Welcoming babies!

Early Saturday morning, on March 26, Andrew and Liz welcomed their twin babies into the world!

Ryan Joseph

Allison Marie

These little sweethearts arrived a bit early at 36 weeks. 

With the help from their mommy and daddy, they are making progress day by day. 

 Both were a bit unsettled until we snuck them into the same bassinet! 

 Proud Daddy

 Twins with Twins!

                       

                    

We are so thankful for their health and fighting spirit. 

Their whole family is anxious to spend more time with them when they are able to come home from the hospital!

Hoppy Easter

 Even with a busy weekend of call for Andy, we still had time to enjoy a few Easter festivities!

We dyed eggs on a rainy Saturday.

 Brooks liked squeezing the hard shell of the egg for the first time.

 Marie loves taking her time and making the colors nice and dark.

 

 Bennett drew designs on the eggs before he placed them in the dye.

 

Easter morning the kids found their way to their Easter Baskets filled with a few goodies.

 

 

 After Mass, Grandma Nel came to visit and enjoy Easter Brunch with us.

In the afternoon we enjoyed some sunshine and a little egg hunt around the yard.

 

 

 

 We had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Egg-cellent Weekend

Although this weekend was cold and not ideal weather for activities outdoors, we still had a ball!

Saturday morning was our first Easter Egg hunt in Spirit Lake. We attended one which was held at the YMCA.

The kids were separated into age groups and were "hunting" at the same time. Thankfully we had our friend Mara in town to help. 

Brooks picked up one egg and then was done. 

Bennett picked up 10 and was content.

Marie had a strategy to get the most she could. 

In the afternoon, we traveled to Sheldon for Anneke's 4th birthday party.

We held another egg hunt on the farm and the kids were just as excited for their 2nd hunt. 

 Anneke's big present was a doon buggy. She and her partner in crime, Bennett, loved driving all around the farm together. 

These two are the sweetest to watch. They are the best of friends and it is just overly heart-warming to see how much they love each other!

It's in her blood!

Marie is finishing her first mini-season of basketball through the YMCA in town. 

She was not sure if she was interested or not but decided to give it a try. 

Andy decided to coach and was assisted by Papa.

 

After her first practice, she seemed a little defeated. Dribbling was hard, shooting was hard, there was only one other girl on the team, and she got hit on the head by a ball.

After a few pep talks she was ready for her first game. 

The game was anything but organized, but after several tries she made a basket, she passed the ball, and even (double) dribbled the ball. When the game was over, she cried she was so happy she had fun and so sad that the game was over!

It's been 6 weeks of hustle and so much learning. Marie really showed us how determined she can be and it was such a surprise to see how driven she was to become a better player. 

 Great job Marie! We are so proud of you!

A Day at the Museum

On a warm winter day in February, Papa & Grammy set out on an adventure with three very special kiddos.

(mom was in tow, too)

The new Launch Pad Children's Museum in Sioux City is now open and we confirm that it is a must see!

The kids loved their time playing and discovering all the hands-on activities -

From the farm to the pizza restaurant or the maze to the giant lite bright board.

After the museum we were hot and ready for a snack.

 Cherry Berry frozen yogurt was calling our name!

This was a great day and we are thankful for the trip!

We can't wait to go back again.

Ice Skating Queen

 Marie is such a surprising girl who has always kept us on our toes.

Ever since moving to Spirit Lake her adventurous side has taken off!

Recently she has been asking to go ice skating and this past week we finally made it happen. 

It was a date night for just Marie and Mom. 

She started off using the little walker aide for about 3 time s around the rink. She seemed a little nervous but kept going!

After 4 falls, one hour, and a break for root beer, she made it around the rink on her own!

I was so proud of her...she never gave up and really worked hard. 

I hope we can do this again soon!

Snow Days

When we found out we were moving to Spirit Lake, we were anxious to experience real winters...well, we have definitely gotten our wish! 

Easy Bake Oven Treats!

We have had several snow days since the start of our winter. 

The kids enjoy it and honestly, so do I.

 It's great to have an excuse to stay home, in our jammies, watch cartoons in bed, bake, play games, and just hang out. 

One night after a huge storm, we found this recipe to make Snow Ice Cream. The kids loved it and so did Mom and Dad!  We were surprised how good it tasted. 

During our last few snow days, we stayed busy putting together our valentines for our friends. 

 Marie loves the time at home since she is so busy with school - she usually requests some girl time with baking.

Bennett likes having his sister home on snow days and usually helps with the snow removal at some point. He often asks for extra cuddle time.

Brooks loves the extra attention from his siblings on snow days but he usually refuses to stop playing and falls asleep in a random location after he is purely exhausted.

 Although we love snow, we are hoping the snow days are over this year so we can start to get ready for spring!