Summer dates, camps, surgery, and county youth fair 2026.

We did some one on one dates and it was super fun! The girls and I took turns doing school supply shopping, so we looked at Target, Shoe Carnival, and Old Navy for supplies, clothes, and shoes. Talking one on one is so special! We were able to work it out to go back to back to back and I let the girls pick where they wanted to eat, and they all picked Olive Garden, so I got to eat there three days in a row! Yay for breadsticks! (I do love Olive Garden, but three days in a row was pushing it, ha!) They each enjoyed some one on one time with Kley too!

We went to the Sioux Country Youth Fair and enjoyed pony rides (sadly Norah was too big), duck races, corn pit, jumping pad, ice cream cones, and animal barns. Lucy was on her special grandparent trip so she wasn't there, but Norah and Ellory each took a friend along. It was very hot, but wasn't too terrible thankfully and we had a good time!

Lucy was so excited to do golf camp and play in the parent/child tournament with Papa! Kley had a weekend golf trip with college friends, and originally the girls and I were supposed to be in Rapid City visiting my grandma, but I had a terrible run in with a kidney stone and ended up having surgery to remove a few and then had a very uncomfortable stent afterwards for a week, so we weren't able to go. We were supposed to be on the trip during golf camp, but Lucy was glad she could sign up last minute and thanks to Papa for golfing in the tournament with her. They had a special time together! Also, I am SO thankful the stent is out now and I am feeling back to normal! Very thankful for amazing help from my mom and MIL during the kidney stone ordeal (and Kley too!). 

 

All three girls got to do a volleyball camp for three days at our local college- so fun! I love that they are enjoying volleyball!

Easter 2026- morning photos.

Happy Easter! Christ the Lord is risen today!

Easter 2026- Family celebrations.

We were in Des Moines for a few days over Easter break at my parent's house and had lots of fun family time with the Schut side! The weather was rainy and chilly, so we didn't get to do some of our usual outings, but we still had a good time. We were able to get out a bit to play in the yard and we still had our egg hunt outside in the front where it wasn't muddy! We enjoyed lots of cousin playtime (and aunts/uncles/grandparents too), egg hunt, and Easter baskets. :)

Margo (my niece) got these glasses in her basket and thought they were so cool. She was wearing them and walking around pausing in front of everyone, wanting them to acknowledge her and say something about them. It was very funny and cute!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the special Easter baskets!

I said I didn't get pictures of Stuart on this trip (my brother's 4th baby) because he was either napping or too small to participate, but I got his sweet little head in the bottom of this one! My sister, Karlie, and her family didn't come because they just had their 3rd baby last week and her husband's parents were going up to help them this weekend. Yay for the family growing!

Checking out their egg hunt findings.

Egg hunt crew.

When we came back from Des Moines, we got to celebrate with the De Jong side too! They do their egg hunt as a scavenger hunt and it's always so fun and the kids love it! Love cousin time!

Looking for one of the clues in the hunt.

We played Left, Center, Right and that was so fun and a game that all ages can play.

Love a full table!

The victory dance for Gerrit winning! He was so excited and love everyone's excitement for him!

Happy Easter- He is risen!

Easter 2026- Dyeing eggs, egg hunt, and Easter baskets.

What a fun Easter night as a family! We celebrated a little early because we were with extended family over Easter. The girls loved it and we had special time together- so fun to make holidays special for your kids! So thankful for the forgiveness and salvation granted to us as believers in His death and resurrection- the greatest news ever!

Easter baskets.

Egg hunt and candy piles! (Sometimes when we get home from school or our after school activities and we don't have to go anywhere for the rest of the night, the girls like to wear pajamas, so that happened today.)

Dyeing eggs.

Love these traditions, our girls, and the celebration of Easter! :)

Christmas 2025- De Jong side.

What a special Christmas! So thankful for our Savior and His many blessings to us. We were home for Christmas this year and celebrated with Kley's family. It's a gift that both his parents, grandma, and sister and her family live really close to us! I didn't grow up being physically close to any family (not that that was bad- we visited them and had great local friends), so that's special that our girls get to experience that.

Love this sweet family of mine!

Present/family time.

It's so fun to celebrate at home, just the five of us, too. What a gift to be able to create these memories for our girls!

I love this picture!

We celebrated with Kley's grandma Shirley on Christmas eve.

Everyone around the table- truly my favorite! Merry Christmas!

Christmas piano recital and program 2025.

We had our church Christmas recital/program and it went great! The girls have never played in the recital portion at the program before because they played in a different Christmas recital right before this, but they have a different piano teacher this year and she didn't have a recital, so they played in this one this year. They all did wonderful! Norah played Angels We Have Heard On High.

Lucy played Silent Night.

Ellory also played Angels We Have Heard On High (different version than Norah).

Kley played guitar/sang for it and I helped lead it. It's a big job but glad we could help with it and thankful it went smoothly.

All the girls sang very well!

Norah read a Scripture verse during it. This was Norah's last program, as she'll be in middle school next year!

Grandpa and Grandma got to come to it too! Papa and Amma were there also, but they were helping serve food so we didn't get a picture with them. Thankful for wonderful grandparents for our girls!

My favorite four. :) Merry Christmas! The theme of the program was hope- so very grateful for the hope we have in Him!