Joining God's Family

Jaden & Cody's big day finally arrived! How exciting it was to welcome our boys as part of God's family through baptism. Prior to the church service, Grammy and Grandma were hard at work, helping their grandsons look as cute as could be. Grammy ironed their new baptism outfits, while Grandma re-sewed suspenders to help their little suits fit more snugly.

Mommy dressed the boys as close to leaving for church as possible in an attempt to avoid any messy spills or diapers. Thankfully, we arrived at church stain-free!

Don't they look so grown up in their fancy suits? Cody is on the left in the first picture below, while Jaden is on the right.

At church, we were surprised to see the front of the church adorned with a beautiful blue flower arrangement-- a gift from the boys' grandmas. What a thoughtful idea!

Our baptismal party took up nearly the entire front of the church! We were honored to have both of our pastor-dads perform the boys' baptism. Also, it was a blessing to have all of our siblings present to serve as sponsors/godparents for Jaden & Cody. Talk about a big crew!

Amy's dad, Pastor Walquist, makes the sign of the cross over Cody.

Jaden was the first twin baptized, with Jason's dad, Pastor Schleicher, officiating. What a touching sight it was to see our firstborn receiving the blessings of baptism. It was an emotional moment!

Amy's dad performed the baptism for little Cody.

Immediately following the baptism, Jason sang a song that he had written in honor of the boys. The song was entitled, "You Stretch out Your Hands" and was a touching reminder of God's grace showered abundantly upon His children through His Son Jesus. What a talented daddy these boys have!

We know that our boys' sponsors will lovingly care for them throughout their entire life. We couldn't ask for better godparents for both Jaden and Cody! Here are Kim & Matt and Chelsea & Jonathan with Jaden...

...and Andy & Beth and Sarah & Andew with Cody.

The twins have wonderful, godly examples in grandparents as well. Here are Amy's parents with Cody and Jason's parents with Jaden.

We absolutely loved having every family member here to celebrate with us. Thanks again, everyone, for making the effort to come!

Most of all, though, we thank our Heavenly Father for the two heaven-sent gifts of our little boys. We thank Him for giving each of His children the blessings of faith, forgiveness, and life eternal. What an honor it is to be not only parents to Jaden and Cody, but also now fellow members of the Lord's family. Praise be to God for these wonderful gifts!

Meeting the Family: Part 2

And the family keeps on coming... Next to arrive in Billings was Aunt Sarah. She and her husband Andrew (Amy's brother) are sponsors for little Cody. As you can tell from the following pictures, Cody had no problem settling right into Sarah's arms!

It was an extra special gift to have Sarah with us, as she is nearing the arrival of her own little one. Traveling long distances can take a toll on anyone's body, but it's an even greater challenge when you are 7 1/2 months pregnant! We know it was a big effort for Sarah to make the journey to Billings. Thank you for your sacrifice, Sarah! We loved having you here to meet and cuddle with our boys.

Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Jon rolled in next on their drive from Lincoln, NE. These two are sponsors for Jaden.

Uncle Jon already had the opportunity to meet Jaden & Cody in the hospital, so he was particularly impressed by how much they had grown. He even took on the challenge of the tandem twin hold!

Both Uncle Jon & Aunt Chelsea were so sensitive about helping out with whatever needed to be done around the house. Their thoughtful, caring attitudes were such a gift to us. Chelsea was especially helpful in the kitchen, often taking over the preparation for entire meals! Her past experience as a camp cook was certainly put to good use. Here, she and Aunt Kim are both taking charge of lunch prep for our crew of 15 eaters.

Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth from Minnesota came in next. Andy gets his first look at his godson, Cody Andrew.

Aunt Beth did an amazing job of holding and comforting our boys. It was not unusual for her to be holding one of the twins for a couple hours straight. They absolutely loved the comfort of her arms!

Beth's other important job was taking drink orders for the large family before every meal. She had this task down to a science! The food line through the kitchen went much more smoothly because of Beth's efforts. Thanks, Aunt Beth!

