Long overdue!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. My only excuse is that we spent two weeks in MN and time has gotten away from me. And, it's summer time so we're spending lots of time outside on long walks, swimming lessons, picnics, etc. I hope to be better in the future!

We had a blast in MN. Allie and I spent two weeks at home and Dan joined us for the last weekend. Here's what Allie did:

Spent time with Great Grandma and Aunt Sue.

Hung out with some of my old boyfriends (Will Pieper and Charlie Sapmaz). Aren't they cute?

Got to hang out with my cousin Mercy. I think she's so cool.

Mercy can eat her toes too!

I helped mommy get ready to have her friends over for a little party.

Some of my friends came too!

I had to take a break from the party to eat my toes. Yum!

Then I got to go to Love Lake for the first time. We are so lucky to have a place on such a beautiful lake. I got to look at this view every day!

I took boat rides,

hung out with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tim,

and had a little girl time. I can't wait until my hair is long enough for Aunt Sarah to braid.

Josiah and Pappee made ice cream. Maybe next year I can help them.

Aren't Pappee and Gagu cute?

I celebrated my very first 4th of July at Love Lake. Now that I live in Canada, the 4th of July seems even more special. (Pardon all the drool on my chin, I'm teething!)

We started the day with a 4th of July parade between the cabins. We followed Gagu's car which blasted John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever". This is a tradition passed down from Big Pappee (Great Grandpa) and it was F-U-N!

Here we are planning our parade route.

And, we're off!

Mercy forgot to wear pants.

Then we had a big dinner at Uncle Art's cabin.

I got to spend time with my mommy's Godmother and Gagu's sister, Aunt Susie B. She's too much fun!

I also had fun with my cousin Josiah,

and my mom's beautiful cousin Christina!

It was a great trip to Love Lake, but mommy and I had to leave to go to Dead Lake to spend time with daddy's side of the family. I wish he could have come too, but he was busy working in Canada.

I hung out with my other cousins Gavin and Brennan.

And I loved spending time with Nana. I can't believe how many fat rolls I have on my legs. Should I be embarrassed?

I loved spending time with my other grandparents. I'm so lucky to have so many people that love me!

I was already in bed, but mommy got to enjoy this beautiful sunset.

I would have loved to stay longer, but we had to go back to Edina because we had a party for all of the grand babies in Gagu's prayer group. These ladies pray for me all the time and, before me, they prayed for my mommy and daddy. Thank you for all the prayers!

Me with Aunt Mary

Charlie Pieper with Mercy March (Will Pieper in the background).

Whit Pieper

It was impossible to get a picture with all of us sitting still and looking at the camera. Can you believe how many grand babies the prayer group has? God has really blessed this group!

Here are Stella Miesen, Mercy March, me, Whit Pieper, Charlie Pieper, and Will Pieper.

There are three Charlie grand babies in the prayer group! Here are Charlie Miesen with his grandma Carol, Charlie Pieper with his grandma Kathy, and Charlie Schmitt with his grandma Laura.

My daddy flew in from Canada during the party. I hadn't seen him for almost two weeks. My mom took pictures of my reaction when I first saw him. Can you tell how happy I was to see him?

Now that we're together, I'm never letting go!

Daddy with his two girls!

We celebrated daddy's birthday.

Mercy really loved daddy's cake!

We spent our last day with daddy's family. It was so fun! I love hanging out with Nana and Gavin.

Here I am with Brennan and Gavin.

Brennan loved daddy's cake just like Mercy!

Phew! You made it to the end of mommy's post! We had such a great vacation but I'm happy to be back in Canada. Now I'm working on sitting up, learning to swim at my swim lessons, and eating solid food. Check back soon to see an update!