The Van Cleave Family

Can you help us reach our goal?

2011-06-06T15:12:00.006-05:00

Gospelink is an organization that was introduced to Jared in college. They link up people like you and I to financially support & sponsor national pastors in Africa who share the gospel, disciple and plant churches among their own people groups. There are currently 1,200 preachers being assisted through this organization. Jared and I have had the privilege to help a couple pastors through this ministry. We really believe in their mission and have seen God work through them...not with our own eyes, but through their qaurterly reports! Ha! :)

So why am I blogging about this??? A sponsorship program for the pastors already exists, but additional funds are needed to operate the mission. They asked us to help raise $200 each year to help maintain the general operations of the mission. We have given the first $20.00. I am looking for a few friends to join me. Can you help us reach our goal by giving $10, $15 or more? If so, click on the link below. It's quick and easy. Also, every dollar you give will be matched times three by other donors. What an awesome investment! :) Thanks for your consideration!

https://www.schooldynamics.net/goteam/partner.php?59

Christmas Eve

2011-01-09T20:49:00.006-06:00

It seems like every Christmas has been a little different since Jared and I have gotten married. This year we celebrated with my family the weekend of our church Christmas production. We hosted this year and we had a great time. We watched Christmas Vacation, ate some yummy food, opened presents, did a little shopping, went to the Cafe for breakfast (the highlight for me), and went to our church Christmas production that Jared participated in. Unfortunately I didn't take one picture!

On Christmas Eve and Christmas morning it was just our family of four. On Christmas Eve I made appetizers....little smokies, veggie pizza, sweet potato fries with a dipping sauce, and spinach and artichoke dip. Then we went to our church candle light Christmas Eve service. It was awesome singing worship songs to the One we celebrate at Christmas....my favorite was singing Holy, Holy, Holy. After we came back home, we let the girls open their stockings. It was the first year we did stockings. I think we are going to make that a tradition.

On Christmas morning we got up and ate homemade cinnamon rolls that Jared made. Just a side note....one of the things I love about Jared is that he takes risks in cooking and almost everything he makes turns out great! His mom encouraged both the girls and the boys to help in the kitchen and Jared and all three siblings are great cooks. Anyway....after we ate breakfast we opened Christmas gifts. A few families we know get their kids 3 gifts each for Christmas. I think they got it from the wise men giving Jesus three gifts. One of the families gives a book, a toy, and a clothing item/outfit to each child. We thought we would try that this year. I LOVED it and I think it will become another tradition. I liked the practicality of it: my shopping was focused and the girls weren't overloaded with a bunch of gifts.

That afternoon we went to Jared's parents to celebrate with the Van Cleave side of the family. We ate a delicious ham meal, played games, opened gifts, watched movies, etc. We had a lot of fun together!

Jared learned how to make kettle corn a few months ago and Jared's dad LOVES it. He told us that's what he wanted for Christmas.....so that's what he got! :)
Without knowing, Maranda gave jammies to Lauren as a Christmas gift and I gave Marlee jammies too. The funny thing is that we picked out the same exact ones! :)

Well, there's a little glimpse into our Christmas this year. I know it's a little late...but I guess it's better late than never, right? :) Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

2011-01-09T20:33:00.003-06:00

The Monday before Christmas I watched my friends three kids, as well as my own, all day. I decided to have a few things planned....hoping that would make the day go smoother. One thing I planned was to make a reindeer out of tracing the kids hands and feet. I found the idea on a kids craft website. The kids loved it! Since then, Brenna has asked every other day if she can do a craft. So below are a few we did the week of Christmas. She needs help cutting, but loves to decorate and glue things. In case you are wondering, the day went well and it helped to have a few things planned.....but it reassured me that I don't want five kids! :)

Playtime in the Snow

2011-01-09T20:21:00.004-06:00

On Christmas Eve it snowed quite a bit in Ames. After Jared shoveled the snow, Brenna went out to play with him. She rode her 3 wheeler for a while and then Jared and her went down to the park (which is only 2 doors down) and went on the slide, swings and merry-go-round. Jared also showed Brenna how to do a snow angel. They had a blast! I didn't venture out to the park with them since Lauren was taking a nap inside, but I got a few pics before they left.

Brenna warming up, watching a cartoon with her new blanket she got from Bree for Christmas. Doesn't she look so grown up in this picture?

Lauren checking out her sister's new blanket!

Christmas Production

2011-01-05T21:33:00.003-06:00

Jared was in our church Christmas production this year. Discovering David Dansville was the title. They did 9 shows and over 5000 people came to see it. It was amazing! It was a good reminder of the unconditional love our heavenly Father has for each of us. Jared did such a good job and it was so fun to see him on stage.

Lauren is One!!!

2011-01-05T20:30:00.004-06:00

Lauren is one!!! She turned one on December 3rd. I can't believe my baby is one already. She is a little over 20 lbs....around the 38th percentile and about the 30th percentile for height. She loves music and will bop up and down when she hears it. She loves baths. She loves to be held! She loves food....I can't keep enough on her tray when we eat meals. She has a beautiful smile, but can turn feisty pretty quick if she doesn't get her way. She loves her blanket. She loves her sister as long as Brenna gives her space! :) Lauren has been such a great baby and has added so much joy to our family. Below are a few pictures from her little party. We invited two families over for a spaghetti dinner and cupcakes. I was still warn out from Brenna's 3 year old birthday bash with over 15 kids, so I decided to do something a little more low key for Lauren. :)

I made pumpkin cupcakes. Lauren devoured it! She just kept shoving more and more into her mouth! :) I think she thought she was getting away with something and should eat as quickly as possible before it was taken away!

How do you like Brenna's outfit (she's on the right)? Yes...that's an 80's leotard my mom got at a garage sale....and yes, that's her underwear sticking out underneath! Ha! The kids were playing dress up and she came out to the kitchen in this outfit like she was the coolest thing on the block!!! I couldn't stop laughing!

I tried to get a picture of the girls together, but this was the best I could get. Lauren was ready for bed and was tuckered out from the birthday festivities!

Future Pop Star

2010-11-11T22:06:00.001-06:00

Brenna's Birthday Party

2010-11-01T20:48:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, October 16th, Brenna turned 3 years old! I can't believe my baby is 3! We had a big celebration and had friends and family over for cake, ice cream and goodies.

Below is Dana and Brenna getting her party favor gift bags ready.

Brenna had a few requests for her birthday: a princess cake that was pink and purple, flowers, and balloons. I handled the flowers and balloons and Jared took care of the cake. He did an awesome job....with help from my sister-in-law, Dana. They baked a four layer strawberry filled cake and then Jared decorated it. Brenna loved her cake and it was mighty tasty too! What do you think? Jared is such a great dad!

After we ate cake and ice cream, Brenna opened all her gifts. Her friends and family were so generous and she got a lot of great gifts.

After gifts, we attempted a picture with all the kids in it. It turned out pretty good for how many kids there were.

Then the kids played while the adults talked and watched football. The kids were on a sugar high from all the cake and ice cream so it got pretty loud and crazy! Brenna even put on a concert with her new microphone....thanks Ryan & Dana! Below is a little video clip. :) Maybe she has a future in entertainment! (I've tried to download the video 3 times and it hasn't worked, so I will try something different later.)

Overall, the party went great and we had a fun time celebrating Brenna's birthday with our friends and family.

Tricky Treat

2010-10-31T11:15:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween from our little lady bugs!!! We went trick-or-treating....or as Brenna would say, "tricky treat" on Friday night. Brenna enjoyed collecting candy and Lauren enjoyed a relaxing ride in the stroller! The older generation on our street loved seeing the girls in their outfits.

August/September Review

2010-10-21T20:46:00.004-05:00

I'm struggling with motivation to write this post because I don't have many pictures to use and I wonder if people are really interested in what we did a few months ago. But I'm going to post anyway because I like to complete things....I said I was going to write reviews for each month, so for me to move on to other posts I need to finish! :) I also want to post so I have record of the last two months. I see our blog as a family journal....the Van Cleave happenings....and I want to be able to go back and remember what our family did. So bear with me....or just ignore this post. :)

August

Jared's mom Patty stayed with us for a few days before she had to go back to school. She's works full time at an elementary school in Carlisle as a nurse and secretary. She loves to play with Brenna when she's here. She can sit for hours and play house, color, play with puzzles, etc.

We had a garage sale. I didn't think it would be worth the hassle, but I'm glad Jared encouraged me to follow through with it. We got rid of a lot of junk and it motivated us to organize our basement.

Ames flooded in August. Fortunately, we had no water in our basement, but a lot of families had to tear out all of their carpet in their basements because of it.

We attended the Iowa State Fair with our good friends, the Kruger family.

My aunt Debra visited my grandma in Burlington for a week, so the girls and I made a road trip down there to spend some with her....along with my parents. Jared stayed home and worked on our deck.

