Hank Graduates from Medical School

So yes...it has been a long time since I have blogged! Life got a little bit crazy but today I hope to catch you up on the last three months and then keep you updated more often! So I left off in May when Jake and I flew to St. Louis for my brother's graduation from St. Louis University Medical School. On May 14th he walked in his cap and gown and brought the whole family to tears. He went through so much hard work to get to that day! We are all so proud of him. He is now starting his family medicine residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.
While we were in St. Louis we ate at many fabulous restaurants, toured the Anheuser Busch factory, stood under the arch downtown, went to a Cardinals game, and took many beautiful walks through Hyde Park.

Hank and Rachel in their St. Louis home.

Hank presented with an award from the St. Louis University Family Medicine Faculty.

Jake and I in our new pose inspired by Rachel!

Hank accepting his diploma!

The whole family at graduation. Rachel's sisters, her mom, her dad, Uncle Pete, Uncle John, Aunt Bev, Jake, my mom, my dad, Hank, and me!

The Peltos and Murrays at graduation!

Hank with his book, Why Do We Need Doctors, written by my second graders!

The family at Hank and Rachel's favorite pub, Dressels, for Hank's graduation party.

Jake and my Dad touring the Busch Factory.

Jake and I under the famous St. Louis Arch.

Hank, Marnie, My Mom, Rachel, Brad, Britney, and Dustin at Hank's graduation picnic.

Hank with his good friends Jonathan and Deb.

Jake and I at the Cardinals baseball game...it was free hat night!

Mom and Dad at the baseball game!

Rally cap time for Papa Hank!

Beautiful view from Busch Stadium.

One last walk by the Arch with the whole crew!

What better way to finish the weekend than a trip the Ted Drewes custard stand!

Dinner and Folf

This Saturday, May 9th, we went over to our friends Scott and Susan's house for dinner. It was a beautiful day! After dinner on the patio, we went to Freeman park and played folf (frisbee-golf)! Then we went the Reid's dairy for dessert! We are so blessed to have such fun and wonderful friends!

Jake and Ty being goofballs!

Scott and Susan!

Religious Ed Party

For the past year Jake and I have been teaching religious education on Sundays to ten 3rd and 4th graders. It has been a lot of fun and we had lots of nice students! We had a party on Friday, May 8th to celebrate the end of the year. We played games, watched Bedtime Stories, and ate lots of junk food. The kids had pizza and donuts for dinner. We got the pizza and the kids brought lots of snacks. We told them they could eat any of the the snacks they wanted with dinner and they all had big eyes and said, "Even donuts!?!?!". We said, "Why not!" All in all it was a great night!

It was a beautiful day!

Dinner time!

Pizza and donuts! Yummy!

Moive and rootbeer floats!

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was fun filled and packed with a lot of love and family! My parents, Jake's parents, Jake's brother, sister-in-law, nephew, sister, and his sister's boyfriend all came to visit! It was so wonderful to see everyone and spend the weekend playing games, going to church, and eating lots of food! Kelsey was also being confirmed in the the Catholic church so we went the all of the Holy week masses and spent a lot of time with Ty's family that was in town for the event. Our nephew, Kellen, is almost 2 and a ball of energy. He LOVES balls, and balls, and more balls! We had an Easter egg hunt for him and he loved opening the eggs to find candy (the cheerios went on to the ground!). On Easter Sunday we had a 20 pound turkey AND a 20 pound ham, about 5 different salads, mashed potatoes, bunny pasta, potato buns, and more I am sure I have forgotten to mention. The dinner was yummy and the best part was being together with all of the people we love most (only Hank and Rachel -my brother and sister-in-law- we missing). We opened lots of Easter baskets and Jake's dad, Kelley, made all of the kids beautiful quilt holders to put Colleen's (Jake's mom) beautiful quilts on. That night we celebrated Kelly's 41st birthday with german chocolate cake! Thank you for all of the fun and love everyone!
Kellen on the swing!
Jake playing with Kellen
Kellen and I after a walk!
Kellen with all of the balls in the house!
Kellen with his Aunt Lissa!
The Salsbery family!
Ty, Brian, and Jake. Friends since birth!
Oh how sweet!
The boccie ball crew
Kels and I at her confirmation into the Catholic Church!


Easter morning mimosas
Kellen hunts for Easter eggs...
And learns why they are so great...CANDY!!!
The girls in their spring colors!
The Pelto Family

The Murray Family
Easter basket time!
The beautiful quilt hanger!
The Easter table
And the Easter meal!
The handsome Murray boys
Scott and Susan with their new puppy, Max!
Kelly's birthday!
And to end the wonderful weekend, Apples to Apples!

Special Sunday

In April, Jake planned the most wonderful Sunday so I would relax and do something other than chores and it worked! Here is the sechedule he planned:

9:00 Wake Up
10:15 - 11:15 Teach Religious Ed
11:30 - 1:00 Relax at Barnes and Noble, Shop a bit, and have a snack in the mall
1:15 - 2:30 Play Games (cribbage, sequence, rummey)
2:45 - 5:00 Watch Movie
5:00 - 7:00 Cook Dinner Together (we'll find a good recipe)
7:00 - 7:30 Dishes/Sonic Run (you choose who does what)
8:00 - 10:00 Sunday Night Shows

It was so wonderful to spend a whole day together and not worry about the rest of life for a day! Thanks Jake!

From Barnes and Noble, to games, to movies, to lasagna it was all a blast!

Happy to be together!