Being from Minnesota, Beth & Andy are both big Twins fans. They figured that their Twins apparel was only too fitting to wear for Jaden and Cody. Andy did all he could to encourage the boys in their fanhood...

...even gifting the boys with their very own Twins apparel. We'll see how often their Daddy allows them to wear these cute outfits!

Shortly after Beth & Andy's flight got in, Papa flew in from Albuquerque. He, too, was excited to see how the boys had grown after his time with them during their first weeks of life. As you can tell, Cody recognized Papa's loving and capable arms right away. We were excited to have Papa back, too!

Both grandpas enjoyed gazing at their two little grandsons.

And both grandmas took pride in their twin grandsons, too.

Finally, Uncle Andrew flew in for a short weekend to celebrate with us. What a busy time it was for him, coming in right after his classes in Michigan and needing to return to work again right away on Monday. He was in Billings for less than 24 hours! We were SO thankful that he prioritized his time to be here during such a busy time. Uncle Andrew jumped right in to help with baby-holding.

Here, Andrew and Sarah hold the twins before the baptismal service. What a blessing it was to have both of them here! Don't they look like experienced parents already? We're so excited to hear about the arrival of new Baby Walquist coming soon! Thanks, you two, for spending time with our family during such a busy family time for you.

 How blessed we were to have such a full household of loving family members to shower love upon our boys! We love you all!

Meeting the Family: Part 1

In mid-July, we had the honor of having all our immediate family members travel to Billings to help us celebrate Jaden & Cody's baptism. What an amazing blessing it was to have every single one of our siblings and their spouses, plus both sets of our parents, visit us! We know that they all made sacrifices to come, so we were very appreciative of our time together. It was a bit crazy having a household full of 14 adults and 4 young children for almost a week, but it was such a wonderful adventure! We especially loved introducing Cody & Jaden to our family and watching as the boys were spoiled by each one of their relatives. First to visit was the Texas Schleicher family. Here is Amy's sister Kim, obviously already an experienced mother, holding both boys and successfully keeping them quiet.

Kim's husband, also Jason's brother, Matt, is here bonding with Jaden. You can tell he's an experienced parent, too! We asked Matt and Kim to serve as baptismal sponsors for this little man.

Our nephew and godson Ian was such a caring big cousin! Here he is hanging out with Cody.

One of Ian's favorite things to do was to kiss his cousins on the head. We'd frequently hear Ian asking us, "Can I kiss him, please?" He'd particularly come running when one of the twins was crying and offer his kisses as a way to comfort the boys. What a loving little guy!

We also loved having the Texas Schleichers visit because this was our first opportunity to meet our new nephew Ryan. Even though he was born only 3 weeks before our little guys, he looks quite a bit older! We loved seeing Ryan's fun "mop" of hair and witnessing his pleasant, mellow personality. In fact, Jason and I were shocked to realize that we didn't actually hear Ryan cry until Day 3 of their visit. What a sweet boy!!

During their visit, Ian helped his Aunt Amy celebrate her birthday by providing extra air to blow out the birthday candles.

Kim and Amy loved having the chance to retreat into a back bedroom regularly to nurse their boys and visit. Amy relished the opportunity to learn from Kim's wisdom as a mother, too.

Of course, we couldn't spend a week with our favorite godson without taking time out to read with him!

Next to arrive in Billings were Grandma and Grandpa Schleicher. What fun to meet Grandpa and Grandma in person! Grandma gets a good look at Cody...

while Grandpa looks back and forth from one to the other, trying to recognize unique traits in our identical boys.

Grandma settled into her role as a loving grandma of twins very quickly and easily. The twins fell in love with their grandma right away!

Grandpa also knew just how to care for Jaden & Cody, jumping right in with burping the boys after feedings and calming them when they were fussy.

Shortly after their arrival, Grandma presented Jason and Amy with two beautiful hand-crafted quilts. Both quilts share colors from the boys' nursery and boast animal & Noah's ark patterns, too. The quilts are so adorable and are obviously reflective of lots of loving hours of work. We are certain to use these quilts often with our boys. How blessed they are to have such a talented grandma!