Evan and Jaden's Birthday Party

Evan and Jaden's John Deere Farming Birthday Party!!

For some reason the M&Ms on the
yellow cake did not all make the trip in tact......but people ate it anyway!

End of July in SD!

The end of July I took the boys to South Dakota, and I flew out of Sioux Falls to Tulsa, OK for a conference. The boys got to stay in S.D. for those 4 days, and clearly, they were kept busy!

Evan and Jaden spent a whole day with Auntie in Sioux Falls. Sheels offered hours of entertainment! 

And then a visit to SDSU with Cousin Elliot and Grandma Linda.

A visit to SDSU is not complete without ice cream!!

That Saturday Auntie ran a half marathon around the Lake in Watertown. 

She had a great fan club!

 Everyone had fun on the farm!

 The boys got to play at the zoo with Grandpa Al and Great-Aunt Bondell. 

 I was very thankful for everyone in SD watching the boys. I know they had tons of fun......

and I slept very well in my huge hotel room!!!

4th of July in S.D.

After my facebook newsfeed was filled with post regarding two freak accidents this past week of friends/friends of friends, I felt especially fortunate to have some family time this 4^th of July! Nathan and I realized that we both had not been back to S.D. for the 4^th of July since we moved to Illinois! Clearly, we have been missing out on parades filled with tractors, candy, and loud fire trucks! Next year we will have to hit up the Kransburg parade according to the pictures in the P.O.!

Evan and Jaden had been in South Dakota for a week and a half by the time we saw them—they had so much fun and if enough people comment and ask, maybe just maybe I will get their Grandmas to write guest blog posts about their time with the boys!

Here are some pictures from the 4^th of July 2014:

Grandma Linda with her Grandsons. 

 Evan's form of naptime- hanging out in his tent from Great-Aunt Bondell. 

 Kelson and the boys' annual picture!

 Let the fireworks begin! Jaden loved them! While Evan......was very scared of the fireworks that made noise.....:)

Waiting for the parade to start! 

 I love this picture! We are all waiting with anticipation for the candy truck! The parade starts with the candy! A truck comes 15 minutes before the parade and TONS of candy is thrown to the spectators! Then kids (and adults) scramble to collect it all before the parade starts. Then kids can safely sit during the parade- and be entertained by eating candy like Jaden!

While waiting for the fireworks, the boys got to sit in a firetruck for the first time! 

Evan didn't watch any of the fireworks as he knew he was scared, so he cuddled with Grandma, and fell asleep! Jaden 'ooohed' and 'aweeeed' at them all!

Of course a trip to SD is not complete without a visit to the farm!

 And playing farm with Grandpa!