June

Brek has been into wearing a tie to church lately, so one week he got to wear his new tie, which belonged to his Grandpa Great, my grandfather who just passed away at the beginning of the month. I picked this one for Brek because it has a plane on it that my Papa used to fly in the Air Force. All of the boys in the family got to pick out a tie to wear to the funeral services; even Joe got one. I think the rest of them are being turned into headbands and things for all the granddaughters. 

Daddy getting the tie all tied

So proud!

And so handsome.

As my sister and her family were heading home to Chicago after coming out for our grandfather's funeral and seeing family, they were able to stop at our house for the night, and then we took a day trip up to Mount Rushmore before they finished their journey home. We had a picnic in the parking lot before walking through the flags and out to the viewing deck. We also did the hike up close to the mountain before packing back up in the cars and going our different ways. And tho we didn't take any pictures of the mountain, and I'll have to get some of the pictures from Tracy and add them here, Joe captured some of Brek, Aurora, and Amy while the rest of us took turns using the restroom. Just cute cousins playing together - I love it!

Other happenings in our house have been a focused force on potty training. Brek's been interested in months, and he received underwear in his Easter basket, so he's been having the choice since then to either wear a diaper or to wear underwear. We haven't been pushing the issue, especially with the big trip we just took; we didn't want to have to worry about it. But now that we're home and really not doing much, we've done away with diapers during the day. He still usually wears one for naptime, and he always wears one for bedtime as well. The most difficult part has been pooping. We have had many an accident in the underwear involving this bodily function. We have tried to use incentives, and Brek decided one of the things he really wanted were goldfish crackers. So we have had a deal going that if he pooped in the toilet, he could have goldfish. Joe calls it our F3 Initiative, aka Fishes for Feces. We were all very proud and excited to announce that Brek earned his first goldfish on the 27th. We are having a series of consecutive days all being accident-free. Exciting stuff in our house!