This past weekend, we went ot KS fora B-day celebration/family reunion in Hutchinson. Bryan's grandma turned 85 last week and there were family members there from WI, KS, MO, PA, and OK. It was a quick trip, but very enjoyable, none the less.

Getting a cookie from Grandma Nelson!

Grandma Nelson and Joshua

Abigale, Talor, Cameron and Bryan . . . getting ready for another round of Chicken.

Mommy and Joshua -- the boy has NO FEAR of the water -- he was annoyed that we "constrained" him in his swimmy ring.

"The Whole Gang!"

Bryan's mom, Jean and her sister Juanita

Catching Greatgrandma up on the latest digital pics.

Joshua showing Greatgrandma Goodwin his collection of rocks . . . hey, it kept him occupied for a bit!

Joshua and Uncle Mark . . who knows what was going on here!

Joshua and his cousin, Ben -- nice smile, Joshua!

Bryan and Carol

We enjoyed hanging out with Lisa's family for a couple of days, too. Grandpa Varner and Joshua setting up the "farm."

Joshua and Uncle Ryan playing with Knex

Yeah . . Joshua didn't understand the whole "only hit one block at a time" rule when playing "Don't Break with Ice" with Grandma Varner!

Yep -- 6 Weeks to Go!

Uncle "Stewie" and Aunt "Bem"

This is Joshua's new room -- we went with an airplane room becuase he is REALLY into them right now! I'm not exactly the world's greatest artist, but it's ok! Still have a few minor things to do, but most of the work is done. We'd like to put carpet down eventually, but for right now, it's fine.

Joshua is very proud of his "airplane" room!

This is our baby sleeping in his "big boy" bed for the first time -- and yes, I got a little teary-eyed :(.

We recently purchsed an ice cream maker off of Ebay to carry out the Nelson family tradition of homemade ice cream! So . . . we gave it a try this weekend. It was good that Bryan at least had an idea how to work the machine -- becuase I I didn't have a clue!

All the work paid off! I think Bryan has had 4 bowls (very large ones at that) of ice cream in the last 48 hours!

We've been talking with Joshua about his new "big boy" bed and how he will be sleeping in it -- think he gets the picture????

That's our Joshua!

This past Saturday, Lititz had it's "Grande Parade" -- celebrating its 250th anniversary. It was a 3-mile parade route and was packed the entire way. Bryan led the community band. This was the view from our front porch -- I think they started lining up at about 7:30 am. It was one of those "I love living in Lititz" moments!

The view from the other way -- it was so convenient to have the parade route go right by our house. It was fun to have several families from church join us.

One of the highlights for Bryan and I was getting to see our good friend Sarah carry the banner for the band. She ADORES the band, and was thrilled to have this opportunity! It was very special, indeed.

Here is Joshua sitting on our curb with the Landis twins -- some of his favorite "buds" from church! They are so good with him!

There were 17 bands total in the parade -- the day was a bit warm to be decked out in band uniforms!

One of the more unusual floats . . .it was actually driven by a car undeneath . . .but the driver had NO view of the road!

The aftermath . . . complete with stickers, hat, and candy! (Don't worry grandmas . . . his cheeks were not sunburned - it was just a little warm outside) :)

Happy Labor Day (late!) Everyone! Our "big" project for the weekend was to install an overhead ceiling light in Joshua's "new" room. We really weren't looking forward to the process becuase we had done it before in the nursery and knew what a yucky, frustrating mess it was! However, Bryan was a trooper and kept at it!

As you can see, it was quite an ordeal to get the wiring fed to the light!

Who knew that a light would evoke such a feeling of accomplishment????

We were given free tickets to a Barnstormers game, and had a great time out as a family! I think Joshua said "ball" about 200 times (what he's saying in this picture). Very fun evening together -- even though we called it quits during the 5th inning!

Joshua and mommy -- and he's even looking at the camera! Amazing!

Who knew that bubble wrap could be so intriguing for a little boy? Notice the tongue . . .!