September

We went to the Amana's to celebrate Brenna's friend, Brady's, birthday. We stayed at a hotel that has a waterpark. We had so much fun....but we forgot our camera so there are no pics. :(

That same weekend we attended the first official service of Veritas Church, Cornerstone's new church plant in Iowa City. There were over 200 people there. If anyone lives near, or in, Iowa City you should check. God is already doing awesome things there and I think He will continue to. I'm excited to see the future of this church.
My mom and dad came to visit for several days because my mom had a one day conference for work in Des Moines. We had a great time together. They watched the girls on Saturday night so Jared and I could walk down and attend the Iowa State football game. It was a great game and the weather was perfect.

Yeah!!! I made it through the reviews!

Brenna's birthday was last Saturday so stay tuned for pics and details of her princess party!

June & July Review

2010-10-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

June: We went to a lot of parks, went to the splash park a couple times, went to four birthday parties. I don't have many pictures from June so I honestly don't remember much more than that! :)

July: Jared's sister Lydia and her two kids, Micah and Bea came to visit. They stayed at Jared's parents the majority of the time, but one of the nights they stayed at our house. We had a great time with them. They were here during the fourth too, so we all went up to Jared's grandparents cabin in Spirit Lake. It was super windy up there, so we weren't able to get in the water, but we had a great time visiting with family and the kids were able to have fun in their make-shift pools. :) We love when Lydia comes to visit and had so much fun with them!

Lauren and her great grandma Muriel (Jared's grandma).

Lydia, Bea & Lauren.

Brenna & her two boy cousins, Micah & Easton.

Brenna stayed a long weekend with my parents in Burlington. They did A LOT together...went to the Farmers Market, took the dogs on several walks, went to a couple parks, went to the pool, etc. She loved her time there and didn't get home sick one bit....she didn't even want to talk to me when I called. She was too busy playing :)

Burlington has a farmers market along the Mississippi River on Thursday nights. They went to get some sweet corn.

This is a bike my parents found Brenna on a garage sale for $1!!! My dad is teaching her how to ride.

We went to visit my brother in Minniapolis in July too, but we forgot our camera. It was really hot that weekend, so we couldn't do much outside, but we still had a great time....grilled out, went to the Mall of America, watched a movie, went to our favorite ice cream shop, etc. On our way out of town my friend Nealy took family pictures of us. I will post some pics later this week. She did an awesome job!

At the end of July the girls and I took a road trip to Madison, WI. All my girl cousins on the Bohlen side got together with all our kids (which are all girls) for the weekend. We had a great time together. It was so fun to catch up and to watch all our kids interact.

I'm Back! :)

2010-10-07T20:51:00.004-05:00

I know, I know...it's been a while since we've posted anything. Ok....a LONG while! I thought I'd get everyone up to speed on what we've been up to the past few months, so I'm going to do four or five different posts in the next week (or two...or three) highlighting the last several months of our lives. Then hopefully after that I will be better at posting more consistently.

I will start with May & June.

We went to a couple of weddings in May. One of those was our college babysitter, Ashley. She's watched Brenna during our weekly connection group (couples Bible study) for two and half years....basically since Brenna was a newborn. She is an awesome babysitter and has become a great friend to Brenna and the rest of our family. Brenna was so excited to go to her wedding and she even got to dance with her!

Lauren was dedicated at our church in May. As Lauren's parents we dedicated her to the Lord and promised to teach her the truths of Scripture and raise her in godly home. Below is a picture of the group of parents and their kids....if you look close you can see Lauren's picture on the screen.

The girls and I took a road trip to Burlington to visit my parents

and also attend a bachelorette party for my friend Mindy...we've been friends ever since we met in kindergarten! It was fun to see some friends from high school and to catch up with Mindy. I am so happy for her and her new husband Matt!

While we were gone, Jared had spent a lot of time doing landscaping in our yard and also building a trellis. Didn't he do an awesome job? He is so handy!

At the end of May we went to Bree's birthday party. This is Brenna's best friend. They are only four months a part and love to spend time together. It will be fun to watch them grow up together.

Below are a couple of random pics.

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

2010-06-11T20:39:00.002-05:00

We love you and can't wait to see you in a few weeks!!!

Sweet Lauren is Six Months

2010-06-03T21:05:00.002-05:00

Our sweet Lauren turned six months today! I can't believe it. She has been such a good baby and we love her to pieces!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T11:20:00.009-05:00

Mommy, you are awesome. Thanks so much for all you do for me and our family. Thanks for playing with me, reading books to me, taking me to the park, taking me to mommy and me music, making me meals every day, washing my clothes, changing my diapers, teaching me God's truths and being my best friend. You are the best mom I could ever have!

I love you this much....BrennaMommy, I think you are the best too! Thank you so much for the last 5 months of meeting my every need. Thank you for all the time you've spent nursing me, even when I am difficult. You are so good to me and I appreciate all your hard work. Thank you for changing my diapers, for feeding me, for clipping my toe nails and finger nails, thanks for washing my clothes and my burp cloths :), thanks for being willing to get up in the wee hours of the night to care for me. You are an awesome mom and I am so grateful for you.

I love you....LaurenSteph, thanks for being an outstanding mom to our daugthers. You are so good at your job and I appreciate you every day. Thanks for the love and support you give our daughters and for all the patience and kindness you show them. You are a Proverbs 31 wife and mom and I thank God for your gifts and abilities to raise our family to know, love, and obey God. Keep up the great work and thank you again for all you do.

I love you....Jared

Bohlen Family Weekend

2010-04-18T21:24:00.005-05:00

My parents, brother, and sister-in-law came to visit us last weekend. We had a great time together as usual. Our weekend included garage sales, taking walks, celebrating my mom's birthday, church, DQ (a family tradition), and jumping on our neighbors trampoline.

I LOVE this picture of Brenna that Dana took.

Our neighbors are building a deck and Brenna is pretending that the pile of wood is a stage. She was showing off her moves and her pipes...and practicing her D6 songs. She had a pretty captive audience too.

Trampoline fun!

Fun is always had when Uncle Ryan is around!

Dana cuddling with sweet Lauren.

Lauren is getting so big! She's already 4 1/2 months old.

Can you say static!?!

Brenna helping Aunt Dana make cupcakes for Grandma Bohlen's birthday. They were delicious!

Brenna had a lot of good quality time with her grandma. They took my mom's dogs on a lot of walks. During one of their walks, my mom taught her what a fire hydrant was and how to say it. So now she looks for them whenever we are on a walk or driving around town. It's so cute to hear a 2 year old say "fire hydrant". :)

Thanks for coming to visit Bohlen's! Come back soon!

Easter Dinner at Van Cleave's

2010-04-18T20:57:00.004-05:00

We had dinner and an egg hunt at Jared's parents on Easter day. We had a lot of fun together.

Brenna & Easton having fun playing outside together.
Marlee looking cute in her blue and green dress!

The egg hunt begins....Brenna loved looking for all the eggs.

Is this a pose or what! :) Showing off her treasures.

Checking out all of their finds.

Family picture...not that great of Lauren, but it's HARD to get all four of us smiling without blinking at the same time.

Happy Lauren

2010-03-21T21:26:00.006-05:00

I can't believe our baby Lauren is already 3 1/2 months old. She is such a great baby and brings so much joy to our family. The last few weeks have been full of smiles from her. You barely have to look at her and she will smile at you. It is so cute. She usually only gets fussy if she's hungry or tired. Lately, she's been enjoying the bumbo seat and her play mat and loves when her big sister comes and chats with her. If I had to guess, I'm assuming Lauren will be an extrovert.

The picture below was taken a few months ago, but thought I'd still post it!

Brenna Loves Her Baby Lauren

2010-03-21T14:25:00.002-05:00

A question I've been asked a lot since having Lauren is, "How is Brenna doing with the new baby?" Brenna loves her "baby wuaren", as Brenna would say.....she has a hard time saying her "l's" :) She is always giving her hugs and kisses and loves to hold her...

take pictures with her...

lay with her under her playmat....
read to her...
take baths with her...

She also likes to talk to her and sing to her when Lauren is in her bouncy seat. It's a blessing that she loves her sister so much, but I have to keep an eye on Brenna constantly so she doesn't smother her! :) She doesn't realize when she's leaning on her too much or bouncing the seat too high, etc. That's actually been one of the harder things for me to deal with the past few months. But I try to remember that it's only for a season and that I should be thankful that they love each other so much already. Brenna is able to get Lauren smiling the easiest. It's fun to see thier sisterly bond already.

Some Pics of the Inside of the House

2010-01-08T21:25:00.007-06:00

Here are some interior pictures of our home. The remodeling is coming along nicely. Some nice interior decorating courtesy of Jenni Sabino. Getting somewhere now. We'll have to post some of the bedrooms and bathroom some other time. Enjoy.

