Another year has passed with us hardly realizing it.  We are so grateful for no major injuries or trips to the ER this year.  I didn't think that was even possible!

Early December, Grace celebrated her 3rd birthday in My Little Pony style.  Along with playing with ponies, she loves hauling all her favorite stuffed animals around in a cardboard box.  Really, that's all we should have bought her for her Christmas present.  She loves animals and when she sees one, an audible "aaaaawwwe!" is heard followed up by her sticking her face in the poor creatures face with all sorts of adoration.  However, she still remains competitive with her brother ("I beat ya!") and loves to be "Flash girl" super hero when she's playing with him.

Josiah, of course, still loves playing superheros.  I came downstairs the other day to find him zooming around the house with his trusty superdog trailing behind him. He loves preschool and has discovered his artistic skills while there. 

 Christmas was celebrated in Minnesota and Wisconsin this year. Mandi, my sister, bravely conquered traveling via airplane with three little ones to visit family with Ryan (her husband) coming in a few days later.  Our kids were so thrilled to have thier beloved Texan cousins up to visit for a week dispite all the illness that prevailed.  I came down with strep throat so I got out of a lot of cooking! ;) 

 I couldn't help adding this picture in, notice the coordinating scratched faces on both kids.  Grace smashed in to the stairway and Josiah was scratched by Grace a few days later. 

Last weekend we celebrated Wyatt's first birthday.  He has really grown up in the past two weeks where he tries to do everything Grace and Josiah do.  He gets in the middle of all thier projects and talks up a storm to them.  We are so blessed to have this sweet little guy in our lives!

This past week we went to the RAD (Reptile Amphibian Discovery) Zoo in Owatonna.  We got to pet and feed all sorts of animals and Josiah got to put the snake on his shoulders.  A definite must do for all of you with little ones. 

God Bless, The Lins

October 2011

Alas, it's been way too long since I've posted but I am posting nonetheless.  I pat myself on the back as I have managed to squeeze in at least one post within a year's time.  No one warned me how crazy life is with three children under the age of 5. 

Since the last past, ahem, 8 months ago, Wyatt has managed to grow into quite the little cruiser.  We used to call him "quiet Wyatt" but he's grown into "riot Wyatt" as I anticipated based off my past experience with Lins children 1 and 2.  He zooms all over the place, no obstacle to big for him to tackle.  He is my little sunshine and only to a mother would his happy growling warm her heart for the rest of the day.  He has a ferocious appetite for food but still no teeth! 

Josiah started Creation Kids, his preschool, this past month.  No problem leaving the nest and hit the ground running.  It's a mixed blessing he's so ready to go but we love the program.  It feels more like an educational play date than preschool. Just don't  ask him to wear Spongebob Squarepants underwear...

Grace is almost three already!  She constantly wants to be reassured she's a "big gool (girl)".  She loves animals, stuffed or alive.  She is still pulling her dare devil stunts and I can't believe we have managed to not make a visit to the ER for over a year with her. 

With a little coaxing, Ryan and I made a trip to Hay Creek for a trail ride in August with the horses.  Ryan does a great job with the horses regardless of the fact he's not a regular rider.  Mac, our younger horse, is finally settling down a bit and I think Ryan prefers to ride him verses our mare, Molly.. 

This summer, we made a trip with my folks to Tennessee for a week.  We had a great time in Knoxville and even hiked a bit in the Smokies.  With very low expectations with young kids, we were surprised how kid friendly the area was.   Ryan and my dad even got to ride the tail of the dragon in my dad's car. 

 We also made a trip to Dubuque to celebrate Ryan's parent's 40th anniversary.  All I can say is wow!  They've managed to navigate through life together with so many trials and to this day be happily married and still in love.  Ryan and I feel blessed to have these role models!

 Couldn't help but to slip this last pic in.  Isn't Wyatt just a doll?  Can't you see the Don McKenzie resemblance???

Welcome Baby Wyatt!

We are pleased to share that our newest Lins member has arrived! Wyatt Caleb Lins appeared on the scene on his due date, January 7th at 10:35pm. He weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches long. He and Katie both got through the whole event without any complications, a huge blessing! So far, he doesn't seem as "intense" as his brother was at this age so we'll see if that changes. His siblings seem to be excited to have a little brother but Josiah was a little disappointed we didn't name him Shukka.

Other than that big news, the kids are loving all the snow we've been getting and take any chance they can get to go outside to play on the snow hills, plow snow with their toys and they even still use their swingset when its 15 degrees outside. Josiah's favorite thing to do outside is to turn the snow yellow and Grace loves making snow angels. Ahhh, don't you remember playing outside in the snow until your fingers couldn't move anymore or you had to go inside for dinner? Love it!

I couldn't help but to insert this picture, Josiah and Grace got Super Why costumes for Christmas. Everyday is dress up day!

Hope this new year is treating you all well and God bless.

2010 Fall Update

Happy Fall Friends and Family!

We hope you all are enjoying the fun autumn brings with the influx of asian beetles, raking leaves and winterizing your home. Ok, there is a lot of fun things to enjoy this time of the season, especially with a toddler and a preschooler in the house. It gives you permission to do the kind of childish activities you loved to do as a kid....and perhaps enjoy it more than your kids! Anybody else know what I'm talking about?

Now that Josiah FINALLY figured out how to pedal his tricycle this summer (he recieved as a gift from aunt Tracy for his one year birthday!), he thinks it necessary to gear up appropriately for his excursions. At least if he inherits his Papa's track record on cycle accidents, his eyes, head and torso will be adequately protected.

This September, it was a family affair running in the annual WI Cow Chip Festival 5k/10K Run.

