Happy Birthday!

Our precious Everly is THREE today! How thankful we are for her! 

  

Look at our beautiful ballerina in her new leotard and sparkly tutu skirt from Pa & Mimi. She couldn't wait and had to put them on, right when she opened them! She is a blessed girl and loved, loved, loved! Happy Birthday!

Happy 10/31...

...from the cutest little pink leopard you've ever seen!

And with the November calendars turning in the morning, we're very much looking forward to the upcoming holidays! Thanks to some Candy Land game pieces Everly had a great idea to make gingerbread men cookies! We're glad to be able to start celebrating the season with these yummy treats...and get a little messy along the way too!

 

Pumpkin Patch

Apparently fall turned into winter today (or maybe it's just actually feeling like fall should?)  I was okay with the 70s and 80s!  Well, yesterday some of the WTC moms made a wonderful outing to a pumpkin patch.  We found this little FREE gem and it was perfect for the kiddos!

Everly feeding hay to the goats in the animal 'barn'

Riding in the pumpkin train that never actually moved :)

The corn pit!

 

 

 

If you can't tell, she loved it!  I think she was the last kid to get out...and had to be convinced!

 



Cara was kind enough to give wagon rides!

Payton and Everly going pumpkin hunting

Everly and Emma on the big tire swing

The group picture :) Everyone fits!

We might have to make another visit if the weather warms up again! If not... next year!

Summer Wrap

Our last few summer weeks can be summed up with... lots of outside fun! Here's our little beauty at the church camp. She loves to ride on these little animal guys!

 

Here she is giving Puppy (who she recently named Ralphie) a ride in the baby stroller. This is a popular request in our household... "Can I go outside and give Ralphie a ride?" She always is so careful to strap him in and and make sure they get to their 'destinations' safely...with a little off-roading along the way :)

Now to Iowa State Fair fun!


Everly and Daddy at the Big Bull!

Brave little girl down the BIG slide! She screamed and belly laughed the whole time we were sliding down.  When we stopped at the bottom she immediately asked if she could go again!

Giving Cici's picture at the Drake booth a flame thrower :)



 

We were in Omaha for an overnight visit and made a quick trip to the zoo...

Saying hello to the nice goat...

 

She's telling the goat to look at the camera and say cheese!

And maybe her favorite part of Omaha...swimming!  The water was freezing, and she shivered most of the time, but she didn't want to get out! She got good at jumping in off the edge to Mommy or Daddy too!

 

 

Houston...Part ONE

We just got back from a fantastic family vacation to sunny, warm Houston,TX! Dustin, Everly, and I had the wonderful opportunity to go with my parents and brothers for the week. Between all of us there were three full-time cameras going, so I'll post again with more pictures of everyone together once they're all compiled and with more details on what we did and saw :)  For now, here's a taste...

 When we got back and everyone in DSM asked Everly how vacation was, the first thing she said was, "I touched a stingray!" Every time. Here's proof...

 The aquarium even gave her a tattoo for her bravery, and if you know Everly, there couldn't be a better reward!

 More to come...

My little dancer... or construction worker!

It seems Everly has been growing up so much in the last little while! She always has good topics for conversation, loves remembering and telling stories, is singing and learning news songs, starting to pretend more, sleeps soundly in a big girl bed... and is even going down the path of potty training!  She takes good care of her 'babies', but has loved every second of being outside and finding bugs to touch in this warm spring weather. She's really funny to me and among all of the new things she's discovering and enjoying, it seems that her favorites stretch to opposite ends of the pastime spectrum. She loves ballet and dancing and also loves big construction trucks and helicopters. There are new dance moves that come out of her little body daily and our eyes are peeled for construction sites whenever we're in the car and for helicopters overhead in the sky. She can't seem to get enough of both! Her two go-to books at the moment are exhibit A. She probably has a line or two memorized on each page of these books (as does Mommy from reading them so much!)

My outside loving girl...

Splashing

 Ways to go down a slide

 Taking time to smell the flowers

And to help water

My favorite little dancer...

Tap shoes... she's a master shuffler and lovely noise maker :)

Here are more moves

Arabesques... 1- 2- 3

 Have a great Easter!