Spring has Sprung (at least we hope so)

Our spring kicked off with a trip to Colorado the beginning of March. The 60 degree temps felt like heaven compared to the bone-chilling temps we've had throughout the winter in SD.

Dakota enjoys some fun in the sun on the playground

The girls kept grandpa and grandma busy chasing them through all the playground toys.

We spent a morning walking around the garden of the gods

Daron and Rachael got some time in with the girls as well. We stayed in Colorado Springs for two days and then went out to Silver Thorne, CO for two days. Some of us went out skiing at Copper Mountain for an amazing time on the ski slopes.

Darcy has been making some incredible crafts including some pillow-case dresses!

It is now April and we hope spring is here to stay. We had an awesome trip down through Nebraska and into Colorado over our spring break and had many opportunities to catch up with friends and family. We are grateful for the ability to travel and that our break coincided with dad's spring break. Darcy and I also got to spend some time shopping and hanging out alone- without the girls.

As soon as we got back from spring break, we hit the ground running at school. We are on the home stretch in the fourth quarter of the academic year. We had a "Mega-Teen" retreat last weekend where we crammed in 230 people on campus. Our nephew Daly was able to come and take part in the weekend festivities. The speakers challenged all of us in our media choices and developing convictions in our relationship with God.

The girls are doing well and continue to grow. Daraby's vocabulary is expanding rapidly while Dakota is getting the basics of "momma", "daddy", and "Abby". There are tough days but all in all the child rearing is going well.

We are now truly traveling in style as we just purchased a hot-rod '91 Lincoln Town Car. It may not be the most fashionable ride around, but it is probably one of the smoothest. We are trying to put the suburban in semi-retirement after putting 20,000 miles a year on it for the last 3 years. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of traveling, we do plan to get out and about this summer. We have a trip to MI planned for Susan's wedding so we will try our best to connect with some of you when we are back. Otherwise we will spend some weekends in Pierre with the family there and possibly another trip out west (we'll see how far the budget stretches:)

Thanks for tuning in and we pray that you are blessed in your endeavors this spring!

-Andrew

More Valentines Love!

On the morning of Valentines Day Andrew got up and made us girls Belgian waffles from scratch for breakfast. The girls ate great that morning.


Dakota is always happy as can be when she is eating. She eats almost twice as much in day as her big sister. Still she remains pint sized. The Dr says, "feed her." If only she knew the amount of food Dakota puts down in a day. (I love the long johns Dakota is wearing. I see her daddy in her all the time.)

Ahhh I have a smiler. Daraby is starting to smile for the camera and actually look at it. Here she is eating her waffle, "All Gone!"

She hates walking in the snow and constantly asks, "hold you?" which means, "hold me?" It doesn't make much difference since we know what she is saying. She is carried a lot since she hates to fall down. It has been super slick and icy this winter outside our home.

She may hate the snow but she loves the sled! Andrew or I will take the girls for sled rides. Abby often pulls them. This isn't the best photo but if you look closely you will see that Abby's leash is hooked with the sled's rope. Abby had to stop to smell the dead rabbit. Reminds me of the dog on up that goes nuts when he hears, "squirrel!"

She is growing up so fast and looking like a little girl. She isn't a baby anymore! She's a girl! She is looking like it, acting like it and speaking like it. I like this stage but wish it was nicer outside for her to play. She gets a bit bored in the house all day.

Playing, "Outsiiiiiiiiiide!" as Dara would say.

My favorite Valentines Day Card that I made this year. I had to take a photo before I sent it off. Lovely colors if I can say so myself.

I heart you! This pillow is a version on Vanessa's tutorial pillows. You can make one too. This is currently my favorite site. I tweaked this pillow quite a bit from her version since I don't want to be a copy cat. Love her website! It is a must see! Click her link here!

This is another version. I've made several now. I have many different shapes. Beautiful- I'll admit!

I've been hand stitching a lot. We've watched two movies in the last couple weeks and I stitched through both of them. Andrew wasn't happy that I would not cuddle.

"What is wrong with you? You're like an old lady? Snuggle with me...." said Andrew. So I did for a few minutes and then like an addict I was stitching away.

These are a few of the projects that have had me hard at work- and Daraby too. She is the best little polyfill stuffer! Honest. She has little hands and loves the stuff. At first I told her no way. But she was so curious so I let her mildly help at first but she made fast work of it. She is the official pillow filler now. The kid loves to work and work beside me. I believe her love languages are acts of service and quality time. She loves to work and serve others and in return she likes to be with people and animals.

May you be blessed this weekend! May I leave you with the words on Dara's shirt, "Tweet Love!" ~darcy

Happy Hearts Day!

Some cards I've been making lately! I got a special order and I was thrilled!


This is the rest of the order. These are thank you notes to give to a mom to be.



The girls like to go sledding- sometimes. Daraby is great about holding onto Dakota.

Traveling side by side. Sometimes it is wonderful and other times terrible. They aren't the best travelers anyway.

