Ryan {12 months}

This perfect, precious, God-made baby is one year old.  

All babies are gifts but sometimes the circumstances around the baby make them more so.  God gave us so much joy with pregnancy and Ryan's birth in the midst of pain and sadness of Ann's illness and death.  I do believe Ann held Ryan first. 

Ryan is a happy boy.  His smile is contagious.  He loves sleeping, eating and playing.  Perfect, right?  His favorite things to play with are his barn and animals (most notably pigs), any ball (he loves rolling, holding, chewing), all of his toys he can walk along with and anything he isn't suppose to have. :-)  He's very interested in climbing, investing the stairs, and all things behind the bathroom door!  

elementary track and field day

It's an annual tradition in most elementary schools in Iowa towards the end of the school year.  

I have fond memories of mine, Brent recalls details of his.  

Track and Field Day.  

After his teacher explained Track and Field day to the Kindergarten class, it was all Lucas could do to sleep the night before!  The temps weren't super warm and sunny, but it was fun to watch the kids shine and have fun anyway.  

Long jump.

I had no idea that sending Lucas in a blaze orange stocking hat would be so beneficial but it helped spot him in a group of 20+ kids!  

See?  You found him, didn't you? 

Concentration.

It warmed up and layers were shed...

His favorite event of the day… turning on his wheels.  

Lucas and Ava.

Sadie and Lucas. 

He loved it.  He'd choose track and field day everyday if he could!  

Claire's special day

Our niece, Claire, had her 1st Communion a few weeks ago.  

We were happy to celebrate with her.  

Dom, Karen and Claire.

Claire and Hannah

Grandma Mary, Claire, Grandpa Richard

Teresa, Ryan and Claire.

Claire and Ryan with Lucas hiding behind…

Miss Claire.

The night before there was food prep and such.  

The boys had to do some very important taste testing while they were "working."

While the boys were in the kitchen, the girls were throwing a dance party.  

Hannah loves to dress up and was learning some dance moves.  The music choice was the "Frozen" soundtrack, of course.  

Happy fun. 

soccer season

This was the second year Lucas was out for soccer.  It was so neat to watch how much he had learned and grown from last year.  He was the oldest on his team this year and from his very first practice, Brent and I told him that was a big responsibility to be a good leader and teach the younger kids about sportsmanship.

At the first game, one of his teammates was scared to even go on the field.  We were across the field, but from the sidelines I watched Lucas put his arm around the teammate and tell him what to do when he got on the field.  We were so proud of him for his behavior.  And then he went on to have a great game, too.  Double bonus!  

Purple team! 

Owen goes for a dive behind Lucas. 

Clayton and Lucas. 

These two are tough competitors and will be great athletes on the same team someday.  

And then … on the ground.  

Using his best defense on Owen.  

GOAL!!!

He's loving it!  

{mom bragging moment = Lucas scored 23 goals this season.}

You can tell the early season games compared to the late season games.  Brown grass vs. green!

Proud mom.  

Gracie's dad coached her team this year and they played a scrimmage against neighboring teams.  He asked Lucas to play and they had a fun night of soccer.  

Hannah was happy to play with the *pink* soccer ball at practice.  

I guess we need to get her a new ball.  ;-) 

Pink goal! 

Of course there was always a cheering section at the soccer games for Team Purple!  Sometimes it was a small crowd but always loud and proud!

Leslee and Ryan. 

Sister. 

Lucas and Uncle Brad. 

Dad's leg is in this photo but I didn't get a picture of the two of them, or with Grandpa Steve.  :-(

Bo and Lucas. 

Ryan, Gramma Connie, Lucas and Leslee.  

Hannah, Uncle Brian and Ryan.   

Lucas' cleats always seem to come untied on the field.  Uncle Brian gave us a shoe tying secret that is even better than a plain ol' double knot.  He says his football shoes never came untied with this method.  

Hanna and Hannah.  Josh, Jonah and Maggie came to watch, too.  

A fun soccer season and more sports to come… Lucas starts t-ball soon!