4th of July 2025- Schut celebration.

We went to Des Moines for the 4th and had a great time! We went a few days before because Kley was singing in a wedding in Pella, so the girls and I spent time with family while he was at the rehearsal dinner and wedding. We enjoyed playing at my parent's house, and also visiting Living History Farms (first time for the girls!) and going to the 4th of July parade!

I wondered what the girls would think of Living History Farms, but they were pretty interested! We were there for a few hours, and probably could have gone even longer had it not been so hot/humid. They enjoyed walking through the different houses modeled after certain time periods, which was my favorite part when I was younger too! I have fond memories of going to day camps there for years growing up, so it was special for them to be able to see it!

Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Kayla got to join too! I also got to meet up with two different friends from high school while we were in town, so that was nice to catch up with them!

Parade fun. Happy 4th! 

Over the weekend, my parents kindly watched the girls so Kley and I could have two nights kid free! We stayed around Des Moines and did some fun things and loved our time together! So thankful to be married to you, Kley! 

4th of July 2025- De Jong celebration and friend party.

Happy 4th of July! Thankful for our country and to live in the USA. We had our annual neighborhood/friend party and we had a great time! We got lots of rain that week, but glad it wasn't raining that night so we could have the party. We did s'mores, sparklers for the kids, and Kley set off a bunch of smaller fireworks for a show. My parents ended up coming last minute too to visit my grandma, so it was great we got to see them for a night too and they could join the party! 

This house is a gift to our family in many ways, one of the top being able to use it for hospitality. Love seeing the driveway and yard filled!

Three beauties doing sparklers!

We celebrated with De Jongs with a delicious meal, bubbles/parachute outside, ice cream cake, and a few fireworks too! It was a special night. Kley's sister and her family are living here now, so it's so fun to have them close! They just moved, as Brett finished residency and is going to be an anesthesiologist here- way to go Brett! They are currently living in my in law's basement until their house is finished being renovated.

The kids love the parachute firework best, that shoots off a little army man attached to a parachute and you have to chase it and try to catch it.

Parachute and bubbles.

Happy 4th of July! Hope you had a wonderful time celebrating as well!

Strawberry picking 2025.

Strawberry picking is one of our favorite summer traditions! So glad we could go and that we had great weather and got to go with cousins Will and Gerrit this year! They have a super fun play area too and this tube slide is amazing!

It's hard to tell from the photo, but this sand hill is very big and tall- fun building with cousins!

It's special to pick a lot and share with our neighbors when we get home!

Beautiful strawberry picking helpers!

So fun to take pictures at the same spots each year!

My three favorites!

Father's Day 2025.

Happy Father's Day! I am very thankful for my dad, father-in-law, and Kley as our girls father. I miss my grandpas today, as it's my first without them (and Kley's grandpa's too that passed a few years ago), but so glad to know they are rejoicing with our Heavenly Father today. I love that our girls have these healthy, safe, loving male role models in their lives and don't take for granted what a true gift that is. Kley, thank you for being a great dad. That takes a lot of hard work, patience, consistency, and investment and our three girls are sure blessed to have you! 

Lucy and Ellory recently.

Lucy and Ellory had a great second semester of 2nd grade! It's fun to watch both of them grow in school, in the things they are learning like reading deeper books and talking about them, more advanced math and problem solving, and in comprehension and writing. Both Lucy and Ellory had truly wonderful teachers this year and we are so thankful for them! We are excited for summer to begin and for all the fun that brings.

Lucy and Ellory both did winter rec basketball and did great! Proud of both for getting out there, trying your best, and making improvements! We took a family trip to Destin, Florida in February and Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Kayla got to join as well. We really loved our time at the beach! We had a great time celebrating Easter with both sides of the family- the best reason to rejoice! They continued on with Sunday School and piano lessons through the rest of the year too, and Ellory with her dance class. Both did spring rec soccer and were on the orange team. Lucy and Ellory, you are great players and it's fun to cheer you on! We had a great time at Tulip Festival with family and friends and Lucy and Ellory got to Dutch dance in the parades this year for the first time! They just had their end of the year piano recital- Lucy played The Kangaroo That Almost Flew and Ellory played Stomping Five, and both did very well. Ellory's end of the year dance recital was a “dancing through the decades” theme and she danced to Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys and Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley. Her dances were neat to watch! I got to be a chaperone on their zoo field trip at the end of the year (along with my weekly classroom volunteering), and we had a great time!

Ellory had strep in January, but after that both Lucy and Ellory had a super healthy winter and spring- thankful for that! We celebrated Lucy and Ellory turning 8 in February- what a special celebration! We got to celebrate at the end of January with the Schut side and in February with De Jong side closer to their birthday. They chose to have separate, smaller parties this year with a couple friends from class. Lucy chose to go to Drop Zone in Sioux City and then come back for Pizza Ranch pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream cake with a sports theme. Ellory chose to go to Pickled Palette in Sioux City for pottery painting and out for Peach Wave ice cream with a panda theme. On March 3, 2025, Lucy lost her top left lateral incisor. We said goodbye to Great Grandpa Schut on January 29, 2025. We miss him a lot, but look forward to seeing him in Heaven again one day and are very thankful he was a wonderful grandpa. At their 8 year old wellness check, Lucy was 4'5” (85%) and 55 lbs (40%). Ellory was 4'3” (59%) and 58 lbs (53%). Thankful for happy, growing girls! In March/April, Ellory was having blood in her urine, thankfully no other symptoms, but doctors kept an eye on that for awhile. We had several appointments, including a specialist appointment in Sioux Falls. They couldn't find an exact cause, but ran some tests and thankfully it wasn't anything serious, and that it was some sort of kidney infection that usually runs course in 5-6 weeks, and that's what happened and she hasn't had any blood in her urine for weeks now, so that's good news! Lucy was excited to get rid of her sling in February and have her collar bone be healed (after breaking it over Thanksgiving break)! Another big update for Lucy is that she started wearing glasses in January. She has done very well with wearing them and looks beautiful!

We had the greatest news ever on March 2, 2025, of Lucy accepting Jesus in to her heart! What wonderful news and we rejoice in her salvation! She was coloring in her Bible verse coloring book during church, and in the prayer section, she wrote a prayer that she wanted God to be with her for the rest of her life and asked Him to be in her heart forever. We talked about it further together after church and Kley and I prayed with her/over her and Lucy prayed also, and what a glorious day that was! We pray He would continue to work in your heart, Lucy! And Ellory's too (we celebrated a glorious day with Ellory awhile back when she accepted Jesus into her heart also)!

Some of Lucy's favorite things to do are anything sports related and listen to Phil Wickham. Ellory's favorite things are reading, listening to music, stuffed animals, and crafts. They both have been enjoying building lego cities and playing school. We love you so much Lucy! We love you so much Ellory! Watching you grow is a gift and you bring so much joy to us!