Rich Days

Here is our little update from the past 6ish weeks of our lives. The biggest development at our house is that Lydia is potty trained!  She caught on quite quickly, and now we go everywhere in "big girl panties"...to the grocery store, to Bible study, to church, etc. Another big accomplishment for Lydia is that she is sitting with us in church.  Both of our girls are "nursery girls" and love playing with all the toys and other kids during church.  Recently Lydia seemed to be enjoying sit-down activities more at home, and is even content with a pen and paper.  So we decided to give church a try, and it has been going really well.  Clara did not seem to mind Lydia's absence in the nursery, so that's a plus too :)

At 2 years and 4 months Lydia has turned into quite the little helper around the house.  She bring me things I need and delivers laundry to the right rooms (ok...just socks and underwear, because nothing else would stay folded if she delivered it).  Washing dishes and helping me bake/cook are also things that she enjoys participating in, especially if the recipe calls for chocolate chips or M&M's :)

At 13 months Clara is cruising around pushing her little walker, but she is not walking on her own yet.  She continues to have a very sweet and tender personality, especially when we must speak firmly to her or enforce any sort of discipline.  She loves bath time, snuggles, music, books and chasing Lydia around the house.  Some of her favorite foods are bananas and pasta, but she is not a fan of any sort of meat.

In October Dan and I enjoyed going to an all-day Adoption Conference in Des Moines.  This was a great learning experience for us, and it was very encouraging to us as we look forward to this adventure in the upcoming years.  More on this to come :)  We look forward to sharing our journey with you and talking to each of you in person about our plan to adopt.

Sweet sisters...

Time for play-doh!

We did it!

It's just hard to wake up some mornings.

Giddy-up!

Photo shoot with Clara...who was not feeling the greatest :(

Lots of beautiful sunrises and sunset lately! Lydia says, "pretty sky!"

Watch the progression to see a dad who is a boy at heart :)

Reading with Grandpa...

...and Grandma!

My little "helper".

At this point most of her "help" actually creates more work, but I'm hoping she will actually be helpful very soon!

Sweet September

Our little family had a great September!  We had a fun weekend with Jason and Abby, and we went to a Hawkeye game with them on Saturday.  The girls enjoyed some sweet bonding with their aunt and uncle :)  I thought I had a picture of Jason and Lydia playing with her Dora doll house, but I can't find it...but just so you all know, it happened and it was so precious!

Clara's birthday was on the 24th, and Dan's parents came down to visit for the weekend.  We also took some family pictures with our 1 year old and 2 year old :)  Many of you probably saw these pictures on facebook, at least the good ones.  Here I have posted some that aren't really Christmas card worthy, but are fun to look at because you can really see our girls' personalities shine through!

Go Hawks!

Not sure how these 2 convinced me that walking 4.2 miles back to our car was a good idea.  At least we beat the train! ;)

L.O.V.E.

Drone picture of our yard.

Happy birthday to Clara!

Time for birthday cake!

And the fun begins!

Looking for a more efficient way to eat her cake...her hands were just too slow!

Evening ride.

Next year Lydia will probably be mowing alone!

For one this is hilarious, for the other it is serious work.

She is known for having that mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Sweet baby girl!

The entertainment was not always very funny to Lydia.

Shoe problems for Lydia and kisses from Clara :)

Clara is trying to wave somebody down while Lydia's shoe problems persist.

Having a little talk about not sticking tongues out on family pictures.

Clara seems to be doing some interpretive dance while Lydia's pigtail gets Dan in the eye.

This was not fun for anybody.

Ok, let's throw in the towel on this pose.

A moment of peace...

We have to end on a good one, right?!

Summer Endings

As summer draws to a close and school season starts up it is fun to reflect on a lot of fun activities and special times we've had with the people in our lives.

One of the highlights of the last couple months was going on RYS Convention with 6 kids from our church youth group.  We thoroughly enjoyed connecting with these kids and getting to know them better.  Each day during Convention our minds were filled with sessions and messages about being salt in this earth, how to be broken before we can bless, and how to bless the broken.  Then in the evening we gathered with our group of 6 kids to bring it down to a personal level and listen to them talk about what it looks like for them to live the Salt Life. It was beautiful to watch these young adults make deep, heartfelt connections between what they heard to how they are to live.

We've also seen of both our families recently, which is always fun!  During one of my trips up I was able to visit my dear friend, Summer and meet her baby, Lillian.  It's always such a sweet time with this family because they are raising 2 girls just like us :)  Janie and Lydia are close in age, and it is so fun to watch their little friendship grow.  This time we spent an afternoon at the Sioux Falls Zoo!

Our garden, oh my goodness.  I'm about ready to rent a tiller from Vermeer and till that whole thing up.  I love the produce; we all love it actually.  But this time of year I always get overwhelmed because the tomatoes will not stop!  The peppers are a close 2nd, but at least they can keep for awhile on the counter or in the fridge.  We have plenty of sweet corn, tomato soup and green beans for this winter, so now we are just eating a lot of it fresh.  We might make a batch of salsa yet, but after that I think we're going to call it quits!  Until the squash and pumpkins are ready!

In the next couple weeks our fall routine will be in full swing which means Wednesday mornings at Coffee Break Bible study, Thursday mornings at Mainly Music, and Wednesday night church activities.  We also have about 4 things that occur monthly that will keep us busy.  I've been working one shift a week this summer and will keep doing that as we go into fall.

Family picture time!

Tim and Carrie looking good!

John and Anika...what a cute pair ;)

And our little fam :)  It's pretty obvious what Lydia thinks of getting her picture taken.

The whole extended Hofland family (minus Mark And Sheryl's kids).

At the campground in July with Opa and Oma!

Does this scene look familiar to any other VW grandkids or great-grandkids?

Red, white and blue!

Elsie and Lydia both turned 2 years old this summer!

Corn husking begins at an early age.

Sweet baby face, and a bit of drool :)

Dan captured this rainbow on a stormy evening.

I can't stop looking at the expression on Clara's face :)

On our way to RYS Convention!

Sweet little friends. Janie and Lydia :)

Only 2 months apart in age, and they love all the same things!

"Mommy's glasses?"

She always has a smile!