4th of July Fun! I know it's late :)

We took a short road trip to Minneapolis last weekend to celebrate the 4th with my brother and his wife, Dana. We had a great time! Friday night after dinner we went on a walk by the lake and then got ice cream at this cute little parlor. It was the best ice cream we've had in a long time.

Brenna enjoyed helping herself to Dana's mint chocolate chip ice cream!

While we were eating our ice cream a police man came up to Brenna and gave her a sticker. She was cautious at first, but then warmed up to the guy.

Somehow the sticker ended up on Dana's back...without her knowing :)

I think the culprit's name starts with an R and ends with an N and he's sitting to the right of Dana in the picture below. There are always lots of laughs and not many dull moments with my brother around. I love it!

Saturday morning we casually got up and ready. While the girls were getting ready, Brenna "helped" uncle Ryan water the lawn.

Then we headed to Jamba Juice. The girls enjoying their smoothies in the back seat.

Brenna downed hers in about 10 minutes. Just kidding...she is taking sips from her daddy's :) It's crazy how huge the cup looks in her hands though! We then went shopping for a while. That afternoon the boys went golfing and the girls relaxed. That night we grilled burgers....gotta love the all American meal on the 4th! Then we tested out Ryan & Dana's new fire pit. We enjoyed smores and then watched the fire works from their yard....I guess it ended up being in their street since that's where we could see them the best.

My handsome husband!
Sunday we went to a little diner for brunch and then watched the Wimbledon tennis match. I'm not a big tennis fan, but it was a really good match and we all got into it. We then headed back to Ames. Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Ryan & Dana!

Van Cleave Baby #2

In December, we will introduce a new baby GIRL into our family. We are super excited that God has blessed us with another child and I think Brenna will love having a sister to play with. Of course Jared would have loved a boy, but he is such a great dad to little girls and Brenna just adores him like I'm sure our new baby girl will as well.

I had my cerclage surgery 2 weeks ago and it went well. I had a little bit more bleeding than they expected after the surgery, so I ended up being on bed rest for a week unexpectantly. Thankfully our parents and friends were able to help out since I couldn't lift Brenna or do basically anything on my feet. This pregnancy has been a little bit more stressful than my last pregnancy because of some bleeding I've experienced five different times...four of those times were unrelated to the surgery. Thankfully, the baby has been fine each time and I haven't had any cramping or contractions along with it. Each time it happened though, I thought it could possibly be the end of the pregnancy. God has been so good to protect the baby through these times and to give me peace to get through the times of uncertainty.

We would appreciate your prayers that the rest of the pregnancy would go smooth and the baby would be healthy and strong when she is born.

Camping Trip

Last Saturday night our connection group camped out....like REALLY camped out. Tents and no bathrooms in the middle of no where! I'm not a big camper, but it was a lot of fun! There were a lot of fun things to do while we were there too...canoeing, fishing, swimming, outdoor games, etc. That night we grilled and sat around the camp fire and ate smores and played the game Psychiatrist. It was hilarious! Camping was a lot of fun and I'm already looking forward to next year's connection group camp out....which will probably be the next time we camp. :) Thanks Raul and Lydia for hosting and organizing the weekend!

Andrew & Shantel

The Crawford Family

Payten, Brenna, & Ky...the kids did awesome and had a great time too!
Bridget & Caitlin

Raul, our master griller! He made a mean pork tenderloin.