Paul and Katie Van Heukelom

Friday, August 2, 2013

Grandma LaDonn

After 33 years as the business manager at Sibley-Ocheyedan Schools, my mom (Grandma LaDonn) decided to take the same position at a neighboring school in the district. Although this means driving about 20 miles there and back each day...19 and a half more miles than what she's been used to!.... she was very much looking forward to the change. Before her new job started, a group of her friends decided to get a party bus and celebrate her new adventure. The girls had a night out on my cousin Mark's bus and we had a wonderful time making good memories!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Finals Days in SF

Our final days in Sioux Falls included a lot of time with family and friends.

We visited the zoo several times, each time thinking it would be our last. The zoo is one of the biggest things we will miss about Sioux Falls. One of our trips included Aunt Hattie and soon-to-be Uncle Brandon!

We got to spend a day with Coopy, while his mom went along to one of his big sister's field trips.

Ruby with her friends Keira and Brynley. And yes, that is a jumpy house INSIDE! It was Keira's birthday and the whole week had been rainy so they decided to just blow it up inside! The girls had a blast!

We took one last trip to the Butterfly House and even Jace got to be friends with the butterflies!

Ruby and one of her first friends, Kinley. Kinley's mom made them matching skirts!

And our last pictures saying goodbye to our wonderful SF house. :)

Jace's Baptism

Jace was baptized at our "home" church in Sibley on May 26th. We were able to have Papa Gary do the baptism and Grandpa Bill assist. Jace was a wonderful baby while getting baptized and it was very special to have so many family members present during this awesome event.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Moving

Our recent trip to Iowa City, the week before Easter, had an additional motive besides just seeing family. We needed to buy a new house, because we are moving back to the Iowa City area this summer. We spent 7 years in Iowa City before moving to Sioux Falls. We love Sioux Falls and love having my family so close. However, Paul loves being able to teach residents and the University of Iowa kinda wanted him back. :) So... we made the bittersweet decision to return to Iowa. We were successful in buying a house while in Iowa City so we were very thankful for that. Our house in Sioux Falls went on the market one week after Jace was born. We had lots of traffic the first few weeks (multiple showings each day) and a few showings a week for the following 7 weeks or so. We were beginning to wonder if it would sell before we moved. Luckily, we were able to seal the deal this morning! It's sold! We close on our new house in early June and will close on our Sioux Falls house a week later. Perfect timing really! Paul will have to return to Sioux Falls to finish working the month of June but at least we have a house to move our belongings to...and...we won't have two morgages, which we are beyond thankful for!

Jace's first Hawkeye game

The week before Easter, we traveled to Iowa City. The Hawkeyes had qualified for the NIT and just so happened to have two home games while we were there! We took the kids to the first game, so Jace was able to experience his first Hawkeye basketball game! He wasn't awake for too much of it! The second game with a bit later so we opted for an adult only game and Gary and Ruth stayed with the sleeping kiddos.

We stayed with Jon, Stef, and Syd for a couple nights. Ruby loves Lucy too!

Great Grandma Dorothy and Great Grandpa John got to meet Jace.

Papa Gary hid Easter eggs for Ruby and Sydney :)

Life with a big sister

When I was pregnant, I wondered how Ruby would do with a little sibling in her life. At times I worried that we were going to rock her little world. She is such a mommy's girl...she loves daddy too of course, but mommy and Ruby do everything together! I worried that she wouldn't want to share her parents and the attention she receives. However, as the pictures show... Ruby loves Jace. She is a big helper (most of the time) and she wants Jace to go with her to her activities. I remember one incident when Jace was just a week old... I was going to take Ruby to story time at the library and Paul was going to stay home with Jace. I thought she might enjoy a little one-on-one mommy time. But when I told her Jace was going to stay home, her little lip stuck out and she got really sad and said, "No, Jace go with Ruby." I think it's safe to say that Jace has a friend for life. He may have to put up with lots of hugs and kisses...and some girly toys... but hopefully he will continue to appreciate her friendliness. I pray these two will be best buds forever.