hurray!!!

Luke has been doing really well with the potty training since we have been in IN. It is crazy because he really wasn't showing any interest in it at all at home anymore. Two days ago we were walking down stairs and Luke told me he had to go poopy! I took him to the bathroom and he went potty in the toilet!!! Then today I had to go to the bathroom shortly after getting home so he went with me and when I was done I started walking out and he started crying. I finally went back and he was standing in front of the toilet crying and saying, "Poopy, mommy, poopy!" I asked him if he wanted to go potty in the toilet and he said yes so I got him undressed and he went potty in the toilet!!! I couldn't believe it! He knew he needed to pee and he REALLY WANTED to pee in the toilet!

Now, he still uses a diaper most of the time, but the fact that he knows when he needs to go, is able to wait a little bit for me to get him there, and wants to go potty in the toilet enough that he cries if he thinks I won't let him is HUGE!!! I was really completely shocked.

Driving with a toddler

We drove from Kansas to Indiana the other day and Luke did sensational. Honestly it was the most fun I have ever had on a trip since he was born! He was happy when he was awake and easily entertained. He slept about half the time we drove and fell asleep easily without tears. We rented a car so we had a nice quiet comfortable ride with air conditioning that actually worked! We only had to stop once for an extended period of time, for supper in Kansas City.

Supper was probably my favorite part of the whole drive. We stopped at our favorite Panera on the south side of KC. We love the food and don't eat there except on trips so it is always a treat to go, plus I always relish the fact that it isn't McDonald's!!! The food is healthier so it doesn't leave you feeling like you need to puke. Everyone around kept commenting on what a cute little boy Luke is, how well behaved, how well he eats with regular silverware, etc. It was fun to hear, and I am so proud of him. This particular Panera is in a group of buildings that form a square around a courtyard in the center. The courtyard is really very large with plenty of room to run around in and get out some energy, and it is really pretty too with lots of green grass, flowers and even a few big shade trees. Greg and I took turns playing chase with Luke for about 15 minutes after we ate and it was so much fun listening to his laughter.

After supper I drove from KC to Indianapolis. I love the drive through Missouri and it was still light out so I actually got to see it. Also since I am used to staying up late I could easily drive until 3am, no problem. Greg got me a caramel late and I stuck my favorite CD's in one by one and just enjoyed the drive. It was also nice to have Greg in back when Luke got tired and needed to go to sleep, because if I am back there he would have asked to nurse, but with Greg back there he knows it isn't an option so it is easier for him to fall asleep happily in his car seat. It was sweet to hear his happy sounds back there as he and Greg played and interacted.

Now that we are here we are enjoying time with family and just relaxing. The last part of our trip will be really busy so I guess if we are going to relax and laze around a bit now is the time. Luke has enjoyed playing with cousins Anna and Isaac and whenever Dennis and Anita get home he exclaims, "Pawpaw!" or "Mimi!", as the case may be, very happily.

We enjoyed seeing friends at church and seeing how big all the kids are getting. My adopted grandma from when my parents were in VS was there and she got a nice big hug and kiss from Luke! Afterward we had lunch with family including Luke's Great Grandma and when everyone was done eating Luke insisted that she come take a nap with us which was pretty cute. Luke is enjoying playing in Pawpaw's ponds, eating all the snacks Mimi will give him and playing with all kinds of toys that are new to him. When I get home I will have to post a few pics.

Anyway, it is a very good trip so far, hope everyone is doing good at home too!

New....

First, last time we were at Grandma and Papa Regier's Luke really wanted to ride in Papa's old car, but he didn't have time then so we set up a time on Wed. to go ride with Papa in his car. Luke also really loves Papa's tractors so first he had to sit on one of them...

We got about this far before Luke decided that it was just to new and different and scarry to ride in Papa's car. We did a few laps of around the drive way but Luke really was just too scared of all the newness.

Yesterday I decided to cut my hair off shorter than it has ever been before, though it has been pretty close to this short!

Personally I really like it, but Greg prefers it long and apparently so does Luke. He took at least twenty minutes before he would look at me without looking sad and snugling up to Grammy. He wouldn't let me touch him or hold him for that whole time too, and he would barely talk to me. Finally he let me play with him in my dad's pick-up and pretty much as soon as we got in he decided that things were ok. Even so tonight before bed when I asked him if he liked my hair he said no. When I asked him if he liked it before mommy cut it he said yes! Poor baby!

