LOCKRIDGE — A pair of siblings from the Lockridge area each welcomed a baby to the world on Valentine’s Day this year.

Sam and Melinda Brokken Estle of Fairfield said their two new grandkids were the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, especially since they never guessed that both babies would arrive on the same day, with their due dates three weeks apart.

The couple have two children, daughter Breanna and son Jake. Breanna and her husband Brandon Aplara live in Lockridge, and they were expecting their second child to arrive on Feb. 17, who would join their 2-year-old son Wallace at home. Meanwhile, on the west coast in southern California, Jake and his wife Mercedes were expecting their first child to arrive, too, but not until March 10.

“I told my husband, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if they were born on the same day?’” Melinda said. “He was like, ‘Yeah right!’”

But that is exactly what happened, when both Breanna and Mercedes were told by their respective doctors that they would need to be induced, with Breanna just a few days early, and Mercedes over three weeks early.

Breanna and Brandon welcomed Karl John Aplara at 12:25 p.m. on Feb. 14, weighing 7 pounds and 9 ounces. He was born at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. His California cousin arrived less than three hours later at 1:10 p.m. Pacific Time (3:10 Central Time), when Jake and Mercedes welcomed Alahna Rae Estle, weighing 6 pounds and 8 ounces. Alahna was born at Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia, California.

“Sam said the stork must have been supersonic to fly 1,800 miles from Iowa to California in less than three hours,” Melinda said.

One of the interesting tidbits about these two couples is that all four of them knew each other from Lockridge Elementary School. Breanna and Brandon were two years apart, while Jake and Mercedes were in the same class until the elementary school closed in 2002, and Mercedes’ family moved to Waterloo.

Breanna graduated from Fairfield High School and went on to study veterinary medicine at Iowa State University, where she graduated in 2017. She and Brandon married in 2020.

Jake graduated from Fairfield High School in 2011 and joined the U.S. Air Force two years later. He and Mercedes wed on Jan. 16, 2019, which also happens to be Melinda’s birthday. The couple lived in Utah at first and moved to California when the Air Force reassigned Jake to a new base. He is now stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. During his time in the Air Force, he has visited or been assigned to work in countries such as Japan, South Korea and Norway.

In addition to his maternal grandparents, Karl was welcomed home by grandmother Judy Aplara of Lockridge. Great-grandmother to both babies is Connie Estle of Fairfield.

Alahna’s maternal grandparents are Scott and Tammi (Cline) Neuendorf of Waterloo, and Jeff Morris of Ottumwa, who were excited to welcome their first grandchild. Alahna’s great-grandparents are Dave and Sandy Neuendorf of Waterloo, Rick Morris of Ottumwa, Janet Morris of Fairfield, and Victoria Caudell of Florida.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com