Catching Up

My new job is going really well and I am loving not having any call. I miss some of the bigger type surgeries but have stayed well challenged with my new job with all of the difficulties of getting a new place up and running. I am ready for springtime. I have been able to get outside and run on some of the warm days and am loving it. We keep getting warm snaps of weather and then it gets cold and snows again. Pretty much over the cold. Avery is enjoying the warm weather and exploring the outside world. Cade is also tired of being cooped up in the house. Come on spring! Rance is staying busy and has been able to do some riding this week.

Avery now has seven teeth, three on the bottom and four on top. She is a very busy very determined little girl and so much fun! She is not content to sit back and watch she wants to be right in the middle of it all. Her only word is mama so far but I know more will be coming soon.

Going to school!

Cade sees our babysitter Landa's son Dustin going to and coming home from school occasionally and seems to think it is pretty cool. So lately he has been putting on his coat, packing his backpack with some pens and paper and "going to school". He tells me goodbye have a good day love you mom and off he goes. Pretty soon he comes back and we talk about "his day at school"


He is showing off his backpack

And here is a picture of his pig he insisted I take

The Refrigerator Bandit Strikes

Avery is quite fascinated with the contents of the refrigerator door and comes running from wherever she is when she hears the refrigerator door open. usually I see her and confiscate her loot. I was putting away the supper mess and she snuck in a grabbed a bottle of Hershey's chocolate with no lid. I sat back down at the table to visit with Rance and Avery settled in on the other side of the counter from us with her loot and went to town! Once we discovered her activities we decided we might as well take some pictures before we began the cleanup process.


Who me messy!?

You spread it in like this

Add a little more

A masterpiece!

Avery's Birthday Party

We had a few epole over from ice cream and cake for Avery's birthday and she thought it was pretty fun with all of the little cousins running around.

Here is Avery's new horse from Grandpa Mike and Grandma Debbie. She can even reach the floor when she sits on it. It of course makes a lot of noise in the from of fun little jingles.

Avery and Chase

Cade and Everett

The three cousins born in 2008. Chase is 4 months, Everett 7 months and Avery 1 year.

Anyone seen Avery?

Where is Avery?



Oh there she is. She really likes this game. She will grab a shirt out of the laundry and pull it over her head, but I thought this blanket was great.

Happy Birthday Avery!

Avery celebrated her 1st birthday on the 3rd. It is hard to believe she is already one year old. She is quite the sassy little girl. When she is not getting her way she puts her head down, shakes it and stomps her feet while she screeches to let you know she is not pleased. She has Cade pretty figured out too. This morning he was sitting in my lap and she wanted to sit there too, but without Cade so she climbed into my lap and started hitting Cade on the head and pulling his hair. Her manner need a little improvement! Cade wanted his gun this morning and he asking me to go get it, I didn't want to. Little Miss Avery took off and grabbed his gun then waved it around in front of him till he got out of my lap to get it. She gave him the gun and climbed into my lap. One smart little cookie!

She isn't talking much mostly just sounds and babbling. She gestures to things she wants and says "eh eh eh" if you can't figure out what she wants or won't get her to it fast enough she gets cranky. The good news is she is pretty easily distracted.

She hardly made a mess with her birthday cake. Cade made such a huge mess with his last year so I was pretty surprised but she was over eating by the time we got the cake out.

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Grandpa Johnny

Rance's Grandpa Johnny passed away late in January so we traveled ten hours to Guelph, North Dakota for the funeral and in the process got to see a lot of Rance's family. It was a very nice prayer service Tuesday night and funeral Wednesday. Johnny was quite a character and will be missed.
The kids did pretty good. We traveled all night Monday and arrived in Oakes, ND around 5:30 in the morning. The kids were pretty well rested and we were exhausted. I don't think Rance or I caught up on our sleep until we had been back home for two days. The kids had a good time getting to play with all of their older cousins and we had a great time visiting with everyone.


The cousins from the Maddock side of the family. ( Rance's Mom's)

Rance and his sister Shawna with their cousins Tim Maddock (black coat) and Christy (tan coat)

Slam Dunk!

Future NBA all star in training!
Cade thought it was neat to hang from the rim until he realized how high up he was. Then he didn't want to let go of the rim.


Me and Avery watching the big kids play in the gym at the school in Guelph, North Dakota. It is no longer used for school as there aren't enough people in Guelph anymore.

What a handsome little man we have!

Cade thought the basketball was pretty fun even though the ball he was playing with was pretty flat.

Visiting Cousin Traci in Hecla

Avery driving the tractor. Someday her little feet will be able to reach the pedals!


Cade and Sidney "sharing" the horse at Traci's.

Avery and her two cousins Sydney and Kenzie in Hecla, South Dakota at the Schoolhouse Cafe. Rance's Dad Harlen is from Hecla. While there we had a great visit with his Aunt Susan and Uncle Harold.

Wednesday night we went to Rance's cousin Traci's house near Hecla. Cade was happy the cat seemed to like his attentions.

Here are some of the Gerdes clan cousins. They didn't all sit here for long!
Cade had a great time running around with the little boys and guns for a while.