On the verge of smiling

2010-01-08T21:12:00.001-06:00

Some Video

2009-12-03T21:59:00.002-06:00

Here is an early on video of Lauren when she first got to the nursery. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Family!

2009-12-03T20:24:00.005-06:00

Today we get to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Say hello to Lauren Marie Van Cleave. She was born 12/3/09 at 12:28pm at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames. She weighs 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measures 19.5 inches long. She came into the world via C-section and was delivered in less than 10 min. Stephanie is doing well despite some nausea from the medications. Already her big sister Brenna has gotten to hold her and couldn't stop kissing her and holding her hand. She's going to be an awesome big sister.

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers and support. We are so excited to become a family of 4 and are truly blessed with this gift of life. We'll be in the hospital for a few more days yet as Stephanie continues to recover.

Our Home - Before and After of Exterior

2009-11-02T23:03:00.005-06:00

We are getting closer and closer to getting the exterior of our new home completed. Here is a before and after shot of the front of the house with the garage. Can someone say "overhaul baby"? I think Gladys would drive right by and not even recognize the place. Next Spring the plan is to do some landscaping and build a deck...can't wait for those! I'll post some interior shots once we get more decorating done and before the baby comes. Enjoy...we sure are!

BEFORE - September 2008

AFTER - November 2009

September Highlights

2009-10-05T21:49:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's October already! Where did September go anyway? Since I didn't post anything in September, I thought I'd give you some highlights of the month.

We attended the first ISU football game of the season. They played great and Brenna loved watching all the people, the band, and the football players. Whenever we go by the stadium now or she sees anything with Cyclones on it, she'll say "Go Cyclones!".

My family came to visit one weekend in September. We had a great time together. We did our regular things....garage sales, grandma Bohlen's famous cinnamon rolls, church, ate at Wallaby's, watched football, etc.

We started up our regular ministry groups: connection group (which we host at our home on Tuesday nights), D6 family ministry (once a month at church), Jared started his men's group and I started my weekly women's bible study on Thursday mornings. I am studying Joshua right now and it has been great to be in the Old Testament, since I don't normally study the O.T. on my own. Joshua is such a good example of being strong and courageous in the Lord and also to trust in God's promises, no matter how "out there" they might seem.

Jared has worked hard....as a real estate agent and also on home improvement projects. He is such a hard worker and I'm so thankful for that.

We hosted our first tailgate at our house. It was a lot of fun. The highlight for the kids was riding Brenna's Dora Explorer 4 Wheeler :)

Van Cleave dinner-Jared's family gets together the last Sunday of the month to share a meal together. We rotate homes and this month Jared's sister Anna hosted. We had a great time and Brenna & Easton always love to play together.

I had jury duty. This really wasn't a highlight, but something I participated in. I was one of the 7 selected for the Story County Grand Juror about 6 months ago.....lucky me! :) Basically our main responsibility is to tour the county facilities once a year to make sure everything looks clean, in order, etc. So last Tuesday I spent all day touring group homes, the county prison, county hospital, and rehab facility for substance abuse. It was interesting, especially the prison, but it ended up being a long day. After the day was over, I was so thankful to the Lord that I grew up in a loving christan home and that he has granted me good health, mentally and physically.

Brenna is talking a lot! It seems like everyday she is learning new words. She loves to dance, read her Bernstein Bear books, play with her doll house, and "help" mommy cook.

I'll end with a few pictures from the month and a video of Brenna showing off her salsa moves.

Our Little Dancer

2009-08-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

My mom found this dance/play outfit for Brenna. As you can probably guess, she found it on a garage sale :) I love my mom's garage sale finds....Brenna does too! Brenna enjoyed trying it on for the first time and performing a variety of dance moves for us. After her water break she decided to relax for a while and read some books in her fancy attire!

Iowa State Fair

2009-08-23T22:37:00.005-05:00

We went to the Iowa State Fair last week with some new friends, George & Raluca. They just moved to the area from Louisiana and are originally from Romania. Jared helped them find a home this summer and thought it would be a good idea to give them a feel for Iowa through the fair! We had a great time and are hoping to spend more time with them this year.

We didn't take many pictures, but here are few we snapped of the night.

Family Pics

2009-08-23T22:04:00.004-05:00

We went to a wedding last weekend in Burlington. Below are some family pics my mom took after the reception.

Farmer's Market

2009-08-13T21:26:00.004-05:00

I'm a big fan of the Des Moines Farmer's Market. We went on Saturday morning and had a ton of fun.

We ate breakfast burritos & pastries, bought some local veggies, a bouquet of flowers, and kettle corn, listened to live music, and did some people watching. We even caught a few vender's taking a mid-morning snooze. I couldn't stop laughing after we took these pictures. It's the hardest I've laughed in a long time :)

Jared's brother, Caleb, and his family joined us towards the end of the morning too. Brenna was so excited to see her cousins, Easton & Marlee.

Brenna & Easton danced by the stage to live music and were a big hit with the people sitting near by. They did look pretty darn cute!

Hasta la vista, Farmer's Market! Hope to come back soon!

Road Trip to Chicago

2009-08-07T22:35:00.006-05:00

We took a road trip to Libertyville, IL (north of Chicago) with Jared's parents and sister last weekend for Jared's cousin's wedding. The drive was long, but we had some good bonding time and lots of laughs in the van. The wedding & reception was so much fun too. The food was amazing and they had a really fun dance. Brenna was a hit on the dance floor! I think she danced more than all of us! :)

Jared's Aunt Jo Ann and her sons, Josh & Jeremy. Josh (left) is the groom.

Josh and his beautiful bride Maggie with his mom, brother, and Jo Ann's boyfriend.

We had prime rib, sauteed chicken w/spinach & mushrooms with a yummy sauce, green beans & carrots and mashed potatoes. Doesn't it look so gourmet? My favorite was the chicken even though I'm a big beef fan :)

Brenna dancing with her grandpa.

Jared's parents cutting a rug!
Brenna enjoying a slow dance with her daddy. So precious!
Myself and Anna (Jared's sister).
Brenna was a trooper during the entire trip. She did great in the car and at the wedding and reception....and we didn't even leave the reception until after 10:30.
She was winding down at this point and I thought she looked so cute!

Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Bohlen

2009-08-03T21:39:00.006-05:00

Brenna and I took a road trip to visit my parents and grandma last Thursday and stayed through Sunday. We had a wonderful time with them. Brenna's favorite part was playing outside with all of the outdoor toys my parents found at garage sales this summer: Little Tykes purple convertible, mower, and trike.

Besides playing outside, we went to the farmers market (which was on the riverfront so Brenna really enjoyed looking at the "waber" and boats)

played at a park,

browsed through an outdoor puppy show,
went to garage sales, and went swimming.

Another highlight for Brenna was receiving and riding her very own Dora Explorer 4 Wheeler! One of my mom's co-workers wanted it out of her garage, so she just gave it to Brenna. How generous!!! Brenna definitely needs assistance, but she caught on pretty good and didn't fall off once (see video below). I think she'll have it down by next summer.

Brenna got to see her uncle Ryan & aunt Dana too since they were in town for Ryan's 10 year class reunion. Brenna loves her uncle Ryan!
We had a great weekend with family, but we were ready to get back home and see our "main man" who was working hard all weekend on house projects.

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

2009-07-12T21:14:00.009-05:00

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

2009-07-02T21:20:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-02T21:02:00.003-05:00

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.

Florida Fun!

2009-06-29T15:05:00.006-05:00

We made a spontaneous trip to West Palm Beach, FL last week to visit Jared's sister, Lydia, and her family. We had an awesome time! The highlights were going to the beach four different times, snorkeling, eating Lydia's yummy meals, watching movies, shopping, and just hanging out and spending time together. We had a lot of laughs and good times while we were there. We also got to meet our niece, Bea (8mo.), for the first time. She is such a precious little girl and Brenna absolutely loved her. Every time she saw her, she would go up to her and say, "Hi baby Bea!" usually followed by a kiss on the head or a hug.

Brenna also had fun playing with her cousin Micah (4yrs). They would chase each other around and think it was the funniest thing. They also liked to hold hands while they were sitting in their car seats. It was super cute!

Brenna checking out her new bikini....a garage sale find from last year :)

Lydia had to work one of the nights we were there. She works at a really neat restaurant. After Brenna went down that night, Matt graciously stayed home with the kids so we could go visit her. We got dessert and drinks and listened to the live music....a guy who played the piano and sang. It was awesome. The atmosphere was great and it was so nice to have a night out on the town :)

Brenna wasn't too fond of being in the ocean, but she loved playing in the sand on the beach!

Some more fun pics on the beach....

Thanks, Matt & Lydia, for hosting us last week. We had a great time with you and are looking forward to the next time we get to come visit.

Come to Our Garage/Estate Sale!

