Happy Birthday Dad!
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional!
~Chili Davis

Farewell Friend!

My friend Robin is moving to Georgia tomorrow. While I'm very excited for her, I'm going to miss her! A couple weeks ago we had a luau themed going away party for her. Good luck with everything Robin and keep in touch!!

Robin and me

Lacey and me

Goodbye Pink!

Dustin and I got the baby's room painted yesterday. I'm so happy to be rid of that pink and purple striping! The new colors are Jekyll Club Veranda Yellow and Fennel Splash ... basically yellow and green. Or as my mom put it, very modern takes on traditional nursery colors. Right up my alley! In the next few weeks mom will come in and take care of the accoutrement ... we're going to do the alphabet as a border with wood block letters.

Before

After

And this is the bedding set that we picked out

We also picked up the travel system (car seat and stroller) and got that put together. I would say we're pretty much ready for this baby ... at least I hope we are! We only have about a month until he or she arrives!

Happy Anniversary Nichole & Randy!

Weekend Update

This weekend started out wonderfully. I had a wedding rehearsal Friday night and then the wedding on Saturday. I played piano for a lovely couple (that I don't know ... the bride's mother used to work with my mother) and Dustin assisted me. The photographer came over while I was playing the prelude music and took some close-up shots of my music. He also took some close-ups of my hands while I was playing. I'm hoping that I can track him down and maybe buy a couple prints. It would be cool to have something like that hanging in my piano room! After the reception, Dustin and I went home where we enjoyed a fire on our patio and some NASCAR/football. We're both so ready for football season to start!

Today, we picked up the house and got some laundry started. Then we headed out to run some errands. I stopped and bought a couple books that my book group has selected and got some new kicks too (thank goodness for my paying piano gigs!). Then off to get groceries, etc. Just your average, run-of-the-mill Sunday.

We returned home to water in our basement ... again. Ugh. We're pretty sure this keeps happening because of our tree in the front yard. So, we do the roto-rooter (??) thing and get some root killer for the pipes and then we're good for a while. Our plan is call the city and see who might be responsible for the sewer line. If they are, we get a new line. If we are ... we buy stock in root killer stuff. :)

To make ourselves feel better, I made some fresh salsa (with tomatoes and jalapenos from Dustin's garden). Yummy!! Now we're relaxing before we have to go back to work tomorrow. Weekends are never long enough!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

A little belated, but better late than never! My grandpa and his twin brother just turned 87 the other day. And grandpa is finally home now after staying at the hospital and nursing home following a hip replacement. Love you grandpa!

Miss Allie

Mom was able to get these photos of Allie the other night at the farm (normally she can't be bothered to sit still for a picture - always on the move, I don't know how she has the energy). This little girl is so darn cute!!

Getting Ready for Baby

I am now 30 weeks (only 10 more to go), so Dustin and I thought that we should at least do something to let people know that we are preparing for this baby! We headed out on Saturday and got ourselves this nursery set. Grandma and Grandpa Beringer (aka Jeff and Cindy) helped us with this little purchase ... Thank you so much!!

Dustin and I are quite the furniture-assembling team. We have a nifty little system in place, so this took no time at all. And we didn't have any arguments either! :)

Dustin hard at work with the dresser. I helped with the drawers!

Crib is almost finished!

Here's the dresser ... now we finally have a place for all the clothes that Jeff and Cindy have sent us!!

The finished nursery set

The next step is to buy the bedding set that I've had my eye on for quite some time. Then Mom is going to help paint (at least I hope you are Mom!). I cannot wait to get rid of that awful striping!

Rachel's Shower

Last Sunday we went to a bridal shower for my sister's best friend Rachel. She's getting married in September. It was a nice afternoon with a lovely game that Nichole and Laci had us play.

Congratulations Rachel!

Nichole, Rachel, Courtney and Laci

And of course, Allie!

Sioux Valley High School - Class of 1998

I sometimes have trouble believing that I have been out of high school for 10 years now. Either way, my 10 year reunion came and went. We all got together the first weekend of August and we had a great turnout. My graduating class had about 60 students and we had around 30 show up for the reunion (plus a few significant others).

We started out Friday night at Cubby's with an informal gathering, followed by a school tour and golfing on Saturday (I missed out on those to attend my cousin's wedding). Saturday night was dinner at the golf course in Volga and after dinner, we all headed to the bar on Main. We were pretty much the only ones there and, true to form, we closed the place down. Let's talk about the last time I stayed up past midnight, or even 10. I finally crawled into bed a 3 a.m. Exhausted!

All in all it was a great weekend. I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to it or not. Now ... I can't wait for the next one!

Me and Jason Kratochvil - Jason was our class president Senior year

Chad is trying to rival my belly ... close, but no cigar!
Chad Nielson, Heidi Meyer, Randy Santema, me, Nathan Schumacher, Jeremiah Norwood & Jason Kratochvil

Chad Nielson, me & Pat Hanson
I spent a majority of the weekend with someone touching my belly waiting for the little bambino to kick!

