Shane and Shane concert.

Saturday night, Shane and Shane were planning at Reeve Union at the University of Oshkosh. It was a great concert! Matt Maher opened with solid time to worship and Shane and Shane finished the night with their awesome music and worship. God is using these men to draw others to Himself through their songs and transparent hearts.

We have no idea who the guy in the background is but apparently wanted to be a part of our family :O)

Adventure in the rain!

Cori and I ran our first 5K race together this past weekend in Wautoma. We woke up to a nasty, cold, dreary, rainy day. Not exactly the kind of running weather we were hoping for but we decided to make the most of it. By the end of it we were wet from head to toe, into every layer we were wearing and we had squishy shoes but it sure was a fun adventure.

Staying dry in our car before the race began.

We did it!

We ran a great race and finished well but soaking wet.

Two thumbs up for an awesome sister!

And here was our cheering section.

We have the best parent's in the world!

Mom and Dad were troopers and drove over to cheer us on in the pouring rain.

Happy Belated Birthday!

We like to take the Wipf boys (our head pastor's sons) out to celebrate their birthdays. Poor Silas had to wait over a month before we could make it happen. Hopefully it was worth the wait...

Chowing down!

Playtime fun with Traeger, Silas, Ataly and Luke.

Ataly keeping up with the boys.

Buffalo Wild Wings or Bust!

During the fall and winter our small group met every other Tuesday night and went through the book "The Family You've Always Wanted". We just finished it 2 weeks ago, so we thought it was time to celebrate or at least it sounded like a good excuse to all get together and enjoy an evening out together. We are so thankful for this awesome group of friends God has blessed us with. We appreciate the gift of doing life with them and sharing in the joys and trials of our journeys.

Common sight

This is a common sight when Daddy gets home from work.

As soon as the kids and I hear the back door swing open at the end of the day, we start celebrating that Daddy is home. Ataly starts clapping her hands, waddles to the door as quickly as she can and lets out squeals of excitement on her way to her Daddy's arms. Traeger usually gets a huge smile on his face and then takes off for his Daddy's arms. Luke then has both kids wrapped in his arms and squeezes them tight or falls to the ground and the kids crawl all over him. Luke is worth celebrating and regardless of how hard the day has been, I try my hardest not to throw the kids into his arms and announce that I'm done. I must admit some days it's easier to do than others. At the women's conference I attended in March, I attended a break out session about "Loving Your Man." I think we used to do this but the speaker gave me more encouragement to do so. She said, your husband will either dread coming home after a long day or look forward to what he will find when he walks throgh the door. I want the moment Luke walks in the door to be a time to celebrate our awesome Daddy and thank him for being such a hard worker.

Catch up...8 posts to follow

So it's been 17 days since I've last updated our blog. Sorry for those of you who are my faithful readers. I'm sorry to disappoint you with my lack of postings. Life has been moving at a pretty busy pace. It's been a fun and challenging 17 days. For the first 2 weeks of the month the kids were battling a bug. Ataly had a high fever for a week. When we took her to the doctor we found that she had a bacterial infection. After blood tests, cath, and chest x-ray there was no clear reason for it. And just when we thought we were on the mend, Traeger got a fever for 4 days. Ataly just threw up last night... so the saga continues. Besides the bugs that we're battling the rest of the time has been positive. Now you can catch up in pictures what we've been up to...Enjoy!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Friday night the kids and I walked to the Medford Raider's baseball game to watch Jimmy.

Umm, hot dogs!

Brianna and Sadie came over to sit with us.

Brianna and Ataly taking in some food and the game.

We had fun cheering on #4 and taking in a beautiful Spring night.

The P family visit

The P family came to visit over the boys' Spring Break. They arrived on Tuesday morning and were on their way Thursday night.

We made sure to get in a double date with Adam and Cori.

Royal Tokyo was our destination and it didn't disappoint

nor did the conversation or the time to connect.

The weather was gorgeous when the P family was here so we made sure to be outside as much as possible. Traeger pulling up the rear on our walk.

Uncle Luke and the boys taking a little rest!

The P family has recently taken up Geo-caching. Here the boys were huting for the cache and Uncle Luke found it.

The boys opening the cache to see what was inside. This one had a travel bug from FL.

Auntie Cori has a green thumb and a love for the garden. While she was here she put her gifts to work. Cori cleaned up our front yard, added two bird feeders, planted tulips, found a spot for our flag and thought of two projects for us to do to spruce up our front yard. Cori worked so hard so got 2 blisters on her hands.

Before they even came up, the boys are already talking about a trip to Happy Joes...

everybody saying, "Yeah for Happy Joes!"

Before the P family left Thursday, we made a stop to take in the glorious weather and eat some ice cream. Ataly is wondering where her ice cream is

...don't worry she got some too :O)

Thanks P family for choosing to hang out with us for a few days over your Spring Break.

