Happy Birthday to me

28 years ago my Dad and Mom struggled up the icy road, calling neigbors and uncle for help, so they could safely arrive at the hospital and have their firstborn child. It kind of reminds me of the weather we are having right now. Thank goodness for front-wheel drive and 4wheel drive technology.

Also...we are expecting #2 in early August. Maybe on Grandpa Koch's Aug. 6 birthday! Grace is excited as a 2 year old gets. We are excited for some competition for her!

Our little ballerina

It has been a couple of weeks since the last update, so I guess it's time again.

Rustin got snowed in at Sioux Falls for two days and two nights, one of them happening to be our 3rd anniversary. So Grace and I had a romantic evening at home :) We celebrated a day later by eating out at Bella Cocina. I can hardly believe we are already on our 3rd year.

Last Thursday Susan and Erica came up to visit. They helped a little at the store and then we made homemade pizza for supper. Things just weren't mixing, cooking right so it was more a midnight snack. On Friday we lazed around until Rustin got home from his pig run and then we headed to the Cities. Grace talked all day about going swimming, she even wanted to wear her suit around the house. I decided it was too cold for that. We arrived in time for a stuffing Perkins supper and then we swam for a couple of hours. She loved it and I was glad to work off some supper.

On Saturday we met the UofI/ISU young groups at a tubing hill in Eagan, MN. Grace was reluctant after her first time down, but soon she was heading down by herself in a tube. Where was her mother? I think I was warming up inside. When I first heard it I freaked out, but then I stood at the bottom and realized she did fine. We went to the Mall of America in the afternoon for an hour and then headed back to church for a Mexican Fiesta. Great Food!!! We sang in Spanish and then went to the Dill's for the evening. Grace loved playing with their dog, Nan. She did get a little upset when she claims she dropped her apple (but we think she did it on purpose) and Nan took off with it. Thankfully there was popcorn readily available for Grace to feed Nan. We spent the night at Duane and Bonnie Rocke's and Grace slept great once she got there. We have been having sleeping issues lately.

On Sunday after we said our good-byes we stopped a few places and headed home. We were exhausted when we got there so we all went to bed. What a great weekend!

And now for the post title. I don't think she's my daughter. I don't have those moves!

New Year Visitors

Grace and Maria


The week between Christmas and New Year's went by really fast. We finished up Christmases, and Michelle came up on Tuesday. Grace likes it when 'Chelle' comes. We went shopping all day Wednesday. I'm pretty sure Grace was sick of shopping by the end of the day. Thursday I had to work all day so Michelle went to visit cousin Amber. We went to New Year's service in the evening and stayed up till 2:30 talking. We had a few people over, but they left at 1:30. I don't know what I was thinking because going to bed at 2:30 and waking up at 8 don't go well for me. Tom, Dale, Meg, and Maria arrived at 12:30. Grace immediately took a liking to 'Ria' and was very aware of where she was at all times. Over the course of the day we played many games of Euchre and Monopoly Deal. I realized if we are ever a family of 8 a dish-washer will be a must. As you can see in the video we put together our little jumper thing. Grace likes it better now than at 6 mos. While Maria was in it was the only time Grace was fussing around.

We went to the store and to Rustin's truck on Saturday morning. The guys decided it was a good thing they didn't go ice-fishing this weekend since it was -teens the entire time. They'll have to come up some warm winter:) They left Saturday after lunch to head back to the Cities, and the rest of us crashed for the afternoon. We ate Pizza Hut that night and watched the annual classic 'Christmas Vacation.' Michelle left Sunday morning to pick the Koch's up in the Cities and we are now visitorless for a week. We hardly know what to do with ourselves. I guess laundry keeps calling my name! We are looking forward to Susan coming up next week.