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!

Norah recently.

Norah had a great second semester of 4^th grade! It's fun to watch her grow in school, in the things she's learning like reading deeper books and talking about them, learning independence in homework/studying, more advanced math, and in writing reports/papers and learning editing and citing! Norah's year took a turn when her teacher was pregnant with twins, and it was high risk and she ended up leaving halfway through the semester due to pregnancy complications. Norah missed her and had a tough time when she left, but adjusted and finished strong. We are excited for summer to begin and for all the fun that brings.

Norah did winter rec basketball and did great! She didn't know a lot who did it this go around, but proud of her for getting out there, making some new friends, and trying her best. Norah did a great job singing and dancing at her 4^th grade music program in February about making good choices/life wisdom. 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! Norah continued on with Sunday School, dance, and piano lessons through the rest of the year too. She did spring rec soccer and was on the blue team. Norah is a good soccer player and it was fun to cheer her on! We had a great time at Tulip Festival with family and friends and Norah did Dutch dancing in the parade! She just had her end of the year piano recital and enjoyed playing a song that had some fun triplets in it and sounded fancy! Her end of the year dance recital was a “dancing through the decades” theme and she danced to Imagine by John Lennon and Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. Her dances were neat to watch! Norah participated in field day at school in the frisbee throw, long jump, 50m dash, and 100m dash. She got first place in her heat in the 100- go Norah! Norah did a big project about National Parks at school and had to to a lot of research about her park, which was Big Bend in Texas. She had to research about it, write a report, make a poster, dress like a park ranger, and give a speech about it. She did quite well!

Norah had strep in January, but after that had a super healthy winter and spring- thankful for that! We celebrated Lucy and Ellory turning 8 in February. On April 6, 2025, Norah lost her bottom left first bicuspid premolar. 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. Some of Norah's favorite things to do lately are read books, listen to music, do her American Girl doll's hair in different styles, build lego cities, and play school. We love you so much Norah! Watching you grow is a gift and you bring so much joy to us!