California

After Maika's wedding, I spent a week with my mom in beautiful Palm Desert. I love that place! We went on our morning walk, lifted weights, took Jackson swimming, ate at yummy restaurants, went shopping and actually got some color in our faces. Jackson loved watching the ducks in the morning and found a new friend in the mirror (still doesn't know that his reflection in the mirror is himself). Most of all, I loved spending the time with my mom and having her be able to spend so much time with Jackson. Love you Mom. Can't wait until next time! (Thanks Theresa for helping with Jackson during the day so we could face the 115 degree heat without worrying about him!)

Maika's Wedding

A couple of weeks ago one of my best friends got married. I was so happy I was able to travel to California to watch Maika get married. I'm thrilled she found the man of her dreams. Love you Maika!

Jackson Wakeboarding

Jason's dream came true Saturday: his little boy wakeboarded for the first time (not without lots of help from his Daddy). Though I was nervous wreck Jackson would be in tears and this would be a traumatic experience for him, I was wrong. Totally wrong. He smiled. He laughed. He loved it!

Fun part of my job

I recently reported a business story that analyzed the impact the above average rainfall this summer is having on Iowa farmers. As part of my story, I did what's called a stand-up (or industry term for reporter demonstration of a fact within a story) about how a poorer crop year would affect corn-made products in grocery stores. The photographer I worked with that day - Matt Nelson - thought it would be fun to snap some pictures of me trying to do my standup. He claims Jackson will appreciate knowing what his mom did when he was young. I hope so. Just reminds me it took ten minutes to get the shot right.

"Real" food

Today Jackson ate his first "real" dinner. He had some ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and a roll. He loved it!

Coralville Lake

Saturday we were finally able to make it out to Coralville Lake and go boating. The first for us as a family this year. Boy, where has the time gone?! I was nervous about how Jackson would handle being out in the hot sun for about 5 hours. He was an angel - in fact he is better boating than when he's at home. Jason and I tried to get back into the groove of waterskiing and wakeboarding. Today, we're both so sore we can barely move. Guess we are way out of shape. Jackson loved swimming, though he was a little nervous at first being surrounded by so much water and lots of boats whizzing by him. All in all, a wonderful day at the Lake. Can't wait until next time!

Arts Fest

Jackson, Jason and I enjoyed going to Arts Fest in downtown Iowa City this year. One of the highlights for us was being able to listen to the music played live on the ped mall.