{ONE}

SO MANY PLUMS!!! Those in the picture above were just from the ground. We made plum butter, have been snacking on them, and giving them away! What fruit trees do you have?

{TWO}

We went to an outdoor concert on Wednesday! It was the Fabulous Armadillos, who are a cover band! We got dinner and took it to the park and had a picnic which was a lot of fun! It was great family time!!

{THREE}

This was my YouVersion Bible verse of the day, yesterday! I am working on trusting and keeping my mind on Jesus. In a world with so many distractions, it is hard to keep your mind on God. But knowing God loves me and will pick me up when I fall is amazing!!

{FOUR}

(Sorry bad lighting). Colin gave me a play by play of how to make foam using the microwave. Actually impressive.

{FIVE}

We are going to drop off a meal for my uncle Joe and his family today! They just had a adorable baby girl!

What are your weekend plans?

Linking up with…

Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for 5 on Friday!!

&

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!!

FRIDAY

We had my cousin Christina’s wedding that afternoon, and this was what I wore! I love maxi dresses!

My cousins Ginanna (white dress in middle pic), Lucia (right pic), and Emma (left pic), Sophia and me at the reception! Fun Fact: Lucia, Emma, and their sister Julia are triplets!

The boys dancing!

Emma and I were excited to dance!

Colin took my iPod and got this selfie! (This happened a lot to me last weekend!)

There weren’t really any girls their age at the wedding so they danced together.

The dollar dance. All the kids got dollar bills and were so excited!

Solomon danced with my cousin Lucia, so sweet!

SATURDAY

I had a youth leadership retreat Saturday-Sunday morning. I know super weird selfie, but I was tired and was waiting for the boys to wake up.

After breakfast, talking, and devos we went on the pontoon!

So the boys went for a swim, and just after this picture the boat wouldn’t start for like 15-20 mins. Finally it did but it took some effort!

This girl grabbed my iPod and took selfies all day on Saturday!

The boys throwing stuff.

Maggie and I after our one-on-one soccer match, which ended fast due to me tripping and scraping up my leg, and to this day still have a pretty gross wound. After this we planned for the 2015-2016 youth group year! It was so fun! It is going to be a great year.

At like eleven we played Apples to Apples! If you are wondering, I lost.

Maggie and I slept in the boat house, while the boys slept on the pontoon (they actually said it was awesome!), here was my view falling asleep! And at like 1am the wind blew so hard both doors opened so I had to get up and close them. Ha!

I got up early to get ready for church, can you tell I’m tired?! We went to church then I came home, FaceTimed my friend Megan, and then chilled the rest of the day! How was your weekend?

[ONE]

It has been really cold this week. It feels like fall! What has the weather been like for you?

[TWO]

Did you see my announcement on Tuesday? I am SO excited!!!!

[THREE]

We went to youth group on Wednesday and played capture the flag. Let’s just say I am not good at that game!

[FOUR]

A few years back I got really bad anxiety about something happening to my family, so I found this prayer (sorry don’t remember what book) and have been praying it every night since-

Hold them closely in thy keeping, all the dear ones that I love. Keep them safe awake or sleeping Lord of the earth and Heaven above. Guard them oh most tenderly, they are safe if kept by He.

-Amen

[FIVE]

Sorry my post is so picture lacking. I really need to work on taking more photos.

Have a great day!!!

Linking up with Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for 5 on Friday!!

&

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!!

{ONE}

It’s this peaches birthday today!!! Happy 14th Birthday Belle!!!!! Hope you have an AWESOME day!!!

{TWO}

For Colin and Josh’s birthday we went out for dinner and then took some photos!! It was so fun! I laughed so hard my stomach hurt! We did the panorama mirror pictures and here is what we got!

Me with no leg! Haha!

The one good one!!

{THREE}

On Tuesday evening I helped with crafts for VBS! My fellow craft ladies! Mia was obviously excited.

{FOUR}

This song. On repeat.

{FIVE}

And I’ve got nothing.

How was your week?

Linking up with Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for 5 on Friday!

&

Linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Friday morning I blogged and then my mom and I went to the bank and then looked at this little antique shop in town! Belle spent the weekend with us so we went shopping that afternoon!

That night we watched mom’s night out and ate ice cream, it was a great day!

On Saturday we had our town’s heritage days and so we went to the parade. The parade was good and here is my older brother on one of the floats! (They played “Meant to Live” by Switchfoot)!

Then we ate lunch at the park and then did our shift at our church burger stand! It was fun but tiring. Then just chilled the rest of the night and went and saw fireworks! It was a great day as well!

Yesterday we went to Solid Rock Family Church at the Parkwood theatre in St. Cloud! It was different from what we are used to, but was a cool experience! After that we dropped Belle off and then went home and chilled the rest of the afternoon. My mom and brother went to VBS and then I did a test recipe and then relaxed the rest of the day! Such a great weekend! Bring on the week!!

{ONE}

I got Caribou with my dad and brother last Friday! It was so good!

{TWO}

Also I am obsessed with these. (You can find them at Walmart for a few bucks!)

{THREE}

On Monday I went biking with Colin and our friend Megan! It was a lot of fun and full of laughter, which is my favorite!

{FOUR}

My quiet time yesterday. It was even better than it looks! So comfortable and peaceful! It was the best part of my day!!!

{FIVE}

Yes this is a favorite! I LOVE thunderstorms!!!! So when we had them yesterday they were awesome!!!!

That’s all. My friend Belle is coming over today and we are going shopping!! Then tomorrow we have our town’s heritage days, and I am helping with the church burger stand! Have a great day!!!!

I am linking up with Christina, April, Natasha, and Darci for 5 on Friday!!

&

I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

{ONE}

First and foremost, addicted to this song! I have played it so much my older sister is sick of it!

{TWO}

As I said above, my mom and brother get back today and I am so glad they are home!! I missed them!

{THREE}

Had my friend Belle over on Wednesday, and we went youth group, and that is where we got this photo…

One of our youth leaders brought his daughter and we watched her and then decided to take photos! It was fun!!

{FOUR}

I love the photos I got of the lake and sunset at youth group this week!

{FIVE}

I love this wallpaper I saw on Instagram!

What have you been up to?

Linking up with Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for Five on Friday!

And also linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Have a great weekend!!

{ONE}

Have you guys tried Mio? I love it in regular water or in seltzer water! This is my favorite, Mango Peach. I have been on a peach kick lately, and hopefully it never stops because PEACHES!

{TWO}

Did you catch my posts from this week? If not and you want to check them out here they are!

{THREE}

Do you struggle with letting go? I will be honest, I really struggle. When I am worked up about something or really struggling with something I know God is saying,”Elise, don’t do this to yourself. I will take care of you, you just need to let it go, and let me take care of it.” Giving God control isn’t always easy for me, but I know He working in me to change that. And the peace and relief you feel after letting go is AMAZING! So today I am letting go. Letting go to the things that wear me down. Letting go of the things that confuse and worry me. Letting go of the past. Letting go of fear and doubt. I surrender. I trust that He will take care of me, because I know He loves me more than I will ever know.

{FOUR}

I wanted to let you know that I have decided to end my favorite series. So this month is the end. I want to have a little more freedom on posting that day, instead of sticking to a schedule. I still have one more week and it will be about apps so excited to share that!

{FIVE}

I love this! I know for me I get caught up in life that I forget to celebrate and appreciate the little things. For me those are:

Outdoor Activities (frisbee, rolling down our hill, etc.)

A yummy drink in the middle of the afternoon

A new follower on Instagram

A text/email from a friend

Funny stories and conversations with my family. Let’s just say our conversations can get really wacky sometimes!

A new book or movie

What are some little things that make you happy?

{SIX}

I want all these earrings! Enough said.

I hope you have a beautiful day and weekend!! God bless!

It all started with me being shoved in the back of the car with these crazies. I will tell you it wasn’t boring!

I read this book on the way!

We dropped my dad off at the art institute and then went to the salon. Here is me waiting for them to finish. Bright pink lipstick for the win!

Then me while we were going back to the art institute. I am so glad I don’t live in the cities!

Then we went to IKEA and had lunch and went shopping. I posted this on Instagram.

Then we went to the mall of america. I wanted to throw up looking at this ride.

We got Caribou, so good! I always get the mint condition mochas, blended. What do you get?

Here is Colin and I at dinner.

And my dinner. It was so big I had to have 2 plates. Needless to say I didn’t make a dent into it. We went back home and had ice cream and watched Moms Night Out, which is really funny! So that was our day.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

So a few weeks ago, my brother Colin graduated from high school and we had a grad party for him. So here is a little bit of what we did. Note to self: Take more pictures.

Friday:

That morning we had to pick up last minute things at the store, and finish cleaning the house. After we went to St. Cloud we picked up our friends Annabelle and Mia, and dropped Solomon off at their house. I find it funny that it was Colin’s grad party but my sisters and I had friends spend the night and he didn’t. That afternoon we went to the Rec. center to set up.

Sophia and Mia.

Belle and I.

My mom.

Lydia and Gillian.

Once we set up we went home and made about 6 dozen cupcakes. Then we chilled for the rest of the evening. Sophia and Mia get really crazy and hyper when they are together, so yeah they were a little nuts! Ha!

Saturday:

Here is me after I was woken up by a mannequin head shoved in my face. I sure was awake. Not.

Here is me awake at the Rec. center. We were ready and just waited for the guests to arrive.

The Menu was:

Chili (spicy and regular) and toppings

Chips

Veggies and Dip

Pie Parfaits

Cupcakes

Puppy Chow

Here is our friend Rachel, Gillian, and I at the party. I was to busy talking to people at the party that I didn’t really take a lot of photos, hence the note to self at the top of this post.

Here is me after the party ended and we cleaned up. My hair in a top knot and ready to kick off my ankle booties. Here are some photos during clean up.

The boys went to mess around in the tennis courts, and play with a boomerang.

And here is Gillian loading up the car.

When we got home we put stuff away, and then we had a big after party which was a lot of fun! And the night ended in a huge thunderstorm (which by the way was AWESOME!), and we noticed our electrical wire was hitting a tree. Yeah thankfully our house didn’t burn down. Over all it was a great weekend!