Time to catch you all up to date. SORRY!!!

So January & February were filled with Sledding, 4-wheeling, gymnastics & just hanging out at home. They girls rode their 4-wheeler almost everyday there for a while. They were starting to get a little braver then mom liked, but they did ok. Gymnastics was also a lot of fun for the Cassady & Avary. They learned a lot of new moves and loved it. Kambrie didn't enjoy it as much as I had to constantly say no, no, no to her. All she wanted to do was go with her sisters.

In March, Jim and I took a little vacation together to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. We of course had a great time relaxing, golfing, sailing and snorkeling. We would highly recommend a trip with just the two of you sometime and of course would recommend St. Thomas. It was a lot of fun.

April was a slow month for us. We really did not have much going on. Some of our excitement was the some 26 or so finches we had on our bird feeder and the hummingbirds that came around for some "juice" The girls thought it was pretty neat. Daisy, our parakeet joined our family in November and finally in April we were able to get her our of the cage. She likes to sit on our fingers, but also like to fly around. I really need to get her wings trimmed. We also spend a lot of time hanging out at home which you can see Avary and Kambrie could not keep their cloths on since it started getting warm. They loved to fun around and wrestle in their panties. Then at the end of April, Jim and I got to go back to the good old years and enjoy "prom" again. We go all dressed up and got together with friends to reminisce. We had a great time.

May was of course, Tulip Festival fun. We dressed up again this year to scrub streets with Grandma K. They girls really enjoy doing that and can't wait until next year. We also watched the parades and went on rides. The rides were another highlight of the weekend. Kambrie even enjoyed them. She really isn't scared of much. Then at the end of May, Avary graduated from preschool. Even though she will be going back to preschool again this August, she still had to go through the process. She thought she was pretty big stuff. It was a cute program.

June is when the real fun began, even though it took FOREVER to get warm. Cassady played Summer Rec this year in town and loved every minute of it. She was very excited when she didn't have to hit off the tee. She learned a lot and is now trying to teach her sister, who really is not that interested right now. :) Avary's big new is that she now know how to ride bike without training wheels. We were camping one weekend and tried it. She did really well and learned in about an hour (with a little coasting). And speaking of camping, that is another activity we are enjoying this summer. We try to go as much as possible.

In June, we also went to Getting Gardens for some yummy strawberry picking. They girls loved it at first, but after one crate, they were done and started snooping. I think Kambrie eat more then she actually put in the crate. Cute though!! We went with my sister-in-law and her two kids and got 4 crates full of strawberries. Jam and pie making made up the rest of our day!! Good stuff!!

Then in July we had a BIG birthday bash for the girls. They all have summer birthdays (kind of) so I decided to do one big birthday party instead of 3 separate ones this year. We had a jumping castle, face painting, pinata, games, sparklers, gifts and of course, cake with ice cream. Friends and Family helped us celebrate all day. Thank you everyone for making the say so special and fun for my girls. They had a great time!!!

The cakes were so cute so just wanted to give you a close up. I usually make them each year, but there was not way I was going to get 4 cakes done, so I had someone make them for me. They turned out great and were REALLY good.

So in case you didn't catch it from the cake pictures, I will help you.
We are expecting a baby around February 2.

Thanks for reading and I hope, :) to do a better job at this. I don't know how others do it so faithfully, but it takes me forever. I will do my best.

December

December was of course filled with fun, food and gifts. Just like all kids, the girls were excited for gifts, but they were really excited to see their cousins from Canada. We usually only get to see them one a year so they were looking forward to that. When they were here, we spent most of the week at Grandma D's house playing and visiting. We had a lot of fun giving & receiving gifts.

Each year we give the girls on big gift and a few smaller one, so this year we got them a 4-wheeler, a pink one actually. THEY LOVED IT and have been busy riding ever since!!


Then at the end of the month, Cassady lost her first tooth. She thought it was pretty neat.

November

Ok, as you can see, we had more chicks. We just could not keep track of all the chickens. Jim found another chicken with 7 little guys following. Here Brie is enjoying them in the house.

November was kind of a an exciting month for me. I completed the Living History Farm Run in Des Moises. It was a 7 mile obstacle course run and I completed it with 8 other friends. We were the Giggling Gallopers and we had a great time (even though it was FREEZING out there). I had completed this same run 6 years ago when Cassady was 3 months old, but it is crazy how 6 years of age can make such a different. 6 years ago I never trained for it, just talked into it but this time, I had to train before hand. I have tried to sign up for runs this past year so I MAKE me exercise. I am not a very self-motivated person when it comes to exercise so signing up makes me do it. I just wanted to be in semi-shape & healthy. :)


To end our November, we did a our yearly tradition of decorating gingerbread houses with my mom. They girls LOVE it and we have such a good time. Thank you grandma for the tradition. We look forward to it every year.

