We went to Dubuque to visit Mom Derouin & family. The house that Steve have only known for 40 years is going up for sale. Mom Derouin will be moving in with Mary Kaye. So this visit was very important to Steve because we're not sure if the house will be available for the next visit, which would be this Christmas. There were a few house visits that occurred while we were there, which was a great sign since the listing hasn't been posted in the newspaper or online. There's one buyer who was very interested but of course has to wait until she list her old house before moving into the possibilities of buying another house right away. Mom Derouin has started making her announcements to all of her Bridge friends that she's played with for over 20 years. She started tearing up telling me her stories - I truly feel awful for her because Dubuque is the only city she's known for 40 years & love. She's made a life for herself in this town & now, she'll be making a new life at 85 years old in Janesville, WI. I know this is what's best for her in the long run but you just can't help but feel bad for the situation.
The girls thoroughly enjoyed visitng w/ Grandma Derouin - Chloe loves saying Good Morning Grandma & giving Mom Derouin a big hug & a kiss. Both girls got to meet some of their cousins that's around their age. 
Chloe took a liking to the Derouin girls & Brodey right away. Callie loved Maddie. She wasn't too sure about everyone else since they were a little too rough for her, I guess. She liked having them around but the minute they huddled over her, she got overwhelmed. I guess she wasn't used to having her space taken!
We also got to visit w/ Barb & Mark in LaCrosse. I wanted to get out of the house for the weekend & let the Realtors do their job w/o having to feel like we were being in the way. After so many tries to get everyone on board with me, we finally got to go. I just love visiting The Gibson's. Their house is just gorgeous and they've always make us feel welcome. Well, all of Steve's family have always made me feel welcome, which is really nice. We love being able to spend some time with them. Katherine, their youngest, played w/ Chloe a lot until Kelli (their oldest daughter) came to visit then Chloe recruited her also. I think Chloe enjoyed her time with all of her cousins. Barb showed us around LaCrosse. It was such a beautiful day too. We got to go to the park & feed the ducks & birds, which Chloe enjoyed. Overall, our visit was great. Our visit has come to an end and Mom Derouin was sad to see us go. And of course we were also. We invited her to come to AZ and hopefully she'll come down for a visit. It was nice for the girls to spend some time with that side of that family since we don't really get to visit often.
We got back on Tuesday, August 31st and Steve went to work on Wednesday and got back on the plane on Thursday to Las Vegas. They had a client to meet & wine & dine, I guess. He got home Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the girls & I were just settling in and trying to get back into our schedule. Saturday, I had some of my Mommy girlfriends over for some Sangria & Pupus. It was great to be able to catch up with friends & relax. Our weekend was basically trying to just enjoy the quietness and not have to worry about being somewhere some place. It was a pure lazy Labor Day weekend for us, just the way we like 'em! Oh! We did BBQ some steaks...so I guess, we sort of celebrated! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
Here are our pics from the trip...enjoy!
