Spring Trip to Iowa

After Russ and Anna were back from Iowa for a few weeks it was my turn to fly to Iowa with Seth.  ( Lydia's turn next time!)  Seth and I left on May 1st and returned about two weeks later.  It was a long time to be away from Russ and the two girls, but the time with family was pretty sweet. 

Great Plains Athletic Conference Meet--This is the first time I was able to watch Caleb run collegiately.  He ran the 4x800, open 400m and 4x400.  Nicolas just missed qualifying for this meet, but he drove to Yankton both days with us with watch his teammates compete.  It was nice to have him there and point out all the runners, both from Dordt and from other teams.   The 4x800 won, breaking the conference record. The open 400m did not go as well the next day for CJ, but he came back and ran an awesome leg in the 4x400. 

Senior tracksters

Friday night storms caused a couple lightening delays so we went thrifting with Nicolas and his friend Jared and then hung out in the gym with Caleb and the team.

National qualifiers grilling on campus

On the way home from Yankton Saturday night we stopped at Mara and Skyler's home in Beresford (Russ' niece) just to say a quick hello.  They do have the cutest kiddos!

Dayle's Graduation Party

Palisades State Park--Grandma had an appointment with her foot doctor in Sioux Falls, so Seth and I tagged along, did some shopping, and then enjoyed a short hike in the Palisades State Park.

Kind of neat when the train comes through so close to you.

High School Track Meets--We were able to watch Caden compete at West Lyon (we missed Miah's race) and both Caden and Emily run at the District meet in Sioux Center.  Both qualified for the State meet!  Seth was introduced to the shuttle hurdle relay for the first time since neither Michigan nor Idaho has this as a high school track event.

Caden's Graduation

Caleb's Graduation

I loved being able to meet Caleb's roommates, friends, and classmates.  He had talked about them so much the last four years so it was great to meet them in person.  We had street taco cartnitas for lunch after the graduation and several of my siblings stopped by to congratulate CJ.  We loved that Grandpa Wayne and Russ' brother Philip also made the trip from the Des Moines area to celebrate this milestone. Caleb is planning on staying at Dordt the next two years to pursue his Masters in Education.  He will be one of the graduate assistant coaches for the track team and will continue to work on his application for medical school for the fall of 2021.

Biology majors with their professors

Coach Heynen

Roommates

Caleb with Theo, a friend who previously went to Dordt and now goes to Azuza Pacific.  He came back for graduation to see his friends.

Seth and I helped Caleb clean out his apartment since his roommates didn't do such a great job before they left. 

Grandpa set Seth up on one of his favorite jobs--mowing the lawn with the riding mower. 

Since the boys (Nicolas and Caleb) are both staying in Sioux Center for the summer, we helped clean and set up the basement for them.  Nicolas has a job/internship with Central Vet to log hours for vet school, and he also has a part-time job at Trans-Ova.  We will miss having them home but realize as the kids graduate and "adult" this will be our new normal!

Other things we accomplished:  a trip to Roelofs for hemstitched burp cloths, breakfast at Casey's bakery, 1000 piece puzzle, a trip to Knoblochs to buy plants/flowers, coffee with Aunt Donna, a sleepover with Andrew, target practice, a trip to Orange City for dried beef and to check out the tulips, and celebrating Mother's Day with my mom!

Grandma made a super yummy waffle breakfast!!