Friends . . . .

. . . who can live life without them! I am so glad that God has blessed us (not only Brock and I but the kids too) with awesome friends. They made leaving Roseau sooo hard but then on the other hand they make coming back to Roseau such a TREAT!

Madison and "Grandma" Elizabeth. When we moved to Roseau Madison was 6 months old. We moved into an apartmen and met Elizabeth the first day. Little did I know that God would use her in our lives - in particular Madison's life. She quickly became a grandma to Madison and a friend to me. I was managing the apartment building so Madison would spend time with Elizabeth while I was in the office. Madison loved her and loved the attention she gave her. It was sweet to see the two of them together. When we moved out (Madison was 3) they continued to spend time together. Madison would spend one morning a week with her. Madison still loves spending time with Grandma Elizabeth - and no matter what she will always be one of her grandmas!

Hannah and Anna. Anna was over one day and Hannah LOVED it. She followed her around and wanted to be right where she was. Anna loved it too because she had someone to laugh at EVERYTHING she did. At the coffee shop enjoying some ice cream. Anna giving her silly smile and Hannah giving her "this is painful" smile

Madison and Micah creating a dominos masterpiece. They have so much fun playing together and are always coming up with creative things to do.

Jenika, Madison and Isaac hanging out at the coffee shop with Angie and I. Madison and Jenika are so similar - two little tomboys who also know how to be girlie girls. They play so well together and it is an added treat for Madison to get her wardrobe from Jenika. Anything that used to be Jenika's is immediately one of her favorite things :-)

And More Friends

After many attempts, I finally got a good picture of Madison and Alika. They were being so silly and laughing hysterically. Who knows why - I suppose because they are girls!

Hannah and Brittany. Hannah really liked Brittany and followed her around. She was in dire need of a hair cut but we did have fun putting crazy hair ties in her hair.
Isaac and Tiana have a blast together. They play great, which is so nice. She is just over a year older than Isaac.
I took the kids and Alika and Tiana out to visit Nellie. They all enjoyed her and of course she was just as cute as she was a couple days ago :-)

Alika and Hannah and Madison and Nellie

Madison and her "twin" Abby. I met Abby's mom in a Bible Study when we first moved to Roseau and we introduced our babies to each other. We knew they needed to meet because they were they exact same age - same birthday and all. They didn't see eachother again for several years. When we moved to our first house (when Madison turned 4) Abby lived across the street! It seemed like they had been friends forever, the were immediately inseperable. They played all the time and got along great. It was a true blessing for Madison to have such a great neighbor, friend, "twin" right across the street!

Madison and Marcy - her friend and art partner/teacher. Madison has been spending time with Marcy since she was 4. I know that God orchestrated Marcy and I being in the same Bible Study just to introduce her into our lives. She has been amazing for Madison - both as a friend and teacher. They are like two peas in a pod. I could have never picked a better person for her to spend time with and be taught by. Of course, I know I didn't pick her and I am thankful that God did!

Our New House!!!

We are so excited to have an offer accepted on a house! We have loved this house ever since we drove in the neighborhood a month ago. It is a subdivision outside of town with amazing views. It is only 5 miles from Brock's work too. The house has a smaller lot but backs up to a common area so feels bigger. It sits up on a hill and overlooks the lake/pond and playground area. In the distance is beautiful mountains and farmland! The neighborhood also has an awesome trail system that weaves up and down hills, over bridges and wooded areas and fields. We have always wanted to live in the country and have land but quickly realized we couldn't afford that around here. Although this is only a 1/4 acre lot you would never know it by looking out the back. It makes it feel a bit like being in the country :-) As you can imagine - we are very excited!

I took some pictures of the house off the realty site so they aren't great but at least you get an idea :-) I can't wait to move in and take pictures of my own :-)

The garage is 3 stalls (1 is two deep) so Brock loves that!

View from the back

The view from the back deck - the snow covered lake, farm and mountains. I will not get tired of looking at this!

The living room - there are nice hardwood floors in the entire main level that you cant see in the pictures.

The kitchen - I love the size :-)

Eating area on the other side of kitchen

Formal dining room (off of the living room)

The family room - this is upstairs and has great views out several windows

Another view of the family room - we will get LOTS of use out of this room!

The master bathroom. There are 3 bedrooms (including the master), family room, laundry room and additional bathroom upstairs. Downstairs there is the kitchen, dining room, living room, guest room/office and 1/2 bath.
We can't wait to show you more!

