Our Little Ham - Ava 8 1/2 Months

Ava is developing more and more personality every day. We are amazed at the new things she learns and how fast she seems to be changing. Her new favorite thing to do is tilt her head at us and at different objects she is looking at. She will imitate you if you tilt your head and seems to be quite proud of herself when she does it. She also has taking a liking to balls. She likes it when we sit on the floor with her and roll her the ball. She can "catch" the ball and pick it up, but her throwing needs a little work. We are working on her tummy time so that someday, she may crawl. She still insists on rolling over to her back as soon as she gets the chance. She is getting better at scooting towards her head on her back and can quite a ways this way. She is so much fun right now and we are enjoying every minute of it!

The Herkens Come to Visit from Tucson

Sandy, Zachary, & Toby are here visiting from Tucson. They spent five days with us in Luverne before heading out to Mom & Dad's for the rest of their visit. Highlights for the kids included Brad making a "campfire" as Zachary & Toby referred to it on the 4th of July evening. We all made smores (Zachary & I really liked eating them) sitting by the fire and watching the neighbors shoot off quite a fireworks show. We also went to Blue Mound State Park. We originally went to have a picnic and hike around a little, but we discovered a lake with a nice sandy beach. With the temps being quite warm and the extreme humidity, it was refreshing for everyone. The kids really enjoyed playing in the sand and swimming in the lake. Ava seemed to thoroughly enjoy her new float and kicking her feet in the water. We finished out that day with a hike along the bluff. It was a pretty view as you could see for miles. It would have been a little bit nicer hike had it not been extremely muggy along with the flies and mosquitos eating us alive. All in all it was a very fun day for everyone, but we were all exhausted when we got home. The boys spent most of their time when we were home playing with the tractors out in the dirt (aka our lawn). It was great to have Sandy and the kids come to visit.