get busier and prepare for school to start. We hope you are all blessed, healthy, and enjoying the finer things in life! Take Care!
