Lucy and Ellory's first communion.

Lucy and Ellory took their first communion- what a special day! So thankful for God working in their hearts. We rejoice that they have both professed faith in Jesus! They met with our pastor a few weeks ago and talked about the importance of communion and what it means. Praise Jesus for Lucy and Ellory and this meaningful time!

Ellory's special day- Olive Garden, Sky Zone, Washington Pavilion, and Anne Wilson!

For Norah's 10th birthday last year, we gave her an experience gift of going to Minneapolis to see one of her favorite singers, Anne Wilson. When Lucy and Ellory turned 8 last February, they were asking what their special thing would me since Norah got one, so of course we thought that would be fun too! Lucy really wanted to go to her first Vikings game, so her and Kley are headed to Minneapolis in November for that. Ellory said that she really wanted to see Anne Wilson too. I kept checking her tour schedule and didn't see anything for awhile, and then heard that she was going to be a part of Life Light Festival in Sioux Falls, only 1.5 hours from us! I'm so glad we could go and that Ellory and I could have a one on one day together. The whole day was amazing, except for a short drop in spirits when there was a rain delay and Ellory was standing in a super long food truck line feeling hungry and wet. But the rain let up and we got some food and then all was well again. We enjoyed the day together and I am so honored to be Ellory's mom!

So cool for Ellory to see Anne Wilson live!

She got a snow cone for dessert, one of her most favorite treats!

Fun at Washington Pavilion- it was special to do whatever Ellory wanted and to experience it at her pace and top choices!

Lots of jumping fun at Sky Zone!

We also had lunch at Olive Garden and I didn't get a picture of that, but we definitely enjoyed the breadsticks! Ellory has always been a huge bread lover, her whole life!

I love you Ellory and you are so special to our family!

Labor Day 2025- pool and Fields of Fun.

We carried on our Labor Day tradition of going to the closing of the pool and the opening of our local pumpkin patch, Fields of Fun- fun to have a mix of summer and fall in the same day! We were grateful for an extra long weekend after a big first week of school. It was low 70s outside, so it was a little chilly to swim, but glad we got to go one more time before it closed for the year. The girls love to swim!

I love it when Fields of Fun opens- yay for fall! 

I love seasonal traditions and seeing them grow each year with taking pictures at the same spots. 

Love our three beautiful girls and so glad fall is upon us!

First day of school 2025.

School has begun again! Summer was great and I will miss having them home all day, but the routine of school is good and they were all thankfully feeling pretty good about going back! Their teachers all seem great and they each know several friends in their classes, so that's wonderful! 

Our school does an individual time of meeting the teacher before starting, so it's really nice to be able to find your locker, see the room, meet the teacher, and get a good picture of your new spaces before the first day.

Happy first day girls! Praying for a wonderful year for you all filled with learning, kindness, and friends. May you go out and shine His light and love!

End of summer 2025- Kley playing guitar, park days, volleyball camp, swimming, and nails!

We are very thankful for a great summer with the girls! It was sweet to have extra time together. We were able to do some fun things as summer was gearing down. Kley got to play for Wednesday night in the park as part of our town's summer programs and he loved it! It was unfortunately moved to an indoor location because the park is still a clean up zone after a derecho hit our town a couple weeks ago, but it was still fun and Kley loved playing some of his favorite covers with some friends. Go Kley!

We had a fun morning at a park/splash pad in a neighboring town with cousins Will and Gerrit!

(We had our swimsuits on from the splash pad and then Norah had a shirt she put on overtop, so she's not just not wearing pants, ha.)

All five on the slide!

The girls got to go to volleyball camp at our local college for a day, so fun! (Lucy is not smiling because she unfortunately got a fever after this- the same quick bug that Ellory had the week before in Des Moines on our family vacation.) Norah also got to go to a three evening volleyball camp at our high school before school started too, so fun! She enjoyed it and it felt like a big deal to join the middle and high schoolers!

One of our grocery stores started selling Tropical Sno this summer and we went as an end of summer treat! (And Norah got Pringles instead because she claims slushies aren't her favorite.)

Another favorite end of summer tradition is swimming at Siouxnami (a waterpark in a neighboring town). It was a beautiful afternoon/evening for it and we had lots of fun! So thankful for a great summer!

Kley joined us after work and everyone loves having him around! :)

Lucy and Ellory were very brave and tried this blue slide for the first time!

Lazy river.

High dive.

Zip line.

One of our very last summer traditions is getting their nails painted at the salon for back to school- so cute! Sending these beauties off to 5th and 3rd soon!