Basketball tournament time. The girls are great fans. But really Daraby goes just for the suckers. "Gym? Basketball? Sucker? Ok I go!" she says.

Oh smiley! She's got four teeth now. Of course the two middle bottom and two on the top sides. Weird order but they are there. She is talking a lot and says more words than I want to type. She is learning rapidly from her sister. I love when she yells, "Daraby," or "Abby," or "Puppy."

"Rabbit, Abby. Look rabbit, Abby. You eat rabbit, Abby. Chase rabbit, Abby. Look rabbit eats grass, Abby." says Daraby. Meanwhile Abby goes back and forth to the three windows on that side of the house seeing the rabbit from various angles. We let her out to chase the rabbit and Daraby laughs.

"Oh melting flower! How I love to make you!" I've been making tons of these flowers. The girls on campus have won these flowers by solving word puzzles. They've been a huge hit. I've seen them pinned to purses, coats, blouses, sashes or head bands. They really are beautiful and give me such great satisfaction. Daraby is a huge help with all my projects. When she isn't helping she sits next to me and colors, draws or plays with play dough.

She is starting to talk in full sentences and just amazes me with her comments. "Mom, I like to watch basketball! Do you like to watch basketball? Koda you like basketball? You like sucker, Koda? I like sucker best, Mom!" she'll say. OR "You make ball with play dough Mom. Oh, let's read a book Mom. No play dough. Let's read book mom. We read book, Koda. Koda come on- WE READ BOOK KODA- COME ON! Sit in chair, Koda," says Dara to Koda.

I'm also making quite a few of these flowers. They are absolutely gorgeous and again Daraby loves to help. I have bouquets of them all around the house. So today this flower is for you to enjoy! Happy Valentines Day! May you blessed and realize the love the Lord has for you. Much love from our home to yours! Enjoy your lovely day! I will post pictures of some of my Valentine Day projects soon.

Lastly, I want to take this time to publicly tell you of the admiration and love I have for my husband and for the incredible father that he is to our girls. He is the dad that changes dirty diapers with no complaint, who plays with the girls on the floor, romps around the house acting like a horse (on all fours) for the girls to ride horsey, plays catch with the girls, takes them outdoors- even in the cold-bundles them up like marshmallows, reads countless books, sings little kids songs, takes them swimming at the Y, and always tells his little girls that he loves them.

As a husband: he cares for me, he asks my opinion, he talks to me, he holds me, he lavishes affection on me, he holds my hand in public, he understands what I'm trying to say- even when I can't say what I think, he thinks I'm beautiful- no matter my outer appearance, he sees my heart and loves me anyway, he never/rarely blames others, he doesn't criticize others, he is quick to forgive, he is slow to anger, amazingly patient, he has a lot of grace to give, he helps as much as he can around the house, he always washes the pans in the kitchen, he loves the Lord, he is slow to judge and he's sacrificed his desires for mine. I love how much he loves me. "He is everything I never knew that I always wanted."

For you see, I never wanted to get married. Andrew is that one of a kind man that I couldn't let get away. We are almost seven years hitched and almost ten years together. We know the good, bad and ugly and still love each other. It is a love that is past the first ohhhs and ahhhs. It is the enduring, heart rending love that binds you together. We always say, marriage is the hardest, best and worst decision ever. I'm glad I hitched my wagon to yours, Andrew. May the Lord Bless our future as we seek to serve Him and love each other.

So this is for you, Andrew. My knight in shining armour! My knight who serves the King of Kings! I'll forever love you!

P.S. please don't change the romantic background on the blog. It is Valentines Day for Pete's sake!

Feliz Navidad from Honduras!

Here are some pictures and comments from the Boersma family Christmas in Honduras!

Joel and I playing a game of futbol on the beach. One of the greatest parts of the vacation was simply spending time with family that we don't get to see very often.

These are a couple local kids Darcy and I met on a walk. Jack, our caretaker at the resort, told us these boys "borrow" this horse and go and find cocunuts on other people's land to take home.

The above picture shows us putting to use our Spanish skills (un poco) with Wilson, our guide, who knew as much English as we knew Spanish. The picture sums up the communication process well!

We did two separate snorkeling trips out to Cayos Cochinos which are a group of islands about 15 miles out from the resort we stayed at. These islands feature some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean area and serves as home to a group of Garifuna Hondurans.

We all enjoyed the beautiful weather and extra doses of vitamin D. Jorge, one of our local guides, is keeping watch over the boat in the background. Most of the economy in this area is based off of the tourism industry.

The day after Christmas we took an unforgettable ride out to the popular cruise ship island of Roatan. It was unforgettable in the fact that most of the passengers on the ferry lost their breakfast on the way to the island-it was a pretty rough ride. We took this picture after our stomachs settled before the ride back to the main land. We did some site seeing and shopping while on the island.