Bunny Love

It was so much fun to go out to our friends house and see their new baby bunnies. They were so tame and loved being held. We all wanted to take one home! I even called Brock and asked if we could. Thankfully he wasn't smitten by the cute little things and talked some sense into me.
Everyone had their favorite bunny and luckily there were enough to go around! A highlight for all of them was feeding time. The bunnies nibbled away at the little carrots and everyone got a kick out of it. Isn't this picture so hilarious! The bunny is sitting so perfect. It would slowly lean back farther and farther then tip over. It quickly sat right back up for more treats!

Don't tell me you wouldn't you want to bring these home for your kids too??? :-)

I love this second picture because you can see Isaac and his little sitting bunny in the background.

As you can see our little animal lover found yet another animal to LOVE

Hannah was her typical self - hesitant at first and real reserved. Eventually, she warmed up to them and enjoyed feeding them carrots. She was a bit forceful with her carrots but did great.

Sheila helping Hannah say goodbye to her furry little friends.

Hannah and Her Little Helper

Hannah was very hesitent of getting too close to the bunny. Connor was very patient and helpful - slowly getting her aquainted. It was very cute!

He was so great with the bunnies and did awesome helping Hannah feed them. She was much more receptive to the bunnies once Connor was showing her the ropes.

Puppy Love

The kids and I headed out to our friends house to visit and see their new puppy. While I enjoyed time inside catching up, the kids enjoyed running wild with Nellie and lots of snuggling with her.

What a treat it was for the kids to play, play, play with this adorable little thing. They LOVED her!

I love their expressions in these pictures - slight hesitation (for Isaac), total admiration (for Madison) and pure joy (for both)!

Another Day . . . . .

. . . . of DELICIOUS chocolate sauce!!!
I had to get a picture of the person behind the sauce that gets us eating sugar after weeks and weeks of avoiding it :-) It has now become a given that when we are at Val and Sheldon's we have chocolate sauce and ice cream! :-) It is a habit we are happy to continue (now that we live far enough away to not get carried away) :-)

Madison and Greta. Madison has known Greta for 8 years! She was her first babysitter and has been her hero ever since!

Enjoying the fruits of Val's labor (and Sheldon's beings he purchased it) :-)

More time in "the corner". Sheldon decides to see if it is all it's cracked up to be

A Real Treat

Not only do we usually consume a lot of ice cream and yummy chocolate sauce when we are at Val and Sheldon's, it is a treat to just hang out with them! The kids love snuggling, hanging out and doing anything with them :-)

The awesome cupboard- where the kids go upon arrival. How fun to have a special spot of fun stuff!

It is so nice to see how comfortable the kids are with Val and Sheldon. They are like grandparents to them and we feel blessed to have them in our lives, and the kid's!

Isaac hung out several days with Sheldon and had so much fun. Without Brock there Isaac really needed "man time" so I was very grateful to Sheldon for fulfilling that. :-) They worked around the house some and even went out to the cabin and worked in the woods. Isaac talked about it for DAYS!!

Missing Minnesota

I am finally getting my visit to MN posted :-) Whenever I do something that produced a lot of pictures it is overwhelming for me to get them onto the blog. So, instead of tackling it I procrastinate. My goal in the next few days is to get my MN trip all posted :-)So, here I go . . . .

A few fun filled days in Lancaster MN with the Streges. Izyk, Andi, Madison and Isaac enjoying a yummy snack. Berlin joins the picture and has the perfect expression to match Isaac's. Can't you hear her thinking, "What in the world is wrong with you?"

Hannah and Berlin - experiencing the "love" part of their love/hate relationship :-) They were your typical 2 year olds - fight, play, laugh, scream, yell, hug, etc. Denise and I laughed one day as we heard Hannah shrieking "no" as Berlin tried to fix her hair! Funny girls!

The boys releasing some of their abundant energy on the trampoline

Berlin the hugger! Isaac was upset about something and she raced over to give him a hug. It wasn't too often that Hannah and Berlin both wanted a hug at the same time :-) As you can see in this picture Hannah isn't interested - she is pulling the stiff arm hug! Actually, looks like she is doing worse than the stiff arm she is trying to push her away! Poor Berlin, I guess she will have to rely on Isaac for the hugs!

It is always fun at Strege's. The kids have SO MUCH FUN together and of course so do I :-)

I love this picture of Andi and her cat Flicka way up in the tree. I zoomed in a bit so i could see the two of them better so didn't get the ground - trust me, they are high.