Random

I'm not sure favorite is the right way to describe this picture but I do really like it. Gabe had a hard time with Grandpa's passing and funeral and this just conveys the love he had for him so well. Props to my dad for catching the moment.

 

We finally were able to have our first fire and smores of the season the other night. It was a messy acticvity.

In between all the craziness of being up home for the visitation and funeral we did manage to get to Hickory Park for Ezra's birthday sundae.

And I finally got his picture in the chair. I didn't attempt to take him to the basement to the original big chair this time since he disliked it so much last time.

 

 

Ezra is 1!

Ezra turned 1 on the 29th. While our plans were changed a little with everything going on with Grandpa we still managed to have a nice little party for him. He loved his cake once he figured out it was sweet. He actually loved tearing it apart and then throwing it on the floor. He wasn't so sure about the candle on the cake and Carl got it blown out right before he grabbed it.

 

Ezra wasn't so sure what to do with his presents either plus he was starting to get sleepy but he did manage with a little help to get them open.

 

We also celebrated Gabe's birthday with family as well. He loved his baseball cupcakes.

He also loved all the baseball themed gifts he got. It was a nice little party even though the location and time were a little different then expected.

Grandpa (Updated)

* My Mom wanted me to read this at Grandpa's funeral. As I was reading over it the day of the service I just felt I needed to add one more paragraph so I've updated this post to include all of what I read that day.

 

My Grandpa Duane went home today. He waited until the day after he and my Grandma's 56th wedding anniversary(and Ezra's birthday). Our hearts our heavy with sadness as we will miss him so much. He didn't talk a lot but that was part of his charm.

I cant count how many times I called their house and Grandpa would answer "yep, Hello" everytime. I will miss that. I will miss him getting irritated when someone said they didnt like a certain type of food being offered at mealtime because I'm pretty sure Grandpa would have eaten grass if that was what was being offered, and I will miss his laughter when he watched The Andy Griffith Show on TV. I will miss his many mumbles, and yeps and his love of all foods(coffee, black licorice and popcorn).

I will miss the way he lovingly referred to Ty as Red. He got such a kick out of his red headed antics and temperament. I will miss his prayers before meal times at the farm and seeing him in his overalls each time we came to visit. I will miss his bald head and all of the jokes to go along with it.

Grandpa loved his wife, loved his family and loved the Lord. That is why missing him is not quite so bad. We know that Grandpa is Home now and no longer suffers the ailments that plagued him in his last days here on Earth. I love you Grandpa for your example of loving your wife through sickness and health, for raising your family to know how to work hard, be kind and respectful to others and serve the church and those in need around them. We look forward to seeing you when God calls us home. I truly hope you are enjoying the green pastures and still waters. It sounds right up your ally, and the bonus is you don't have to bail hay in those pastures:)

Just to close I encourage you to think about what your children and grandchildren will say about you when you're gone. Will you be remembered for serving others and the Lord, for being a hard worker and kind to those around you. We rest in assurance that Grandpa is with his Lord in heaven not only because he professed his belief with his mouth but because his life showed fruit of loving and serving God. Let your words not be empty in saying you are a Christ follower let people also be assured of your everlasting eternity by your life here on Earth. God blessed my brother and Me with a wonderful Grandfather and my children with a wonderful Great Grandfather and maybe most importantly my husband and I with a shining example of marriage through thick and thin, sickness and health, drought and flood. Let your life exemplify Christ as well.

 

Gabe Turns 8

Gabe turned 8 on Sunday! Doesn't really seem possible. In fact, it is kind of scary how quickly 8 years has gone. He woke up to his requested birthday breakfast of cinnamon roll waffles.

 

We unintentionally put trick candles on his waffles and had fun trying to get them blown out. Finally they are all out.

After breakfast and everyone got ready we headed to Ankeny to meet Uncle Pete and Aunt Kim for lunch. They had birthday gifts for the boys and were heading home from being in Algona for the weekend and since the next surprise of the day was located in Grimes it worked out well to go to Ankeny. After lunch we headed to Skyzone for Gabe's next birthday surprise. Skyzone is a trampoline park. They LOVED it. Carl jumped with the kiddos and decided it was much more difficult then it looks and that he is old:)

 

When we got home they really wanted to go to the Aquatic Center so Carl took the 3 bigs to the pool and I stayed home with Ezra. When they got back it was time to meet Grandma and Grandpa for birthday sundaes at Hickory Park.

 

That night Gabe was determined to stay up until his birth time(11:08 pm) so he and Carl had a special birthday date to Man of Steel. Gabe had a great day and is looking forward to his party this weekend.

Better Late then Never Update

Clearly its been awhile since I've updated. Little hands apparently walked away with our iPad card reader so pictures have remained on our camera the past few months. I broke down and got a new one today so figured I'd put it to good use.

Ezra turned 11 months old on May 29th. He did not like going down to the basement to sit in the big chair. Evidence.

Since the chair in the basement was clearly not going to result in a good picture we tried upstairs instead. Still not the best shot but at least no alligator tears and screaming.

Shortly after Ezra turned 11 months the boys had their last day of school. Ty finished EK and will go to full day Kindergarten at the same school as Gabe in August. Here he is with his teacher Ms. Colleen.

 

Gabe finished up his last day of 1st grade. Here he is with his teacher Mrs. Pittman, whom he adores and had a hard time being excited about summer because he was going to miss her:)

Baseball has been a huge chunk of our spring and summer this year. I did manage to get a few action shots of each of the boys. It was fun to see their improvement throughout the season.

 

We've also managed to make it to Reiman Gardens once so far this summer. The kids really liked this big grasshopper.

And I tried to get a good picture of the 4 of them.....yeah

 

Callie loved these dark purple Iris.

And we had our own personal photographer snap a picture of Carl and me.

I am usually not in pictures so I tried to be in a few(even though being in pictures is not my favorite thing) so here is my girl and me.

And my baby and me

And this is just cute and just Ezra:)

 

We've been enjoying summer break so far and not having to get up and be some where. We celebrated Gabe's birthday on Sunday(post to come) and will have a party for him and Ezra(sniff, sniff) on Saturday. Hope the summer's treating you well.

 

10 Months and Baseball

Ezra turned 10 months on Monday. It is so hard to believe he will be 1 in just 2 short months! This has been a busy month for him. He learned to get from sitting position to crawling position and back to sitting. I will often times find him waiting for me sitting up in his crib in the morning. Usually with a huge smile too. He finally has learned to crawl forward! He has been up on hands and knees quite awhile but has now learned to actually move himself forward which means nothing is safe. He also started babbling more and added mama to his list of words(he also says dada, occasionally but he said mama first, 1 out of 4 saying mama first but at least I get to claim the last one:). He loves his brothers and sister and laughs so hard at their antics. He can use a sippy cup now and discovered he loves daddy's pancakes.

 

Here is our 10 month old in the big. I have decided he definitely doesn't like the basement as I have the hardest time getting our normally super smiley boy to smile. Oh well.

 

In other newsGabe and Ty started baseball and tball. Both like it a lot and look forward to their games. Gabe is playing machine pitch this year and they keep score. A bit different from tball but he is doing pretty well and getting used to hitting from the machine. His team is the Rivercats. Here he is in his uniform(nevermind my scowling daughter, not sure why she was disgruntled but apperently she was)

 

There have been some uniform issues this year so Ty still doesnt have a team name or a uniform. As soon as he does I will post his picture on his uniform. Hopefully they will have them soon or the season will be half over! Baseball has definately kept us busy but it's been fun to watch them.