pinewood derby

Ethan participated in his very first pinewood derby! It was really exciting forhim and being competitive I think he was kind of disappointed he didn't win but he still had fun and loved his car!

Baby Olivia!

Alisa finally had her baby. It is so fun to live near her and fun to have a baby around. My kids are loving her too! It's also a bonus to live by family because we enjoyed seeing my mom a couple of times when she came to help Alisa with the baby. Welcome baby olivia!

Love Visitors!

We LOVED having our friends (Amber, John, and kids) from IU come to visit. It was a quick trip and unfortunately I didn't have my camera out until they were getting ready to leave. It's always so good to be with friends! Thanks for stopping at our house!

8 Years Old!!

Get ready for a lot of pictures! In just a hadful of days we had relative visit, threw a birthday party, did some fun family outings, had a baptism, and had my brother and sisters families over for Sunday dinner! This was a VERY exciting birthday for Ethan! He turned eight and got baptized! We had a fun weekend starting with Andy's mom and Ethan's cousin Blake arriving from California. It was so fun having them here. Ethan and Blake got along so well the summer we lived in California and it seems they picked up right where they left off. They had so much fun together. It was funny have a little California boy visiting us in Minnesota. We asked him to pack a warm coat and a swim suit. Strange request right? Amy sent the suit and said the warmest thing he had to wear was a sweatshirt. Wow! Rough life he has! ha! We hooked him up with a coat which was much needed. With the windchill it was -19 degrees one morning. Do you see Ethan's smile? He was all smiles all weekend. It was great!

We always love having grandma come and visit!

An birthday party for a bunch of 8 year old boys.....much different than a party for girls. However, we did have fun and the best thing we did was reserve our community center for the party! We ate pizza, cake, and played lots of fun games. We did an animal themed party.

Here is Clayton playing the "elephant game"

Once again, Ethan was all smiles at his baptism! He got a new suit along with a real tie (not the zipper tie!) We all kept mentioning how handsome he looked. Just as he was walking out the door he took a peek in the mirror. Out of the bathroom we heard him exclaim "Oh wow, I really do look handsome!" He said it with such surprise. It was darling!

Blake and Ethan

Aunt Alisa and Uncle Matt spoke at Ethan's baptism. They were both great talks and what a treat to have uncles and aunts at his baptism. Everyone came over for dinner after the baptism.

Here was another important dinner guest....owen! When you are this cool you can wear your sunglasses at the dinner table!

Here are Jane and Wyatt cracking themselves up....as always!

On Saturday we had fun going to an indoor (of course!) pool/water park and indoor playground. The kids had fun and we had fun wearing them out each day.

Don't be fooled! Jane did not need help going down this slide but when it comes to indoor jungle gyms and water parks Andy is just as excited as the kids!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Another year older...another year wiser?!??! Not sure? I had lots of fun going out with Camie and Alisa for my birthday this year. It was so so nice of them to make the trip to my house (on a weekday) and take me out to dinner. Thanks to Ryan who made it possible and stayed at our house with the kids! After eating we ended up in the grocery store buying donuts  - random I know but really good! Here we are eating our donuts! Thanks ladies for a great evening!

Family Party!

 We had so many birthdays in the month of January and February (Ethan, Lucas, and Clayton) we decided to celebrate at the bowling alley. We had so much fun. The kids loved it - even the "babies" loved taking their turn rolling the ball down the ramp! It's nice to live by family!

Alisa still managed to bowl (half a game!) even at 8 months pregnant!

 Let's just say it's a good thing I wasn't trying to impress anyone or trying to get myself on the bowling league! Gone are my "good" bowling days!

 Jane and Wyatt had lots of fun eating pizza, drinking soda, making silly faces, and laughing a lot at how funny they were!

 Jane, Wyatt, and Owen

 Lucas was so proud of himself each time he'd bowl!

 Here are the Birthday boys!!

Happy valentine's Day!

It's just not valentine's day without some sugar cookies......right? Lucas and Jane had lots of fun helping me make a valentine after school snack. Well let's just say they thoroughly enjoyed frosting one cookie, eating it, and licking their hands clean!
Andy came home with flowers. He was putting them in water and Lucy was watching his every move. Just as he turned around to give them to me (or so she thought) she turned to walk upstairs. Andy said "Lucy, come here. These are for you. Happy Valentine's Day."
It was a priceless moment. The look on her face was complete shock and she got this goofy sweet smile. She was so so happy in that moment and it carried throughout the rest of the night. You could tell she felt so special. So, Andy gave flowers to Lucy and Jane and they both loved them. He also gave me flowers which I loved but I loved even more that he thought of his cute little girls on Valentine's day.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

We always look forward to finding a little treat or surprise in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa around the holidays. The last couple of valentine days we have been given a gift card to enjoy ice cream at cold stone which is a huge treat for our kids! Thanks Grandma and grandpa!

Alisa's Baby Shower

It is really fun living close to a sister so I can be part of things like throwing a baby shower for her! When does that happen? In my life - never. I have never lived close to my siblings and now I live close to two of them. I helped Camie along with two of Alisa's friends throw a shower for Alisa. It turned out great.
Lucy and Lydia felt like very BIG girls being invited to Alisa's shower