July's fireworks and watermelon

July has been one busy month. So busy in fact I have not found the time to post much. Which is really too bad. Halle is changing and doing something new every single day. I could post every day and have something completely new and exciting to tell you about our growing pretty girl. I couldn't let July pass without sharing some of these pictures and memories with you. 

On the 4th of July Dan, Halle, and I sat on the lawn on the University campus with our friends from GT Church to watch fireworks. This was Halle and friend Zion's first firework event. 

Zion and Halle love to play and be the center of attention of course.
They haven't quite learned how to be gentle with one another yet. We have to watch them pretty close.
This is Zion and his beautiful mother and our sweet friend Katrina.
I love Iowa sunsets. 
Zion seemed to enjoy watching the fireworks.
Halle was unsure at first, but then warmed up to it and then actually began pointing them out to us and saying "OOooooo."
This is such a cute photo, look at that face!

A few weeks later Halle and I took a walk with Denver and Ashley to a park and brought some watermelon along. Ashley and Denver are some new great friends that Jesus has brought into our lives. We are so privileged to know them. Ashley and her husband Steve are youth pastors at another church here in Cedar Falls. They have a son named Denver who is just one month older than Halle. We wanted to get a simple shoot of the kids munching  on some watermelon which turned out to be not so simple. Well for Halle, not so simple. 
Halle was interested in the watermelon at first.
Denver was definitely liking the watermelon pretty much immediately.



...but then I knew Halle couldn't stay still for long. Since she has started walking you can hardly keep her from exploring every free chance she gets. So the watermelon shoot lasted probably just a minute with Halle.
But she'll try to feed Denver. Halle likes to share ALL her food.
Denver was actually pretty upset when we decided to end the shoot and head home.
We ended the day with a good wash down. We really enjoy the time spent with the Nelson's. Thank you Jesus for friends you bring into our lives.

RIght On Our Heels

Halle is literally on our heels anymore. She is practically running! She loves to be outside in an open area to just go for it! These videos may not be the best of quality. They were filmed on the macbook. And please excuse my over exagerating the word, HI. I was trying to say it the way she does so that she would repeat it. Dan is right when he says parent hood is the death of cool. Ha! We are so proud of Halle Grace.

My ambitious little baby girl

Halle has been walking since two weeks before she turned ten months old and she is only getting faster. I think she just couldn't wait to hang with the big kids at church and run around with them. She is now chasing the cat around. My baby Halle is no longer content in my arms, she only wants to get down and waddle everywhere which means we are overdue to safe proof the house. This is just a tid bit of a video. Much more is to come. I have so much to show you guys and so much to share. I can hardly keep up with little Halle.

Oh and funny thing about this video. Halle loves necklaces. She will not take it off. She will wear one all day. And when you take it off, she immediately goes to wherever you dropped it off and puts it back on herself. One thing that'll make my baby happy is a necklace. She is my girl.

I am so proud of my ambitious little baby girl.

Sturgis Fall Parade

Two weeks ago, we were able to participate in a famous yearly parade part of the Sturgis Falls festival here in Cedar Falls. Dan led the GT Church band in a 17 song set in a 45 minute route throughout downtown Cedar Falls. The band did an AMAZING job. I was sooo proud of GT Band and SUPER proud of my hotty hubby Dan! We received so much positive feedback from people that saw us. We even heard people passing by talking about how rockin the music was coming from the GT Church float. PRAISE JESUS! So glad we could rock it out for Him. The decorations were designed, started, and completed the day before the parade. They turned out pretty good for one day of work. But the silhouettes of our trees at the ends are not seen in these pictures because a few minutes before the parade started they were chopped in half by the wind:( My camera went down right before the parade started so I was unable to get some good float in action photos. The pictures below were taken by one of our church members who was in the crowd. I wish I could have got some closer but am thankful for being able to retrieve these. Sweet, beautiful Amy! SHE"S GETTING MARRIED in DECEMBER!
GT Church...A city within the Cities. Taylor looked really enthused.
Deb, our piano player and her cutie son Brennon.

There is Carol Smiley, the sweety that she is justa smilin and waving.

There were a few close calls of falling off when the truck jolted.
We had some kids follow behind the float with signs and balloons and their KMotion T shirts.

We've Become Fish

So far in the past week, Dan, Halle, and I have went to a little CHEAP water park here in Cedar Falls called The Falls three different days. The temperatures have gotten so HIGH here along with the humidity. It has really been CRAZY HOT! So The Falls has literally been calling out to us every time the sun has been out. Halle loves it here. As soon as we walk through the front gate her arms go up and down, up and down in excitement! 

When the sun comes out here EVERYONE goes to the pool!

Halle likes the thrill of jumping off the side.
She loves the water! 

Okay the lazy river was really the LAZY river for Halle. She almost fell asleep every time.
AHHHH....the lazy river!!!
Halle had sensory overload with all the kids, water, slides, toys around.
She would not stay still, she wanted to walk everywhere and see everything. " No time for lounging Mom."

To Young to Play with the Big Dogs

Dan and I took some of the students in the church to a place in the middle of nowhere Iowa to play some paintball. The boys had fun getting welted up while little Halle and I watched in amusement. Dan got SO many battle wounds. He actually came away bleeding in two spots with a hole in his shirt where one of the paint balls actually went through...OUCH!! Dan was sour for days but wants to make it a once a month thing...BOYS!?!...or I mean MEN?!? Proud of you honey! You really took the field out there.

Halle of course wouldn't stay out of the mud and grass. She truly is momma's girl. She loves the outdoors. She got SO muddy. 

We were all pretty wiped when we got home that evening. Made for some great naps!

Oh... The Randomness of Our Lives

I have not posted anything in a while because our lives have been so busy. I have so much to catch up on to share with you. So much has been going on in the Friesen home. So here is just a few tidbits in our lives over the past few months that I really have wanted to share.

Mom, here is our little friend that I told you about that was on that step pigging out everyday, never failed. Halle, Kat and I loved to watch him go to town.
The lights went out one night for a long while (during the finale of LOST...ughhh). So Dan entertained Halle and I with making shadow puppets on the ceiling.
First off, take a look at that grass. The grass here in Iowa has amazed Dan and I. It is soooo GREEN! It's beautiful. Halle is a really happy little girl when she gets to hold a stick.
This is Halle's little friend Zion. Zion is just a few days younger than Halle. Zion is the nephew of the pastor's wife. He is such a sweetie and a cutie!!! Halle and him really like to interact with one another.
Dan is part of the church softball team. we have games every Tuesday night. We have not won a game yet but it sure is fun hanging out with everyone on these cool summer nights. Halle likes to watch Daddy hit it out of the ball park:)
Halle loves to be around little kids. She gets SO excited when she sees any aged little kid. She immediately wants to get down and start running everywhere with them. Here is Silas and Abrium, the Pastor's sons. They are real close buddies of Halle's.
Dan and GT church Band got to play at a festival in the park in  downtown Waterloo, IA. They did such a great job. They were by far the best band up there all day, I may be a little biased though. But I really am proud of Dan and the band. They rocked it out and lifted up Praises to Jesus that literally rang throughout the city.

Alright those were just tidbits but much more is to come.