Milwaukee Part I - Jaime & Nathan's wedding & Trolley ride

This past weekend we took a long weekend trip to Milwaukee, WI. We started off bright and early Friday morning 7am, with a Caribou Coffee to help. When we got to our hotel, we unloaded and went for a walk on the boardwalk along Lake Michigan. Stef has now seen 2 Great Lakes! Milwaukee has a great Trolley system that takes you on a riding tour of downtown for free. This ended up being our main mode of transportation.

That night we met up with some friends and went to the Lakefront Brewery for dinner and a tour. We had a blast! The boys were plotting on what type of brew vats and tools to purchase for their next batch of homemade brew. I guess what they have isn't big enough! :) Then we went to a local pub called the Safehouse, which was pretty fun except we ended up having a pretty incompetent waiter who thought he was funny and we forgot that Wisconsin still allows you to smoke in bars!! It was like walking into a cloud. We then met up with the wedding party at an outdoor pub and then headed back to the hotel to sleep 6 in our 2 person hotel room! Cozy and fun!

Jaime and Nathan's wedding was absolutely beautiful! I realized after the wedding that I didn't get a good pic of the two of them, so a far away shot is all I have. The two of them are heading up to Vancouver for their honeymoon, so Stef is excited that one of our sets of friends is visiting his homeland!!! We pray that they have safe travels and lots of fun adventures. We can't wait to see all of you in less than 4 days!! YIPPEE!! Norm and Baby J (from the womb) say hi! Love you all and see you soon, Stefan and Betsy

Milwaukee Part II - Lakefront Brew Tour & Views

Beth & Scott's wedding - Part 1

Stef & I went to a good friend's wedding this past weekend in Madison , Wisconsin. (I'm not sure why everything is underlined???) Beth looked absolutely beautiful and we had a great dance party afterwards. Stefan was a dancing machine and even the air band came out towards the end of the night (pics below). We are back for this week and then leave again Friday morning for another weekend, this one in Milwaukee!! We are planning on leaving bright and early Friday morning in hopes of getting in a couple brewery tours! :)

Beth & Scott's wedding - Part 2

28 weeks - YIKES!

Crazy how much my belly popped out over the past week and a half, eh? Stef and I decided to start taking pics every week, because it seems to be growing at an astronomical rate!! Love you all and see you soon!

Cristin & Tony's wedding

We went to Cristin and Tony's wedding this past weekend at the International Market Square. They were blessed with a beautiful day, gorgeous wedding, and a wonderful party afterwards. Cristin looked like a princess. They are off on their honeymoon to Mexico. Stefan and I booged on the dance floor till the wee hours in the morning. He's my dancin' machine, that's why I love him so much! Lots of fun!

26 1/2 weeks / New Carpet

We decided it was time to update the belly pictures. Man, it's starting to get big. We can now feel the baby moving all the time and can sometimes see Baby J as it rolls or pushes, whatever it's doing! We went to the doctor a couple weeks ago and everything seems healthy!!! I've gained 8 pounds so far, the baby's heartbeat is around 150 I believe (I can't remember if that was the right number), and the its due date will be somewhere between the 20th and 26th of October. My cravings have somewhat subsided, but I still enjoy bagels and hamburgers! :) Fresh fruit has also been a lifesaver when it's hot out! I'm also excited to get up to Point Roberts and eat some fresh crab and blackberries.

Stef and I also got new carpet this past Thursday (thanks Grandma and Grandpa). My mom and I painted all three bedrooms, the hallway, and the family before they put the carpet in. It looks awesome! Man, it is so fun to get out of bed and step on something soft, rather than the peeling cork! :) Norm also loves have a permanent bed throughout half the house. He rolls and rubs everywhere!!

We love you all and miss you much. In less than a month, we'll be up in Canuck land!! See you all soon! Hugs and love, Stefan, Betsy, & Baby J

Stef's 2nd Triathlon - Chaska, MN

Stefan, David and Steve, just finished their 2nd triathlon this morning. It was a gorgeous morning for a race. As Ashley and I drove into town, before their race had started, we passed what looked like a man made pond. We were surprised to see buoys/markers all over, and then realized, THIS was the "lake" they were racing on. Yuck! I'm sure it was fine, but man it looked kinda gross. Stef said it was nice, warm, and CALM!!!!!

The swim was 0.3 miles, bike 16 miles, and the run, 3 miles. All three boys did excellent and got done around 1 hour and 30 minutes. Dave came in 6th, Steve 8th, and Stef 9th (in their age group)!!! Way to go boys!

Triathlon - Pics 2

Way to go Stefan!!!

