FRIDAY THE 13th!

ASHLEY IS 11! We had such a fun day and enjoyed a little irony--since she was born at 1:13AM on Friday the 13th =) We had such a fun day--we actually started the night before and wrapped up Friday with some girl time shopping in Sioux City!

The birthday cake her and Grandma Syl made on Thursday...

we lit the candles and dug in that night!

I know it's blurry but I couldn't resist...

she got her birthday hug before her eyes were hardly open!

Needed a picture with our brother...but that darn bright sun

sure made it hard to open our eyes up!

Lunch with dad at Taco John's

In Sioux City modeling our new shades!

We had a great day and our so thankful every day for the beautiful blessing of Ashley!

Sunday Storm

This past Sunday the city of Hull was hit with a Severe Thunderstorm which nailed us with 70 mph winds!  The strong winds only lasted about 10 minutes with the strongest winds only probably blowing for about 3!  Scott and I were actually standing right by our two large living room windows when our the enormous tree from across the street blew into our yard--we couldn't tell where the limbs came from and when the little branches hit our house Scott and I headed downstairs as the sirens sounded!  We were actually very lucky to have our two large trees in the front yard--otherwise I think we would have had limbs in/on our house!

Hard to see, but this is what it looked like out our front door right after the storm.

                                                                 View from the street.

We were very fortunate, other than our yard light and some big holes in the ground from limbs being missled in--we were very blessed. 

The Hull Fire Department did an amazing job keeping people safe and clearing street with all the down trees and power lines throughout town that night.  They were also on the street cleaning up all the messes at 5:30 Monday morning.  By 6:15 we were helping them load up the stuff from our front yard--we filled an entire side dump semi trailer!  Other than some sore muscles and cosmetic damage we came through things unscathed.

God is Good!

Spring Break

Due to our wonderfully mild winter, Ashley and Ross have an unusually long spring break this year. They haven't had school since Tuesday, and won't be returning until this Wednesday! Unfortunately, the unseasonably high temperatures haven't been quite as high these last few days...soooo, we have had a little cabin fever and unrest going on within our four walls =) Anyway, Thursday night we had a little family bonding in the basement and watched the movie "We Bought a Zoo"--which I must say was a super movie--every member of our family enjoyed it! So, Friday we made plans to head to the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls for a day out on Saturday! The zoo in Sioux Falls is wonderful because it is easily walked, not overly large, has a nice variety, and it had tigers--which was very important to both of the kids--and we had to see if Livi could come (Olivia is their 3-year-old cousin who lives in Sioux Falls) and is a HUGE fan of the zoo :) We had a great time, it was kept pretty short and sweet because the wind made things pretty brisk, but it was a fun time!

We thought of Uncle E when we saw the Moose!

(Minn., Ethan, it didn't come out of my mouth)

The guys up front with the map--

Ross needed to know where we were at

and where we were headed the whole time--

surprise, right?!?

THE BIG CAT

Livi smiling for Ross =)

IT WAS REALLY A FUN DAY!!

On To State!

Ross decided at the last minute that he wanted to participate in our local spot shot contest. He had two periods of 60 seconds each to make as many shots as he could. This is a video clip of the first attempt. You will have to bear with Scott and directing him and cheering as he is going--we aren't quiet spectators =) Anyway, Ross did really well and ended up finishing 1st in his age group! We are now headed to Grinnell on Saturday for State Spot Shot (something that we probably would have ignored if he hadn't read the form and known that this was an option ). He is super excited and it should be fun!

First time a charm?

This picture is from late last fall, but I thought it was the perfect one to start us off! It is always crazy here at our house, with Ross and Ashley at the center of it all. Lots of fun...and lots of challenges...but always many blessings.