2009-06-03T13:05:00.003-05:00

What: Garage/Estate Sale

When:
Thursday 1-6
Friday 8-4
Saturday 8-4

Where: 2114 Greenbriar Cir, Ames...near the ISU stadium

Who: Everyone!

When we moved into our new house we automatically inherited A LOT of stuff that was left in the attic, basement, garage, workshop, etc. So we hired someone to do an estate sale for us. They organize, display, price, and run the sale. We have something for everyone. Antiques, tools, furniture, antique frames, kitchen stuff, gardening tools...and much more! Hope to see you at the sale! Below is a sneak preview! :)

Brenna's First Date!

2009-05-28T22:01:00.001-05:00

Horsey!

2009-05-26T20:20:00.004-05:00

On Saturday morning we went to the horse stables on Iowa State's campus.

Zoo Time!

2009-05-22T13:24:00.005-05:00

Brenna and I spent the day at the Omaha zoo with Maranda (my sister-in-law) and Marlee (my new little neice) on Thursday. The weather was beautiful and we had a blast. Maranda is on maternity leave from teaching 5th grade, but she was asked to come for the end of the year 5th grade trip to the zoo. So she asked if we wanted to join her. Brenna loved seeing all the animals and all the activity of the day. The first animal we came across was the giraffe. When she first saw it, she said "wow". I think she was surprised at how big it actually was. The giraffe was stretching it's neck up real high to get some leaves, so she reached her hands up real high imitating it.

She liked watching the flamingos too. I was a little nervous she would get her hand bit, because they came real close to Brenna at the fence. Thankfully she didn't.

She really liked the monkeys too. I can't believe how close the monkeys get to the window and then they just stare at you. It kind of freaked me out....Brenna didn't seem to mind at all...she just waved at them :)

We got to see lots of other animals before lunch....bears, tigers, peacocks, snakes, etc. We ate our sack lunch and then headed to the aquarium.

We decided to head home after the aquarium....we were all getting tired. Brenna only lasted about five minutes and then conked out in her car seat.

Thanks for letting us join you at the zoo, Maranda!!! We had a great time!

Weekend with the Bohlens

2009-05-17T14:25:00.004-05:00

My parents were spontaneous this weekend. They called me on Friday night to see what we had planned this weekend. Since we didn't have much going on they packed up, picked up my grandma and headed to Ames that night. We had a great time! Saturday morning we went to some garage sales and then came back and helped my grandma make her famous cinnamon rolls and apple pie. We relaxed most of the afternoon and then went to an open house that Jared was hosting....one of Chris Gardner's amazing Bella Homes. Check it out: http://jaredvancleave.c21sre.com/properties/dspProperty.cfm?propertyID=192043 It even has a hidden poker room in the basement! We grilled out when we got home and then watched a movie. Today we went to church and then Hickory Park for lunch. It was a fun weekend. Thanks for coming to visit, mom & dad!!!

Brenna is a sporting an ISU hat my parents found at a garage sale in Burlington. Doesn't she look old in it?

My mom brought Brenna a babydoll with a bottle. Brenna loved feeding her all weekend. My mom taught her how to burp the baby too. It was pretty cute. This is another garage sale deal my mom found....5 cents!

Happy Mama's Day! ~Brenna

2009-05-10T20:48:00.004-05:00

Brenna, with a little coaching from me, was able to put a very important sentence together this evening before bed on a very important day!

Steph, thanks for all you do for Brenna. You are an awesome mom and are doing an outstanding job raising our daughter. I love you very much! -Jared

Crazy Day!

2009-05-08T14:40:00.005-05:00

I have had a pretty crazy day so far!

I left this morning about 7:50 am and just got home about 1:45pm. I started out the morning thinking I would go to one or two garage sales and then Target. Well....the morning didn't really work out as planned. I went to a garage sale and found some cute clothes for Brenna. As we were walking to our car, Brenna kept pointing to the park across the street w/ a neat wooden play area. I was having a debate in my mind at this point....keep my agenda or let Brenna have some fun. Thankfully one of the guys in connection group last night was talking about selfless love, so the Holy Spirit convicted me to not be selfish with my time and have some fun w/ my daughter. So we ended up playing for about 45 minutes and had a great time. Then I decided to go to two other garage sales...didn't find anything. Then Target...only got a card, but looked at a lot of stuff. Then I decided to go to Salvation Army....didn't find anything. It was about 11am, so I decided to go to Goodwill before we came home for lunch. I found a cute GAP t-shirt. When I went to leave, my car wouldn't start. It was completely dead. I called Jared...he was at a closing and said he would be there in 15 minutes or so....it was about 23 min....not that I was counting or anything :) During that time I put Brenna in the stroller and went into Hy-Vee to buy some water and 2 apples. We sat outside on a bench, eating our apples, waiting for Jared. Brenna loved her apple...she ate it whole and almost ate the entire thing! It was messy, but kept her very content. Once Jared got there he tried to start it, but with no success. He tried to find someone with jumper cables, but couldn't find anyone. Fortunately we got a hold of one of our friends, Brett, who lives in an apartment complex right across the street. He just finished finals yesterday and was free today....so he came over with some cables...which didn't fix the problem. Jared had a 1:15 apt in Huxley, so he needed to get going. Brett offered to go to Wal-Mart to get us a new battery and then install it. What a blessing he was for us today!!! While he did that Brenna & I walked across the street to McDonalds. Brenna only wanted to eat fries, dipped in ketchup of course, and the pickles off my sandwich. Brett was pulling up just as we were walking up to the car. It took him about 3 minues to get the new battery in. The car started right up! Praise the Lord!

My hour outing ended up being about 6 hours!!! Brenna is now napping....I think I need to join her!

Fun at Reiman Gardens

2009-05-07T14:04:00.005-05:00

Brenna & I enjoyed a morning at Reiman Gardens this week. Hollie and her two boys invited us to join them. Reiman Gardens is a block from our house and is a 14 acre garden owned by Iowa State University. We started out in the butterfly room with a lot tropical plants and beautiful butterflies fluttering around. Then we headed outside to walk along the paths and look at all the tulips. It was a fun morning! Since we only live a block from the gardens we decided to get a family pass for the year and go whenever we want. For those of you who live in Ames: let us know if you ever want us to join you at the gardens.

Pictures from the Week

2009-05-01T14:49:00.003-05:00

Brenna is already 18 months old! I can't believe it. It seems like she says a new word every day. Her newest ones are happy, water, & park. She is a chatter box and is trying so hard to communicate with us. She still loves books and likes to read them by herself now...miss independent! We have a park behind our new house and she asks several times a day to go to the park.....her favorite part is the slide. She's a pretty happy toddler most of the time...this week she is cutting some more teeth, so it's been a rough week for her. What a wonderful daughter God has provided us in Brenna....she brings so much joy to our family!

Easter

2009-04-28T11:35:00.003-05:00

I know Easter was a while ago, but thought I'd post a few pictures of Brenna's first Easter egg hunt. She loved finding all the eggs and putting them in the basket. Her cousin Easton had more fun dumping the eggs out of their shared basket. Brenna got a little frustrated toward the end, but overall they both had a lot of fun!

More Pics of the House

2009-02-22T20:17:00.004-06:00

Hey all. Clearly some visible progress on the interior of the house over the last few days. Beams and columns stained and sealed. Some paint going up. Light fixtures installed. This coming week... attic insulation, closet shelving installation, more painting, and sanding and refinishing hardwood floors. 2 weeks and counting for move in date.

Exterior Pics of the New Place

2009-02-16T20:15:00.012-06:00

Wanted to post some exterior pics of the house so that you could see what it looks like when the snow isn't all over the place...I took these last Fall. We have 3 huge honey locust trees in the backyard, a really nice maple tree to the right of the garage, a 30' tall pear tree (I'm sure you'll all want some pears...just ask our neighbors the Sabino's how many it produces and how good they are...there are plenty to go around), an English oak tree, and a red bud. As you can see there is a pretty good sized front and backyard to mow. I trimmed up the yews in the front of the house late last fall so they look way better now. I'm excited to do some exterior work since that is one of my hobbies. It's a release of mine to get some dirt under my finger nails...can thank my dad for his influence in my life along those lines...master gardener extraordinaire. In time we'll repaint the exterior as well and either paint the brick or put stone over it. Verdict is still out on that one. Eventually, I'll post some before and after pics of both the exterior and interior so you can see the changes we've made.

This week: finishing trim, painting walls, hanging light fixtures and ceiling fans, installing front door, installing new kitchen window, installing sliding patio door, plugging and switching, measuring for countertops, appliances are ordered. More to come....

Picture of the park in our backyard.

