House Guest

We had a fun couple days with Livy. Abby was a good sport.

Memorial Day Weekend

I began a fun family weekend with the Anderson side celebrating Aunt Julie's birthday. We saw The Church Basement Ladies at The Plymouth Playhouse. If you have any ties to a Midwest Lutheran Church (especially outside "the cities") you will be touched and get a kick out of this show. Bring your Grandma, she will love it, both of mine did!
Then we headed to Iowa (as usual) for some traditional Memorial Day fun. Since we were kids Grandpa Reuben would take us around to visit grave sites of our ancestors. It may seem depressing to some but we actually have a good time remembering family members and even added a scavenger hunt this year. Here is Maren at the grave of her namesake, our great-great-grandma Maren Durby.
Ken attempted to help me figure out the low light settings on my camera. I definitely need more practice but had fun running around the farm taking pictures.

Minnesota Nice

The pool is open.

First Thursday moved lakeside. This month we had Bianca's favorite gyros. More importantly she announced she is pregnant. I'm going to be a step-aunt! Not everyone gets that distinguished title. I'm so excited to have a baby in the family.
Life is good!

Mom

It is rare for me to be social on my 12 hour weekends. They are long and exhausting and I value the one hour I have between work and bed to destress before I do it all over again. Mother's day is one weekend where I choose to suck it up and celebrate with my most favorite woman on earth, Mom.

I think this picture is proof I should just go home! I was bummed I didn't get to see my mother-in-law or Grandmas this weekend, but will get to wish all a happy Mother's Day in person soon.

I also can't help but think of the woman I will share this day with if (when) I become a mom. A woman who made a selfless decision to have a baby she knew she would never be able to parent. I can't imagine how difficult that would be. I will be honored to share the day with that woman!

Legally Blonde

the musical came to town and I couldn't resist. Somehow I even got Brian to go with Maren and me.

The show was fun, lots of pink, sopranos and cute dogs. The music was humorous including a song about being gay vs. European which reminded us of Russian men and their pointy shoes.
About Russia, we are still trying to make a decision about what to do next.

1. We could transfer to a different agency and stay with Russia. We have a little paperwork and an orphan visa that haven't expired but basically we would be starting over financially and with the wait. The new agency has good things to say about their program and the wait. However, that is what our last agency said.

or

2. Since we are starting over anyway we could transfer to a different agency and move to a different country. It could be a longer wait but a smoother process.

A Tree Grows in Hugo

Our nephew Aaron planted some helicopter seeds in a pot and surprisingly they grew. When we moved into our house he gave us one to plant in our yard. After a couple years of climate controlled living by our sliding glass door we decided this was the year for it to brave the elements. If you look closely you can see last year was a rough one for Hugo trees.

The planting crew

In action
Good luck little tree!