Update...

So, we've (I've) been really bad at posting lately, and kind of a lot has been happening. For instance, this is a picture of our new church, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Alexandria, MN. New church, new city, new home, new jobs, new everything. It's tough, and it's terrifying, and yet it's the right move.
The transitions haven't all happened yet. I'm in my office on day 2, and Kristen and the kids just got back to our home (not sold yet) in Tulsa late last night. We'll live apart until May 12, when we'll get to take a vacation together to Florida. Then Kristen will have to go back to Tulsa to do 3 weeks of clinicals. So, in case you're scoring at home, here are some things to pray for:
- Our family, as we live apart
- Our home in OK to sell!
- A good daycare for the kids in MN that we can afford!
- A good transition to our rental house (I get to move in May 1)
- A job Kristen likes in MN
- Good clinical sites for Kristen in MN (and a grad school that cooperates!)
- A good adjustment for all of us to all these changes and more, and a good environment in which to raise the kids
In the midst of it all, I look forward to our kids knowing their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles better. It's also a good church with a promising future. Anything else I say about all these changes sounds like platitudes, so I'll just stop and say, "We'll. Be. Okay."

Christmas 2012

The best 2 gifts ever, sitting under our tree.
Here's our yearly family picture at church.

Pre-Christmas 2011

Kristen's whole family came into town the weekend before Christmas to celebrate 2 graduations, a smattering of birthdays, and Christmas with the kiddos. Such a great visit from Pa Pa, Grammy, Auntie Jill (graduated from Northern State in Dec.), Auntie Kenna (finished her P.A. school through University of South Dakota) and Uncle Bretters.
Love that family!

ECC School Christmas Program

After the program, the kids got a visit from Santa Roger, er, Claus. He did a great job with the kids, but Tate was on to him. He didn't say anything at the time, but a while later he said, "Dad, Roger was Santa." Yes, yes he was.
Tate did a good job singing with his little friends. They were all so cute in their little Christmas outfits. And their Spanish skills definitely paid off when they rocked out 'Feliz Navidad.'

Best. Game. Ever.

In any other case, that might be an exaggeration, but after 4 months of reflection (yes, I know, we got behind again), I still stand by my assertion. As you can see, we were in the top row of the whole stadium, it was pretty cold, and tickets weren't cheap. On the other hand, we saw the most amazing game either of us had ever seen, we cheered until we were hoarse, and the Cardinals won that historic, miraculous Game 6 (then game 7 the next night).
We didn't even care that because the game had been postponed an extra day due to rain, that we had to drive through the night afterward to get back to our kids in Tulsa. It was amazing.
The game ended, and nobody left for a long time. Then, when people finally did start to leave, there were spontaneous cheers that would randomly erupt from people just walking around, and then they would crescendo into a chorus of cheers. There's hardly a sporting event I would have rather been at; one more thing checked off the ol' bucket list.
Since then, Pujols left and the team is re-tooling. But we'll never forget that night.

Bro and Sis

They're buds.
Brother.
Sister.

Family Pics

Love these pictures. I'm not going to upload them all, because they take forever. But here are some of the family ones.
There are some that are more posed. But let's be honest...that's not really our style.
Seems like we added another kid since the last bridge photo.