One year ago...

It was exactly one year ago that we finished taping up the boxes, loaded up the moving truck, and said our last good-byes to 6 years in Ripon. It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by! This last year seems to have flown and we feel very settled here in Sioux Falls. We definitely miss the close friendships we had which always take time in a new place; and can be frustrating at times. We definitely enjoy having family close by and Kiera loves having cousins to play with. Ryan has enjoyed his first year and continues to appreciate the close relationships and friendships that come with a large staff. I have enjoyed the numerous parks and family oriented activities that Sioux Falls has to offer as well as being able to stay at home full time and spend time just being a mom. We are scrambling to get ready now for the next life change and are so amazed at how much can change in just a year! We praise God for all the blessings we've had over the last year as well as for his continued guidance and direction in our careers, personal, and family lives. Thanks for sharing our journey with us this far!!!

Summer Fun

Kiera and cousin Eli hiding from the fireworks!
Sheri and best friend Val...black covers a lot of things (ex: pregnancies)
One of Kiera's 2 year pics.

At the zoo with cousins and aunties
Waiting for the parade...and the candy!
What a haul!!!! She got soooo much candy (thankfully she's forgotten about it all)


WOW! It has been over a month since we have posted anything. We sure have been busy! My (Sheri's) sisters Lisa and Tami were here for a visit. We had a lot of fun swimming, being together, and doing random activities. One day we took the kids to the zoo. They had a blast! We spent the 4th in Prinsburg with Ryan's family and enjoyed all the festivities there. We even took in a ski show! Had a short staff retreat at Green Lake, MN and then Sheri headed to Pella, IA for a wedding while Ryan headed to Michigan on SERVE. We have put a lot of miles on our car (we bit the bullet and traded our truck in for a minivan. 3 carseats would NOT have fit in any of our current vehicles). Between all our trips Ryan stays busy at work and manages to keep the lawn mowed and the garden weeded. Kiera and I have been babysitting a couple times a week along with spending time at the free wading pool down the street and staying cool in the basement from all the humidity. I continue to grow every day and am amazed at how big I am already at almost 5 months! So far the pregnancy is going well and I am able to do my normal day to day activities. My doctor has pushed my due date up to Thanksgiving time as with twins full term tends to be 37 weeks. I can't complain about that! We do have a lot to do in the meantime to prepare and look forward to things slowing down a little so that we can tackle some big projects before our lives change drastically! We are excited and continue to ask for your prayers that everything will continue to go smoothly and we will be able to carry these twins full term and without any complications! Enjoy these snapshots from the last month! I'll try to add some more later as our camera's batteries died and we couldn't upload all of them. So more to come...

More Surprises!!

Yesterday we were blessed with being able to hear the heartbeat of our baby. This morning we were surprised to find out we are expecting Twins!! Sheri went in to have an ultrasound done and was shocked when the nurse informed her she is carrying twins. I think it may take a few hours (or days) for this news to sink in but we are very excited (and a bit nervous)!

Merry Christmas...6 months early!!!!

We want to share our exciting news with all of you. On December 26 we are expecting Baby #2!!! Today we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time and are VERY excited to finally be able to tell people. We praise God for good health for both mom and baby so far and we covet your prayers in the coming months. Feel free to celebrate along with us!

More Spring Happenings

This is a picture showing the favorite part of Kiera's morning routine, sharing a bowl of cereal with daddy before he goes to work. Hey, who ate all the marshmallows???










We had a special visitor for a week and a half. Kiera loved having Oma around! Actually we all did!











One of Kiera's adventures while Oma was here was to ride a carousel. She was so proud of the horse she got to ride "up and down."















Keep out you wascally wabbits! We planted a garden last weekend, now we have to wait and see if anything actually comes up. Notice the fence, we have a lot of rabbits that will be anxious to get to our veggies before we do.









Kiera was a mess after planting the garden!

Tornado!!!

Thursday evening we quick went outside to mow the lawn and play awhile before the rain hit. Kiera and I were out there for awhile and then we noticed the lightning and heard the thunder. We came in and about 10 minutes later the fire station just down the road from us started blasting its tornado warning siren. (I, being from the west coast, had to double check with Ryan that that's really what it was). We turned on the news and saw that there were about 7 tornadoes headed our direction. We headed down to the basement where we spent the next hour or so watching the news. It was rather scary for me as I've only experienced this one other time. Thankfully all of them passed around Sioux Falls and we just had lots of wind, rain, and hail. There were a couple that touched down just outside Sioux Center, IA that did some damage. I guess we have now entered that season. I definitely prefer the rain to the snow! Thankfully May is finally here and we can enjoy much nicer weather. Today we spent planting flowers and getting our garden ready. Pretty exciting!

Spring has arrived!

We are finally experiencing spring out here in South Dakota. It has been a loooooooong winter. All our snow has finally melted and we are having some nice mid-60 degree weather. It is so nice to be able to play outside and go on walks and actually head somewhere (as opposed to the treadmill). Kiera has just LOVED being outside. She spends lots of time on her swingset that a family in our church so kindly gave us as well as digging in the dirt, pushing her doll in her stroller, and attempting to play frisbee with me (can't say she's got a real good arm yet and I think I get the better workout). We are hoping to get our bikes out this weekend and take advantage of the many bike trails in the area. As far as or life here goes, Ryan is keeping very busy with church activities. It's hard to believe we've been here 8 months already! There have been many times that I have missed Ripon and the convenience of everything within walking distance (and being able to walk year round), as well as the many friendships we had. It has been a big adjustment for me to break into a new church family and very difficult for me to be brave and just put myself out there and try to make some friends. We have found some great friends, but it always takes time and effort to get to where we were when we left Ripon. I just have to be patient. Having a lot of family close by has been another big adjustment. It has been difficult trying to find the middle ground since we enjoyed our independence so much in CA. But, we enjoy the family and Kiera just loves having cousins to play with...as well as Grandma close by to spoil her. We covet your prayers as we continue to adjust and adapt to our new home. Even though it's been eight months, everything takes time and lots of patience. Kiera has had no trouble adjusting and continues to be her goofy happy self. Right now one of her favorite things to play is Pretty Pretty Princess. She has some dress up clothes that she loves to put on. We are including some pictures of her and her many faces. You should be able to identify her goofiness! One of the pictures is her fingerpainting. She did not want me to put the paint away. She LOVED it! Today we went to the "crack" store...aka the craft store. She just couldn't get the "ft" in craft, and I just laughed and laughed. She laughed right along with me not knowing what I was laughing about and then we called Ryan to tell him where we were headed. She got her first scissors and glue stick. Boy, we she excited!!!! She spent the rest of the day gluing and cutting. Why didn't I buy these a long time ago!!!