Well, our time here in Iowa is coming to a close. Nathaniel will finish up on Friday (the 25th of June) and we plan on leaving that same day. This means I will be spending the week packing and cleaning.

Reuben is now walking! He took his first long stroll — 9 steps — on June 9th and has been getting better daily. These days he crawls half the time and walks the other half. It’s been fun watching the process. We never lack entertainment with him around. He’s my little comedian and playmate.

We haven’t been going for walks much the past few weeks because of the humidity. I thought North Carolina was the only humid state.

We’ve had a couple visitors since I last posted. Nathaniel’s mom and grandma came the middle of May (I really enjoyed seeing the sights with them), my sister-in-law, her two daughters, and sisters stopped by on the way back from Omaha, and John Reed (one of our groomsmen) came by for a visit when he found out we were only a few hours from him. It was fun visiting and spending time with friends.

When we leave Iowa we will be spending about a week with my brother and his family before heading back to NC. My mom and sister Ellie will be there as well, so we will get to visit with them. We are all hoping to go on a three-day trip into Wisconsin to visit some relatives. Those plans are still in the works.

When we go back home we plan on taking it slower, as Reuben doesn’t handle long car trips real well. He does a 5 hour drive all right, but gets cranky and antsy after that. One of his “problems” is he doesn’t sleep well in the car. I guess there’s too much action happening around him and he doesn’t want to miss any of it by sleeping. ;-) We are planning on taking the 14 hour drive in 2 or 3 days.

Nathaniel already has a few short job prospects, so it doesn’t look like he will get to sit back and relax like he was planning. He’s going to “make hay while the sun is shining.”

I’m still working on my photo albums and at this rate I should be done by Christmas. It’s been a slow process, but one that I have been enjoying. I also started an afghan and am a third of the way done. I’ve worked on it mostly while watching TV. I’m using a simple patter that repeats it’s self often and using a speckled yarn so I don’t have to coordinate any color patterns. It’s been a fun project.

Our plan is to be home in time for Reuben’s first birthday on July 6th. Probably getting into town on the 4th or 5th . We may be watching fireworks from the freeway ;-)

That’s all for this update. Take care,

~ Katie