JDR becomes Century 21

2009-02-14T16:26:00.005-06:00

I'm pleased to announce that The JDR Group has merged with Century 21 Signature Real Estate effective today. The JDR Group is the real estate brokerage that I've been proudly representing for the last 3 years. I'm excited to take all of the innovative marketing tools, aggressive sales philosophies, and ever-growing market share at JDR and pair it with the nation's most recognizable real estate brand in Century 21. We'll have 5 offices - Ames, Huxley, Story City, Ankeny, and Des Moines, will more than double our staff and agent team, become one of the largest brokerages in Central Iowa, and continue to provide outstanding sales and marketing service to our clients. Check out our new website at http://www.c21sre.com/.

I told Stephanie that it's interesting how it was read when I walked across the stage at my ISU graduation in 2003 that I was going to seek a career in real estate as a Century 21 agent. Now that's come true. I'm super busy with all the changes and details that go along with the merger. I've hired a part time assistant as well to help me carry the load. Her name is Libby Asay and I'm excited to have her help me so I can better balance my time with family, ministry, and career.

I'll have a lot more changes in my business over the next few weeks. My new e-mail address is Jared.VanCleave@Century21.com. My website will still be http://www.jaredvancleave.com/ where I'll showcase all my clients listings. Feel free to call me or e-mail me if you have more questions and... I'm never too busy for your referrals if you know of someone looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate!

Brenna Update

2009-02-13T19:51:00.009-06:00

Brenna is going to be 16 months on Monday! It's crazy to me that she's already that old! She's been saying quite a few words, which has been fun. Here is a video of her saying some words and animal sounds...with our prompting. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YglLI9SQxW8

It's been hard to get good pictures of Brenna lately because she's always on the move, but I was able to take a few the past few days.

Brenna & Daddy having fun after dinner.

One of Brenna's favorite foods is crackers!

Mommy's little "helper"! :)

Brenna talking on her cell phone (an old one of ours). She's starting to actually pretend like she's talking to someone. She hasn't quite figured out what end to talk into though :)

Trim and Doors Are On!

2009-02-08T17:06:00.006-06:00

Some more pictures of the progress from last week. Trim and doors are on. Painter will start painting this coming week. The trim carpenter will start to hang the maple for the beams and columns. That will be fun to see. The hardwood floor is finished except the entryway where they will pull up the old and put a walnut inlay in as well. It will look similar to the dining inlay. I've been looking online and i think our style is going to be prairie. Eventually I'll finish the exterior to look like the last picture below. We're either going to paint the brick in the front and around the fireplace a darker color or hang stone veneer on it instead. More pictures to come after this week. Hopefully we'll get some painting done and more of the final trim work.

Shot of the doors we are putting in, trim up, floors done.

Shot of the dining room floor, inlay finished, same inlay to be installed in the entryway.

Shot looking through the kitchen toward the entryway and living room.

Shot of the family room with the fireplace, floors covered for painting.

Brenna in her bedroom.

Steph checking out her new closet in our bedroom.

Another house in town that we like the colors on, will do something similar to the exterior of our's, if we do the stone it will be different than this or we'll paint the brick, planning on painting the front door and the garage door a lighter brown color.

Van Cleave Housing - out with the old, in with the new...staying the same: remodeling

2009-02-01T08:48:00.008-06:00

Many of you already know that Steph and I bought a different house here in Ames. It's next door to some of our really good friends Paul and Jenni Sabino (Paul performed our wedding ceremony and Jenni sang in it). Our new address is 2114 Greenbriar Circle. It's located 1 block from the ISU football stadium and Reiman Gardens. It's a 3 bedroom ranch walk-out, with a great yard, mature trees, located on a cul-de-sac, and backs up to a park. We're pumped. We just sold our current house, yesterday, to a young couple. We will be closing on March 13th. They love the Wilson house and are super pumped too. They might even start going to Cornerstone Church with us and we invited them to our connection group. So cool.

Anyway, we are doing some pretty extensive remodeling our our new house on Greenbriar. I took some pics last week and wanted to post them so you can see the progress. It's been a lot of fun to see my vision come to life. On Wilson I did the lion share of the remodeling myself, but this time around I just did the design and I'm subcontracting out the labor. By the time the project is over it will practically be a new house. We picked it because of the location. New wiring, plumbing, drywall touchups, paint, flooring, bathroom, new trim, kitchen, hardwood floors, etc. The pics below were taken as flooring was wrapping up. More to come. Looking forward to hosting many Van Cleave gatherings at the new location. Come visit...after March 13th of course!

Open floorplan, view from living room into the entry and kitchen, beams & columns will be wrapped with stained maple to match the cabinets, oak hardwood floors throughout.

Second living room, used to be a 1+ car garage, wood fireplace, will be our entertainment/family room, hardwood floors in here too.

I had them do a walnut inlay to define the dining area off the kitchen, slider goes to the deck where I'll be doing our grilling, this turned out really nice, open railing to the right along the stairs will have wrought iron balusters and a center post in maple.

Fun times with Grandma & Grandpa Bohlen

2009-01-26T21:07:00.005-06:00

My mom and dad came to visit this weekend (Thursday night through Sunday morning). We had a great time with them like always! We had connection group on Thursday night, so they ate supper with our group and then watched Brenna while we had our bible study. Brenna was busy modeling her jewelry...
showing Grandma how her piggy bank works...

and playing with the remote that Grandpa handed over to Brenna for a little while! Grandma was shocked! :)

The rest of the weekend was filled with the mall, thrift stores, naps, Wallaby's (Jared and my mom's favorite Ames restaurant), church, play time, making apple crisp, bath time etc. It was definitely fun filled.

"bye-bye, grandma & grandpa! thank you for coming to visit me.

come back soon!" ~Brenna

Books! Books! Books!

2009-01-14T15:56:00.006-06:00

Brenna is really into books right now. Instead of getting dressed this morning, she wanted to read some of her books, so I ran to get the camera to get a few shots.

I think she has "book ADD"....3 books at one time :) She would look at a few pages in one book and then open another and read a few pages and then go on to another, etc.

If you look close, you can see that she's imitating the little boy in the book playing peek-a-boo.

It's good timing that Brenna is starting to enjoy books since it's so stink'n cold and snowy here and we've had to spend more time indoors. I am so ready for Spring!!! I like to be on the go, so it's a little hard to be at home so much.....but maybe it's a good thing that I'm forced to stay in a more. I've had more play times with Brenna, more time to update my blog, more time to get things done on my to-do-list, etc. Speaking of to-do-list, I better get to it :)

Cute Sunday Dress

2009-01-11T14:59:00.002-06:00

New Year's/ Christmas Celebration with the Van Cleave's

2009-01-11T14:38:00.003-06:00

We had a great time with Jared's family on New Year's Eve and New Year's. Brenna and her cousin Easton had fun playing with grandma and grandpa New Year's Eve, while we went on a hot date :) We went to the movie Seven Pounds...we thought it was really good....sad, but good. Then we went to Centro in downtown Des Moines for dessert. Great atmosphere! It was fun spending the last day of 2008 with my best friend! We stayed the night at Jared's parents and then celebrated Christmas on New Year's. We ate yummy food, played cards, watched football, opened gifts, etc. We had a great time and always enjoy spending time with Jared's family.

We were in our pajamas half the day, so we didn't get many good pictures...but here's a few.

Easton and Brenna were playing with Jared & Caleb's old toys. They were getting hot from the fire place, so we took off their pants and hiked up their socks. They looked pretty cute!

Where Do I Start?

2009-01-02T20:59:00.011-06:00

It's been so long since I last posted that I don't really know where to start. Several family members have hinted around to update my blog, so they motivated me to take the plunge :)

Where did December go? The month went so fast. I so look forward to Christmas and spending time with family and then it seems like it's over so quickly. Even though it went quickly, we had a wonderful Christmas season.

We went down to my parents in Burlington for four nights the week of Christmas. We mainly relaxed, ate, watched movies, read, and my mom & I went shopping the day after Christmas. We celebrated Christmas day at my Grandma's house. There were 14 adults and 3 kids. I got to meet 3 new family members (or soon to be) for the first time. My cousin Sarah brought her boyfriend, Dalon, for Christmas and he proposed to her on Christmas Eve. It was fun to meet Dalon and celebrate their engagement. He's a great guy and we are really excited for Sarah.

The other family members I met were two foster children that my two cousins are caring for. One is Brenna's age and the other is ten. It was so fun to meet them and love them as if they were part of the family. My cousins are doing a great job parenting them and loving them. It is so neat that they are opening up their home and heart to children that are in need. What a great example of Christ.

Brenna enjoyed Christmas as well. She's getting better at unwrapping gifts and enjoyed all the fun things to play with at grandma and grandpa's house: Zeke (their dog), my mom's old jewelry, tree ornaments, baby stroller, etc. She also enjoyed a bath in their big tub. She is at such a fun age and doing so many new things. There were several times that my parents, Jared and I would just sit and watch her play.

"What do you think of my new hair-do?"