Stef's Triathlon - Lake Waconia

Stefan completed his first Triathlon this morning. Two of his buddies, Trevor and Steve, also raced. They did awesome! He's sleeping right now, so I thought I'd update the blog for the Juliens in Canada. The race was a .5 mile swim (in crazy whitecap water), 24 mile bike, and a 4 mile run. Stef completed it in 2:36. His swim was awesome, 20:22. He said the bike was the hardest part (He really only trained a handful of times on the bike, so now he knows what to work on for next year!). Canadians be proud, he carried the flag through the finish line. I'll put the other 3 pics on a new post!!!

We love you all and can't wait to see you in August!!! Baby J says , "Hi!". He/she started moving and kicking so that we can now both see it through the skin. Pretty crazy and cool!

Madison/Milwaukee Weekend

We took a 15 passenger van (13 people inside) and went on a road trip to Rock Lake, right outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Liz's grandma has a home on the lake and was generous enough to give her house up for the weekend. We then all traveled (15 people) to a Milwaukee Brewers vs. Minnesota Twins game in at Miller Park in Milwaukee. We tailgated for about 3 hours eating tons of great food (great BBQ David)and playing corn hole, before watching a great game that lasted 12 innings long. Twins won! We had a blast and can't wait to do it again sometime. Thanks Liz and Steve for organizing everything!

23 weeks and our new garden (almost done)

Stef and my dad spent the entire weekend building the retaining wall for our new garden. It will be plenty big, might even feed the entire neighborhood. It looks amazing. They have 2 more layers to put in, and then it will be ready to fill in with black dirt. Norm enjoyed spending both days supervising under the shady apple tree and running through the sprinklers. :)

The other two pics are of my growing belly. Man, we can't believe that I'm almost 24 weeks, 6 months. YIKES!!!! We've been painting and cleaning up our house so we can put carpet in this July. Once that's finished, we can actually put together our crib and figure out if it has all the pieces or not. :) I've been feeling great (definitely slowing down a bit, especially when trying to run to first base when playing softball) and Stef has been training for his triathlon which is next weekend. It is a 1/2 mile swim, 25 miles bike, and 4 mile run. I promise to post pics of that next weekend. He got his rental wet suit (full body, skin tight) in the mail yesterday and tried it on for me. Words can not describe what he looks like! :) We hope all is well up in Canada. Happy Birthday Sue, Mom and Nana Su Su. Hope you had a wonderful evening out. We love you all and pray that God is blessing your lives! Lots of love, Stef, Betsy, Baby J and Norm

Ultrasound of Baby J

It's Baby J's head!!! YIKES!!! WOW, after the ultrasound it makes our baby feel really real. So much fun! Stef and I had our ultrasound of Baby J yesterday, Tuesday, at 3:00pm. I made the mistake of telling Stef that all of my appointments had been late (which they were, some by even 40 minutes), but NOPE this one started as soon as I walked through the door at 2:58pm. Stef ended up coming half way through, but still got to see most of the show.

Right off the bat, they measured my bladder, and she assured me that if I felt like I had to use the bathroom already, I'd for sure be in Depends by 40 (In other words, hold it). Needless to say, I hadn't drank enough water so Baby J settled its head for a nice snooze most of the time. Oops!

By far the coolest part was watching Baby J's legs kick back and forth, a lot. It's like a short silent movie (most of the time you have NO clue what you are looking at). The pictures are so incredibly clear, but we only managed to scan the head and somewhat the bum so you can actually know what you're looking at.

Stef and I couldn't stop smiling the entire night. How amazing that this is the product of God's handy work! Man! Also, Stef and I both got to feel Baby J move last week. I guess I had been feeling movement for about 2 weeks, but thought it was indigestion or gas! :) Baby J is SUPER active when I've been active all day, hop into bed, and lay flat on my back. It start doing cartwheels and flips. It feels like a steady poking and prodding. SO amazing!!

We'll it's time for bed here in MN. We love you all and will try to scan or copy some more of the ultrasound pics. Have a wonderful rest of the week. Happy 21st birthday Sarah! You can legally have a beer next time you're here! Love you all and God bless! Stef, Betsy, and Baby J :)

Memorial Day Weekend

After camping on Saturday and Sunday, we took Monday and got a bunch of yard work done. Here are pictures of our new patio furniture (Thank you Nana Sue-Sue and Papa). We LOVE it! We already had lunch on it today, so comfy. We also included a picture of where our garden is going to be. Stef and my dad are going to build it during the next two weekends. :) Norm had such an exhausting weekend (playing with Tyson and hanging out in the mud Sunday morning) that he found a nice spot to rest (in our hostas) and wouldn't MOVE. :)