Go STATE!

Way to go, Insight.com bowl champs! :) We had so much fun watching the game being altogether!

More Baby Sam!

We were able to snuggle with Baby Sam today! Brynn just loved him and asked if she could hold him everyday. It broke my heart to tell her we don't live close enough for her to do that. :( He is a sweet little mister and we love him so much. He loves to be held and loves to snuggle.

Papa Kevin

This child LOVES his Papa Kevin. Papa Kevin gets him to eat meat. Papa gets him to listen. Papa calms him down. Papa wrestles with him. He takes B. in the tractor and on anything motorized. Papa gives him any snack he wants.

Reading w/ Grandma Cindy

Grandma Cindy enjoyed reading to all of the kiddos one night when they all stayed here. :)

A snowman...finally!

We were finally able to make a snowman. It was a quick one and we didn't quite make it the "traditional" way, and ended up piling 3 big round snowballs on top of each other. Brynn was just thrilled! We added 2 branches for arms and a hat.

Playing in the snow, Iowa Style!

Yesterday it was beautiful weather--a perfect 30 degrees. So, we went out and played in the snow Iowa style. What's that mean? Climbing and sledding on/down huge piles of snow, making a snowman, eating icicles, & riding on snowmobiles and 4-wheelers. Unfortunately, we don't have a snowmobile anymore, but we do have a 4-wheeler. Baylen LOVED the 4-wheeler and riding with Papa. Papa pulled Brynn and I on a sled behind and that was so much fun even when we fell off! Brynn is still giggling and talking about that! Baylen and Dj also enjoyed riding on the sled.

Great G'ma Wilma

The kids enjoyed seeing Great G'ma Wilma when we made the trek up north. She equally enjoyed them. She loved loved loved Baylen and just chuckled at his every move.

we thought this was going to work...

but it was a major FAIL. lol seriously though, the kids loved sleeping in the tent while it lasted but eventually, we had to separate them b/c they were just giggling and having too much fun instead of going to sleep.

More fun w/ the cousins

Parker and Calleigh came over to spend some time w/ B & B. They really had a lot of fun! :)

I told you we had snow

And here's proof....HUGE pile o' snow and Brynn.

Cousins!

The kids were able to hang out with their cousins from Algona/Waukee yesterday and today and had a great time! :)

Visiting friends!

We also visited with some good friends on Monday night and I snapped a few pictures of the kids together. Dj has our "Theta girls" annual pic on his good camera. I hope it turned out. I really enjoyed seeing them all and hanging out for a bit to catch up. miss you girls...♥ A special thanks to Megs for hosting and rounding everyone up. :)

You know you've been snowed in in a small town when...

you start snow blowing for fun...

baby Coen

we went to visit Nikki, Klas and baby Coen on Monday, late in the afternoon. We were so excited to meet him and get all of the details on his birth and how Nik is feeling. He is such a cutie and a sweet little guy. Brynn was looking forward to meeting him and wanted to hold him very badly, tho once he was in her arms, she held him for maybe 3-4 minutes and she was done. :) I think sometimes when the baby moves or makes a sound, it makes her nervous b/c she is used to holding dolls who do not say a thing. lol

Welcome Baby Sam!

We were able to go see our newest nephew, Samuel Carl, named after our great grandfather Sam. He was born on December 26, weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds, 10 ounces. They are still in the hospital so we went to go see them today. Unfortunately, we were not able to hold him b/c he is struggling to keep his blood sugars in the range they want it to be so he's on an IV. They are seeing improvement in that, but will slowly wean him off of the IV. My mom and dad did get to hold him for a couple of minutes, and the rest of us were able to at least see him in person. Hopefully we will get to snuggle with him in a couple of days when they come here to my parents' house. :)

You know you live in a small town when...

1. You go to a bar with dead animals hanging on the wall.
2. You see a ton of "lifers."
3. There's a turkey butt on the wall.
4. Someone is sitting at your table who is old enough to be your mom.
5. There's the token deer head hanging nearby.
6. There's a gun hanging right above your head.
7. A swordfish is on the wall and you keep wondering where in Iowa that could have been caught...
8. A guy is walking around the bar in a Crappie sweatshirt.

Riding in the Tractor w/ Papa

The kids had a blast riding in the tractor with Papa. Baylen just LOVED it. He says, "ride tracta, papa!" They had fun moving snow with papa around the farm.

SNOW!

Lots of snow snow snow around here!