A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That...

I can't believe how fast this summer is flying by!!  It feels like it just started, and it's already August... Yikes!!  Suffice it to say, our summer has been CRAZY busy!  We've been doing alot of traveling, home improvements, and visiting with friends and family. It's been alot of fun to say the least! :)  This also explains my lack of blogging too. :)  So, without further ado... Here's a little sneak peak into what we've been doing over the past couple of months.

I came home from school one evening to find my husband and our neighbor running around in the yard next door with rakes.  When I asked what was going on, I couldn't quite hear the response, so I chalked it up to men being men, and went back inside the house.  Shortly thereafter, Brian comes running in to get the keys to the truck and tells me that he needs my help... When I ask why, he proceeds to point to the dog crate on the front porch.  When I looked inside, I saw this sweet little guy... How cute is he?! :)  He was in our neighbor's yard, and our neighbor was going to "dispose" of him, but Brian interrupted and thought of a much more humane way to remove the raccoon from their yard.  I mean, c'mon, he's only a baby! :) 

So we took him up to the park a couple of miles up the road from us and released him back into the wild...
Being that he was just so cute, I did ask if we could keep him...
But, I soon realized that Vander and Riley probably wouldn't like that all too well! :)

Goodbye little furry friend!  Safe travels! :)

We picked our friends from Germany, Katrina and Benjamin, up at the airport and they spent the night with us!  We invited our other friends, Kinga and Maciek (who also lived in Germany with all of us), over for an authentic American meal (burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad... The usual! :)).  We had such a fun evening, and it was so great to be able to all be together again! :)  It was like a little piece of Germany over here in the U.S.! :)

After dinner, we sat around the bonfire and enjoyed a few drinks and s'mores, while catching up with everyone. :)  

Katrina and I...
I think my cheesy grin shows how excited I was to have us all together again! :)

My very dear friend, Nicole, had a baby shower...
She's due in August... Yay!! :)
Isn't she just the cutest pregnant lady ever?! :)

Nicole, Stacy, and I...
We've literally grown up together.  :)
And, being the younger sister, Stacy has actually known Nicole for her entire life. :) 

Our kitchen went from looking like this...
(eeew!)

to this...
(The cupboards were all sanded down.)

to this. :)
Yep, we sanded and re-stained our cupboards.. And they look awesome! :)
We've actually done much more work in the kitchen, but I'll touch on that in a separate post...
Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise! :)

Vander had a play date!!
My friend, Cessa, who I haven't seen in about 5 years, came over to visit and she brought her pup, Koda.
The pups had such a fun time playing, and Cessa and I enjoyed being able to catch up! :)  

They look like they're up to something! :)

How cute! :)

Oh, and I managed to break my middle toe... Ow!
This isn't the greatest picture of it and it was taken about 4 - 5 days after it happened.
I was in our garage (and yes, I was barefoot!)  trying to find something on the workbench, and I managed to dislodge an air compressor and it came crashing down directly on my middle toe...
Words cannot express the pain that caused! :)
But, it's gradually getting back to normal... It's no longer purple, the swelling has gone down for the most part, and I'm no longer walking all funky.  I still can't run all that well, and wearing heels isn't the most pleasant sensation, but at least it's better than it was! :)