Country Boys!

The spring is a time that brings much to do in the yard. Good news for us - Jeremy loves to work in the yard. Jack, much like his daddy, loves to be in the yard too. He especially loves to drive his John Deere tractor!

A Life Changing Weekend

This past weekend we discovered that our lives will now be forever changed. Jack has been cruising around the furniture since our last update of video with his first steps. It was nice. I could see where he was and I knew he would be anywhere that he could hold on to furniture. Well - that has all changed. As he has developed confidence in his ability to balance he began slowly walking between people. Then this weekend, he mustered the courage to walk from one object to the other! I put some new shoes on him on Monday and he was off and running. It is fun to see him engage in so much more now that he really has a choice of where he goes. For instance...yesterday we were shopping. I was checking out and Jack decided he wanted to play outside. He picked up one of my shopping bags and headed toward the door! So fun. As we walked together from store to store he would see things of interest (like old leaves, chunks of salt, dirt) and go to investigate them! It is interesting to see what he wills. Our prayer is that as he continues to take steps in life - that they would lead him to the Lord.

A Packed Two Weeks!

In the past two weeks we have had the opportunity to enjoy lots of fun! Here are just a few snapshots of them:

First we spent a beautiful weekend on the North Shore at the Larsmont Cottages on old Highway 61. We highly recommend staying there, especially during non peak season. The price was right! For the cost of a normal hotel room we had a full kitchen, dining room, living room, a separate bedroom, a huge bathroom with a whirlpool tub and a half bath. It was right on the lake. We could hear the waves and ice crashing as we read and played games all weekend long. Jeremy schooled me in two games of Monopoly and a game of Chinese Checkers. We enjoyed a wonderful day of hiking at Gooseberry Falls State Park with our friend, Danielle Swenson. We also were able to see the starting line for the Grandma's Marathon.

Our good friend Alison was on Spring Break - so we were able to spend lots of time with her and her son, Noah. Noah is just one year and four days older than Jack. Now that Jack is getting older he is able to interact more with Noah and they thoroughly enjoy their play dates. We were able to enjoy a delicious gnocchi lunch at the Mall of America followed by Jack's first taste of amusement park rides - which he LOVED! The next day we headed out to the Minnesota Zoo to see the baby farm animals. Jack was fearless. He fed the goats, let them eat his fingers and even squished a piggy's nose!

Then Jeremy and I headed to New Orleans for a weekend away thanks to ADP. Jack was able to stay with "Nana" and "Bampa" as he so endearingly calls them. He didn't cry at all the whole weekend - until he saw us on Sunday. I guess we should have stayed in NOLA? We enjoyed the daytime sights and sounds of New Orleans. One of our first stops was to the famous "Cafe du Monde" for some biegnets (a French donut covered in a mountain of powdered sugar) along with our cups of coffee with chicory. YUM! We spent some time at the French Market and I even found Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's house. We saw lots of street artists and walked along some very famous streets. When we arrived home on Sunday evening we played a rousing game of golf with Jack! He has quite a swing...

(Note: This is a day-time picture! We do NOT recommend spending time on Bourbon Street during the evening. And, even if you do see it during the day, still keep guard of your eyes!)

Finally, we close our two weeks for fun off with a little trip to Sioux Falls. Jack and I headed out after Bible Study on Tuesday to visit my friends Heather and Sam. We were so blessed to meet for the very first time their beautiful son, Levi. He is now one month old. Jack was very good with Levi...although he is now focused on pointing to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, etc...and was very curious about Levi's nose, eyes, ears, mouth, etc.