Once Upon a Family...

Independence Day 2009!!!

the kids were so memorized....Dyl yelled "AWESOME!!" at the top of his lungs after every explosion!!
2 goofballs...


bosom buddies


swinging at the blind school a few blocks away...Haha!! this one's a keeper...


Uncle Rod's pride and joy...his too cool mo-ped...could almost be Jim Carey...

Our new tradition...an annual birthday party for the kids. Yep, they thought it was a good idea too.

Shelbi's "ta-da!!!" ...loved her tiara making book from Auntie Anne...

sweet babies...and one more on the way in Oct! Arianna's hiding behind Shelbi here though...

Jus was in hog heaven...who'd have thought there would be an amazing sports memorabilia loft in Aberdeen??! Even I was impressed...

An amazing day in Watertown at the zoo with cousins Jenny, Jessie, and Addie...what a treat! and quite the adventure with this crew!



We had another fantastic trip to South Dakota this year... just got home this evening and already I am missing them like crazy. Always so bittersweet...the most wonderful brother and sister-in-law a family could hope for. We had a blast!!! Celebrated the 4th of July on our first night in, spent tons of time at the park, went to the water park, played softball with the church league (Rod made me catcher...what'd I ever do to him??!), had a date night with just us grown-ups...for a little town in the Midwest we were never lacking for entertainment!! Even got to spend the day with my beautiful 'Minnesota cousins' at the zoo...for not seeing each other in soooo many years, we never skipped a beat. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and we finally got to meet eachother's babies... definitely part of the trip we hope to make a tradition...

Makes me realize what a true blessing family is...to quote a sweet friend on face book, "Family is God's gift to us...", so very true. It is incredibly hard not being a constant part of each other's lives, but what time we do have we always make the most of. And for being so far away, it is hard to believe how close we all really are. Rod, Anne and the boys somehow still manage to be a part of our daily lives, because we talk about them on daily basis...funny, maybe strange, but it closes the gap. They are a true blessing...the most hospitable people you can imagine...well, maybe the second most hospitable...right under Anne's folks who took us all in for the night. We arrived to an incredible meal, dessert at Annie's Aunt Sue's house, and a breakfast that could put any restaurant to shame. Not to mention the baseball, basketball, kickball and trampoline jumping that they did with the kids!! And all in under 24 hours!! What a trip...

Coming home is always bittersweet....glad to be in our own beds, not living out of a suitcase, savoring a bit of peace and quiet...but the sadness is still there, a hole. Missing them terribly... But then we get home and have plans to meet Jus' folks... and Jason, Jen and the kids... and the hole seems to get a little smaller. Knowing we'll see Grammi Lynn and Papa Loren this weekend, and how happy they are to have us all home, getting back to our BFF's...the hole closes a little more. Because family, in every form....friendships, church, blood...they all make our lives rich and meaningful...the ones near AND far...