Our lake vacation

We just returned from a great time in Park Rapids with Andy's parents and sister and brother-in-law. It was a bitter-sweet time as Andy's sister Krisanne and her husband will be leaving in the next few days to go over-seas for the next number of years. We had a hard time saying good-bye, but have great memories planted in our minds of our time this week. Of course the main reason to go the cabin is for the fishing. The target is the coveted walleye, which we got a few of. All in all, the fishing total ended between 150 and 200. We think about 35 of those made it or will make it onto our plates and into our stomachs. The rest were spared another year :) Carson's true passion comes out in the boat. FISHING!!!!! It's in his blood. He had a fishing rod in his hand a majority of the day-everyday! We are thinking his future lies in the Pro-Fishing department. He caught his first Northern Pike which was about 3-4 lbs. He was so excited he was jumping up and down in the boat and the whole lake heard him. The guys fishing next to them gave Andy a big thumbs up. These are the keeper fish from Itasca Lake. We love to go to Itasca Park. It is so beautiful and there is something for all of us to do. They fileted 21 fish from that trip.

What's wrong with this picture??????????????

The weather wasn't so nice to us this week. Yes Kaelynn is wearing her winter jacket while playing in the sand at the beach. It was chilly everyday but the last two days. It didn't stop our hard-core sand castle builders though. The most fun on the beach was making a river that spilled into many lakes and broke through many dams on it's way into the big lake. The boys had a great time building up the dams and watching them break from the pressure of the water. It was a great science lesson too! We found many things to do indoors too. Grandma brought sugar cubes and frosting to make igloos- hmmmm how appropriate!!! They look a little more like castles or towers, but they didn't care! No lake week is complete without some smores eating :) Thanks for the silly glasses grandma. They made for a great picture!!

I love this picture of the two of us! The sky is so blue and the water is so pretty. It is such a beautiful area and we feel so blessed to be able to spend time there enjoying the amazing work of the Creator of it all!!!

Pics of a fun-filled weekend

We have had a great fun-family-filled weekend so far after a very busy week. Either Andy or Andy and I had something going every night this week and so we very much were looking forward to spending some great time together as a family. Boy did we have some good times!!! On Saturday afternoon we took the kids to the local lake in town- Ada Hayden. We heard the crappie bite was on. The kids had a blast. Carson and Connor loved catching the little sunfish in the shallows- they caught quite a few and kept daddy very busy. Kaelynn however went right for the big one!! And caught him on her second cast out. She caught a 14 1/2 inch crappie. That's a huge crappie for those of you who don't speak fish language. What I love about these two pictures is that she is in a skirt and princess t-shirt. Who says you can't mix those two worlds? Yes, she's holding the fish all by herself. She's much braver than her mama!! Carson caught a nice-sized crappie too- 12 inches!!

The catch of the day. It made for a GREAT meal!

On Sunday afternoon we took the kids to Adventureland. Vicki gave us tickets as an early birthday present for the boys. The geese were almost as much of a hit as the rides.

The log ride is quickly becoming a favorite for almost everyone.

Kaelynn of course loved the ladybugs. The frog hopper was defintely the most favorite ride of all. Kaelynn absolutely loved it and went on it several times. She even put up her arms the last time she rode it- her brothers didn't even do that.

Getting ready to ride!

Can't leave the park without riding the purple motorcycle at least once!

Carson was the brave one this year and went on a roller coaster with Andy. From the look on his face throughout the ride Andy thought Carson was going to say he didn't like it. But when the ride came to a stop, he looked at him and proclaimed, "That was AWESOME!!!"

The day was awesome. We are trying to fit in a bunch of things we want to do one last time before we leave Iowa. We are glad we got to do this one! Thanks so much Vicki! We love you!

It's finally here....