I will update more later. One post is all I can handle tonight. :)

Van Cleave Family Meal

2008-12-04T20:49:00.005-06:00

After church on Sunday we went down to Jared's parents for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. I think I gained five pounds this weekend with all the good cooking we had! During the meal, we went around the table to share one thing we were thankful for...we have so much to be thankful for living in America. We enjoyed spending time together in their new addition and Brenna & Easton had fun playing together too.

On our way home we drove through the Jolly Holiday Lights in Des Moines with Caleb, Maranda, and Easton in their new van. The kids loved looking at all the Christmas lights and Easton had fun driving with his daddy!

Fun Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-04T20:02:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Ryan & Dana's house, my brother & sister-in-law's, in Eden Prairie, MN. They made a traditional Thanksgiving meal and the turkey turned out awesome, along with the rest of the meal. Besides the Thanksgiving meal, some of the highlights were going to a few thrift stores, playing poker, going on a walk around a lake near their house, eating yummy food, Brenna learning to sign "more" (Thanks, Dad!), and last but not least spending time with my family. See Ryan & Dana's blog for more details.

Thanks, Ryan & Dana, for hosting our family Thanksgiving. You have a beautiful home and we had a wonderful time.

Highlights from the Weekend!

2008-11-18T16:37:00.004-06:00

Relaxing Friday night. Watched What Not to Wear. It was a really good one!

Sleeping in a little :) It's a little hard with a one year old, but she slept a little longer than normal.

Attending a baby shower for Nate & Natalie. They adopted a beautiful little girl, Elyse.

Church on Sat. night. I love the Saturday night option. It's a little bit more laid back atmosphere and Sunday feels like a day off....I guess now that I'm a stay at home mom everyday kind of feels like a day off :) I guess one difference is Jared is home, which is a huge plus!

Our good friends, Mike & Heather, came over after church for supper and a movie.

Attended another baby shower for my good friend Nealy. She's having a baby girl in January. I'm so excited for her! I love showers, so it was fun to have two in one weekend!

I saved the best for last. My mom called me on Sunday morning and said she was coming up to stay with us for the night. Her boss was planning on going to a conference in Ames on Monday and couldn't come at the last minute, so she asked my mom if she wanted to take her place. My mom didn't even hesitate. She was so excited....and I was too. So after the shower she was already here at the house playing with Brenna. It was so fun to have her here, even though it was for a short amount of time.

What was one of your highlights from the weekend?

I'll end the post with some pictures of Brenna.

Brenna's Taking Steps!

2008-11-14T10:46:00.002-06:00

Brenna started taking steps on Monday!

It's been hard to capture it on video. This is the best so far.

What Not to Wear

2008-11-06T15:54:00.004-06:00

These are the hosts from the show “What Not to Wear” on TLC….a show full of fashion transformations. My 2nd cousin, Michelle, is going to be on the show tomorrow night (Friday 8pm central time/ replay at 10pm)! I don’t know her that well and haven’t seen her for years, but I’m excited to watch it since it’s someone I know. Below is the summary I found on the website.

Michelle is a thrift-store junkie with an obsession with scarves. She loves a bargain - if it costs more than $10, she' not interested! Her friends worry that Michelle is distracting suitors with her crazy façade, so they've called Stacy and Clinton!

I'm kind of a thrift store junkie and sometimes it's hard for me to spend more than $10 too :) Maybe I will learn a little something.

If you watch it, let me know what you think.

Look mom, I can stand up on my own!

2008-11-03T22:09:00.008-06:00

Can you tell we're proud parents? :) It's been so fun to watch Brenna learn new things...which seems to be a lot lately. When we ask her where the light is, she looks up. I signed the word "please" a few times last week and now she's doing it regularly....she's still struggling to sign "more". She can point to her head, ears, eyes and mouth when we ask her. And the best is today she stood up on her own in the middle of the room! Yeah Brenna!

Our Cute Little Lion

2008-11-02T20:18:00.005-06:00

Family Fun at Ledges State Park

2008-10-30T12:16:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the Family Beatrix Sparrow!

2008-10-28T11:03:00.004-05:00

Jared's sister, Lydia, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last week, Beatrix Sparrow. She was 7lbs and 19 inches long. This is Brenna's first girl cousin!!!

Welcome to the family, Bea! We can't wait to see you!

Congratulations, Matt & Lydia! We love all four of you!

BRENNA IS ONE!!!

2008-10-22T21:48:00.008-05:00

Our baby girl is one year old! I can't believe how fast her first year of life went. She has been such a joy and blessing to Jared & I this past year. This top picture was taken the day after she was born.

Jared made her a birthday pancake to start out her birthday. She loved it.
We had a party for her later that night with a few friends. I made cupcakes...some with chocholate frosting and some with vanilla. I gave her a chocholate one and she didn't like it. She kept trying to give it to Jared for him to eat. It was pretty cute. She didn't like that her hands were messy from the frosting either. This is about as messy as she got.

Later that night our friend Aaron gave her a lick of the vanilla frosting and she liked that a lot better! :)

My family and Jared's family came on Saturday to celebrate Brenna's birthday. We had a wonderful time with them. Brenna loved all the attention and hanging out with her cousin Easton. She really enjoyed sitting in a little lawn chair my grandma got her.

Brenna received a lot of really nice gifts from friends and family....a toy piggy bank, push toy, clothes, grocery cart, winter coat, baby doll, phone, and a few other things. Suprisingly, she enjoyed looking at the cards too. Thanks for all of you who made Brenna's first birthday so special, by coming to help us celebrate or sending cards.

This is a poster I put together of different pictures of Brenna throughout the year. Surprisingly enough, I got my creative juices running, which probably happens once a year :) It was fun to look through all her pictures and see how she'd grown and changed each month. It was hard to pick a select few though.

Flower Child

2008-10-08T07:58:00.004-05:00

Brenna and I enjoyed some time in our back yard last week. I was able to get some cute shots of her in the flower bed. I have to take pictures of her when she's preoccupied, otherwise she's too interested in the camera and comes right up to it and wants to check it out.

Road Trip to Madison

2008-09-26T14:21:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Brenna & I took a road trip to Madison, WI to visit my cousin Rachael and her family. She has 3 year old twin girls and a 7 month old girl. So we had lots of girl time!!! Brenna loved watching, playing, and trying to talk like the big 3 year olds. When we got home, Jared said "I think she's talking more". It's more like jibbery baby talk. Is jibbery a word? Probably not. Oh well.....I like to make up words :) Right, Jared? Anyway, it's really cute. Maybe I can catch it on video sometime.

Rachael & I had so much fun talking and spending time together. Even though we don't get to see each other much, we can just pick up where we left off. I love that. Thanks for the great weekend, Rachael!

Weekend in Minnesota

2008-09-11T13:45:00.004-05:00

We were in Minnesota this weekend visiting my brother and his wife. We had a great time together. Brenna loved having so much attention and playing with her Uncle Ryan & Aunt Dana. The highlight was going to a Minnesota Twins game on Saturday afternoon. Brenna looked so cute in her Twins onsie that Ryan & Dana bought her. Thanks Ryan & Dana for a great weekend! Brenna misses you!

Labor Day Fun

2008-09-11T13:38:00.005-05:00

We had dinner at Jared's parents on Labor Day and Brenna really enjoyed the sweet corn! Jared's mom made us a wonderful meal full of things from their garden. A good time was had by all!

Michael & Brenna Sitting in a Tree...

2008-08-15T16:17:00.003-05:00

The Sages & us joke around that one day Brenna & Michael will get married. :) We sat them next to each other on the couch the other night and Brenna started making the moves.... holding Michael's hand and playing footsie! I'm going to have to teach her to not be so forward with guys. :)

Family Reunion

2008-08-15T15:57:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday we drove to Humboldt, IA for a family reunion for Jared's mom's side of the family (Jacobson). It was a beautiful day and it was fun to see extended family. We met at a park and had a potluck. The Jacobson's are great cooks. Jared couldn't stop ranting and raving about all the food, especially the ham balls! :) As you can see from the pictures, Brenna's favorite part was playing with every one's necklace.

Brenna & Jared's Grandma

Brenna & Jared's Aunt Becky

So You Think You Can Dance

2008-08-07T22:03:00.003-05:00

My favorite tv show in the summer is "So You Think You Can Dance". I guess it's the only show I regularly watch in the summer. Anyway.....I love this show!!! The finale was on tonight. Katie & Joshua were my fav's, but if I had to choose I would have picked Katie to win. America voted, and Joshua was the winner. Did anyone else watch SYTYCD this summer? Who was your favorite dancer?

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

2008-08-06T14:20:00.005-05:00

We went to Lake Holiday on Saturday with Caleb, Maranda & Easton to celebrate Caleb's birthday. Caleb is Jared's younger brother. Chris & Kris and their little girl Kaylee joined us too. Maranda's parents have a house on the lake, so they let us hang out there for the day. We set up a kiddie pool on the dock for the little kids to play in. Once Brenna figured out how to climb out of the pool, which only took about 5 minutes, she was in and out of it about 20 times :) She was keeping mom very active putting her back into the pool so she wouldn't crawl off the dock. The rest of the day we swam off the dock, jet skiied, took a boat ride, grilled out, and played cards. We had an awesome time together celebrating Caleb's birthday!