Told you we had a good turnout ... here's the majority of my classmates
We sure missed those of you that weren't able to attend!

We had to move it outside to get the class and their significant others

Happy Birthday Nichole!!

A Honey of a Place to Bee!!

Come Home to the Hive for 125

This was the theme for the 17th Annual Honey Days Celebration, as Bruce celebrated 125 years, and it was one of the best Honey Days that I can remember!

The Hovey float, featuring Bruce's twins, my Grandpa Rolf and his brother Roger. My uncle Don and my aunts Jan and Louise rode on the float (uncle Dave drove the car). Mom was the emcee for the parade.

Nichole has a strict no-publishing policy, but I just couldn't resist posting this photo from the parade! That's Grandma Elsie in the background helping my cousins get their candy.

Rentsch Volleyball

We are the Champions!!

The Rentsch team finally made it into the B-Bracket of the Honey Days Co-ed Volleyball Tournament ... and we went undefeated!!!

Go Team!

There are hardly words

ComBENation & Dog Bone

Our little cheerleader ... AKA 1/2" Drive

Celebrating!

Win or lose, the team always heads to The Lonestar for pizza! In just three short years, we'll be celebrating 20 years of Rentsch Volleyball and we're already making big plans for the event!

South Dakota's Own

Last night I had the privilege of attending a concert at Pioneer Park featuring the 147th Army Band of the South Dakota Army National Guard. I used to be a member of this band and it was so wonderful to see everyone again. There were a lot of new faces that I didn't recognize, which happens when you don't see everyone for 4+ years! They sounded amazing, as usual, and there were so many people in attendance. The concert band, jazz band and rock band all performed.

I only had a couple people try to talk me into re-enlisting, which didn't surprise me at all. Re-enlistment is doubtful, but seeing my guard family again sure brought back a lot of memories and made me miss them. But then they started tearing down and loading equipment into the truck ... I don't miss that at all! If you ever have an opportunity to take in a performance from this group, I strongly encourage you to do so!

Might have to take out the old saxophone ...

Best Pregnancy Book Ever!

My friend Rachel told me that I needed to read this book, so she lent me her copy. I finished it in a couple of hours. It is the funniest book I have read in a long time.
Anyone that has ever been pregnant or is pregnant, or even will be pregnant, needs to read this book! I had to stop a couple times because I couldn't breathe and I was crying from laughing so much. I'm definitely going to buy this book to keep on hand!
While it doesn't replace "the book" (and yes, I am that girl that often says "Well, the book says ..."), it's a great addition and gives you a better outlook on the things that you will endure during your pregnancy. :-)

Baker Golf Classic 2008

Dustin's family has a reunion every year down in Freeman at the golf course. We were finally able to make it down again and we had a great time! I haven't golfed since last year and even then I only made it out once. It was kind of like riding a bike and after a few holes I got the swing of things. Ha!

Our caravan. I still think our team was the best even if we didn't win!

I know, I know. I'm pretty awesome! And the shot was really close too.
I hear Lance is quite the golfer so it was pretty impressive that I got this pin prize.

Celebrating my skills!

This is what your form looks like when you are 26 weeks pregnant. It must have worked for me. I out-drove the guys on a couple different holes.

Happy Birthday Mom!

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been."
Madeleine L'Engle, quoted in the New York Times (April 25, 1985)

Mom's birthday was Friday and we celebrated with a garage party! We had an amazing variety of food as everyone brought a dish to share. It was so much fun. Happy Birthday Mom ... I love you!!

Summer Fun

We took the boat out to Lake Oakwood Sunday afternoon (which was the perfect day to go, as all the holiday campers were on their way home!). Nichole and I commented several times that it's been far too long since we've been to Oakwood. Things have changed so much out there. We definitely need to go more often and I think we just might!

The anticipation was almost more than Allie could take!

This little girl has no fear, she was ready to jump out of the boat a couple times.

Uncle Dustin let Allie drive us back from the swim beach. She's an excellent driver. Now if we can just get her to look up from the steering wheel!

Happy Fourth of July!

It is the Soldier

by Charles M. Province

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,

Who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,

Who serves under the flag,

Whose coffin is draped in the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Landscaping!

Before

After

With my mother's vision and a little muscle from Dustin and my father, we got our landscaping done! I could not be more pleased with the end result ... it has completely transformed our house. We planted hostas and a spirea, a shrub of some sort and azaleas. Mom gave me the fun bamboo wind chime and the planter with the impatiens. The rocks are courtesy of my uncle's farm, the flower is something cool I picked up at the Art's Festival last year and of course, my bird. I'm so happy that he finally has a decent home! Now he needs a fresh coat of paint and a name!