They are headed west

We were so happy, but so sad at the same time to hear the news that my brother Josh and his wife Christy plus our little nephew Will would be moving to Idaho this summer.  Christy got a wonderful new job with Coldwater Creek.  It is a retail clothing store headquartered in Sandpointe, ID.  They will be moving there and she will join their Marketing Team as a Graphic Designer.  Go Christy!  Josh will find a job after they arrive and get settled in.  He's so talented, he could do anything.

Their moving date is July 9, so we wanted to soak up every moment we could with them.

Their last cousins slumber party of the summer.  But we'll have more when they come back to Fargo for a visit.

Aww, so cute.  I had to share this censored version of Will-man washing his hands before getting his jammies on and heading to bed with Gus and Nora.  Gonna miss this little guy so much!

Twins Win!

Ross and I took a nice little weekend getaway to Minneapolis without kiddos (thanks grandma and grandpa!).  It was just like the good old days when we lived there, had no kids, and could stay up past 10pm.

We had dinner downtown with friends, did some shopping, and caught a Twins game on an absolutely lovely evening.  And the Twins won!

 Holly met us downtown. Another flashback to the good old days.

 Brett, too! 

We missed the kids but still had a ton o fun. Also, I went to Ikea and didn't make Ross come with me.  So all in all, the weekend was a win-win situation for everyone.

3 Sport Spring/Summer

Gus participated in 3 sports this spring.  Soccer, t-ball, and golf. 

Ross was the coach, and Nora was the cheerleader, but spent most of her time during games at the playground.

His first t-ball team was the White Sox and it was all the guys from his preschool and daycare class.  They were a great team!

Finally, his golf game has only seen 3 rounds so far, but he likes it so it is promising.

Also pictured here is his trusty caddy, Nora.

The Grad

This May Gus graduated from 5-day preschool, and from preschool altogether! We are super proud.

After his graduation, we noticed he was into the finer things, such as a enjoying a cup of tea in the morning while reading the Sunday ads,

and taking-in exhibits at the local museum. 

Here he is with his buddy, Jake, really studying a few pieces of work at an Andy Warhol exhibit that was recently on display in Fargo. 

While I was taking this shot, he asked "mom, what is this thing?"  I tried to explain what a pencil sharpener was, but he wasn't interested.

So his love for the finer things in life was short-lived.  Turns out he is just an average 5-year old.

 And Kindergarten is next! Go. Gus!

The 'hood

Gus and Nora spend almost every evening with their buddies, Caleb and Peyton.  It's so nice having pals in the same neighborhood.

Nora's World

In Nora's world, anything goes.  She cracks us up daily.

This one was one of her better moves - she claimed this baby pooped her pants and needed some medicine.  Let's just say we moved all remaining Desitin bottles to the highest shelf in the bathroom (that stuff does not wash off). 

She finished gymnastics with a smile,

And minor injury.

She's a neighborhood watch-dog.  Watching for when her best friend Peyton comes home.

She likes to invite herself into our room in the morning.

 Ole!

No captions needed for these shots.  This is just classic Nora.

She loves her new bike.  It even has a bell.

And finally, in Nora's world at Grandma's house, chocolate for breakfast at 8am is perfectly fine.

5 1/2

Gus and his best buddy, Caleb, share the same birthday, November 17th.  After a family grill-out, Caleb's mom, Cindy surprised them both with their own 1/2 birthday cakes.  It was adorable and great. They were so surprised they almost couldn't blow out their candles.

5 1/2, baby!

These winter babies had a little taste of what a summer-time birthday party would feel like.  And as you can see, they loved it.