Monday, December 22, 2014

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving celebrations took place over two weeks.  First, Ruby had her Thanksgiving Feast at preschool.  Although I wasn't able to help prepare the feast for the kids, Jace and I did sneak in a bit early to snap a few pictures!  



Ruby and I have a standing date most afternoons for craft time while Jace naps.  


The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to Sioux Falls.  We stayed one night at Kenny and Carrie's house.  We also got to see Uncle Joel's new house for the first time!

Jace and cousin Tate, who is just five months older!


Then we headed to Sibley to spend the rest of the weekend with my parents.  Jace has a strong bond with Grandpa Bill.  


The guys held down the fort on Saturday while I went to a wedding with my mom.  They got lucky and had both kids sleeping while they watched the Hawkeyes!


Nap hair ;)


Grandma LaDonn gave the kids Christmas jammies!  


Paul worked on Thanksgiving Day, so the kids and I headed to Pella with Gary and Ruth.  Here are just some of the youngest grandkids/great grandkids on the Van Gorp side.  


Jace also has quite the bond with Papa Gary ;)



The kids stayed overnight in Williamsburg with Papa Gary and Grandma Ruth.  Paul had to "work" the Iowa/Nebraska football game the next day.  It had to be one of the coldest games played in Kinnick!  

Snow on our seats.  




Despite the freezing cold weather and wind, it was a great game to watch.  However, the Huskers pulled away with a win over our beloved Hawkeyes.  


Meanwhile, back in Williamsburg, Ruby found the only snow that was left to build a small snowman.  She apparently didn't mind the cold as much as we did! 


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Halloween with Sheriff Callie and her Horse

Ruby wanted to be Sheriff Callie for Halloween and she wanted Jace to be her horse.  I don't know how long he will put up with his sister picking his costume but it was too funny and cute to not let her have her way on this one!

There were plenty of Halloween festivities during the week leading up to Halloween so Ruby had plenty of chances to dress like Sheriff Callie...

...at dance with her friend, Zoe




...at the IMU Fraternity/Sorority Halloween Party



...and we also went to the North Liberty Rec Center Halloween Party but no pictures were taken.


Ruby's preschool didn't have a Halloween party but they had ORANGE day!  Here is her class all dressed in orange and ready for a fun day!



We attempted to carve pumpkins but the kids aren't really into it...


...so they painted instead.



And I carved ;)





Jace wasn't too thrilled to wear his costume but I was bound and determined to shove him in it and once it was on and he was outside, he was totally fine with it!




It was a chilly night but we dressed warm and had a great time!



Jace's favorite item from his bucket...a toothbrush ;)



Fall Fun

Since we've had snow flurries here the last couple of days, I think it's safe to say that fall is coming to an end.  We had an absolutely beautiful fall and enjoyed lots of fun activities!  Here are some of the things we've been up to in the last couple months!


A trip to Wilson's Apple Orchard near Solon, IA. 





Then to make applesauce with all of our apples!  I think my helper ate just as many as she put in the crockpot!



Paul played in the Fire Bowl; a flag football tournament to benefit the Cedar Rapids fire department.  The University ER department put together a team for the fourth year and ended up getting second place.  It was a beautiful day to watch them play.  


Sydney, Deegan, Ruby, and Jace with their second place hardware.  



We enjoyed Colony Pumpkin Patch, a mere three minutes from our house!





 Grandpa Bill, Grandma LaDonn, Uncle Kenny, Aunt Carrie, and cousin Tate came to visit!  We enjoyed the U of I Homecoming Parade.  



Grandpa Bill, Uncle Kenny, and Aunt Carrie went to the football game so we took Tate to the Children's Museum.  




These two boys are 5 months apart.  Double trouble :)




Fun at the IC Library



Ruby ran in her first race!  She was so excited to run the 1/2 mile race and she did great!  She ran the whole thing and Jace and I couldn't even keep up with her!  She only turned around once to give us a quick wave!  


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With friends: Ava, Clara, and Sydney





Sass Family Farms, near Riverside, IA, with Tyson :)






We hiked with friends at Squire Point.  





Ruby had a park date with just Dad! 



 We took a trip to Atkins, IA to visit Bloomsbury Farm.  We had a blast!

Asher, Sydney, Ruby, and Jace









My grandma Erma fell in her garden and broke her hip so we made a Get Well sign and sent her a picture.  



We met Jaci, Clara, and Ollie at a park on a foggy morning.







We have fabulous neighbors that let Ruby and Jace drive their daughter's car ;)



 Time in Williamsburg




We had a fun night with friends Scott, Nicole, Lauren, and Levi






I took Ruby and Jace to the annual West High Cross Country meet.  



Ruby participated in Soccer again this fall.  



 Telling "spooky" stories by the fire  ;)



 Ruby has started sharing a room with Jace and they both love it.  Jace has been an amazing sleeper since he was about 9 months old.  For the past year or so, Ruby has been waking 2-5 times in the middle of the night.  If she could snuggle with me all night long she'd be a happy camper.  With the new baby coming, Ruby had overheard us talking about the possibility of them sharing rooms.  We weren't sure if it would work and obviously our hope was that we'd end up with two good sleepers and not two bad sleepers.  Ruby said one day, "If I just sleep by Jace, I won't be scared anymore."  So we decided to throw her mattress by his crib and see what happened.  We've been doing this for about a month now and Ruby has now turned into a great sleeper so our hope of two good sleepers worked!  She tells us that Jace protects her.  Sure.  Whatever works, Sweetheart!  ;)



Jace is taking his first music class without sissy.  He loves it!  



Carousel rides at the mall 



Another trip to Colony Pumpkin Patch.  Jace finally rode the train...it just took cousin Sydney!  


Ruby and friend Landry



Princess Playdate with Ava and Clara



Enjoying the last few nice days in our backyard




We got season tickets to the University of Iowa volleyball games.  Although we never made it through an entire match (most of the games don't start until 7pm), we enjoyed our time in Carver and especially enjoyed seeing Herky!


Jace's first picture with Herky!  He shared it with his sissy, and friends Deegan and Hayden.