Fun in the Sun

On this HOT weekend we decided to head outside. Today we went to Detroit Lakes and enjoyed the lake and beach. Isaiah warmed up to playing in the sand and the water after a little coaxing

Isabelle was instantly a fish in the water. SHE LOVED IT!!

Daddy with his kids right on the beach.

Playing in the sand with dump trucks and cars

Mommy and Isaiah drying off on the blanket

This was Isaiah's first reaction to the Lake - gripping Daddy tightly

Ahhhhhh.....what a beautiful sight.....Daddy and his son.
Hot weather has been right outside our back door this week, so what else is there to do except enjoy it. Here we are out on our new backyard swing. The kids love it!

Weeeeeeeee

What do you do when you need to get the kids back inside? Give them POPSICLES!!!!!

She's pretty much always like this - Happy!

Swinging with my Daddy!

Playing with friends - Emme and Faith

Enjoying a cool dip!

We made our own homemade waterslide

My Wheel

After 10 years of waiting, I finally got my dream come true (after meeting the man of my dreams) Dan bought me a pottery wheel for our 4 year anniversary gift. Now it's time to begin dreaming/doing BIG things!

Anniversary Weekend Getaway

On Saturday morning Dan and I got up early and headed towards the only place that's natural to hit at some point in your lifetime - Valleyfair! We wanted to get a way, just the two of us, to celebrate our 4 years of marriage, so we went to the cities for the day and overnight.After Valleyfair we went out this AWESOME resturant called Maynards on Lake Minnetonka and enjoyed an excellent salmon dinner. Ending the night, we stopped at a Malt shop near our hotel. It was just like we were in the 50's having a first date. We had so much fun!Sunday morning we stopped at Caribou Coffee before heading home to spend a relaxing afternoon with our kids. We are so thankful we could get away and that we have such an AWESOME sister, Jane, who would take care of our kids.

Us.....lately

Lots of fun times are had each day at home. Here are a few pictures from the past week or two. Our little beauty

Playing in the backyard
SUper ExCiTed!!

One of many moments for these two.....

At this moment, Isaiah had just sat in the chair, folded his hands and said,

"Come Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest..." Sooo Cute!

Morning snuggles with mommy

Isabelle loved her first time in the pool, but fell over and when Daddy grabbed her up this was her scared face.

Isabelle's first time in the pool!

Hangin' with Dad in the pool

Isaiah really liked the pool too!

My nieces Holly and Ingrid were at the hotel pool with us too and enjoyed themselves just as much as our kids!

WATER!!!!!

Isabelle learned how to do SO BIG all by herself

Izzy has quite a musical ear. Here she is talking and singing in the piano microphone

Our LITTLE family

At dinner one night Isaiah was genuinely surprised at something Dan was doing and caught this photo in the moment. Funny.....

Funny boy learned how to make his cup stick to his face

Happy 4th Anniversary

I love this man. He is my best friend and my whole world. I am thankful for every day and every year I am blessed to spend with him. Happy anniversary Dan. I love you!

Birthday Boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! We love you and are so glad God gave you to us!! 2 years and counting!!

The Gorman's

So hard to say goodbye to such dear friends......

This morning the Gorman's took off from Fergus Falls and headed east to their new home in Maryland. A few good friends and kids were there to say goodbye and send them off as they begin their new life and ministry to the people in the greater Baltimore area.

It's amazing how God can orchestrate such friendships and allow them to grow, becoming as close to family as you can get. We will hold on to all the memories we made with them - trips to the park, countless dinners, coffee dates, sleepovers, Bible study, trip to the zoo, Alpha and church.

Thankfully God brought them to us for a while and we had the chance to build such a strong friendship. We pray they will settle in to east coast life and fondly remember all their extended family and friends in MN. We love you Gorman's.

The Parade

I haven't updated this for a while, so I thought I would. Last weekend we enjoyed the Fergus annual parade. It's always fun to see gobs of people line the streets for this event. Here was a Norwegian group dancing along! Isabelle loved her first parade

Me and my super awesome twin sisters. "The three little girls" (are not so little anymore)

Betty, Ryan and baby Jack were here from the cities too! Jodi and Faith joined us too sporting their Plumbers Inc. sweatshirts

Dad and Bryce (a "good friend" of Julie's) chatting about tractors and trucks.

Jane and Betty

Uncle Steve!!!! and Isabelle. Not sure why they are both looking different directions?

Isaiah loves his aunt Julie

Enjoying one of the many pieces of candy Isaiah caught

Dan sportin' his new glasses. Aren't they great!

What an awesome daddy....Dan sat with Isaiah pretty much the whole time out on the street, helping Isaiah get treats.

Me and my GIRL!!

Hello!!

All smiles!!

THE ZOO

With 16 kids and 5 adults, can you guess where we went yesterday? That's right the Zoo!! We had a blast running around after our kids and viewing the animals occassionally. It was fun to get out and do something different! We had a blast! MR. Grizzly would agree. After their naps Faith and Isabelle woke up just in time to see the Grizzly bears.

The kids LOVED the bears, especially when they played in the water.

Isaiah loved the chickens....until they bit his finger, then he wasn't a fan anymore! :)

Here we are with Isaiah, Isabelle and Faith. The best part the whole day was that our kids slept GREAT that night! Here are the ladies! Go Mommies! Cassandra, me, Catherine and Meghan + Emme

We all ate a nice picnic lunch together before heading off to see the animals.

Check this out! Talk about Stroller mania!

Isaiah quickly found the puddles leftover from the morning rainshower. He was soaked before we entered the zoo. Good thing I brought along extra clothes!