Georgia vs. GSU

Well it was the first game of the season and UGA fans were everywhere in Athens! I have to say it is pretty impressive to see how many people come to down town Athens for UGA games. People all dressed up in red and black to show their support for the Dawgs. This weekend we played Georgia Southern and creamed them 45-21. Eric and I had a great time at the game but it was ridiculously hot out!! One of the main events of the day was introducing our new bulldog mascot UGA 7! Here are some pics from the game:

My favorite pictures.

So while in Mn I took almost 600 picture. Why you ask? Because I can! This is the first time in my life I have had a great digital camera so I wanted to have some fun with it! Here are some of my favs from the trip.....







Now these two I need your opinion on. I am planning on entering one of these in a Dahlia photo competition....which one do you think is the best?? :)

Brits Pub

That same night we met up with all of our old buddies (Top: Jenessa, Me, Eric, Tara, and Brian. Bottom: Jason, Sarah, and Tim. MIA: Adam, Rach & DJ) at one of our favorite places downtown Minneapolis... Brits Pub. This place is awesome. Not only does it have a roof top seating area but it has lawn bowling! We met up with everyone and had a great time catching up and remembering old times. Before we left the pub Eric and I bought some t-shirts from Brit's and then we hung out a little more out side. Across the street from Brits is a small park with stadium seating. That night they had a live polka band and people were dancing in the park, on the sidewalks, and street! This is why I miss Minneapolis...you never know what fun events you will find when you are out and about!

Sorry for the delay....

I have been busy and kept forgetting to blog! Back to our trip to MN....

Friday the 1st we drove all over the twin cities. First we started off the trip going to our Alma mater, Bethel University. We had lunch with my good friend Kristen to catch up on what has been going on in her life and ours. At Bethel we waked around campus, did a little reminiscing and saw all the new building they have been doing.

Next stop: Lake Harriet Gardens in Minneapolis. I love this place! It is so beautiful. We met our friend Tara and her son Tyler here and had a great time hanging out. Ty LOVES the water so any time we walked passed a fountain or the lake he cried unless we let him in. Tara tried so hard to not get him soaked, but Ty was determined to get in the water! But like any good mom, Tara was prepared with another set of clothes :)

Back to Minnapolis.

We left International Falls with Justin, Lindsay, and Marlin for the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Minneapolis. We had to drop them off at the Airport (which is a whole other story, Justin has bad flying mojo) and then we drove to my hometown, Stillwater. We had a quick dinner with my parents and then off we went to go on the boat to set up our camping spot for the weekend. Here are some pictures of the St. Croix River:

Up next was International Falls, MN (on the boarder of MN and Canada). Eric grew up in the Falls and we were staying at his old house for the last time. Eric's mom, Becky, just sold the house to a Camp on Rainy Lake so this was a farewell visit. Eric's sister Rachel, brother Justin, Justin's girl friend Lindsay and their dog Marlin, as well as Becky's husband Dan were all up for the occasion.
While hanging out at the house and lake we had a lot of fun playing badmitten,picking wild blueberries, getting some sun, going out on boat rides, water skiing, tubing, playing games, eating at Sha Sha as well as feeding their chipmunks, and we got to see a whole lotta family from the Helleloid clan. We had a great time!
We had a hard time saying goodbye to the house and lake, but we will always have memories and can always visit the lake again! Here are some pictures of the house, beautiful Rainy Lake, and family...

The house, docks, and back bay:




Family shots....(MIA: Chuck and Ada)



Newest addition to the Helleloids: Motts (a little over 1 yr old and maybe a little mad his mom put a pink bandana on him :)


Fun on the Lake...




Marlin the cutest dog ever!!!


Dinner at Sha Sha:





And here are some other fun pics from the week...

July 25 & 26: The Wedding!!

This was pretty much the first leg of our trip home to MN and one of 2 reasons (other than to see friends and family) why we were coming home. Eric's cousin Angie got married on the 26th of July and it was a beautiful wedding! We got to see all of Eric's (his mother's side) family and the newest addition...Elena Rattray. She was 3 weeks old and ADORABLE! She had so much hair and it all stood straight up! We spent the weekend with the Rattray famila at the rehearsal dinner, Uncle Mark's new lake house and of course the wedding. Here are some pictures from the wedding weekend and of the new baby girl!

Eric, Cousin Trevor, Cousin Jordan, and Indy (sp?) the dog:


Grandpa, Becky, and Elena:


Eric dancing with the beautiful bride Angela!


This is cousin Jenny and cousin Marissa:


Cousin Jake and his baby girl Elena:


Me,Grandpa, & Eric:


Eric with cousins Trevor and Jordan:


Me and Elena: