Adventures at Nana and Grandpa's house

Since we were in the area to visit the Truwes, we made a swing over to see Grandpa Tim and Nana Monday night-Wednesday afternoon. It just so happened that John and Nicole were putting hard wood floors in their house and were staying at Nana and Grandpa's house too while their floors were drying. So it was a party at Mom and Dad Hatfield's house.

Tuesday morning the guys went out to breakfast, then John headed off to work, while Luke and Tim went golfing. When the guys got back from golfing, we walked down to the park with Traeger and Annabelle. Nana stayed home while Madison and Ataly were sleeping.

Traeger wasn't that into a swing, he just wanted to climb.

Tim and Annabelle---Luke and Traeger

Heading home from the park.

Annabelle and Traeger raiding Nana and Grandpa Tim's cupboards. Those sneaky little kids :O)

Ataly sitting on Jackson :O) and cuddling with Auntie Nicole

Ride 'em cowboy!

Annabelle and Traeger 'helping' Nana make a strawberry pie.

I guess they had more fun eating the strawberries than putting them in the pie.

Sweet hugs!

Since we don't have a bath tub at our house, Traeger loves taking a bath at Nana and Grandpa's house.

Ataly thought Uncle John was pretty fun!

Traeger and Annabelle making sure that Grandpa Tim and Nana's motorcycle helmets will work ok on their 3 week long motorcycle trip.

Enjoying a bon fire all covered up, protecting oureselves from the pesky mosquitos .

The a/c was out in our van so we all crammed into the Saturn for our road trip south!

Here we are headed home after a fun and special last minute road trip.

Visit with the Truwes!

Our Concordia College friends/old neighbors, the Truwes, flew in from San Antonio, TX and were having a get together at Jamie's parents house in Menominee Falls. It's been 2 years since we've last seen them and we didn't want to miss this opporunity to reconnect. It was a gorgeous day, so at the last minute we decided to pack our bags, got the kids ready and headed 3 1/2 hours south. It was soo wonderful to see the Truwe's in the flesh, give hugs, see how much Naomi has grown and meet Micah. We love y'all and are grateful it worked out to see you in person!

Greg, Jamie, Mikaela and Luke

Greg is an Associate Pastor in a Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX

Traeger looking like a tiger after eating a few doritos at the party.

Where does the time go?!?!

Over 5 years ago, Jamie, Erica and I were in college dreaming about our future, getting married, having kids and here we are living it out! God has richly blessed us!

All the kids and their mommies.

It was awesome to see a few familiar faces we haven't seen in a while.

A first...

Ataly rolled over for the 1st time on Saturday at 14 weeks! I was not expecting it at all. As a matter of fact, I think it took me a few seconds until I called out to Cori to come see what she had done. Yeah for Miss Ataly!

Here she was during tummy time and before I knew it she was like this....

more tummy time!

who's that cutie in the mirror?

All good things must come to an end!

My sister came back with B Wednesday night, picked G up Saturday morning from Camp and left for home Saturday afternoon. It was really relaxing to have y'all around. Maybe that's because us girls got to get out rummage saleing and out for lunch, just the three of us (Ataly too), on Thursday and Friday mornings while Uncle Luke kept the boys entertained. Thanks for coming and staying a while!

By the end of the P's visit I think K and Traeger had become pals!

While Cori was in town, she watched Traeger while Luke, Ataly and I went on a date for our anniversary! Thanks for that special anniversary present. Free babysitting is always a special treat for us!

While we were away enjoying ourselves on our date, the boys were having a blast hanging out together. Who said you need a big tub for kids to have fun in. Here they are all crammed into our little shower. Thanks Cori, we appreciated our time away and you doing laundry and dishes for us too!

The boys chillin' together in bed Friday morning!

Saturday we went to the park with B, K and Traeger while Cori went to pick up G. Traeger's trying to keep up with the big boys and becoming more adventurous.

K are you ready to throw up yet?

A slide is way more fun if your daddy does it with you :O)

I think we have our hands full!

