Mother's Day 2011

Hailey, Brynn, and Klayton were so excited to celebrate Mother's day. They love their mommy very much and are so thankful for everthing she does for them. Thank you Mom for being the best mommy we could ever ask for.

Tulip Time

The first weekend in May, we had the opportunity to head down to Pella to enjoy Tulip Time. Kristin's Aunt Patty and Uncle Hank came all the way from New York and it was great to spend time with them. This year we had wonderful weather and it was nice not to have to bundle up just to watch a parade. The girls and adults enjoyed all the great food and Hailey and Brynn even got their donut holes by asking Uncle Hank in their sweetest voice and giving him a little smile.

Two tired girls after a busy weekend.
Klayton in his little Dutch costume

Hailey trying to get Klayton to smile by tickling him.

Two little Dutch girls.

One of many attempts to get everyone to look at the camera.

Got to have a picture in the wooden shoes.

Love this picture of Brynn

Hailey giving the adults a break by pushing Brynn.

Hailey was told she could smell and not pick :-)

Klayton 6 months

Klayton turned 6 months old on May 8. Its hard to imagine that he is 6 months old but it is fun to continue to see him develop and interact with his sisters. He thinks Hailey and Brynn are very funny sisters and loves to watch them be wild and crazy. At his six month checkup, Klayton topped the charts at 17 lbs 5 oz and was 2 feet 2 inches (he was thrilled to hit the 2 foot mark).

Klayton has started out on rice cereal and has been enjoying it. He can roll over and sit up for long periods of time and enjoy all his toys that he got for Christmas.

Klayton's Baptism

On Sunday, March 27th, Kristin and I had the opportunity to have Klayton baptized. We are so fortunate to experience God's love and mercy everyday and we look forward to teaching Klayton about God as he grows up. We were so excited to have friends and family come enjoy this moment with us. Thank you again to everyone who shared in this day with us and we hope you enjoy the pictures from our special day.

All in One

Since our family likes to make sure everything is celebrated at the same time, I decided to just do one post for our anniversary, Christmas, and the girls' birthday. Sorry for the long post but since we haven't updated in a few months, I guess you won't mind.

7 Years

On December 27, Kristin and I were able to celebrate our 7 year anniversary. I was able to have the day off of work but don't think we did anything fun. I think we were able to get laundry completed, clean part of the house and take care of our two little girls with colds. I know what you are thinking, how romantic. Oh, don't worry, we got curb side to go from Applebees after the kids went to bed. We were a little more hungry by this time but hey, at least we got to eat with no interruptions. God has truly blessed us in our 7 years of marriage and we are so thankful for the beautiful children he has given us. On our wedding day, we were smiling and happy as you can see below, and we are still smiling and happy but more tired.

Christmas 2010

We are so fortunate to have both of our parents live in the same town. It makes it a lot easier on us to be able to go one place and be able to celebrate Christmas with both families. On Thursday night, December 23 we were able to get together with Kristin's side. We like to think of this as the low key Christmas since there are not a lot of kidos running around. On Christmas day we got together with my side of the family and prepared for the chaos. It actually goes really well but you never know what to expect when you have 11 kids wanting to open gifts and then trying to figure out what to do with everything after they are opened. It was great to be able to get to spend time with both sides of the family and just relax and celebrate Christmas. On Sunday, we were home again in Ankeny and we got to spend time as a family and open gifts, just the five of us. I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Klayton was super excited about his stocking.

Hailey and Brynn checking out the new books.

Getting their excercies on the new trampoline.

Our attempt at a pic with the kids. A lot of confused faces.

Family picture

These Christmas pjs are sweet!

Love the sweater

Finally a chance to relax.

2 Year Pictures

The day before the girl's birthday we were able to head down to Pella for the Christmas festivities. This also allowed us to get their 2 year pictures taken at Digital Galleria in Pella. The girls did wonderful and below are just a handful of wonderful images they were able to capture.

Birthday Party

On Dec 22nd all the family came over to help us celebrate Hailey and Brynn's 2nd birthday. We had to move it up a couple days again due to the lovely weather but it all worked out and everyone was able to come. We had a One Fish, Two Fish birthday this year and Kristin did a wonderful job of making the cake. Its hard for Kristin and I to imagine that our daughters are 2 years old now and are so thankful for the gift that God has given to us. The girls are very active and are talking and being there own person. Its hard to think of them as twins but we are so happy that they have their own personalities. When they were born it was hard to know what to expect on how things were turn out but they are both doing great and they only reason we know that they were born at 31 weeks was because we were there :-)

Hailey loved the cake.
All Done. Good Job Brynn

Brynn is a natural. She got right in to help the Grandpas put her new table and chairs together.

Opening presents. This was the first of 5 consecutive days of opening at least one present.

Kristin and I took them to Build a Bear. Here they are checking out the options but go figure, they both picked the same bear.

Brynn 2 years old

Brynn 1 year old

Brynn a couple days old.

Hailey 2 years old.

Hailey 1 year old.

Hailey a couple days old.