He is Risen!

I love Easter for a lot of reasons, but the most important reason is because we get to celebrate that He is Risen.

Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we can be forgiven for all of our bad choices. That's such fantastic news! Anything we have ever done or ever will do, God paid the punishment for us. He is a loving God who desires for all people to be able to live in freedom from their bad choices. The only thing we have to do is admit to God that we're sinful, trust that Jesus Christ is the only way our sins were paid for, and then celebrate and live in freedom the rest of your days. We don't have to earn our way to heaven. He paid it all!

And the amazing gift continues...He is Risen! 3 days after he was crucified for our bad choices, he rose from the dead. Because He is Risen, we can have HOPE that we serve a living, true, and compasssionate God. What an amazing God we serve! Have you ever made the decision to trust God? Are you living in the freedom He gives YOU and ME?

And here are a few of the other reasons I love Easter...

Ataly and her friend, Finley at church in their Easter outfits.

Thanks Nonnie for picking a cute dress for Ataly to wear!

How sweet!

This is a tribute to my Great-Grandma Dorothy.

Ataly shares a birthday with her and there are times I catch a glimpse of Grandma D in Ataly. For some reason this is one of those times. Maybe it's in the cheeks and the grin.

So grateful for our kiddos!

Kisses for Miss Ataly

We have so much to celebrate and this day we celebrated our Risen Savior!

Surprise visit!

On our way home from Wausau Friday night, I got a call from my parent's saying they were on their way to Medford. It was a total surprise. They arrived in Medford around 10:30 p.m., stayed and chatted with us for about an hour and then were off to their hotel for the night. Saturday morning they came back over around 11:30. I'm pretty sure Traeger thought he was in heaven having all of his grandparents around.

Nonnie and Grandpa Bruce brought eggs filled with goodies for an Easter egg hunt.

Nana cheering for Traeger to find more eggs.

Our visitors can't leave town without a stop at Happy Joes...it's tradition.

We are so thankful and blessed by our parents.

Their presence and support is our favorite way they love on us!

Strike a pose!

Grandpa and Nana visit

Thanks Grandpa Tim and Nana for coming over our way to hang out with us and love on our family for a few days!

Mornings are the best time to get in some cuddle time.

Thanks Nana for your willingness to wake up with the kiddos and let us catch a few extra zzz.

We enjoyed our double date with Tim and Laura. The guys went golfing, while the girls went shopping and then we were off to Texas Roadhouse for supper.

Our resale shop finds.

Laura scored and got her classy, pink blouse for 75% off.

Thanks Grandpa Tim and Nana for bringing Easter goodies for the kids. We loved them all and are still getting great use. I'm not sure who's having more fun with them though :O)

Cleaning

We were cleaning the house and putting away the exersacer. Just cleaning the house would be way too boring, so of course to make it more fun Daddy made a game out of it!

The exersaucer seat was made into a flying seat.

Thanks Daddy for thinking outside of the box and bringing joy into our days!

All girl!

A sweet friend of ours just returned from a trip to FL. While she was there they went shopping and she said she couldn't resist buying something for the kids. So she returned with two adorable outfits for the kids. Traeger really didn't show much interest but Ataly insisted that we put her dress on immediately. We are starting to see the differences of having a boy and a girl.

All dressed up.

Thanks Chelsea for the adorable clothes for the kids!

Time flies!

So where exactly did the year go? Some days flew by quicker than others. Looking back, really they all flew by. I try each day to soak in the special moments of having little ones running around the house, even if it means little fingerprints on a freshly clean window or spilled milk on a recently mopped floor or constantly being interrupted when working on anything or missing several events because of sick kids. Even though at times it challenges me at my core, I am a better person and mom because of my buddy Traeger or my sweet Ataly.

Ataly the day after she was born.

Ataly's a big girl now!

Traeger has loved his sister from the minute we brought her home.

We pray that their love and bond will keep growing stronger each day.

YAHOO!

We brought the swings up from the basement and hung them up for the season! Yahoo! I'm so looking forward to having a backyard to play in this year.

"Higher Mommy"

While I pushed Traeger, Ataly was having fun trying to climb up the slide.

Traeger broke a stick over his knee and it didn't quite break all the way. He held it up and said, "look mom, the letter H" and then moved the top together and said, "and the letter A, cool." I love how an almost 3 year old's mind works.

He shoots...and he scores!

Sunday afternoon stroll

Sunday afternoon it was cold, windy and brisk but it was sunny so we headed out for a stroll to the park. I know it doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun but we made it a good time and we got some fresh air in the process.

Gotta love the shades.

Of course, I played it safe with the little slide...

while daddy let her go straight up to the top :O)

Ataly was so bundled she could bearly move, but she managed to climb her way to the top.

The best part was sliding down with Daddy!