Happy Memorial Weekend...

Hello all - hope you all had a great Memorial Weekend. Jake and I made the trip to Champaign, Illinois, with Andray to visit my brother Aaron and his wife Megan and our niece Isabel. It was an amazing weekend. We left Thursday night and drove through the night....then returned home early Monday morning after driving through the night on Sunday. Unfortunately, the weekends always go by way too fast, but we had so much fun with Aaron, Megs and Isa Lu and my parents made the trip too, so the eight of us had a blast! And to top it off, Andray was a CHAMP in the car. Maybe cried 10 total minutes out of 20 hours of driving...so that was great...enjoy the photos and thanks to all of you that have served or continue to serve our country...we are forever in debt to you!

Love The Stang's....

Last Wednesday Jake's Middle School had a baby shower for us. Since February, six babies have been born in the middle school, so there were a lot of babies at the group shower and we got really nice gifts...it was a little overwhelming I'd have to say!

This is one of the hats Andray got at the shower in Dassel....it's so cute on him!

I'm so proud of my big brother Aaron...his family is so beautiful and so is his house. It was so fun to spend a few days together again!

This is Aaron and Megan's house in Champaign...they have a ton of plants in their front yard and back yard...he's got a way bigger "green thumb" than I do, ha!

Yep, Jake and I broke down and "rented" a mini van for our big trip to Illinois. And I'm not going to lie, if I had the money, I'd go out right now and buy a mini van. It was perfect with all the extra stuff we had to hall with for Andray...I'm telling you, mini vans are the way to go if you have kids. I was actually sad I had to return the van on Monday when we got back home, ha!

Andray spent a ton of time in his car seat this weekend, but he was a good sport!

Andray sure does love his Auntie Megan!

Isa had so much fun playing carbles with us! She's such a doll!

If you look close, you can see Isa's onezie hanging out under her shirt. Grandma changed Isa and forgotto snap her onezie together...so Isa ran around with her onezie hanging out. It was hilarious! Aaron thinks she looks like she has a football jersey on! So cute!

Andray had a blast with his cousin...Isa was so good with him and was patient...especially when she had to share this blue bouncy chair with him!

Andray had to represent Minnesota with his Twins outfit on Saturday when Megan, Isa, myself and Andray went to the Farmer's Market...thanks Auntie Rhonda for the hat!

This is Heidi, Aaron and Megan's dog. She's my first niece...they've had her for eight years now and I miss her so much too! Heidi got to take a few walks with us this weekend and we had a lot of fun wrestling with her!

Andray sitting in the van after we returned on Monday. He's literally sitting by himself here in the photo...crazy how fast he's growing up!

I just couldn't resist taking a photo of Andray next to the map of Illinois. He's the same size as our road atlas! Crazy stuff....

Thanks so much Andray for being a GREAT TRAVELER! We love you Little Man!

Andray's Baptism Weekend

Hello everyone - Baptism was absolutely beautiful this weekend and Andray was so good in church! We are just so blessed to have such a handsome little boy. We love you all and enjoy the photos, it was quite the weekend! By the way, Andray is 2 1/2 months old today....ah, he's growing so fast!

Love, Jake, Celest and Andray Paul

Andray was very excited to get baptised and he really was such a good baby in church.

Jake's aunt, Sister Perpetua, made this blanket that Andray is laying on for all her great nieces and nephews to be baptised with...VERY SPECIAL.

Andray's baptismal gown was the gown that I wore for my baptism almost 27 years ago. My Grandma Catherine made that gown for me. The blanket that he's laying on is the blanket that my Grandma Catherine made for him...so special. Gram was unable to make it for the baptism because she got sick the Friday before. We were very sad that she wasn't there, but we knew she was there in spirit, along with Gpa Shorty!

Our family, Andray was so handsome in all white....

Andray's cross on his gown is the cross that I wore on my wedding dress...pretty special.

Our church's steeple in St. Augusta...

The mass was beautiful and it was so special to be up on the altar to watch Andray get baptised. He didn't even cry when they poured the water over his head.

Andray's so lucky to have Jacob and Sarah has his Godparents...

The "Godfadda" Jacob is soooooooooooooooo proud!

Andray is so lucky to have his Auntie Sarah as his Godmother, he loves her so much!

The Stang's

Papa Steve and Grandma Sandy are so proud too....Andray is so lucky to have such great grandparents!

Papa Larry and Grandma Carol are so proud of Andray...

Andray Paul with his great grandparents, Andy and Edith Stang. It was very special for them to be there to witness Andray's baptism.

The Frank's....

The Frank's with Andray...

Auntie Rhonda just loves Dray to pieces!

Here's the Frank and Henn girls (and Andray of course)...Mom, me, Andray, Isa, Megan, her sister Abby and her mom Lynn. Thanks for coming up for the baptism Lynn and Abby, so great for you both to finally meet Andray!

Andray's cake was beautiful and everyone enjoyed the chocolate marble cake from the Cold Spring bakery.

Even though Andray didn't get to try his cake, he still loved it! Canyou tell that Andray is a little tired from his big day? Needless to say, he went to bed about 2 minutes after this photo.

Jake and I got individual cupcakes for our four nieces to eat...Mya loved it and tried to eat the cupcake whole...it was hillarious!
Mya loved the cake!

Isa liked the cake, but not quite as much as Mya....

FRIDAY NIGHT WHEN AARON AND MEGAN ARRIVED TO OUR PLACE...

Andray loved sporting his Illinois apparel, especially when Uncle Aaron and Auntie Megan were in town.

Andray sure does love his Auntie Megan....

Andray and Aaron are Fighting Illini fans together! Uncle Aaron was so pumped when he showed up at our house and Andray was sporting the Illinois outfit!

Aaron and Megan and Isa arrived on Friday afternoon, so we tipped back a few beers getting ready for the big day on Saturday. Andray even got to catch a few sun rays on Friday afternoon while we were setting up the garage...

Aaron gave Isa his Coors Light can...she just wanted to drink out of it so bad!

...and since she wanted to drink it so bad, Aaron let her! How hillarious is this!

Isa was walking in our backyard with Aaron and I. She was starting to get restless, so I told her to come over and smell our ONE tulip that we have in our backyard. Before we knew it, Isa had pulled the bloom off the stem and was smelling it, it was soooooooooooooooooooooooo funny and cute!

On Friday, Isa kept taking off Andray's socks and would point to his feet, saying,"TOES"...it was so cute!

Andray can't wait for Papa Larry to teach him how to fish!

Isa loves to play with basketballs...Aaron was trying to teach her to dribble. Hate to say it, but I think she's going to be a "lefty"!!!!


ON MONDAY MORNING BEFORE ANDRAY AND I DROVE MEGAN AND ISA DOWN TO THE CITIES...

Andray loves his cousin Isa, but he didn't want to take anymore photos...it was so funny to just watch Isa look at him while he was crying. Megan and I could just see the wheels turning in her head....like, "seriously Andray, stop crying!" hahahahahaha....

Isa put Andray's nuk in and it worked...no more crying!


Andray is smiling more and more now....we love it! Last Friday when I picked Andray up from daycare he smiled the biggest smile when I walked downstairs to get him...it brought tears to my eyes! Andray is now 2 1/2 months old...it's been quite an amazing 10 weeks for Jake and I. Couldn't imagine life without him.