Mary Lou

Flowers from my garden, I have no idea what they are called but they take over every year and I have to pull them out so I can see my roses. They are beautiful, just not in the right place.

My Great Aunt Clara passed away not too long ago so last weekend we had a memorial service for her at our church and two of her daughters and two of her grandchildren were able to come. One of those daughters is Mary Lou, my dad's first cousin and the mother of my best friend growing up. She was another mother to all of us, living just down the road, and when she comes to visit it feels as though we just pick right back up where we left off.

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I didn't take a lot of pics, I wish I had more. We spent several evenings together at my grandparent's house, talking about Aunt Clara and sharing memories as well as catching up with family from far away. The memorial service was very nice, and I liked hearing all the other storries people shared there as well as the reading of something Aunt Clara had written about how she was looking forward to moving into her new "house" as her old one was wearing down, talking about her earthly and heavenly bodies.

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The day before Mary Lou headed home I spent the afternoon out at my parent's house where she was staying and got a few pics.

It's too bad Portland is so far away!

We all had terere on the porch before she went to one of my aunt's houses for supper and since my parents are re-painting their house we all started scrapping adn picking at the paint on the porch. I should have gotten pics of everyone drinking terere and scraping, but I didn't think about it until after everyone had left, so here is all the work we did.

Rusty and Mary Lou will be back in August, so it wasn't quite so difficult to say good-bye this time. We can't wait to see them again!

Tom and Dori Visit!!!

Our good friends Dori and Tom made the trip out to Kansas to visit for a long weekend back in May and we filled up the time to the max! Here is how the visit went...

First Luke and I made sure there were brownies on hand about a day before they arrived.

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Then on Friday we went to Wichita to pick up our friends from the airport only to discover that their flight had been delayed a little more than an hour. We had a very hungry Luke on hand so we decided to go ahead and eat lunch and then if we needed too we could always grab burgers for Tom and Dori after they arrived. We had been planning on taking them to a place called Nu Way that is local and fixes crumbly burgers and makes their own Root Beer. We liked the Root Beer but decided that crumbly was not better the way the commercial described. At least we can now say we have been there.

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Tom and Dori did eventually make it to the airport and since it is VERY small they had no trouble finding us. They had already eaten so we decided to head straight to the Sedgwick County Zoo, which is one of the best in my opinion, and very impressive indeed when you consider where it is located!

Immediately after getting to the zoo Dori had a work phone call... We had to tease just a little bit!

We went through the African animals first, just a little too late for the elephant training, but it was fun to see the baby giraffes.

African hunting dog below, I usually can't find them so it was kind of cool to see it so easily this time.

Lion exhibit, Luke was more excited about running through the tunnels and around the rocks than he was about the Lions.

The lions were right next to the glass just lounging around. In below pic it looks as if there is no glass and Dori is getting really up close!

Wart hog, Luke kept saying, "Pig! Oink!"

Tapir...

At the Gorilla Exhibit....

Yes, Greg was there too!

Luke and Tom were fast friends, very cool!

Dori takes another call, this time from her mom about Tom and Dori's wedding coming up shortly!

Above Gorilla was picking bugs off his chest and eating them. Greg took a video of this which Luke loves to watch all the while exclaiming, "Bugs! Eat!!!" over and over again!

Tigers!

We also went through the North American area but by the time we hit the otters Luke was sound asleep.

We then took our sleeping boy through the Jungle where he woke up, and Tom and Dori also looked through the reptile house as well. A very full zoo trip, especially for just having gotten off a plane!

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After the zoo we went to a BBQ place at Tom and Dori's request, again Greg and I had never been but it turned out to be really good food for very little money and we all ate our fill and had plenty left over. After supper we headed back to our house, and after a tour Greg and Tom fell into a discussion that was not at all interesting to Dori, Luke and I so we went over to the church playground to have our own discussion and let Luke play a bit. When we got back we decided we were all exhausted, so Luke went to bed and the rest of us took a 2 hour nap. Then Dori and I roused ourselves enough to go pick up Drubber's Doughnuts to bring back to our men to enjoy. I think after that we were all pretty much ready to call it a night for real.

