First Snow

We were so excited for our first snowfall!

The kids have loved sledding and trying to figure out the snowboard.

We have built snowmen, shoveled and gone down the slide, falling into a huge pile of the fluffy white stuff.

So far, we have accumulated several inches of snow and it is definitely a winter wonderland here in Spirit Lake!

Meeting Everett

 Our good friends Eddie and Jess had another baby boy!

Everett Degen Dickes was born October 20th. 

He is a sweet little guy and we were finally able to meet him this past weekend.

 As you can see he had lots of attention from everyone.

 We all enjoyed a relaxing weekend full of good food and good friends.

We watched movies, played, went for walks, and just simply enjoyed some time together.

This was our final trip to Aberdeen as the Dickes family is moving to Watertown, SD soon.

The kids are happy it will be a shorter drive for our visits!

Brooks - 11 Months

This is my last update on my baby boy before he is ONE!

This past month has been a HUGE one for Brooks.

He is talking more (specifically "Dada")...pretty sure he is using this for his Dad. He often crawls through the house on a mission to find Andy yelling, "Dada!" When he finds him, he crawls as fast as he can for him. 

That's right you read that correctly...Brooks is on the move!  he is crawling everywhere, pulling himself up, pulling things off shelves, emptying drawers and cupboards. 

He often screams and loves to scream back and forth with Bennett. Both boys find it hilarious to do this over and over. 

He wears 24 month clothes and weighs about 28 lbs. He is a big boy and loves to eat!

Brooks and Bennett tackle and wrestle. 

Marie and Brooks cuddle and play.

Mommy and Brooks cuddle and read.

Daddy and Brooks wrestle and play ball.

He is working on another tooth up top. This one seems to be bothering him a bit more than the past few teeth. 

He is showing his temper more and gets frustrated when we make him stop moving for a diaper or clothes change.

He finally sleeps through the night unless he is teething. I really think that those teeth which took forever to make their debut were the reason he wasn't sleeping through the night for so long. 

Brooks is such a happy, content, silly, and loving little guy. He gives high fives, hugs, and is a special little boy. 

Mankato Children's Museum

 Marie didn't have school on Friday which gave us the perfect opportunity to go on an adventure!

The kids love hands on museums. That was one of our favorite things to do in Sioux City.

When I found out that Mankato has a children's museum, I knew it would be worth a trip!

The kids and I spent over 2 hours playing at all the stations in the museum. Brooks loved the jungle, Marie and Bennett loved the construction site, and they also enjoyed putting on a little show in the play house.

 After a trip to a smoothie shop it was time to head back home. Both boys were sound asleep in the  van in no time.

What a great day!

Brooks Photo Shoot

A month ago we had some photos taken of just Brooks by a local photographer. It was a gift from Grammy and Papa for his baptism.  I can't believe how much he has changed in one month!  He now has teeth, is moving all over and just seems too old!

Here comes another hunter...

Looks like Andy and Papa have another partner to hunt with this fall!

Halloween Celebrations

 This Halloween was so much fun!

The kids loved getting dressed up and picking out costumes was at least a month long process. 

Bennett had several ideas, but ended up with Toothless the dragon from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" which is one of our family's favorite movies.

Brooks was a Twins baseball player...minimal work into this costume. Bennett was this when he was a baby too. He looked super cute in his hat!

Marie was Anna from "Frozen."

She was lucky enough to use a dress from her cousin, too.

Both kids had celebrations at their school. 

Bennett had a little show where he sang his fall songs in his costume. 

Marie had a party with her class. They made all kinds of fun crafts and of course ate good snacks. 

She also had a costume parade in the morning that we got to watch.

 Trick-Or-Treating was cold but it was a lot of fun.

The boys did one neighborhood and then headed home to hand out candy. 

Marie had her eyes set on one more neighborhood so I took her and one of her friends so they could fill their pumpkin buckets to the top!

 We ended our night with homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches followed by so.much.candy!!!!!