In the News

So, my parents made the News! However, it is not good news. Unfortunately, there home was one of the twenty or so homes that had severe damage because of the Owatonna Floods. At the peak, they had 7 FEET of water in their basement! EVERYTHING in their basement has been ruined...all their storage, Christmas decor, my dad's workshop, washer & dryer, water heater, furnace, etc. It has now been stripped down to the concrete blocks.

My heart just breaks for them. It seems that they just can never 'get above water' -this time literally! FEMA is down there right now to see if they will give funds to help. I don't know what they give even if they do determine their situation to be 'bad enough.'

On the bright side, they have had people who have volunteered to help them get the water out and clear out their things so the cleaning crew could get in there (they had sewer backup in there as well). They had 30+ people helping on Monday. Now the basement is completely empty, they have a huge pile of all of their belongings on their front lawn, the cleaning crew has come and my parents and my grandpa will be moving out of their motel room and back home soon. First, they need to get a new furnace and water heater. They have come a long way in the last week, but unfortunately, it is just the beginning of their recovery journey.

Thank you to all the Owatonna family and friends who have helped them! At these (and many) times, I wish we lived closer!

Here is a link to the news clip --click on the video on the right side of the page.

God Bless You, Tryg

Yesterday we had a "Commitment Ceremony" for Tryg. Since Erik and I do not have a church we call 'home' right now, we had everyone over to our house for the service. As Erik grew up in the Lutheran church, I grew up Baptist, and we met and got married in a Non-Denominational church, we had a hybrid service. Instead of an Infant Baptism or Child Dedication, we had a Commitment Ceremony. We wanted to commit, in the presence of our friends and family, to raising Tryg by using Christ as our example.
My friend David, from Bethel was able to lead the ceremony for us. He is a Children's Pastor at a local church. He did a great job. We were very glad he was able to be a part of the day.

As a symbol of this commitment, we washed Tryg's feet just like Jesus washed the disciples' feet. (Some of you may also remember that we washed each others' feet during our wedding.)
Our friends, Bill and Carol, agreed to be Tryg's godparents. They have been a big part of our lives and we're glad that they will 'formally' be a part of Tryg's life as well -as they have been already!
Thank you everyone, for being a part of Tryg's day and his life. We are grateful for each of you -whether you were there yesterday or not!.

Just Tryg

OK, so we know you're probably sick of the landscaping and just want to see more pictures of Tryg. So here you go...

Landscaping Part 3

The finishing touches...Now we just need to get rid of the mosquitoes so we can enjoy our work!

Landscaping Part 2

To spruce up the yard even more, we also put edging and mulch around the fire pit. It made us lose some of the grass, but we thought it made the fire pit look much nicer.

Landscaping Part 1

So, after a year of owning our home, we decided it was time to shape up the back yard. We have a row of lilac bushes across the back of our property and we decided to put in some edging and mulch. Carly is a rockstar and helped us all day on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, she stayed overnight, so we could get the most amount of time into the yard work. She's truly an amazing friend because this was a lot of work.

4 Generations at the Twins Game

For my Mom's Birthday, we decided to take her and my Grandpa to a Twins game! They were both very excited, as were we! Erik was the only one who had been to a game at the new stadium, so we couldn't wait to see it. Tryg had a great time wearing his Twins gear and sucking on his Twins nuk.
But I think it was my Grandpa who had the best time. When we got home he could not stop talking about Target Field. He watches the Twins on TV all the time but couldn't believe how big the stadium is in person. I was so thrilled to be able to take him. I'm so glad he enjoyed it.
My mom had a great time as well...she liked her Birthday gift. I'm sure part of the reason she had such a good time is because she got to hold her new grandson! Oh yeah, the Twins won too!

Guess Who...

Guess who has the baby that spits up a lot! Hmmm...

Last month Erik, Tryg and I got to have dinner with Gavin and Jessica, as well as their two girls and Gavin's parents and brother. Gavin and I are friends from high school and church youth group. We try to see each other about once a year, but it had been a couple years since our last meeting and I had yet to meet his daughters.

It was great to spend time with them and they made a nice dinner for us as well. The girls are adorable and it was fun to catch up with friends!

At the end of the evening we remembered to take a picture together (their oldest daughter had already gone to bed). After we downloaded our picture and saw it full size, Erik and I just laughed at how pathetic we look with Tryg spit-up all over both of us (which is normal for us)! We're really hoping this stage will pass SOON. It's insane.

Anyway, it was fun to see you guys!! I hope it's not another 2+ years before we see you again!

Laundry Helper

With a newborn, I have had to get a little more creative while doing everyday tasks....I only have two arms. Erik caught me once with my "laundry helper" and had to snap a photo. I have done this a couple times now. However, since our boy spits up A LOT, it is not always a success. In fact, one time I had to rewash a few of the clothes because of my little helper. Oh well.

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today...we closed on our first house! It's crazy to think that we have been home owners for a full year already. Just last night we were talking about our house and the location. To be honest, the house is not located in my 'dream location' but we have found a great neighborhood and have become more acquainted with the east side of Roseville now that we bought our house. The location has provided new walking paths and parks as well. (and we hope our friends have not been too bothered by the 4 extra minutes that it takes to get there) The house has also been good...we've had bugs (earwigs), a duck in our chimney and back up from tree roots in our pipes, but overall, it has been a really good house! We've filled one more of the five bedrooms now...don't worry there are no plans of filling all of them with children. We'll start with one and go from there.
Unfortunately, it was also a year ago today that we found out that Erik's Grandpa Johnny had terminal lung cancer. Right after the closing, I had to cut our celebration short to tell Erik the sad news. He only lived five short weeks after the diagnosis. He has been missed this year. Such a wonderful, sweet man. We so wish that he would have been able to meet Tryg.

We love you, Grandpa Johnny!