...the first day of the year warm enough to wear swimsuits outside. This is a very exciting day for a young child. It has finally happened in Iowa. Here's the proof:

Pics of Our New House

Hi everyone,

This post definitely isn't up to Kristi's normal high standards, but I thought it would be fun to post a few pics of our new house in West Fargo, ND.  These were taken with my cell phone camera, but they turned out ok, I think.  Once we get some new paint on the walls in place of the wall paper and fiesta hats, we think it will be a pretty great place to live!  Lord willing, we'll close on June 22nd.  We just came to terms with the owner and are in the process of finalizing the paperwork!  

We're so thankful for the Lord's provision.  Many blessings...

Andy and Kristi (and family)

Big news from C and C

Connor and Carson have some big news to share. They both have a loose tooth. It has been the talk of the house ever since they were discovered yesterday. All kinds of questions such as "What if I swallow it?" and "Does it bleed for days?". What is interesting about this is that they both discovered it the same day and it is Carson's bottom-middle-left tooth and it is Connor's bottom-middle-right tooth. This twin thing is quite entertaining sometimes :) Call me the dream killer, but a while back we put a kabosh on the tooth fairy. She now is in the same category as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. FAKE!!!! Not that I won't reward them for their teeth. We just read a book where the little girl put her tooth in a glass and in the morning she discovered it had turned into a quarter. We might go that route. I have to be honest, this is a little hard for me. Starting to lose baby teeth means they are no longer little boys. They are growing up. We have entered a whole new stage.

Overwhelming blessings

We have accepted an offer on our house. We praise God with all that we have that He has blessed this process in such a quick amount of time. We are truly overwhelmed by His great blessings in this whole journey to Fargo. We feel very undeserving of it all and give Him all that we are and have!!! The process of keeping a house clean and in showing state was pretty stressful and I am extremely glad, especially for the kids, that it is over and that it was very short!!! We had 6 showings in 3 days. The house went on the market on Thursday morning. Thursday at 11:50am I got a phone call from a realtor who was in the area and wanting to come look. I had just sat the kids down to lunch. We packed it all up and threw it all in the car and sat at the park (in the car because it was raining) and ate our lunch. The same couple came back on Friday morning and made us an offer on Friday evening. We started the negotiations on Saturday at noon and by 4:30 we were both satisfied with the price and terms. Of course everything isn't completely finalized yet, but the realtors don't feel there is anything that should prevent it from going through. I am excited to start thinking about a house in Fargo now. We are not overly joyed about any particular house at this point, but know that God who has shown Himself so much already, knows where we will live. Thank you to everyone who has prayed. God answered in some amazing ways. All praise, honor and glory be to Him!!!!!

It's official!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, we are officially moving back to the frozen tundra the world so affectionately calls Fargo, North Dakota. No, it's not frozen now, but don't worry it will be in just a few short months again :) Okay, maybe I'm over exaggerating a little bit, but that's what I remember. We had a great week in Fargo last week. We got back at 11:45pm last night and are quite exhausted. We are also very excited at the process God has taken us on and very confident that we are going to a place that we will be able to glorify His name in a way that He desires us to! We are very excited to move back to this community and believe that God has great things in store for this church and we are humbled that God would choose us to be a part of that. We did look at some houses. Nothing official in that arena yet, but we are praying for a quick process here in Ames, so we can begin looking earnestly for a place to live in ND. The craziness has begun- I feel guilty as I sit here and type this, because I know the list of things to do is growing longer by the hour. The realtor comes on Wednesday to put the house on the market- AAAHHHHH!!! It's scary, tiring, mind-boggling, and exciting all rolled into one. If your looking for something to pray for, you can start with me. I tend to be a little bit Type A (okay, so a lot Type A). Getting the house ready and keeping it ready to move has already been very stressful and I don't think it's going to get any better anytime soon. I could use your prayers to let go when I need to and to depend on God for the peace that passes all understanding. I also need help to involve my children in the process. I don't want to yell at them all day long to pick things up. I need to be creative in the ways I involve them in this process, so that it is enjoyable for them and not negative. So here we go. Fargo, here we come!!!