Moving Back Into Cottage Life

The last couple of months have brought about a lot of changes in our house!  First of all, Josh changed jobs, going from managing back into houseparenting.  Because of that, we moved back into Cottage 2 (where we lived before we moved to our house).  So we've been busy!  Our boys are super excited about the change and are loving being back in a cottage.

We are finally moved and feeling pretty adjusted.  Josh started his job on Monday and he's getting back into the swing of things I think!  For now I will keep doing my part time jobs on campus and then probably go back to houseparenting myself once our kids are older.  

I am dumping some photos to get me caught up to Easter, so here goes!








Ike had me spike his hair up a couple weeks ago while it was long.  So cute.

Snuggling on the couch.

Hanging with Kyson.

First dinner in the new place.  I was painting so the boys brought me Taco Bell!

Hard at work.

Helping run bingo during actual spring break.

Look at these sweet boys playing Pokemon so nicely together!

They were very excited to see Augie after he was gone all week in Florida!

Taking their four wheeler for a spin at the new house.

Love this picture!  We spend a lot of time at the pool because of my life guarding so the boys are little fishes!













So that's our big news.  Now that most everything is moved and unboxed, I will hopefully stay more caught up on the blog!

Spring Break Part II

The second half of our spring break took us back to Lake Village to stay with Josh's grandparents.  This was Dave's 8th straight spring break in Nokomis!  I'd say we're pretty blessed to come back here every year :)

As usual, our days went a little something like this.  Take a walk, have a delicious breakfast thanks to chef Grandpa Dave, go to the pool, lunch (leftovers from dinner usually), beach, gourmet dinner provided by Grandma Mary, bed.  And repeat. So it basically revolves around lounging and food. Have I mentioned how much I love visiting Mary and Dave?  It also helped that we had the most beautiful weather this year!  Nice and cool in the morning followed by beautiful, warm, breezy afternoons.

If you squint you can see the alligator in the pond.


















I think this was our first beach day.

Playground at the beach.

Ike on the trike (ha!) and Dave photobombing.

Legos at the pool.

Beach day with Grandma Mary!

Burying himself in the sand.

Dave is really into photobombing right now.

Who cries on the beach?  I can't remember what he was upset about but this just sums up Ike's struggles lately.  Lots of sulking!

Love that face.

Just doing some casual surfing.  The goggles make him look super fierce.  Here's a video.

Dave trying to give Ike lessons.

The jetties beach was gorgeous this year!

Missing this view.

Ike with his lego set.

Hanging in the carport and chatting.

Digging for shark's teeth at Caspersen Beach.  We found a couple!

Dave got Pokemon Sun while we were in Florida...he spent lots of his free time just like this.

Last morning...Ike had to get a picture with this sweet mailbox.

Forgot to take a picture with the great-grandparents...took a quick one right before we left!

Photobombed by Dave yet again.

The kids found an alligator when they went golfing with Josh and Grandpa Dave!

Our annual Nokomis Grove picture!  Love love their ice cream.

Eating some bbq for lunch.











So cute!!








Can't wait to go back again next year!  We look so forward to our time in Florida and are so thankful to be able to stay with such gracious hosts!  :)

Spring Break Part I

We spent our first couple of days of spring break with Josh's sister and her family in Orlando.  The boys were sooooo excited to see their cousins again!  We rolled in a little late thanks to some fabulous Florida traffic, but that didn't stop the kids from running around like crazy people.  6 kids under 8 is definitely a good time!  :)





I think this was when we made it into Florida.  Always exciting, but still quite a ways to go.










Ike and Zac enjoying breakfast.

Dave and Sophie getting his homework done immediately.   We went on spring break early, so Dave missed a week of school.

Biking around their new community.  It was awesome!

The big kids waiting for the littler ones to catch up.

Brooklyn was not happy Ike was sharing her wagon.












Dave's smile looks super genuine here.

All the cousins minus Brooklyn (the only one who sleeps in!).







Sophie and Caleb's school had a fundraiser event going on, so we all crashed it.

Fun in the bounce house.

Posing with the school mascot.

Josh is still not Brooklyn's favorite person.

Ice cream!  This was the best picture.  Hard to believe right?

Much better!

Park on our last day.  Brooklyn wanted to do the rings but also did not want to stop eating.  #problemsolved

Getting some baseball practice in with Zac.

He's my bud!

It was a little windy out, and check out those clouds!













As usual we did a terrible job getting a group photo of all the kids.  Our best results:

We had so much fun hanging with the Smiths!  It's so hard being far away, but I love that the kids still have an awesome connection when we do get together!  Until next time!