Easter Fun

We realized we had not been back to Iowa for Easter since I was pregnant, meaning that Lucy had never celebrated Easter in Iowa. So we were looking forward to heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Somebody was so excited, she packed her bag a week ahead of time.

It did not disappoint! My parents hosted the White side of the family on Saturday afternoon/eve. We also had a very special event - the debut of Baby June! Kristi and I have been excited for our girls to meet, and it finally happened! I'm looking forward to many more pictures like this in the future (I have others with everyone's eyes open, just thought this one was cute!)

Following a wonderful dinner, the kids headed outside for an Easter egg hunt. There were six little ones in all, and although the ground was still a little soggy, the weather was gorgeous and it was so nice to be out in the fresh air sans jackets. It was great to be around all of the excitement again. Reminded me of Easter egg hunts when I was little! Lucy had a lot of fun.

Saturday night, my brother and his family stayed overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's too, so Lucy, D, and E got some extra playtime together. They destroyed a couple of rooms and didn't get to sleep until 11:30, but after all, what is Grandma and Grandpa's house for?

Sunday morning we all got dressed up and went to church, then came back to the house to search for our buckets filled with goodies. The Easter Bunny knows the way to Grandma's house, too!

After lunch it was time to head back. We had a wonderful time, as always!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We started our holiday on Wednesday with a special Thanksgiving lunch at school.

Then, Thursday we headed down to Storm Lake for Big Overmohle Thanksgiving. Always a big crew!

And of course, the family tradition:

We were joined by my sister-in-law and my nephews, D and E. All the kids visited with Santa at the end and received a special book. Lucy wouldn't sit on his lap, but was more than willing to have a conversation. I couldn't hear much of what she was saying, but they chatted for awhile.

Afterwards, Grandma surprised them with some little mice she found in her pocket, just like the ones at Santa's Castle!

It was a very fun couple of days, and nice to be in my parents' house again. Looking forward to Christmas!



Cousins + Pancakes = Priceless

Cousins

Every time Lucy gets together with her cousins, we try to get a picture, and it is never easy. As you can tell, this past weekend was no different.

What's so interesting over there?

Something must be very funny...

Hey, this one isn't bad!

But it didn't last long...

Monkey see, Monkey do!

They couldn't sit still, but what do we expect? We'll try again, maybe with our niece E in the mix next time!

Christmas 2009 Tour: Iowa Stops

We finally got down to Iowa to celebrate Christmas with my family. Lucy and I drove down the morning of New Year's Eve, and Husband and Brandon caught up with us the evening of New Year's Day. The little bug and I had a good solid day with Grandma and Grandpa O., and on New Year's headed to Grandma White's to see a lot more family. Even though it wasn't the traditional Christmas Eve celebration, which got thwarted by snow this year along with everything else, it was a nice relaxing time and it was so nice to see everyone.

Lucy got to spend good quality time with her cousins (and I with my nephews), D and E. Two-year-old D liked to be around "Wucy" and would pat her head or get on the floor with her. E is 3 months younger than Lucy but catching up fast. He's a big kid too! I'll be anxious to see if he has a growth spurt like she did between 4 and 6 months.

We are also grateful for members of the Overmohle side of the family braving the cold and coming over to visit. Lucy gave a few coy smiles to her great-grandpa, and had fun with Great Aunt Beth and Great Uncle Bob, and cousins Shelby and Blake. I think Shelby had a good time too; she created this photo:

The best part though, was that all of my brothers and I, and their spouses, were "home" at the same time. That hasn't happened for quite awhile, and we had a nice little Christmas celebration of our own. The kids (big and small) were spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa, and it was a messy, jolly good time. It reminded me of Christmas when we were kids...paper flying everywhere, laughter, the light in the kids' eyes. I hope that happens many more times in the future.

Lovely Time

This weekend Husband's family hosted a baby shower for me, and it was a lot of fun. People were very generous and we received many nice things for the baby. My parents were also here along with my sister-in-law Chrissy and my nephew Little D. He is growing so fast! He's very mobile and talking up a storm. It was a delight having a little one in the house.


We also had some great help from Mom and Dad in the baby's room (hopefully by next weekend I'll have everything all organized and can post some photos) and Chrissy answered what probably felt like hundreds of questions from me. It was so nice to have them here!

What Matters Most

This weekend we traveled down to Storm Lake to witness the baptism of our nephew, D. Husband and I were honored to stand up as his sponsors. We were glad to get back to Iowa again and see the family.

D is getting so big! We were lucky to be able to spend quite a bit of time with him, as he stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Friday night, and mom and dad joined him to stay through Sunday. It had been about 2 1/2 months since we last saw him, and he has really changed. He can hold his head up and look around, and is working on sitting up and rolling over and all that fun stuff. He is curious about colors and textures and can grab hold of things. Most of all, he is full of smiles and coos and sometimes you can really get him to giggle. It's the cutest thing. Here he is with my brother Josh, checking out his hat:

It is always so nice to be at "home" (it will always be home) and just hang out and have all of my brothers there. We don't have to do much - aside from the baptism, it was just a lot of sitting and talking and running a few errands here and there - with a late night game of "Apples to Apples" thrown in there (ever played? It's pretty fun!) Although the time was short and the drive sometimes seems a little long, it always feels so good to have that time. No matter what is going on - new houses, stressful jobs, etc. etc. etc. - family is really what matters most.

Cuddle Bug

This weekend I traveled down to Storm Lake for a little open house we held for my nephew Dylan. This was a chance for some of our relatives to meet him for the first time. We had a nice little turnout, and he was held by a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as his great-grandma and great-grandpa. No worries, Auntie got some nice cuddle time too!

This picture isn't from this weekend, but I stole it from my Dad's photos because I think it's cute. He seems quite comfortable in this position; he fell asleep like this on my shoulder yesterday!

Aside from the open house, I was able to visit an old friend of mine from high school who recently moved back to Storm Lake. Jason and Erika have a beautiful home on the lake, an adorable daughter, and he just started a surgical practice. Life is good! It was so nice to catch up with them after several years of emails and cards. They were previously living in the southeast U.S., so it's nice having them back where there are more opportunities to visit.

All in all a nice weekend, but I'm tired. Lots of traveling lately! I also missed Husband and Brandon - Husband had his office holiday party to attend, so they didn't come along this time. As we roll into the holiday season, I hope we have some more time to relax and enjoy being together.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend as well!

Love at First Sight

Introducing my nephew, Dylan Michael, born Friday, October 26, 2007. I drove down to Iowa yesterday and got to meet him today. More here and here and here. :)