A fun first for Josiah....his first camping trip with Dad. A mere 100 yards from the house but he slept like a rock the whole night in the tent, despite our nearby train that goes past a half dozen times in the night. We knew he was so excited to "camp" because he wouldn't stop talking and was complimenting everyone and everything. Note to Mari, he still LOVES the bear hat you made him!

With all the pumpkins from our garden we were blessed with this year, we spent a morning at Nonnie's house decorating pumpkins. Very abstract pieces thus far in my childrens art career but we'll see that develop a bit more.

Earlier this month, our family flew out to the east coast for a wedding and catch up with some friends. Josiah was the ringbearer and both kids managed pretty well considering they didn't get thier regular 3 hour afternoon naps. Ryan and I decided we'll take Rochester traffic anyday over DC traffic, yuck! You do, however, realize how much you miss your distant friends when you get a chance to personally reconnect with them for a weekend.

Mandi, my sister, and her two kiddos made their way up from Texas one last time before she adds child number 3 to their crew. The cousins love eachother so much, it's fun to see them play together like they see eachother everyday. Josiah was heartbroken all the next day after they left.

Grace is our little animal lover and I love to see her treat our dog so kindly! Maybe that will translate into taking good care of her parents when we get older. She is completely obsessed with backpacks so I made good use of this and she now carries her diapers, wipes, etc. She also is really getting into the "princess" phase. Despite my efforts to downplay the whole princess thing, she is drawn to it's magical powers and believes she can sing like Ariel. She's a tough little cookie as you can imagine with a brother like Josiah but still follows him everywhere.

God bless and have a great fall!

Summer 2010 Update

We'd love to share with you a few pics and an update on what's happening at the Lins Zoo....

Like everyone else, we've been so busy with summer festivities we haven't even realized summer is almost to a close. We are adding to to the circus here with one more child. I am due January 7th with baby number 3. Josiah is certain it's a boy and comes up with the craziest made up names. Scary enough, we find it's so hard picking out boys names that we may just use one of them.

Grace took a dive off the play set four weeks ago and ended up in a full leg cast. She was pretty challenging to deal with for the first five days....until she figured out how to hobble around with it. Oddly, she started to enjoy trotting along to the rhythm of the cast tapping on our hard wood floors. She got her cast off on Thursday and we're trying very hard to keep her from getting too wild so we don't undo what's been healing.

My sister and her kiddos made a trip up from San Antonio to visit us for three weeks. We had a great time and some good adventures despite the fact we had a herd of babies, toddlers and preschoolers along for the ride. We went raspberry picking, fishing, hiking, riding, up to cities to the Mall of America and the Children's museum to name a few. Josiah is smitten with his older cousin Faith and even is willing to dress up in a prince tux to have tea with your highness.

Josiah and Faith in the "secret garden". Too precious, I couldn't help myself!

Josiah and Ava embracing as two birds of a feather at the Childrens Museum in Minneapolis.




The sisters, cousins and Nana at the Mall of America.

A couple weekends ago we got to help Ryan's sister and husband move to the beautiful land of Minnesota. We all went up to "help" them move in. Although Josiah spent a good portion of his time as the bubble wrap super hero. Real safe, I know.

We spent some time in Osh Kosh visiting some friends and going the the Fly In Show. We had a great time. Grace enjoyed singing from our friend's raised patio in the backyard. I think she was rehearsing for the next American Idol.

One of the fun things to see was Steve Saint's flying car he invented. It was created to save lives in the Amazon. He let Josiah jump in the drivers seat to check it out closer.

Checking out the war birds with our friend, Adrian. Josiah is hiding behind my leg. I guess he's camera shy now.

A random event at the show, but fun. Josiah's first ride on a mechanical bronco.... we did convince Ryan to hop on as well. They sped it up a bit more for him.

We went to the Berne Swissfest this past weekend and got to see all sorts of crazy events. I am certain it has sparked some inspiration of more "creative" games at home. One of the events was the stone throwing contest. Josiah thought he'd show up the other young strong Swiss by hurling the 75 pound rock further than all. He didn't move it at all from this pose.....

Have a great rest of the summer!

I am sure we're all a bit giddy from the sunshine and warmth we've been experiencing these past couple weeks. Even though it seems like it's been a loooong winter, it's hard to believe summer is almost upon us. Obviously, I've missed a few months blogging. Here's the latest blog update I've been able to muster, thanks to my Texas Rose's prodding.
Ryan had a work trip to Puerto Rico in February and I was able to tag along with him so he wasn't lonely. Tough job, I know. We ditched the kids with my folks and I think they had as much fun as we did.

We celebrated Easter down in Branson with the McKenzie side of the family. The cousins has so much fun, they didn't want it to end. We were able to make it to the sights and sounds theatre to watch Noah, the Musical. There were live animals and a 360 degree stage. The kids sat still and watched the whole 2 hours of it! We celebrated Easter with a Texas pinata and discovered Grace is a natural at hitting stuff with a big stick.

Josiah turned the big 3 this month and we celebrated this past weekend with a small party Lightening McQueen style. He seems to have a liking to the Disney movie Cars, and anything to do with Cars so it only seemed appropriate.

Grace has been fine tuning her spring horse riding skills. After watching trick riding at the Dixie Stampede in Branson, she is now ready to perform the suicide drag. Seriously, she is our little dare devil. We can't let her out of our site for a second. During Josiah's party, she decided to take a little swim in our pond and my mom had to dive in to grab her!


Josiah is well on his way to wearing big boy undies....we got a ways to go.

We are getting 25 chicks in a few days so stay tuned for more pics. Have a great spring!