We have some fun times to look forward to with these crazy kiddos :O) And Ataly's looking forward to when 'Lou' joins the P family so she won't be the only girl.

Getting last minute cuddles from Auntie Cori before they were headed home!

Lights out!

Ataly woke up from her nap and was talking/crying and I wasn't sure what the deal was. I went in to check on her and instead of seeing her contagious smile and bright eyes, I found this...

Instead of fixing it right away I had to have my mom, sister, Grandma Jo and Laura come check it out! We couldn't stop laughing. While Ataly was sleeping her headband fell down over her eyes. Lesson learned :O)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Luke!

We love you to pieces and are so blessed to have your calm, loving, energetic, and creative presence with us each and every day!

Thanks for teaching us to sit back and enjoy each day!

Thanks for all your love, cuddles, kisses and hugs!

Thanks for taking the time to teach us about lots of different things. We love your wisdom and knowledge!

Thank you for your gentleness and teaching us to love others before ourselves!

Buddies!

While G is off at Camp Forest Springs for the week, I thought it would be nice if B could get some one on one time with his parents since he is the middle child and doesn't always get that one on one attention. So the P dropped off G at Camp, K here with us and B got to spend some quality time with his parents for a few days!

We have been enjoying K's never ending 'Why' questions, his unwavering patience with his younger cousin Traeger, and his sweet manners. We have spent some time playing at home or should I say fighting at home :O). This time has been a crash course on sharing with others for Traeger. K doesn't go home after 3 hours like his other friends. Monday I was ready to send K back home since Traeger wasn't doing well sharing. I knew that wasn't the answer but whew, one can only handle so much whining and fighting over silly toys. As the days have gone on it's gotten better and we pray that these two will be best buddies over the years.

They enjoyed reading stories together!

We walked down to the river so the boys could see the ducks and play with rocks and sticks!

Buddies.

K- 3 years old Traeger- 2 years old

We drove to the city park to enjoy the beautiful day!

Ataly enjoying the park from her car seat. Soon enough she will be getting in on the action!

Here they are after they finished taking a shower together. Gotta love those smiles!

3 months old!

Ataly at 3 months old - - - - - - - - - - - Traeger at 3 months old

We are so grateful for our sweet Miss Ataly!

She is a laid back girl who likes to "talk" loud to let us know she's around. She's still a great sleeper and an efficient eater! She still has a full head of hair, and it's growing longer (which we love)! When her parents take the time to put her on her tummy, she does well :O). She has found her hands and just the other day noticed her feet! I just love these developmental stages. So innocent, and they just happen. God's creation is amazing! She'll hold a rattle without really realizing it. She is so generous with her smiles and shares her giggles with us too! We love her to pieces and thank God for her everyday!

Ataly's Dedication!

We have been meeting with a small group for about a year and a half. We have made a special connection with them on many levels, one of those being parenthood! Since we have been meeting, we have added 4 new little ones. We decided it would be a special time to dedicate them to our Lord on Father's Day! We committed ourselves as parents to raise our children in a way that honors and brings glory to the Lord. Our prayer is that we would support and love one another and our children with Christ's love and that one day they would choose to call upon the Lord for their salvation and desire to follow Him above all else!!

We are on the far left with Ataly, the Arndts with Finley, the Smiths with Truman, and the Huffmans with Hudson!

Luke and I with Ataly!

Daily we pray that God would live and love through us, that His love would shine and that the kids would feel His indescribible grace.

Hey, hey - the gang's all here!

Ataly was dedicated on Sunday, so the whole gang came in to celebrate! We had my mom and Grandma Jo here Friday night. The Patricks came in on Saturday afternoon and Luke's parents arrived Saturday night! We felt so loved and blessed that everyone chose to come help us celebrate.

Traeger and Grandma Jo reading stories together!

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The whole gang at Happy Joes!

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The boys watching Sunday morning cartoons!

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Nonnie just loves her cuddle time with Ataly!

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Grandpa and Nana with the kiddos before we were off to church on Sunday!