Keepin' up with the times

Apparently I'm not very good at blogging! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I actually forgot I had a blog. :P

Anyway, lots of things have transpired over the past few months.

1. Ruth's first birthday:

















We had a fun first birthday party at my parents' house. It will probably be the only time we have a party like it. Lots of relatives came and there was tons of food. Unfortunately, it was one of the few days she decided to be in a bad mood. Cake and a bath made everything better, though. :)

2. Vacation in Minnesota:



















My grandparents once owned a fishing resort in Minnesota, so it's a family tradition to go up to northern Minnesota every few years for vacation. This year, we stayed at a place called Moore's Lodge on Leech Lake. It was probably the nicest resort we've ever visited, and we had a great time. Tony, Ruth and I went with my parents, my little brother and my nephew. (We all had a bad hair day in this photo. :-) )

3. Camping in Ogallala:















We went camping with some good family friends at Lake McConaughy in Ogallala, Neb., which is about 4 hours west of Omaha. We camped on the beach (I am still cleaning up after it, too!), spent hours digging out a van that got stuck in the sand, and endured five thunderstorms, all in about 36 hours. However, we did catch a large catfish, ate some delicious campfire cooking and had a great time swimming. The company definitely made it all worthwhile.

4. Saying goodbye to car #2:














We needed a more reliable car, so before we went on vacation in June, we sold my 2001 Ford ZX2 to purchase a 2003 Ford Taurus. After returning from vacation, we seriously contemplated selling our 1996 Dodge Intrepid (shown above). We bought the Intrepid 2 years ago, and it has been a true workhorse for us. We loved it more than we expected we would. With 170,000 miles on it, however, it had a whole host of mechanical problems we couldn't afford to fix. So we decided to sell it, and, as of Friday, we are a one-car family. We think with good communication and planning, we can make this work until we save up enough money for a new car. We bought Tony a new bike over the weekend so he can continue biking to school (about a 10-minute ride). Tony will take the bus to work on days I need the car.

Well, that's my summer update. Who can tell me where exactly summer went, by the way?

I'll try to update this more regularly!

-Meredith