Christmas 2013 - Iowa

We flew to Iowa on Dec 18, which was Grady's official first flight. Both boys did really well (although neither really slept but we are used to that since Carsten rarely slept when we had 18+ hrs in transit) and Andy and I were both amazed at how short the overall travel time was (we're used to international long-hauls!). The only problem we really ran into was that the play area in O'Hare was closed for maintenance which was NOT ok with Carsten. Here's a photo of us on one of our planes:

Grady's first flight!

Sleepy Carsten.

Sleepy Grady baby.

Kids sleeping on the way home from the Sioux Falls airport.  Poor Andy got stuck between them.

Grady's cranky day, but everyone else is happy!

Grady playing with the toys I played with as a kid!

Carsten's buddy :).

My Dad stayed home from work on Thursday to play to play with the boys which Carsten LOVED! However, Grady was super cranky ALL day long which we think was because his ears had trouble adjusting from the flights. Poor guy. My Mom and Dad spent a lot of effort getting their basement ready for Carsten and Grady to play in, and we were grateful to have such a nice space for them to romp! I took Carsten up with me on Friday to Sioux Falls to pick up Ashley from the airport. On the way up Carsten fell asleep while eating puffs from his cup-holder, and when he woke up after about 30 min, he started sleep-eating the puffs again which I happened to catch on video :).

Grandma Hoogeveen came over on Saturday to help with some baking projects we had planned, and we also played a wonderful couple of games of Yatzee where we had LOTS of Yatzees.

Isn't she beautiful? :)

Grandma fixed Grady's shoe.

Carsten helped Grandma roll.

Luke and Leah arrived Saturday evening, which meant the real party could begin! Ranschau Christmas was on Sunday afternoon at my parent's house which was a ton of fun. We got to see a lot of our cousins, aunts, uncles, and my Grandpa. It was such a joy to see family again.

The kids' table. :)

Aunt Lori and Mom!

The adults' table.

We had a "girl's day" on Monday with Aunt Lori, Cousin Sarah, Mom, Ashley, Leah, Carsten, Grady, and I where we went shopping in Sioux City. It was SUPER DUPER cold, but other than that, very fun and we snatched up some great deals!

Grady, Sarah, and Leah!

Ashley and Mom! 

Me, Carsten, and Aunt Lori!

On Tuesday (Christmas Eve), Uncle Nate, Aunt Vicki, Thor, and Dane came over to play with us, which was lovely. In the afternoon, we celebrated my Grandpa Hoogeveen's birthday in his new nursing home.

Aunt Vicki and Grady!

Andy, Nate, and the boys!

Playing with cousins is fun!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Birthday happenings.

Lovely cake cutters.

The boys and Aunt Vicki.

We celebrated our family Christmas on Christmas morning which was super fun and included duck with orange sauce for dinner. On Christmas afternoon we celebrated with our Hoogeveen family at my Grandma's house which was a blast with so many little boys running around. She of course also had amazingly delicious food and it was so fun to be able to see everyone there (nearly the whole family was there!). Thanks so much Grandma!

This is why we didn't put up a tree at our house... :)

Brothers!

Grady with Aunt Ashley and Grandma Hoogie!

Leah, Luke, and Andy!

Carsten and Andy playing with new legos.

Grandma Hoogeveen's Christmas with Thor, Dane, Aunt Vicki, and Uncle Nate!

Hoogeveen Family Christmas!

Grandpa Ranschau got to come too! 

Grady and Grandpa!

Cheeseball smile. :)

Auntie and Carsten!

First Christmas as a family of four!

Obligatory baby + tissue photo!

It was such a blessing to be able to spend Christmas with family after not being able to come home the previous year due to our move back to the U.S. Also, I should mention that Carsten is one extremely lucky grandkid. Dad would get up early most mornings to play with Carsten until he had to go to work (which was SO nice for us because we could sleep in with Grady), and one morning Dad even got up early and sat outside Carsten's door until he woke up, which I think meant he was sitting outside his door for about 30 minutes. I think Carsten brings out the kid in Dad!