Special Visitors

2008-08-06T13:37:00.004-05:00

Brenna's grandma & grandpa Bohlen came to visit last Wednesday on their way up to Minnesota. They are some of Brenna's greatest fans. They check the blog daily to see if there are any new pictures of Brenna. My mom said she watched the crawling video on the blog over 20 times :) Anyway...we had a lot of fun together. They made it in time to watch Brenna's last swimming lesson. After the lesson we ate awesome inside out burgers that Jared made. Thursday morning we went on a long walk together and then had a great play time on the floor. We had a lot of fun with my parents and can't wait until thier next visit (hint, hint).

For the cooks who are interested in the inside out burgers:
Make two thin patties. Put whatever you'd like in the middle of the patties and then pinch around the edges so the stuffing doesn't fall out . Jared put sauted mushrooms & onions, motzerella cheese, & seasonings. Then grill them like a normal burger. They are yummy!

Brenna and grandpa cuddling Thursday morning.

A picture my mom took on our walk. She takes the best flower pictures!

I'm Gonna Get You

2008-07-28T21:53:00.003-05:00

Jared's mom, Patty, came to visit one day last week. Brenna had a lot of fun playing with her grandma all day. She loved it when Patty was chasing her (see video).

Saturday at the Park

2008-07-28T21:32:00.005-05:00

I love parks. I love having picnics in parks. I love walking in parks. I love playing boccie in parks. Did I mention that I love parks? :) So Jared, Brenna & I decided to take a picnic lunch to Moore Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon. We had a great time and the weather was great. Brenna enjoyed playing on a blanket while Jared and I ate our sub sandwiches, which seems to be our standard Saturday lunch. (Side note: We use day old bread from Jimmy John's and it's cheap and tastes great. It's less than $0.50 per loaf and makes at least 3 sandwiches...if anyone is interested.) Brenna enjoyed the swings too. One new thing she likes to do is reach up and touch the leaves on trees. She gets so excited when she actually touches one. After the swings, we enjoyed a walk together. It was a fun afternoon!

Brenna is Crawling!

2008-07-13T20:16:00.004-05:00

Brenna turns 9 months on Wednesday and she is getting very mobile!!! About two weeks ago she started to go from the "laying down belly position" to sitting up on her own. A couple times this week when I got her up from her nap, she was standing in her crib with a big smile on her face. And to top off the week, she started crawling. She hasn't perfected it yet, but she's getting close. It's amazing what babies learn in such a short amount of time. Our baby girl is growing up so fast!!! We are trying to enjoy every minute of it.

Below is a video of her crawling and a few other cute pictures.

Brenna in a jumper. She loves it!

Brenna's 1st Swimming Lesson

2008-07-08T20:27:00.005-05:00

Brenna had her first swim lesson yesterday. It was more like a playtime in the pool with a bunch of other babies and their parents.....I'm not exactly sure what they will teach a 9 month old :) Either way, it was a lot of fun and Brenna did great. She even let me hold her on her belly in the water (see picture below). I think she enjoyed watching the people more than swimming. Brenna's friend Audrey is in the swimming class as well (Tim & Christy McCollough's daughter), which is fun. We have the lessons two times a week for the month of July. I'll write another post when we are done with the lessons and share all the things Brenna learned. :)

Thank you Christy for taking the pictures!

Ozarks for the 4th

2008-07-07T21:50:00.004-05:00

We celebrated the 4th of July at the Lake of the Ozarks with our friends Dylan & Jen and Heath & Shaylyn. We had a great time boating, hanging out at the pool, talking, grilling out, eating at Outback (one of my faves) and watching fire works. Josiah, Heath & Shaylyn's 2 year old, made up his own word for firework....."wawa". After every firework he'd point and say, "Big wawa!" It was so cute. Besides being a little crabby on the car ride, Brenna was a trooper and seemed to enjoy the boat rides and the different scenery. She got in the pool for the first time and seemed to enjoy it......she had her perplexed look on most of the time.

Brenna taking a snooze on the boat with her daddy.

Playdate with Ella

2008-06-22T14:53:00.005-05:00

Melissa and Ella came to Ames last week to hang out. We had a great time together and enjoyed a picnic at the Iowa State Campus. Ella is about the same age as Brenna, so it was fun to see them interact with each other.

Visit from our Floridian's

2008-06-20T20:58:00.010-05:00

Jared's sister Lydia, brother-in-law Matt, and nephew Micah came to Iowa from West Palm Beach, FL for a week and a half to visit. We had a wonderful time with them. Some of the highlights were having a family meal at Caleb & Maranda's to celebrate Matt finishing his Masters degree, going to the Des Moines zoo, celebrating Lydia's birthday with an awesome steak dinner and yummy strawberry cake, watching The Office and So You Think You Can Dance together, and celebrating Father's Day (the first for Jared & Caleb) at Johnny's Italian Steak House (which I would recommend to anyone living in the DM area). There were a lot of great memories made. We had so much fun with them while they were here and we are looking forward to the next time we get to see them. Maybe we will make another trip to FL this winter.
Lydia, Matt, & Micah, we love you guys and miss you already!!!

Lydia's birthday celebration!

Jared's nephew, Micah, playing w/bubble sword.

Brenna with cousins Easton & Micah.

Brenna with Aunt Anna and Grandma & Grandpa VC.

Caleb (Jared's brother), Easton & Maranda.

Happy Father's Day, Jared!

2008-06-16T14:09:00.004-05:00

Jared is such a wonderful daddy to Brenna. She loves him so much already. Some of their favorite things to do together are playing on the floor, making goofy noises, playing peek-a-boo, and riding on daddy's shoulders. As soon as Jared walks in the room, there is a huge smile on Brenna's face. I am so thankful for a husband who spends time with our baby. He not only plays with her, he helps out a ton. Thank you, Jared, for being such a great daddy to our beautiful baby girl. You are already a great example to her of what our heavenly Father is like. I love you!

Clothes Swap

2008-06-05T13:53:00.003-05:00

Last night I participated in a Clothing Swap. It was a lot of fun! This is how it works. Everyone who participates cleans out their closets and picks 10-15 items they don't want anymore. It could be shirts, dresses, jackets, pants, purses, shoes, belts, hats, jewelery, etc. You drop them off at the hostess house a few days before the event so she can sort through and organize them by size/type/etc. When you arrive at the swap, you rummage through the clothes and try on anything you want, but then you have to put them back so other people can try them on. To make it fair, everyone draws a number and then you take turns and pick one item each round. After 4 or 5 rounds it's a free for all. I drew #3 last night, so I fared pretty well :) My first pick was a pair of dark jean trousers from Express. They are really cute, but of course I have to get them hemmed!!! I had a ton of fun since it included some of my favorite things.....people, clothes, food, and good deals. :)

Congratulations Ryan & Dana!!!

2008-05-20T20:49:00.011-05:00

My brother, Ryan, got married this weekend to Dana Miller. We are so excited for them. The wedding was beautiful and Jared & I had the priviledge to stand with them as a bridesmaid & groomsman. We love Dana and are so excited she is officially part of the family now!

A little bit about me.

2008-05-20T18:29:00.012-05:00

My friend Nealy tagged me for this. She is a great friend from college and has a great blog. This is actually my first post...thanks Nealy for getting me out of my comfort zone. :) I actually wrote out the answers on Sunday afternoon, but am just getting time to post it.

I am…a mommy of a 7 month old.
I want…to go to the Caribbean sometime.
I wish…I could blog as well as my friends Nealy & Steph :)
I hate…to be late.
I miss…free time. I feel rushed lately.
I fear…mice.
I feel…tired. I just got back yesterday from my brothers wedding. Tons of fun, but exhausting.
I hear…nothing. I'm the only one not napping at my house.
I smell…the after effects of a yummy lunch my wonderful husband made us!
I crave…chocolate M&M's.
I search…for good deals, especially at garage sales & thrift stores.
I wonder…what life would be like if my first pregnancy wouldn't have ended.
I regret…not going on a nice vacation before we had a baby.
I love…my babe, Jared.
I ache…after I hold Brenna too long. I'm definitely out of shape!
I care…for my beautiful baby girl Brenna.
I always…am ready for ice cream.
I am not…creative.
I believe…that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I dance…the Swing w/ my awesome partner Jared.
I sing..."You Are My Sunshine" to Brenna every night before bed.
I cry…on Monday mornings...well, not every Monday morning.
I don’t always...remember to put the laundry in the dryer.
I fight…hardly ever.
I write…in a prayer journal.
I never…enjoy cleaning the bath tub.
I listen…to the radio.
I need…lots of sleep.
I am happy…with my life right now. God is so good.

