Arriving to the states
What an exciting time this was. We had a new baby to share, a toddler to be reunited with, and exciting hearts. I can't even begin to explain the feelings leading up to this point. I had about 3 hours of sleep the night before we traveled for 27 hours with these two little ones. Unless you are runnining purely on andrenaline, I highly discourage having just a few hours of sleep before such a long trip. The only way I could get through it was the thought of seeing Merl and Wally at the airport in just 1 day! We waited almost a year to see these guys again! Let the fun begin.
Arriving to San Diego to see Papa and Mimi! Quinn was on 2.5 hours of sleep in a day at this point. How she was running, smiling, and greeting Tony's parents was surprising to me! Mimi had the best idea ever and brought a balloon for Quinn. That saved us! We had to go get the rental car when we got to the airport which took a little bit longer than expected . Wally and I shuttled to the rental place and I thought I was going to fall asleep mid conversation with him.
3 days at our house in California and we were off again. This time to see MY PARENTS! So soooo exciting.
Two tired ladies still trying to catch up on jet lag. Quinn never sleeps like this or in someone's arms. And when she does, you know she is absolutely exhausted.
Grandpa held Shae the whole flight. There was a good hour stretch that Tony and I didn't have either kid in our arms. We looked at each other with a "um, what do we do now" look. It was pretty amazing to be hands free after such a long flight just 3 days prior!
SEEING MY PARENTS! I wish I had better pictures of this moment. But there' my mom holding Quinn. I think she had just finished crying :)
The 508 House
What a great, productive summer we had on our house in Decorah. Tony worked just about every day on this house and although there were days I was quite annoyed with him being over there and not with us, it was exactly what we needed to do to save some money on labor and get this house ready as much as we could. It was perfect timing for us as Tony had a month off to work on it. We appreciate ALL the help we got from family. We couldn't have gotten this far without any of you. Tony's mom and dad have taken on this project with us and we are forever grateful for their help! Wally knows so much about it - and no, he's not for hire :)
Visiting our "contractor" Papa.
Quinn was all about helping (or so she thought) the guys at the house this summer. Pictured is Quinn, Tony, and Uncle Harold.
These guys are the best! Tony, Harold, Wally, and Andrew
Merl made a nice lunch for all the guys. I think this was during the tear off of the back side of the house. More on that for another post.
Laying the footing.
What's a "new" house without a hand print by the one and only!!!??
Cousins, Cousins, & Cousins
There are a lot of reasons why this past summer was my favorite thus far, but having cousins around all the time was most definitely my favorite part. I missed these kids so much. We hung out with the Huinker kids daily all summer long. What fantastic memories we have! I'll share them with you through some a lot of pictures!
First time meeting baby Shae
First day at Grandma's house! Quinn went to bed at 1:00am the night we got in and woke at 1:00pm the next day. So breakfast for lunch it is :) I think we rolled in from Minneapolis around 11:30pm or so after seeing my parents. My mom had local beer, local pizza, and local t shirts for all of us. She's pretty great at those things.
After our breakfast, we all went for a walk. It took no time at all for Quinn to pick up on hanging out with these guys! Here is my sister-in-law with all 5 of the kiddos :)
Typical summer night on Hilltop :)
My sis came down from Canada early July with Max. No one knew Max was coming so it was SUCH a great surprise for everyone! Beth was hands-on with Shae at all times (OK by me!) and Max had a blast hanging out with the other cousins. Just 3 short weeks later, the whole Hoden clan came to Decorah. It. was. a. blast.
Grandpa and all his grandkids. Lucky kids they are!!!! We love you Grampy.
Mimi and her girls before bed. I was probably on the chair with a glass of wine, watching, listening, and soaking in the help at this point. My mom and dad were pretty awesome this summer bringing us all in. Their living room turned into the room with a swing and toys. Their freezer turned into breast milk storage, and the guest room was called the "diaper room". My poor mother.
This would be your typical morning. Ivy never wears a shirt to bed, they love watching a show in the morning, and Quinn imitates her every chance she gets.
I'm so bummed Grady was napping during this picture :(
Good luck on that one, Grady.
We saw a lot of cousins from Wisconsin, too! These kiddos are the sweetest! Collin is 3, Ayden 18 months, and Kate 6. They played together really well. Collin and Quinn love playing cars at Grandma's house and apparently they love to dance together, too :)
Aren't they the cutest! This was at the Nordic Dancer's during Nordic Fest. They put on their own show for the crowd. I was teary eyed.
Quinn and her "Dacie"
My cousin, Kelsey :)
Cousin, Kylie
Shae's Godmother/My Bestie
Eleanor and Shae
Quinn took an art class at ArtHaus! This was a picture of her telling me to leave. Safe to say, she liked it. I think I'll always remember this day that she didn't want me there. It was bittersweet!
Our beautiful Phelps Park
This is Quinn & Shae's Great Grandma. If you didn't know, you'd think she was 45! She is active, funny, and so great with the girls. We saw her more than ever this summer and how thankful we were! This is at Palisades.
Super Baby!
My awesome Uncle, Geoff dancing with Quinn on her birthday.
"Go, Papa, GO!"
Shae's Godfather and a great friend of ours, Peter!
Papa and Quinny
Playing "babies" with the cousins
A few of my high school friends got together before we left town . Look at all these cuties!
My Aunt Mary. She's awesome.
Decorah was hit hard with not only floods this summer, but a horrible storm that took so many beautiful trees down. This is my brother's backyard. The trees were on the boulevard and were just starting to get big. It was so sad to see them go down.
WEDDING TIME!
Last, but not least - the highlight of our summer was an awesome wedding! My cousin, Kylie married Tony's brother, Andrew. They put on such a great party and we want to do it again! The days leading up to the big day were fun and the girls did great with all the activities and late nights. Quinn's favorite part was all the dancing. She didn't stop and asked to dance for a week straight after the wedding!
How cute are they?
We took a super fun wagon ride to the reception hall and stopped at places to take some pics. It was a beautiful August summer day. They couldn't have asked for a better one!
....best summer ever
