The Beringers Go Camping

This past weekend we took a little camping trip to Lake Thompson Recreation Area. It was the best weekend ever!!

Happy camper! :)

The fire/grill master attempting to make us some coffee.

It worked, but we scrapped it on day two.

A view of our campsite

We quickly decided we had the best campsite. We were relatively close to the comfort station (a definite plus) and this view of the park was from our chairs. Preston was able to play there all day long and we could keep an eye on him without having to be over there the whole time. Perfect!!

Matt, Jessica and Camden came out to visit on Saturday and brought their dog too.

Preston and Camden took her for a little walk.

Aunt Jessica took Lilli Jo over to play with Molly for a bit.

Preston in Uncle Randy's new chair.

The Hofers came out to visit on Saturday as well and brought their super-fun, new inflatable boat and some other floaty chairs/loungers to take to the lake.

 What's that over there, just out of my reach?

 Preston, Camden and Turner played some ladder golf.

 Turner having some fun running around.

Preston missed but was still pretty excited about the game. :)

This seriously was the best weekend ever. I think I can safely say that I love camping now and I'm trying to figure out why we haven't gone until now. (I still don't like the bugs and I miss the air conditioning. All that aside, I had a great time.)

We cannot wait to go camping again and fortunately we don't have to wait long. We'll be joining the Hofers and some friends at Lake Poinsett in August to celebrate Nichole's 30th birthday!!

Preston Goes to the Rodeo

A couple weekeds ago, I took Preston to the rodeo in Estelline. We went with Nichole, Turner, Allie, Courtney and Kiera and met up with Matt, Jessica and Camden.

Preston had a blast!

 Getting pretty dirty from all the dust flying

 The boot race

I wasn't sure if Preston would actually participate, as he kept running back and forth.

 As you can see, he chose to participate.

He didn't really understand the rules ... the kids were to remove their boots (or shoes) and throw them in a pile. From the starting line, they had to race over, put their boots back on and race back.

Preston kind of cheated, as he didn't remove his shoes. The clown determined that he got second place and he got a $10 prize. I felt kind of bad, since technically he cheated.

I decided it all worked out though since the rodeo personnel didn't follow their own rules with the mutton busting, which prevented Camden from participating. Karma, right?

 He took a spill while in the arena which left him even more dirty than he was before!

 Howdy ma'am!

My little cowpoke!

Preston borrowed Camden's hat for a bit. He looks so darn cute in it that I might have to get him one of his own!

We had such a great time, even though we were filthy by the end of it. We both promptly took showers once we returned home that evening!

I can't wait for the next rodeo in our area so we can go again! I forgot how much I love them.

Vacation Bible School

 Preston received an invitation to attend Vacation Bible School from my mom's friend, Jennifer. He had so much fun! For three nights, he learned all about Daniel's courage in captivity in Babylon.

Preston made some great crafts and they are now proudly displayed on our refrigerator. I can't wait for him to start Preschool now so I have more great things to display!

My apologies for the poor quality pictures. I have a love/hate relationship with my camera. I love it for the most part, but it takes terrible pictures indoors.

RibFest 2012

 Checking out the critters

 I want to go in the inflatables too!

Preston had a blast in the inflatables!

 Preston after RibFest

 Lilli Jo after RibFest

(She later conked out once we got home)



I'm 10 Months Old Today!

We are a mere two months away from Lilli Jo's first birthday. {gasp}

Lilli Jo has eight teeth now. Seems like a lot for such a little girl.

She's starting to walk around the furniture more and follows her brother wherever he goes. She has a fascination with the dishwasher and can hear it open from her bedroom. Whenever she hears it, she makes a beeline for it. She also LOVES Preston's puzzle table that we got him a few years ago at the arts festival. She mostly loves to take the pieces out and chew on them. Looks like we'll be tracking down that booth this year and ordering a puzzle for her. :)

One of Lilli Jo's favorite games is to drop things and have us pick them up. She especially loves to drop her snacks from her high chair. She will look at you, smile and lean over to drop whatever she has on the floor. She'll repeat this until she runs out of snacks to drop on the floor.