Now I'm tagging Hollie C. & Kristy S.

Weekend on the go, go, go!

2008-05-04T21:48:00.012-05:00

We had a fun-filled crazy weekend...glad for the gorgeous weather. Friday night we helped a couple in our Connection Group move...all their stuff into a Uhaul in 1 hour! Saturday morning down to West Des Moines to participate in the March of Dimes for Babies walk at Raccoon River Park. We walked to support Nolan (Nick and Jacky Sklenar's little boy) who was born premature. 3.5 miles around the lake...pretty windy, but we weren't blown off course. Carl...you da man behind the stroller...get that grass out of your teeth yet? (Questions...ask me sometime) Saturday afternoon went to the Van Cleave farm to visit grandpa and grandma and many other family members...a get together to visit with Aunt Betty from Michigan. Check out dropshots for the up-close pic I got of a Baltimore Oriole on mom and dad's deck...amazing orange colors! Saturday evening we traveled to Clear Lake to visit our college friends Kyle, Nealy, Abby, and Andy at the cabin. Enjoyed some much needed relaxation, fellowship, and good food...might have stayed up a little too late, but it was worth it to watch some episodes of the Office (Season 1) and play a little Wii with Kyle and Andy. Sunday afternoon back home for a few minutes and then off to softball practice. Afterwards did the mowing, vacuumed out the Acura, and Steph and I cleaned up around the house. We're beat, but had a great time seeing everyone. Glad we got the weekend on camera...some great memories to bring in May.

Table Manners 101

2008-04-12T09:28:00.005-05:00

Brenna usually doesn't join us for meals except while in her exersaucer or bouncy seat on the floor next to the table. A lot of times she gets fussy and seems to demonstrate that she's feeling left out. During one of our evening meals last week, we decided to put her up on the table with us...we think she is an extravert. We could tell she enjoyed that place of honor much better. There was some tin foil on one of the plates to keep some food warm and she couldn't keep her eyes off of it. Pretty soon she was bending way over to grab at the foil, and before we knew it she was nearly up-side-down. I told Steph to run and grab the camera. It was so funny. We'll have to help Brenna with a few of her table manners so she doesn't do this on her future dates.

Can Someone Say Disco Fever?

2008-04-12T09:16:00.002-05:00

So we got together with Caleb, Maranda, and Easton the other night to watch some NCAA basketball. Caleb pulled out Maranda's shades and this is what happened. So funny! Easton would stick his tongue out or get big eyes while the flash was going off. Brenna was in bed already otherwise we would have tried it on her too. See more pics on dropshots. Someday these pics will be on his wedding video for sure!

"Captive" - Easter Production

2008-03-25T09:54:00.003-05:00

Well, we are free from the POW camp now. All 5 services went really well. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the guys and bring our church a little something different than the traditional Easter service. Pretty positive response from most people. It was good having Jeff Dodge explain the different characters and the roles that they played. Here is a picture of what we looked like. The guys were so filthy and by the last service their clothes were pretty much black with make-up. This week I'll be Mr. Brown the Fox again for D6. Hope you can all come out and enjoy a laugh as I impersonate James Brown in an afro wig and fox tail. Swedish pigs are on the menu.

Charlie, Mr. Brown the Fox, Officer #1...let me explain

2008-03-11T22:20:00.002-05:00

Many of you remember that I was Charlie in our church's Christmas production this year. Some of you know that I have shown up one time so far on stage at our church's family ministry (D6) as a James Brown impersonating fox named Mr. Brown the Fox along with the other Nursery Rhyme Woodland Creatures, and in a few weeks will make another appearance. Not many of you know that I will be acting in our church's Easter drama entitled "Captive" in a small but less than insignificant part as Officer #1. It takes place in a POW camp in the jungle...going to be pretty intense. I want to invite all of you to join us at one of the 5 services this coming Easter weekend to watch the drama and witness me in a full military uniform. I need to practice my salute. Go to the following link to get more information about the services and come to church so you can pick up your free tickets to one of the services.
www.cornerstone-church.com

Brenna's First Solid Food

2008-03-04T19:59:00.006-06:00

We've come to a pretty huge milestone in the growth and development of our 4.5 month old...SOLID FOOD! Let the games begin. So apparently, you buy these rice flakes, mix them up with some of mom's milk, and watch your infant lap it all up like a dog and that's their introduction to solid food. Pretty funny stuff. It seemed like she enjoyed the food for the most part. The majority of it ended up in the convenient plastic pouch on the front of her bib. I guess so you can spoon it out of there and back into her mouth...we didn't do that by the way. From here it's on to a bunch of messy clothes, sticky floors, and crusty dried stuff on the walls. Can't wait! Enjoy the video on dropshots.

Expanding the Team

2008-02-17T11:54:00.003-06:00

For those of you who didn't know...I recently expanded my real estate team. Jessica Starmer was our JDR Closer for a year and a half, but got her license in January and is now my Buyers Specialist. She put together two sales already last week! Way to go Jess!! Stephanie is going to help our team as well. Her official title will be Client Services Coordinator. That is a fancy way of saying that she will help me with some administrative work when it comes to providing my clients with feedback from showings, and organizing my referral and networking programs. She's excited to be a part of the action. By the way...if you ever know of anyone looking to buy or sell, send me their contact information and our team will gladly assist them. We're never too busy for any of your referrals.

"I hope YOU didn't have a tired Valentine's Day!" - Brenna

2008-02-17T11:39:00.006-06:00

Happy Late V-Day everyone. Hard to believe that it was 5 years ago to the day (Feb. 14th) that I asked Stephanie to be my "Life long ministry partner." Glad she said yes. It's been an awesome time.

Bohlen Family Christmas in January

2008-02-17T11:29:00.002-06:00

Our 3rd Christmas celebration was at our house with Steph's immediate family. We had a lot of fun. Here are a few pics from our time.

New family addition!

2008-01-12T11:53:00.000-06:00

Congrats to Caleb and Maranda on their new family addition. Easton Braden Van Cleave was born at 12:15am on Christmas morning. He weighed 10lbs 1oz and was 22" long. We're all super excited for them and look forward to having Brenna and Easton grow up so close in age.

1, 2...why not, 3 family Christmas gatherings

2008-01-12T10:59:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed a Bohlen extended family Christmas gathering, a Van Cleave immediate family Christmas gathering, and in a few weeks we will have another Bohlen immediate family Christmas gathering at our house. I don't mind, It's always nice to see everyone, and better yet, have some good food! Good times were had by all this year, including little Brenna. She was a hit sporting her 1st Christmas outfits. Steph and I got a new camera so we should be able to get some great pics.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-22T23:41:00.000-06:00

With the celebration of the gift God has given our family, we are reminded of the greatest gift God has ever given...His Son Jesus Christ. Let's remember to give the Lord the glory due His name for providing a way to have a right relationship with our Creator...through Christ. Tis the reason for the season! Merry Christmas everyone!

Back to the cold of Iowa

2007-12-20T11:19:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. Steph, Brenna, and I had a great time in Florida with my sister and her family. The flights down and back went really well...Brenna was a rockstar and slept most of the time...she was a hit with the other passengers. We spent a little time at the beach. The weather was a nice change despite Monday being one of the colder days the area has had so far...65 degrees. It got down to the upper 40's at night. It was fun seeing where Matt, Lydia and Micah live. Matt does an awesome job teaching and you can tell he is passionate about it. Lydia and Matt had a Christmas party to attend on Monday night for her work. Steph and I got to watch Micah for the evening. We played hide and seek, had a pillow fight, I gave him a bath, read him a book, then watched him basically put himself to bed...Lydia has a routine down for bedtime that Micah follows to the T. We had a blast in Florida, but wish it was for a longer period of time and warm enough to swim and snorkle...maybe next time. Check out the new pics at dropshots...remember the password is 7771. You can see some of Brenna's holiday photoshoot too courtesy of Aunt Lydia's skills...enjoy!

Florida here we come!

2007-12-11T13:09:00.000-06:00

Last year Steph and I purchased tickets to fly down to Florida to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. We weren't able to go since Steph's Grandfather passed away that same week. We were able to retain vouchers good for up to one year. Yesterday I checked with Delta to see what date we had to use the vouchers by. They said Jan. 5th. I checked on some flight prices and found that tickets are pretty cheap prior to Christmas. Needless to say, we booked our flights last night and are heading to West Palm Beach, FL this Saturday through Tuesday of next week! Talk about spontaneous! I guess we didn't want to loose out on the money we already had down for the tickets. It will be great to visit Matt, Lydia, and Micah for a few days. They are super excited and pumped to see Brenna. And it's always nice to have a bit of a tan for those Christmas parties. We'll be glad to get away from the cold for a few days and enjoy some 80+ degree weather. Pray that Brenna does well on the flights at only 2 months old...pray for mom too for that matter! ;)