One excursion that I didn't post a picture of is our white water rafting trip down the Rio Cangeral. This was recommended as one of the best rafting trips in Central America and it lived up to its hype. We did some challenging class 3 and 4 rapids and survived a crash coming down a steep fall throwing Susan, Michael, and our guide out of the raft (we do have this on video to watch next Christmas:)

The vacation was a wonderful time of connecting with the family and made us very grateful for our life that we enjoy in the US. Honduras is a beautiful country with the ocean, mountain, and jungle landscapes. We were also reminded of the poverty most of the world lives in compared to what we have as American citizens. We left Daraby and Dakota with Darcy's parents which worked out well and it was good to come home and spend a couple days with them before school got going again on January 3rd.

Thanks to both sets of parents for making this trip possible for us and thank you all for tuning in!

Being Sick and celebrating Christmas

Oh matching girls! Us four girls have a lot of fun together.
Last year I was pregnant with Dakota and now it just feels like we've been together forever. I can't believe I was even nervous about being a mom to two little girls. They are great friends and Daraby is the best mother's helper ever. She really keeps Dakota in line and won't brook any nonsense. She is more strict than I am. She loves to get the bottle and treats for Dakota, pats her back, talks to her as she gets up from naps, sings to her, reads her books and calls to her like she does Abby. "Abby come! Dakota come! We play toys! Come!" says Daraby. I love having her help and I'm so proud of the little girl/mother she is becoming. All her babies are well loved and she is constantly giving them rides in the stroller, putting them in the high chair, laying them in the cradle etc... In the picture below you will see that she got a metal grocery cart for Christmas. She already loves it! She mimics me. I try to just cuddle her and play with her but I have to play and cuddle her four dolls too. Since I was a tom-boy this is all pretty new to me. Oh I had dolls-I played with them alongside GI Joes. This nurturing nature is very Daraby. What a beautiful spirit! Daraby is hating the camera but her personality is blooming and her speech is adorable.

We celebrated by opening gifts as a family tonight as Andrew and I fly out on Sunday. Tomorrow we will be packing. Saturday we'll drop the girls off in Pierre and celebrate a bit with my fam. It won't be a white Christmas for us this year unless we get stuck in the states.

This week has been more than just busy it has been overwhelming. We've been super sick. I haven't been this sick in almost 20 years or so. Sure I was in the hospital after Dakota was born but that was nothing to this bout with Strep. Incredibly sick! I started to feel bad on Monday. On Tuesday morning Andrew and I went and worked out at that gym. We walked, ran some ladders and rode the bike. Afterwards I was bent over sick. I thought, "Wow! I really need to start working out more. This is pathetic!" Well, I do need to actually work out more but this sick was over the top and I spent the morning trying to gain my bearings back. By the afternoon I realized I was really sick. The Dr confirmed it- said I have Strep Throat and perhaps Mono. I'm one of the worst cases he has seen. "No doubt about," he said. I started taking medicine Tuesday night.
By Wednesday we realized that Daraby and Andrew had it too. Back into town I drove to get more medicine. We've had high fevers and lots of chills. Chattering teeth and everything. Awfully sick! My throat felt like it was being stabbed by knives. Very painful. We are getting better. Still feel pretty weak and light headed but this feels great compared to a day ago. I'm hoping we are up to snuff by the time we fly out. I wouldn't have been able to board a plane a few days ago. Pray that we don't have any complications and that this illness will go away completely.
By the way we have lots and lots of thank yous need to go out. We opened gifts tonight from G & G Boersma, Great G & G Boersma, Great G & G Van Duinen, Shorts and Seamans. We feel incredibly blessed and loved!! Just to think that last year about this time we were living in at state of turmoil about the future. We had no permanent home, change in jobs, no company health insurance for a month, loss of our possessions, and I was pregnant and we were sleeping on an air mattress in the living room. Oh, we had puppies last year. If you remember Abby gave birth to them in the Suburban on top of many our belongings while I was driving/moving to our temporary rental place. Oh the joys and pains in life. We've grown, changed and softened in a year. We are very thankful for the Lord's hand in our life and His protection.
Thanks again for all the amazing gifts for the girls: Knitted hats, knitted sweater, matching outfits, metal grocery cart, musical glow seahorse, play food, lamb puppet, (formerly loved) American girl doll, my little pony, little apron, etc.... So Blessed! Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!
Even in the midst of all the gifts I find the most peace in realizing that "God with us" happened so many years ago. He came to earth to bring us into a relationship with Him. Today he has made a dwelling place in our hearts: from a manger, to a cross, and into our hearts. A savior who is Christ the Lord! A graceful and loving God who humbled himself to come to earth. Let us imitate Him this season by humbling ourselves, giving others grace and extending an olive branch to the unlovely. A challenge for sure but doable with the love of Christ. Go get 'em and have a Merry Christmas while you are at it!


Dadda's love!


Oh Happy Baby! Dakota loves the camera.


Daraby is imitating me. She has a carseat for her baby and she is going shopping. You don't realize until you become a mom that kids listen, follow and do all the things you do. I love it.

So amazing, we got a knock on our door right in the middle of us opening gifts as a family, there were caroling kids outside our door. Very nice to hear SBA kids singing to us!