We made it

We made it to Fargo. Sorry it's taken me this long to let you know that, but our computer and internet just got set up tonight. Things have been crazy. We got here on Monday at 1:20 and had an insurance appointment at 1:30. Then we went to our new house to walk through, hand the kids to grandma and get over to the title company to sign our lives away in order to own our second home. We then spent almost 48 hours straight taking down wallpaper and painting what we could. That took way more time then I thought it would- especially when you have vaulted ceilings!!!!! The results are great and I will post pictures soon. We love this house and feel so incredibly blessed to be living here. Our neighbors are great- there is a girl and a boy who are 12 and 8 next door and they have already snatched up Connor and Carson to play in the pool with them and jump on their trampoline. The whole family is very sweet and we are looking forward to building more of a relationship with them. Emotions are still running high though. There are many people and things we are missing about Ames. We know that we are in the right place and feel so blessed by all that God has done for us in this journey. I promise I will post pics soon!!!!

Caught in the act

The kids have done very well this week. We have asked them to play by themselves and entertain themselves a lot as we finish up the packing. I usually don't have to worry about them getting into mischief. They have pretty good consciences and know what they should do and shouldn't do.

However, this morning I watered some flowers and let the kids play with the rest of the water and watering can. Connor came inside to ask if he could fill it up again and I said yes. About 3 minutes later he and Carson came running in (hysterically) proclaiming that they were all soaked. I ran upstairs and into the garage to find Kaelynn standing in the garage full of boxes spraying the boxes with the garden hose. Thankfully it is going to be a warm day and they should dry out fairly quickly.

There's a very precious part of this story. I sent them all to their rooms. As I was letting them think about the choices they had made I heard Kaelynn softly crying to herself. This is how it was repeated over and over: "I'm very sorry for spraying the garage. I'm not completely good!" She has a very tender heart and I pray that we can protect that in her.

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.