Lucy and Ellory recently.

What a fun and special summer! It felt busy and full and I spent a lot of time driving the girls around, but I love that we could make these summer activities happen and wouldn't trade it! Lucy and Ellory both had a really good 3^rd grade year. They had great friends and learned a lot! Grateful for special teachers for them!

For summer activities, Lucy and Ellory both had many fun things on their plates! A huge thing they both got to do (individually) was go on their special grandparent trip for a week. Both went to Branson and loved the lake, Silver Dollar City, David play, blueberry farm, and many other fun things with Grandpa and Grandma! Glad they could have special one on one time together and that they invested in each of them like that!

Summer rec was full and amazing! Ellory enjoyed the flag class and loved learning the routine. Lucy got to do speed camp and loved it! They both did the soccer, basketball, and volleyball camps at our local college and had fun with all of them. All three girls sold crafts that they had made at the kid's farmers market and donated all the money to our friends who are missionaries- so sweet! We got to go to Rise Fest and see Josiah Queen and Phil Wickham- so great! Lucy and Ellory went to a local Vacation Bible School that was transportation themed, and worked hard at swimming lessons and passed another level! They both did 6 weeks of summer rec softball, and did amazing at their first summer having real games with uniforms, kid pitch, and playing three outs. So fun to watch!

We stayed home for the 4^th of July and enjoyed our party with friends. (We were supposed to go to Des Moines, but that was the beginning of my sad kidney stone journey this summer that ended up with surgery and a stent, but glad to be feeling so much better now! All 5 of us were also hit with a nasty food poisoning case in June, but thankfully it wasn't too long.) Lucy and Ellory enjoyed nature camp for a few days and loved learning about bugs and how to make a bug collection, which they kept working on for the rest of the summer. They both competed in the kids triathlon and did amazing! They had to swim two laps, run half a mile, and bike a mile- a big feat! So proud of you, Lucy and Ellory, for trying so many things this summer and working hard! Lucy also had a fun Saturday playing in the parent/child golf tournament with Papa! We didn't head to the park as much as we used to because the girls are growing up, but still went a few times, and still enjoyed many days with library and pool visits. I love these days with our girls!

We got to take a small trip with both sides of the family this summer that were amazing! We went to Okoboji with De Jongs for a few days and enjoyed the waterpark, jet skis, Three Sons shopping trip, family bingo, the new scooter park, and rides at Arnold's Park. We went to Des Moines for a few days with Schuts and enjoyed swimming at Groen's pool, zoo, bowling/arcade, tie dye, and family bingo. We also took a day trip with De Jongs to Sioux Falls before school started to go to Washington Pavilion and some shopping. The girls got to stay with Daddy for a couple days while I went to Maine for Stephanie's bachelorette party. Over Labor Day weekend, we took a quick trip to Rapid City to visit Gigi- so glad we could see her and do some fun things with her and Skeas! We also continued summer piano lessons in June and July.

Lucy and Ellory were a little nervous to start school, but not too bad, and now are so glad to be in the swing of things and we are so thankful they are enjoying 4^th grade! Both are continuing piano this year and bumped up to the 4^th/5^th grade Sunday School room at church. Ellory is enjoying a lyrical dance class and Lucy is having fun with fall flag football. Love seeing both of them enjoy their activities!

September was very rainy, but we are still enjoying fall and doing all the fun traditions we can! We have already visited Scarecrow Farm and Fields of Fun and painted pumpkins. Lucy and Ellory are wearing youth L/10-12 clothes and Ellory is a size 3 shoe and Lucy a size 2 shoe. Lucy lost her bottom left canine on September 1 and was excited to lose it at school and come home with the tooth case necklace to hold it. Lucy also won the trophy, the doctor said, for being the first documented influenza case of this fall/winter at our health system, but thankfully she was only sick for 3 days (only really bad one day), and no one else got it! Lucy loves anything sports- we love you and love being your parents! Ellory absolutely loves to read- we love you and love being your parents!

Norah recently.