I don't know that we've had an official first word yet, but there are lots of "mamamama's" and "dadadada's" and I think she said "yeah" today when I asked her if she was a stinker.  :)

Turn the Page

If you’re dealt a setback today, I ask you to treat it as an opportunity to get curious and learn about the experience. You won’t always know exactly where the chapter will head, but you’ll know that you’re moving forward with lessons learned, wisdom gained, and experiences to share.

Like it or not, our book can’t be written without multiple chapters. Turn the page, exhale, be thankful for the things you do have in your life, and start writing. Your story is going to be a great one.

The above is an excerpt from an article by Antonio Neves. Click here to read the story.

Welcome Home, Bryan

Dustin's brother, Bryan, recently returned home from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. We celebrated his homecoming this Memorial Day weekend. What a wonderful way to celebrate this holiday! I made the poster pictured above (with a little help from my mom).

Cyrus, Bryan and Jessica's son, turned one a couple months ago and we celebrated his birthday this weekend too.

We had a great weekend and hope you did too!



 Lilli Jo thoroughly enjoyed the party!

Preston had a blast too.

We knew he was having more fun than he knew what to do with when he told us he wanted to take a nap!

 Preston really loved horsing around with Uncle Bryan again!

 Bryan and Cyrus  :)

Lilli Jo and her first trip to the pool.

She loved it! She was the only kid that didn't cry in the pool. I think she could have stayed in there all day.



Happy Baby Girl!

I love that face!

And Summer Begins

Allie and Turner stayed over Friday night and we played outside right up until bedtime. There was swinging and even a couple scooter rides around the backyard.  :)

Allie's Preschool Graduation

Allie graduated from preschool!

 Mom designed the new logo for the preschool.

The kids were surprised with a magician!

He was really good and pretty funny too.

I think Preston got a kick out of him. He really liked that the magician gave him a cookie.

I find it hard to believe that Allie will be going to kindergarten in the fall. She has grown up so fast!!

Brookings Marathon 2012

For the first time in about seven or eight years, I didn't volunteer with the Brookings Marathon, Half Marathon and Relay.

This year, my parents and their friends, Jennifer and Dodie, ran the marathon. Dustin and the kids came out with me and Nichole, Allie and Turner joined as well, as we provided support along the course. I've been providing support for the last few weeks as they did their long training runs.

I couldn't be more proud of "my" runners! They did such an amazing job and Mom and Dad even improved on their Twin City Marathon time!

 Mile 4

 Preston, Lilli Jo and I went to the kids fun run Friday night, in conjunction with the Scotty Roberts 5K, and made a poster to help cheer on Grandma and Grandpa!

 Our crew

 Mile 7

 Mile 10

 Mile 13

 Mile 14

 Mile 16

The ambulance wasn't for any of them! A runner had an allergic reaction or something, we later heard that person was fine.

 Leaving Mile 16

Jennifer had the shirts made for their group. All our names are listed on the back!

 Between Mile 20 and Mile 21

 Just before Mile 22

 Preston offered his assistance directing traffic for the runners.

Between Mile 23 and Mile 24

 Between Mile 24 and Mile 25

Grandpa Gerald even came out to cheer on our runners. He waited here at The Pheasant for them to run by. They were so surprised to see him there!

 Finish Strong!!

 THEY DID IT!!!!

5 hours, 23 minutes

Awesome!

 Congratulations!!

You all did an amazing job!

Preston wearing Grandma's medal.

Check out the video of them crossing the finish line!

I am so incredibly proud of my parents. Two marathons under the belt and and a number of 5Ks and half marathons as well. Nichole and I informed them that in a couple years we're ready to head to another big city marathon, like Kansas City!

We'll see ...