Happy 1st Birthday Andrea!

We cannot believe out little girl is 1 today!

Andrea's Stats:

30.5" tall - 90%

20lb 10oz - 43%

19in noggin - 99%

Some things about Andie:
*She LOVES following Daniel around and playing with his toys

*She likes playing Monkey Pile and will usually crawl on top of someone if they are laying on the ground

*She will grab the matchbox cars and make them go back and forth like cars do

*She can say 'Daniel', 'Dada', 'Mama', 'Uh-oh', and 'Hi'

*She walks with help. She has taken 5 steps by herself

*She can understand way more than we think she can. 'Give daddy another balloon' and 'Pull the plug from the bathtub to let the water out' are recent shockers

*She loves to turn the pages of books

*She has temper tantrums where she bangs her head against things (Floor is most popular, but she also uses walls and us when she's sitting next to them)

*She has 5 teeth and loves to eat real food (She had a hamburger from McDonald's last night)

*She's a master at drinking from straws, but doesn't do so well with sippy cups
*She loves to wave hi and bye, but mostly enjoys blowing kisses

*She also likes to give her stuffed animals hugs and kisses

Day Care made her a cute tiara, which she proudly sported at home. We then had funfetti cake with chocolate frosting. She LOVED it and really wanted more!

Before the mess Yummy!

I like this new toy!

Weekend Fun

This weekend we had the first annual neighborhood olympics in our little development. The kids (and adults) participated in games like sack races, balloon pop, find your shoe in a big pile, and a three legged race.

After dinner we went over to a neighbor's house and had a bonfire. We are so blessed to be in a great neighborhood! Here's a picture of the kids as we were taking a wagon ride to the bonfire. Waaay to adorable not to share :)

The Quist Kids "On a Stick"

We took the kids to the Minnesota State Fair today (Aug 29) for the very first time. We got there around 9am or so, and there were already about a million people there. We saw all sorts of animals, big and small, including some little piglets just minutes old.

Daniel petting a baby pig for the first time. You can't see the piglet he's petting, but there are a few in thew glass case behind him.

In the Horse barn

Daniel eating a genuine "Pronto Pup" at the fair. The original food revelation that began the "everything on a stick" revolution. You wouldn't be able to tell it from the face he's making, but he inhaled this one and asked for another....

Andie also loved her first taste of a state fair pronto pup

The kids were so well behaved all morning, we decided to let Daniel ride on a few rides. We gave him the choice of three different rides and he chose Airplanes, Race cars, and the Dragon roller coaster.

First, the airplane. He's in the rear seat of the light blue colored plane

Next, the NASCAR car. He chose the #3 car on his own. Listen to the squeals he makes as the car turns the tight corners

Lastly, the Dragon roller coaster (or "Train" as Daniel called it). Nate had to go with Daniel on this ride because he was a little too short to ride by himself. The boys are in the very last car.

Cabin Weekend

Last weekend, Aug 21-22, we headed over to the cabin to celebrate Jen's Grandpa's 89th birthday which was earlier in the week, along with other Birthdays which are in the coming weeks. The weather was beautiful, and we all just kind of relaxed for the most part.

Nate got a little fishing in, WAY across the lake

Jen and Andie got some camera time in.

And Nate and Daniel got a little more tubing in

After we got home from the weekend fun at the lake, just for giggles we decided to pull out some of the walk-behind toys to see how Andrea would do behind them. She loves to pull herself up aside the furniture and stand a lot, so we figured we would see how she did. To our amazement, she took right off!!!

Mike and Katie Bleckwehl

Most of you that read this know that Mike and Katie got married on Aug 14th, and many of you were there. Daniel was very excited to be part of the wedding as the ring bearer. Here's a few shots of him trying on his suit the night before. He sure thought he was hot-stuff.

Fixing the Tie

If only I could hug myself....

Friday the 13th was the rehearsal out at the Mendakota Country Club

Daniel not paying attention to the rehearsal

Then the big day on Saturday the 14th. The wedding was beautiful, and the weather couldn't have been much better for an outdoor wedding. Daniel and his cousin Brooklyn were supposed to hold hands walking down the isle, but Brooklyn got a little distracted I think. Daniel ended up walking down by him self most of the way, and we sure were proud of him.

Nate and Jen were both in the wedding and were paired up as a couple

Our beautiful family

Jen and Daniel watching other groups getting their pictures taken
Mike and Katie trying to keep Brooklyn from running away.... this was a tough picture..
This is about as good as we could get. What a good looking wedding party.
Nate with his three beautiful sisters

Here's Daniel and Lydia doing what they do best together (and Brooklyn trying to follow along).

Congratulations again to Mike and Katie, and Mike, welcome to the family Brother!

Nite to Unite

The neighborhood participated in the Nite to Unite event again this year down the street at our neighborhood park. We had an OK turn-out, but not everyone was able to make it. We had quite a few new families this year, as construction in the neighborhood has begun to pick up a little.

Here's Daniel and Andie in the wagon as we're getting ready to head down to the park

And the wagon puller.

Daniel, Sierra, and Gracie playing Ring Around the Rosie at the park

Daniel sure has a good time with his "girl" friends in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, they are the closest to him in age. He's had a chance to play with the 4-year old boys a few times however though, so he gets his share of "rough and tough".

Some Grandpa Q Time

This past weekend, the girls had a bachelorette party for Katie, who was unaware of what events were in store for her. They whisked her off to Chicago Friday afternoon, stayed at Amy's in Madison Friday night, and headed to Chi-town to paint the town.

While all of this was happening, Nate was trying to figure out how to be a single parent for the whole weekend..... Fortunately Grandpa Q didn't have anything to do Saturday (yea right) and offered to come hang out with us for the day. He arrived just in time for some morning coffee on the deck.


We had a great day together. Grandpa let Daniel try on his special Ray Ban Aviator sunglasses that he got from his dad. Maybe someday they'll be his.


It was a pretty warm and sticky day out Saturday, so we didn't spend too much time outside. After nap, Daniel and Nate decided to take Grandpa Q out for dinner. Daniel decided on the Space Aliens restaurant so he could play the games after he was done eating. One of his favorite things is to fly in the space ship.

All in all it was a nice day. The kids sure loved spending time with Grandpa, and I think Grandpa had a good time too.