Baptism

Sunday we were joined by many family and friends to celebrate Allegra's baptism. Ben's brother Rod and his wife Tracie along with my brother Marcus are her Godparents. It was a great service. Jasper, Mason, and our nephews Levi and Owen were able to stand in front and watch as well. I think they were more interested in making silly faces in the basptismal bowl than watching.

After the service, we provided cake for fellowship so our church family could celebrate with us even more.

My sister Kathy and nephew Jay were able to make the trip from Ames. They were here for a few days so we got to spend a lot of time with them. Jay gets baptized at our church in September.

It was a beautiful day for such a beautiful little girl!

First Day of School

We have survived our first day of school! Jasper was excited to go back to school and see his friends again and Mason was excited to begin Kindergarten. I took a vacation day today and we dropped them off this morning at school for the early morning program. There were a few tears and the boys weren't the ones to shed them.

Mason said his day was "good" and Jasper's was "awesome!" They are anxious to go back tomorrow. Sounds like we are going to have a great year!

Three Months

Allegra is now three months old! It seems like we were just coming home from the hospital. Allegra celebrated her day with Grandma Deana and Grandpa Jim while I was working and the boys were at another baseball tournament. Aunt Sara came for a visit too! After I got off of work, I went to pick her up and mom and dad's pool was warm enough for us to take her swimming for the first time!

She didn't cry at all! She took turns swimming with Sara, Grandma, and me. She loved it! She was so content just sitting in the water.

This wasn't her only first of the weekend. I got home from work today and Jasper told me Allegra can now roll from her tummy to her back! I can't believe how much she has changed in just three short months. I am excited to see her grow, but I wish it wouldn't happen so fast!

Back to Work

I am into my second week of being back at work. My 12 week baby vacation, as I call it, flew by way too fast! I enjoyed my time off so much that I didn't really want to go back. I must say that summer is the perfect time to be on a 12 week leave! Allegra is such a good baby and it was fun to be home with her and the boys. Last week was an emotional week just trying to get into the routine of things again and I know it will get better with time.

Who could leave this adorable face?

Safety Town

The summer before Kindergarten, kids have the opportunity to attend Safety Town. It is a free two week program where children learn about the obvious, safety. Each day had a different theme. Some were about playground safety, stranger danger, water and bus safety, the ambulance and fire trucks, calling 9-1-1, and a day with the K-9s. Mason called them cop dogs. When the fire trucks came, each child got to spray the fire hose and they all got wet.

They have a little town set up where they ride bikes around and learn about street crossing.

There were 70 kids in the morning session Mason was in. I would guess there were just as many in the afternoon. Officer Davis was kind of like the teacher. At least he was the one giving the directions for the day. The kids were divided into groups and each group had about three or four leaders who were all teenagers.

At the end of two weeks, they had a small graduation where they received a certificate. Mason was disappointed they didn't get a cap and gown. He had a great time! Jasper has expressed an interest in being a volunteer for the program when he is in middle school! Safety town is such a great program and I hope they are able to keep the program going in the future.

Hawkeye

Jasper is a big Hawkeye fan. For Jasper's birthday, we got him a new baseball helmet.

He was excited to wear it to his game that night. Here it is in action.

Who knows, he may end up becoming a Hawkeye someday!

Happy Birthday!

It's hard to believe that today is Jasper's 9th birthday! He woke up to fugens for breakfast and a few gifts before Mason headed off to Safety Town.

We didn't do a lot as it rained a few times throughout the day. During a dry spell we went to the bandshell on the river front to play a little baseball. It didn't last too long as it started raining.

Jasper decided he wanted to go to a Lumberkings game as we haven't been to too many of them yet. We have been too busy with his baseball games. A home run was hit by the Lumberkings and the birthday boy found it! We were there for about forty five minutes when it started raining once again. We came home to have a small birthday cake and watch a movie.

Happy Birthday Jasper!