Teag is in swimming lessons!
November 19, 2012
Teag started swimming lessons last Tuesday – he loved it and can’t wait to go back this week!
Basement Progress!
November 19, 2012
Greg came last weekend and made huge progress on the basement! He installed the beautiful walnut cabinet/bookshelves he built and the walnut pole surround. He also put the wood on the knee wall and trimmed out the windows! Everything looks awesome and the basement is almost finished! (PS Mark and I both helped a little.)
Teag is 3!
November 19, 2012
What a journey the past 3 years have been!
Here is a little photo summary:
Halloween
November 17, 2012
The boys both really enjoyed Halloween this year! We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood with some friends from church – which was great fun and we are hoping to make it a tradition! Then we went into Banker’s Trust to do a little reverse trick-or-treating to give away our extra candy to Mark’s coworkers!
El Salvador
November 17, 2012
In the end of October Mark and I traveled to El Salvador with a team from Gateway. The boys stayed home – Teag stayed with Grammy and Grandpa and Rhys stayed with Grandma, so Mark and I had a little vacation just the two of us! We had the amazing opportunity to see first hand the work that ENLACE is doing in El Salvador in partnership with various churches and to continue the partnership with Pastor Martha’s church in La Anemona. We got to see the ENLACE offices and hear from the staff; see a water project a church and community partnership completed for their community; see the Eco-Stoves that are being installed in the Santa Ana region to combat with high incidence of respiratory disease from living in a house with an open fire burning all day; take a tour of the talapia ponds the Gateway team that went down in February worked on; participate in dinner and a worship service at Pastor Martha’s church; see the Credit Union that ENLACE runs to give micro loans to the community and meet some of the people who have built businesses with the loans; and do a bit of concrete work on a talapia pond. We are impressed and excited about the work this organization is doing and would recommend that you all check it out! (www.enlaceonline.org) We are hoping to travel back soon and would love for some of you to join us!
Marathon!
November 17, 2012
On October 7 Mark and I ran the Twin Cities Marathon! It was an awesome experience for both of us! We trained for about 6 months – juggling training between the two of us so one of us was home with the boys, so we often ran early in the morning. I had all sorts of knee and hip issues along the way, probably due to a lack of core strength (hmmm I guess that is what having two babies does for you) We ran the whole race together and crossed the finish line together feeling tired, but super excited about the accomplishment! Mark was ready to sign up for another marathon the next day, but I’m still unsure if I have another 26.2 miles in my future.
Brothers
November 5, 2012
Rhys and Teag are growing into great playmates. They really enjoy play together in the sandbox, with the train table, and are starting to communicate back and forth in funny ways.
A update on the summer
November 5, 2012
Summer has long past and the cold weather is setting in, so I’ll attempt to get the blog updated a big.
A few highlights of the summer:
– Rhys turned ONE in May!
– Mark, Jen, and Rhys took a weekend trip to Chicago for Mark’s work conference. Teag stayed with Grandma.
– we planted and worked in a small garden in our backyard that produced basil, rosemary, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and peppers.
– we found 2 caterpillars in the garden and watched them form cocoons and then hatch into butterflies.
– Mark and Jen each rode one day of RAGBRAI and the boys cheered along the way.
– we played at the farm with Grammie and Grandpa
– we did a camping weekend in Monticello with the Bohemans
– we made several trips to the State Fair to enjoy the animals, the big slide, the sky ride, and a concert
– we spent lots of time playing in the backyard, going to the wading pool, walking to the park, and just playing at home!
Here are some pictures of our summer adventures.
Tulip Time!
May 6, 2012
We headed to Pella for the weekend to spend some time with the VandeLunes and enjoy some Tulip Time food! We had a great time and despite the lack of blooming tulips we found a few to take pictures with.
Stomp Rocket
May 6, 2012
Teag and Rhys have been having a blast play outdoors in the great weather! Teag can use the Stomp Rocket all by himself and has been loving this! They both love the sandbox and can play for hours making holes, shoveling, and burying their feet!
The Phillips 