Catching Up

The boys are (well, were) sleeping and I am catching up the stories of our lives :)

With disregard for the actual date order (I forget the dates Dave will remember so I can actually date them for REAL later), I have written several posts and just posted them all. If you want, you can read them all. I am doing it a lot of us, since I used to scrapbook and just can't any more (I can't even go to the batroom alone and haven't checked my email in a week, much less scrapbook!). My new plan is to print the blog posts and put those in a scrapbook. Then I get writings, too, and not just pictures. Of course, I will probably cut each post out and put it on pretty paper (since I am a sucker for it and that is what I really like about scrapbooks!). Yes, that is my plan. I am full of plans :)

And the cereal dumper?

I am not sure who dumped the first box, but Thor is the one who wants to do it now!

He just loves the sound.

Karin's Mor-Mor

Great Mor-Mor, Marcus, & Thor - August 2007

In early April, my grandmother (my Mor-mor) passed away just shy of her 90th birthday. She has been in a nursing home for a while now, but still very active and social (just forgetful and a little confused). She was a wonderful woman, who taught us all how to have fun whenever we could, and to love Jesus wholeheartedly. She had such a childlike heart, and such a tender spot for animals (all of whom were called by their colors, Blackie or Blondie, when she didn't know their real names). She loved being at her cabin in Moose Lake, MN and loved swimming at every chance she could. I will always think of her when I eat a jelly bean (a special treat for washing our hair at the cabin), eat soup and pie for lunch ("have a cookie to tide you over until pie" is one of Dave's favorites of her sayings), and go sledding. She blessed us in so many ways (we wouldn't have the cabin if she hadn't gotten her children gathering scraps to sell to make the extra money) and lived for us the faithfulness of God. Every July she would read a Proverb a day, and loved to do so on the deck at the cabin with a cup of coffee. I am sad that my children won't know her growing up, but she helped us bring them home and I am thankful that she at least got to meet them both. She read an article in the local Iowa paper where she lived about a family who adopted several children from Russia, cut out and saved that article, and started praying for the orphans in Russia - long before Dave and I started the process. Van's great Mor-Mor helped to pray him home!

In early April, we loaded the boys up for our first family of four raod trip to Arthur, Iowa for he funeral. We are blessed to have family living close, so Mom could travel down early to help make the plans and we were able to travel with my Dad and brother Jon for the funeral on Saturday. All the family was able to be there, and it was wonderful to see! I kept thinking that Mor-Mor would have loved that aspect more than anything ... to have her 4 children and their spouses together, 10 grandchildren (plus 5 spouses), and 7 great-grandchildren. A lot of chaos, but a lot of that wonderful family-sort of chaos ...

Dave's profile, Aly's knee, Nancy with Joey, Karin with Thor, Eric sitting, Kristina's ponytail, and Greta playing on the floor

Kathleen reading a story while Vanya, Greta, and Marcus crawl into "bed"

Greta, Marcus, Thor, Ava, Joey, Isabella

Vanya, Caleb, Kathleen, Corbin (and Hans, too)

The whole Lovain clan!

The drive home added its' own adventure! Kris & Tony's car broke while we were there, but was driveable home with the potential that it could quit moving at any time. So Marcus climbed in the back seat of Papa's van with Uncle Jon, Thor & Vanya took the middle seat, and Dave & I were in the front with the snacks. The van doesn't always like to start unless you hit the ignition with a screwdriver. And off we went in a mini-caravan (my parents said that they were staying another night, but I think they just didn't want to be in our caravan!). Thankfully, we all made it home safely.

Joey, Tony, & Thor

Vanya and a REAL tractor!

Vanya's 3rd Birthday!

April 8th, 2008 - Ivan Joseph David Bergstrom turns 3 and celebrates with family in Minnesota! YAY! We had been praying for YEARS to celebrate his birthday with him here, and now we have finally done it!

It is all about CARS right now ... the movies, any real ones we see on the street, and toy ones in our house. All other toys go by the wayside ... thogh we do wander to construction equipment, planes, and trains. Ahhh, boys! Notice that he brought his own car to the cake picture ...

Yes, Thor does love vehicles, too! He still loves stuffed animales (and loves to cuddle with them) and is getting better and better at throwing balls. Irina loves when he plays ball with her in the backyard.

The boys did have their first sleepover after the party - cousin Marcus stayed overnight and spent the next day with us since he didn't have school. All 3 of them piled into their room (Marcus got the "Special bed" on the floor between Van's twin and Thor's crib) and they did GREAT at getting to sleep and staying asleep! It is so wonderful to see them getting along and to see how the relationships between them are growing. Still working on group shots, though! No posed pictures, here, just boys in their natural states...

The Zoo

A couple of weeks ago (mid-March), my mom and I took the boys and cousin Marcus to the Como Zoo for the morning. It was a rough start, as Marcus refused to get out of the van. Really, the whole couple of hours were a bit nuts! Vanya ran and ran (despite anything we said), Thor just wanted to get out of the stroller, and Marcus was trying to lead us all the way that he wanted to go. He also wants to tell Vanya "no" all the time, but wants to say it in Russian, and always forgets the word ("nyet"). Meanwhile, it has been weeks since I have heard Vanya say "nyet" himself. Vanya did get to see the monkeys, but was quite scared by the gorilla (which is BIG and comes REALLY close when you are standing next to the glass wall). Papa (my dad) came and visited the biys between work meetings. We tried to document the event with a group shot ... but there wasn't a whole lot of cooperation!

See? They were all in the same place! 3 sleeping boys for the drive home ... mom and I took advantage and went through the Dunn Brothers drive-thru for some coffee and a chat in the driveway until they all woke up. We will try this again after we get a bigger stroller :)

Just a minute, honey ...

So WHY are our posts so delayed? After all, Vanya just turned 3 and we are having all sorts of adventures, and of course you want to hear all about it and see the pictures (or else you wouldn't be looking at our blog!) ... so why does it take us so long?

In just 2 minutes, the boys dumped an entire box of Kix on the floor, had a snack, stomped on them (what a cool crunching sound!), and came and told me "big cereal mess". So glad that they are working together!

I read on a blog the other day: "I have realized that I can either blog my life or live it". While I do enjoy blogging, I also enjoy living life so much more! And I really don't like cleaning all that much :)

But yes, we will post more pictures (Vanya's birthday, the sleepover, our trip to Iowa) soon! Now, I need to go buy more cereal ...

"2 Brothers"

A few days ago, as Thor and Vanya stood in the bathroom door as I (Karin) was getting ready, Vanya put his arm around Thor and said "2 brothers ... Vanya y Thor brothers". How precious to see them growing together! Later that day, Vanya gave Thor a shoulder rub (which of course sent Thor into belly laughs). It has been tough for both of them to come to instant brotherhood, but it so touches my heart to see them together ... whether driving trucks all around the house together or fighting over who gets what truck (or how many). It amazes me that God has blessed us with two very wonderful and very different boys! Vanya will scream whenever Thor takes something of his (thankfully he no longer grabs Thor's hair to pull, sending them both into tears). Thor has discovered the fun of taking something Vanya wants and runs away and hides behind me when I am close enough.

One day while we were driving, I hear Thor laughing and Vanya crying "ow ow ow" (as he has become quite dramatic in doing!). I look back as we sit at a stoplight, and Thor is holding Van's hand and Van can't get it away from him. Vanya may be older and taller, but Thor is quite close to outweighing him. But Vanya is still "big brother" and Thor is "baby brother".

This Sunday night will be our first "cousin" sleepover - Marcus doesn't have school so he will sleep over and then spend Monday with us. Wish us luck!