Keokuk Visit

Since school got out on Thursday, we took the opportunity to head south starting on Friday. We stopped at University of Northern Iowa for Elyse to do a campus tour which turned out to be more beautiful than we originally expected. It reminded us of Iowa State. Following that, we headed south to Keokuk where we hung out with grandma and grandpa. We ate delicious food, played some cards, and hung out. Besides that we had many additional fun adventures this weekend. On Saturday, the girls and I went to go visit Joni and her daughters in Burlington, which was a fun bonus. While the boys stayed back and played some pickleball with grandma. We also went to the Keokuk Dam museum. On Sunday we headed to Hannibal Missouri, where we explored the Mark Twain cave. We also enjoyed Hannibal’s Mark Twain days where the women got permanent jewelry and visited the Rockcliff mansion. Lastly on the way back we stopped by in Quincy, Illinois to visit extended family and the gravesite of the kids’ great grandma and grandpa. Super fun and busy weekend with lots of great memories.

Maddie's Baptism

Today marked another day that Dad and I will treasure forever; Maddie chose to be baptized.  Maddie has been asking for a few months now, so when Constance was having a huge baptism event on Easter, she did not hesitate to say that today would be her day.

Maddie declared her love to trust and follow Jesus before our church family. She shared her story, including her time in foster care, which was really emotional. The entire process was such a beautiful sight, bringing so much joy and happiness to Dad and me. Such a blessing today was, and so proud of her. Definitely one of the greatest moments as parents is being able to say that all five of our children have chosen to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

He is Risen!

Today we celebrated my favorite holiday, Easter. Just love this day, it’s so simple but meaningful. We had our traditional Easter morning of church, Resurrection eggs, Bible story, opening our Easter biblical gifts, and eating our Easter meal. We ended our day by playing games and relaxing at home.

He is Risen indeed! Happy Easter

Kallen Turns 14 Years Old

Today marked another first for Kallen: he officially turned another year older out of state. We were able to wish him a Happy 14th right at 3:42 AM, standing in line at the airport. This also means it felt like the longest birthday ever because he had been up since 2 AM. Right now, I'd summarize him as determined, outgoing, compassionate, and loud. He still loves anything to do with friends, family, video games, dinosaurs, and soccer. So grateful for him and love watching him continue to grow more in his faith.  

Happy 14th Birthday, Kallen - We love you!

As mentioned above, no party yet since we were traveling home from Florida. So, he celebrated it at home with the meal of his choice (Willy McCoy's), cake, opening gifts, and watching March Madness.

Epic Universe

Today was our last official day at Universal Studios. We ended at Epic Universe. The park just opened under a year ago, and it was obvious. The attractions were amazing and authentic. We spent much of our day at Berk for How to Train a Dragon and Nintendo World. At Berk, we meet Toothless, Hiccup, and ride one of our favorite rides (at least three times too). The other half of the day was spent at Nintendo, where the boys played video games for over an hour with their Nintendo Power Bands. The day was nonstop fun, and by far the best day we had. We were sad to leave but knew we needed sleep as we woke up at two this morning to catch our flight home.