October

Once Kambrie turned one she decided it was time to get the move on it. She wanted to start walking. Within a little over 4 weeks she decided to crawl, stand up by things and walk. It was crazy and she made me an even busier mom. Here she is showing off.

Speaking of busy, October starts a very busy time of year - Harvest and manure hauling. Basically it is translated to - Single momhood. Jim is never around so we have to go to him. Here we are, "helping" with harvest.


Well Jim is busy in the field, we are busy collecting candy!!! The girls were my three little bugs this year and I have to say, they were adorable. Kambrie wasn't so sure about it, but by they end she was having fun! I also got to go to a costume party. I usually like to pick a theme and go as a couple, but Jim was still in the field so I went by myself. Last minute, I decided to be a bag of Jellybeans. It was a lot of fun!!

I'm back!!

Hey I'm back to finish the post for 2010!! I know your probably thinking, "it's about time". Yeah I know. I think I am up to September. It was a month of excitement for Avary. She got to go to Preschool and boy did she love it. Cassady got to go to Kindergarten as well. They are loving school to this very day.


There was also excitement on the farm. As most of you know, we have chickens roaming the yard and each day the girls go out to the barn to collect eggs. Well one afternoon, there was some eggs that got missed. :) Cassady, Avary and I came home one Saturday afternoon and Jim meet us at the end of the driveway with Kambrie (there were getting the mail). He said, "Guess what?" we said, "What?" Jim went on to say, "We have baby chicks." We said, "Really, where are they?" He lead us to the spot and sure enough. There they were - all 12 of them. That's right, 12 baby chicks. They were so cute and the girls we SO excited!!! We all got out the van to check them out. We ended up catching them all and putting them in the barn. One lesson we learned is, make sure all chickens are accounted for each day, because if they are missing for awhile - 21 days to be exact - they are probably sitting on some eggs. It was quite the experience. Here are the highlights...


Then at the end of the month, our baby turned the big O-N-E!! We celebrated with a birthday party. What a little blessing God gave us and the exact to reason to celebrate.

August

So like I said last month, Kambrie was just moving from one thing to another. Well once she figured out how to crawl, it was all down hill. She thought should could do anything - climb stairs, unload the dishwasher and lots more. She even thought she would love on to walking within a couple weeks. They grow up way to fast.

The National Balloon Classic in Indianola, Iowa was another little vacation we got to take as a family. It was a lot of fun, but the only thing was that it was a little windy, so the balloons started about aa mile south and flew over us and landed inside the next mile. I would like to go back sometime to see them take-off in front of us. Here a few pictures:

On August 19, Cassady celebrated her 6th birthday!! She is getting so big, it is kind of sad!


The end of August was a little sad for us. We had to day good-byes to my brothers and sister-in-law. Jonathon and Michael and his wife Cindy left on deployment to Afganistan for a year. We went to Storm Lake to send off Jonathon and Des Moines to send-off Mike & Cindy.
They will be severely missed! We love you!!

July

Camping was a new thing for us this summer. We purchased a camper for Jim's uncle last fall and it is nothing fancy, but it does it's job and we LOVE it. Jim wasn't a big camper growing up, but he has admitted that he loves it. Yeah!!! We went camping as often as we could and will hopefully do the same next summer.


Cassady also had the opportunity to take t-ball again this summer. She was in the same age group as last year and really did not want to use a tee, but she definitely improving her outfield skills and her swing. She did really well.


Our baby also started crawling and standing my things in July. Once she figured out how to do one thing, she was starting on the next. I thing she started crawling and then within a couple days of doing that, she was pulling herself up by. She thought she was big stuff and here she is showing off her new talents.

June

June was a fun month for us. We went to a cabin in Minn. for a week for some fishing and swimming & family time. It was a long 7 hours drive north, but we had a great time. Everyone caught fish so that was good too. Here are some highlights:


Then on June 13, Avary turned 4 years old and we celebrated with a party of course!!!

WOW!! It has been way to long

So it has been WAY to long since the last post, which I thought I would do a better job of updating, but it obviously is not working. So what I am going to attempt to do is update you with what has happpened since May and hopefully continue from there.

Towards the end of May, Cassady graduated from Kids of the Kingdom Preschool. She loved preschool and her teachers were awesome, but she was excited to move onto Kindergarten already. As you can see in the pictures, she is definitely growing. :) Here are a few photos.