Welcome back! We are half way through remembering 2020. The months of July-September were some of my favorites. 

In July we had a get together for the 4th of July. Our back yard is big enough that everyone could social distance and still have a good time. We are lucky that our friends and family are safe when it comes to covid and take it seriously. That's the only way we were still able to see each other and not worry as much about giving covid to each other. We had a lot of delicious food and the weather was perfect for the kiddos to run around and enjoy being outside. The fireworks show that Jason and the guys put on was awesome! They did a great job. We had a defective one though that caused a scare. We thought one of the cakes tipped over but it didn't. It started shooting out the bottom and to the sides. We were very lucky that no one was injured and we were able to get all the kiddos back out of the way fast enough. Of all the years of doing fireworks, I've never seen that happen before. It was pretty scary and my anxiety went through the roof. But like I said, everyone was ok and everyone still had a good time. 

 

  

We had some friends and family over to celebrate Barrett's birthday. Next year depending how things are with Covid, we are hoping to do a party where he can invite a couple kids from school. The kids went and stayed a couple days with their Aunt and Uncle and their cousins. 

  

   

The day after they left, we got hit with a really bad storm. Iowa was hit with a derecho. I was not familiar with this term so in case you don't know what a derecho is, here's the definition: a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds. 

We lost a lot of branches and half a tree fell on the power line that connects to the house. We lost power from Monday - Friday that week. Thankfully our house stayed pretty cool for the first few days. We had some friends stay with us as well since they lost their power. I had to work from my parents house once they got their power back. It was a very stressful week. The kids ended up coming home from their Aunt's early  since they were hit with the storm as well. When they got back home they stayed a couple nights with their Nana because she thankfully had power. We were very thankful to finally have power by Friday evening to get the air going and cool down the house. The house got to 86 degrees and was super hot. We were hosting my sister's bridal shower the next day and we were stressing about not being able to have it.

Thankfully everything worked out and we were able to still host the shower and we all had a great time. I was so happy to host a shower for my sister. It was nice enough outside that we could have tables and tents up outside since our house still wasn't completely cooled down. 

By this time businesses were starting to open back up and Bella was able to get her ears pierced. She had wanted to get them done for her birthday but that was in March when the shut down all started. She was so brave and didn't even flinch.

We also set up a school area for the kids in the spare bedroom since they were going to be doing school 100% virtually for the first semester. We also spent a lot of time outside enjoying the bike trails behind our house. 

 

     

  

 

  

September was a lot of fun! We held my sister's bachelorette party at an air bnb so we didn't have to go anywhere. The house had it's own pool and was perfect. At the end of September we had my sister's wedding. The wedding was absolutely perfect! Being maid (matron) of honor, I had to give a speech. If you know me, you know I hate public speaking. I'm terrified of it and usually avoid it at all costs but I obviously wasn't getting out of this one. I knew I was going to cry as soon as I looked at my sister so I tried not to look at her but out of habit I looked at her within the first few sentences. I instantly started crying. I usually do not cry in front of people so crying in front of all our family and friends was so embarrassing. But I made it through the speech and made my dad tear up so at least there's that. I still tear up just thinking about their wedding. I'm so happy for both my sister and her husband. They have a love that most people just dream about finding.

September also brought a change in the seasons. Fall is my favorite season and I was very excited to decorate our new house for the holidays. I'll share some pictures below. 

Well this update was a lot longer than planned and I honestly left out so much. But that's all for now. 

Until next time. 

xoxo