golden.

soaking up the golden hour with friends at a spontaneous evening picnic by the lake... bliss!

superiorman.

we cheered on nj & his two buddies today as they relayed duluth's first half-ironman, the superiorman! rd 'escaped the vista fleet' 2mi out into the harbor & then swam to shore, tagged st into action for his 100+mi bike ride, then nj followed with a very hot half-marathon. it was a long race, but i think these guys were born with built-in propellors or something. how else do you explain the mileage they covered in one morning?  all in all, this superiorman crew was happy to be teamed up together & cheered on by lots of fans.

food.

this has been one full & exciting weekend! to add to all of the above, lj tasted his first solid food this weekend, courtesy of grampa's sweet potato. ;) we'll see where this little introduction takes us...

out.

these are the days that we have to get outside & make the most of our beautiful temps & umpteen daylight hours. so thankful to have family who agree wholeheartedly! for the record, we managed to squeeze in an evening with daddy at homecroft playground, a hike in bagley nature area (kj climbed all the way to the top on her own, wow!), & relocation of the swing at home (thanks, grampa!) between last night & this afternoon. also for the record, lj is sitting up these days! yeah!

dedications.

today was a special day in the life of our family. both children were dedicated to the Lord before our family, friends, and church. we are so thankful that the Lord has committed to loving these kids, and we fervently hope & pray that they will know & return that deep, deep love someday. even kj, who has been asking everyday for several weeks before bedtime, "mama, talk to me about 'dedicated' again," knew this was a sacred time. my heart swells at the knowledge & experience of it all.