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Saturday Tom and Dori woke up bright and early and went for a walk while I slept in later than I intended. They saw our pretty little down town and then when Dori got back she joined me in a little shopping at one of my favorite local shops. We kept it speedy and rushed home for lunch made by Greg, pork chops and mashed potatoes, which were delicious!

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After lunch we packed up and headed out to my parent's farm. We had plans for the afternoon that we didn't think Luke would enjoy so my parents had agreed to keep him until late evening. Tom and Dori were also interested in seeing my parent's farm, Tom is interested in everything I think, and so we walked around, got to pet a two or three day old piglet, looked at my mom's garden, etc, and Tom and my Dad talked about raising pork free range, no antibiotics, no hot shots style. When we left there we decided to drop in on my Regier Grandparents who were actually on our way anyway. My Grandpa rebuilds old tractors and cars and since Tom is also interested in things like that we asked Grandpa to show us around his shop a bit.

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Eventually we made it back on the road, it was really good showing them things that I grew up around, introducing them to people who were important to me. I have met Dori's mom and grandma and some of her aunts, so it was nice to get to introduce her to some of my family. We had a nice long drive out to Hutchinson and long drives are great for talking. Tom and Dori were really troupers because we only had our old car with no AC and they never complained, even when Dori and I were scrunched up in the back with Luke and his car seat!

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Hutch is home to a really great Air and Space museum that happens to house a lot of Apollo 13 artifacts, pretty cool. Tom's main interest in models, etc. seems to be air and space so this was also one of their requested stops during their stay.

You could really stay there all day, but we only had the afternoon so eventually we headed back to Newton for a late supper at our one and only nice restaurant, Reba's! We all had really delicious food there and spent a while just enjoying each other before heading out. Next stop was Braum's a Midwest dairy store that includes a fast food restaurant and specializes in ice cream. (at least as good as Schwan's if not better). They raise all their own cattle and dairy cows, no hormones in the milk like the stuff you might get from most places, and it tastes better because they concentrate it a little, so even the skim doesn't taste like cloudy water. One more check on the list of things you have to do when you come to Newton.

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On our way out to pick up Luke we drove through Bethel College campus a little (Mennonite school in Newton, not the one in Indiana). Then we got Luke and headed home. I think we spent the evening talking and just enjoying each other, maybe watched a movie a bit.

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Sunday I went to Church with Luke while everyone else slept in, probably a good thing because we had been going pretty hard so far. When we got back Tom and Dori had gone for a walk, they were going to come to the church service but had woken up too late. Greg ordered cheese fries from Charlie's, a local truck stop that we frequented while in college at Hesston, and Greg also grilled some pork burgers for lunch.

Luke wants to be like mommy!

We were pretty relaxed all afternoon except that the boys had a little cooking adventure as Tom had agreed to make fried rice for us and Greg tried to help. They ended up having to run to the store but everything turned out amazing and Tom can now boast that he fed spam fried rice to pig farmers and got away with it. My parents and brothers came to eat with us and stayed to play games all evening. I wish I had gotten a picture of the feast!

Monday Luke and I drove Tom and Dori to the airport and said good-bye for now. Their wedding is in just a few weeks so we will see them again really soon. Of course we wish we could be close by all the time, but for now we will have to make due with visits. Tom is already planning their next trip and I heard him talking about buying the house across from the Space museum! We had a really great time showing you guys around some of our favorite things but best of all was all the time we got to spend just catching up and hanging out together. We miss you!!!

Just a few pics...

First a pic from playing with Grandma and Grandpa Bartel. It was terribly windy and Luke desperately wanted to be outside so of course we were outside. I think my grandma would die if she saw I posted it, but just don't pay any attention to her wind blown hair style, normally it is much more normal and beautifully done!

Luke being silly.

I planted flowers with Luke yesterday and picked a few to bring in the house. Aren't they pretty!!!

From L to R this bed has salvia, Marigold, basil, Marigold, basil, Marigold, salvia, Marigold, basil, Marigold, basil, Marigold, salvia!

I hit the perennial sale at our local greenhouse a couple of days ago and got several things I am really excited to try out including labs ear, heuchera, and delphinium!

My roses look beautiful with out me doing anything at all to them.

One last look at the Heuchera!