What a fun and special summer! It felt busy and full and I spent a lot of time driving the girls around, but I love that we could make these summer activities happen and wouldn't trade it! Norah finished up 5^th grade very well and it was bittersweet for her to say goodbye to the elementary school. We are thankful that she had such a good 5^th grade year!

For summer activities, Norah had many fun things on her plate! She took the babysitting class at the hospital and loved getting that certification. She made some babysitting flyers to pass out to neighbors/friends with younger kids and is looking forward to babysitting. For the summer weeks, it worked out as a major win for both sides that she could babysit nephews Will and Gerrit one morning a week, while Elizabeth was still there but getting some house projects completed. She loved that and was a great first babysitting experience for her. Norah also enjoyed volunteering at the library as a desk helper for the summer reading program. It's so great that the library lets youth help with that- what a great opportunity to learn service, responsibility, and good people skills.

Some other fun things that Norah did this summer were outdoor youth connection with a few friends, and they did things like swimming, bike rides, yard games, pickleball, etc. Fun to get out there and be active but also pretty laid back. She did a baking class with her friend Brooke and enjoyed learning how to make a few things (pretzels were her favorite), and enjoys making a few simple recipes/boxed mixes in the kitchen. Norah continued with piano lessons in June and July, and did a month of clarinet lessons too with the middle school band director. She did a nature camp for a couple days and the volleyball camp at our local college, and tried the library craft class but decided she didn't love that because the other girls were younger and the crafts for more a younger age too, and I don't blame her for that. We got to see Josiah Queen and Phil Wickham at Rise Fest and that was super fun! Norah did the summer rec flag class and enjoyed learning the routine for that. Norah worked hard making crafts to sell at the kids farmer's market and donated all the money to our friends who are missionaries. Norah got to have some special one on one time with each of her sisters this summer while the other one was on their special grandparent trip. We stayed home for the 4^th of July and enjoyed our party with friends. (We were supposed to go to Des Moines, but that was the beginning of my sad kidney stone journey this summer that ended up with surgery and a stent, but glad to be feeling so much better now! All 5 of us were also hit with a nasty food poisoning case in June, but thankfully it wasn't too long.)

Another special highlight was that Norah got to start doing the youth group summer events for middle school. They did things like outdoor games, swimming, and the biggest day was tubing and a day on the lake. She loved those and we are so glad youth group is a special place for her! We didn't head to the park as much as we used to because the girls are growing up, but still went a few times, and still enjoyed many days with library and pool visits. I love these days with our girls!

We got to take a small trip with both sides of the family this summer that were amazing! We went to Okoboji with De Jongs for a few days and enjoyed the waterpark, jet skis, Three Sons shopping trip, family bingo, the new scooter park, and rides at Arnold's Park. We went to Des Moines for a few days with Schuts and enjoyed swimming at Groen's pool, zoo, bowling/arcade, tie dye, and family bingo. We also took a day trip with De Jongs to Sioux Falls before school started to go to Washington Pavilion and some shopping. The girls got to stay with Daddy for a couple days while I went to Maine for Stephanie's bachelorette party. Over Labor Day weekend, we took a quick trip to Rapid City to visit Gigi- so glad we could see her and do some fun things with her and Skeas!

Norah was pretty nervous to start 6^th grade at the middle school, but she is glad to be in the swing of it now and we are so thankful she is enjoying it! She is involved in piano, clarinet at school, choir, MSM youth group at church and 6^th grade Sunday School, and My Choice at school (which is kind of like a Sunday School class). She is doing well, most days, with managing homework, school, and activities. She has positive things to say about school and that is such a gift!

Norah is loving reading and writing stories lately, making bookmarks/keychains/beaded animals, and listening to music. She is wearing a mix of girls XL and women's XS/S clothes, and is in mostly a size 6 shoe, but has a 7 and 8 too, depending on brand. Clothing and shoe brands can be so different sometimes! September was very rainy, but we are still enjoying fall and doing all the fun traditions we can! We have already visited Scarecrow Farm and Fields of Fun and painted pumpkins. One final big event for Norah, in preparation for getting braces, was getting her bottom right canine tooth pulled at the dentist on 9/3. She was nervous but handled it like a champion- just sat there so still and took it! Norah, we love you and love being your parents!