Happy Birthday, Emmers!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Emma who for 9 years has endured a crazy chaotic life including adding 3 babies to our family along with 6 moves.  She loves us all unconditionally and we love her!

This sweet little puppy brings so much joy to our lives.  She is always so happy to see us whether we were gone for minutes or hours.  She has plenty of snuggles and constantly sits by all 3 kids and snuggles them.  We are all pretty attached to her and I can't believe she is 9 years old already.  Sweet Puppy.

 Best. Dog. Ever.

Happy 2014!

Happy New Year!  Hoping each day of the new year brings happiness and cheer to you all!

Another year has come and gone this one even quicker than the last.  I imagine time will just keep on flying by and I don't like it!  I have definitely been taking the time to slow down and really appreciate the time with our little munchkins and our sweet family.  They truly just grow up far too fast!

We had two wonderful Christmas celebrations with both of our families.  We are so fortunate to have two wonderful, loving extended families.  We were beyond blessed with our 2013 and I pray that 2014 brings us just as much health and happiness.

In light of New Years and the long tradition of making "New Year's Resolutions" I thought this would be a great place to share mine.  Perhaps if I say (write) them publicly I will have better luck continuing them throughout the year.  I think resolutions are kind of silly but hey, who doesn't need to work on self-improvement?

1.  Make and reach new fitness goals.

2.  Eat healthier, less-processed foods.

3.  Blog regularly.  (Speaking of, I will be working on some MAJOR back-blogging over the weekend)

4.  Be less judgmental.

5.  Save more money.

6.  Drink less Diet Coke.

7.  Maintain a cleaning schedule.

8.  Make God a larger part of our daily lives.

I hope you all at least use this time of year to reflect on yourself.  I know it sure helps me!  Oh…and instead of complaining about how busy the gym is for the first 2 weeks of January lets celebrate with those who are trying to make a positive, healthy change in their lives and hope that it lasts throughout the year!  Cheers!

Christmas 2013.

After Ryan was off call at 7am we loaded up the Pilot and headed to the farm.  Everyone else was already there waiting for us (the kids) and we couldn't get there any faster!  Ryan was going on little sleep but had had several cups of coffee.  The drive went well until we hit a bit of bad weather the last hour.  We arrived at the farm safely and were ready for a Christmas celebration!  We hung out for a few hours then got everyone ready for Christmas Eve service.  After church we came back and ate some yummy appetizers and the kids each opened one present.  The kids went to bed well considering there was BIG anticipation for Santa to come!  We set our cookies and milk out and headed to bed (I can't believe I forgot to snap a picture, sad.)

The kids woke up and were so excited that Santa had found them at the farm!!

 We all had a great Christmas Day celebration filled with family, good food and lots of new things to play with/wear.  We are so blessed to have such a great family to spend Christmas with!! Merry Christmas!!

Emma had a pretty rough few days and decided she needed to use Kadence's new American Girl doll bed as her own…oh holiday bliss.

Christmas in Cloquet.

We started our holiday extravaganza with a trip to Cloquet for the weekend to celebrate an early Christmas.  We arrived later Friday night and made Saturday our celebration day.  Dad wore his Santa shirt which still had Christina on the naughty list?  Ha ha.

 All 5 of the kids had a blast opening up their presents.  They were all so patient and opened them one at a time so we could see what everyone gave and received.

 Such a blessing to have all these happy, healthy children in our lives.  Love them all!

I am blessed to have this special child in my life also!

Emma and Sofie were staying safe on Grandma's lap during all the chaos.

 This little one may have stole the show yet, again.  She had to put her new Minnie outfit on and loved it!  The kids had some fun new toys to play with the rest of the weekend and the 5 of them played together so well.  We ate a yummy supper then the guys headed out to a movie.  Sunday we hung out and watched the football game.  Annabelle, Kenzie and I headed over for a couple hour visit with Grandma June.  It was so great to see her and spend some good quality time with her.  We headed back Sunday evening so Ryan could work Monday and then we were off for our second trip...

Gingerbread House.

Kadence had a holiday celebration and gingerbread house making the last day of school before winter break.  Unfortunately, she got strep throat on Wednesday and missed their big Polar Express party.  She was very disappointed but understood that she needed to get him so she didn't get her friends sick.  By Friday she was feeling totally fine and had had 24 hours+ of antibiotics so she was able to make it to school.  Ryan had someone cover for him so he was able to be out of work in time to make it to the party.  I was so happy she had some Kadence and Daddy time (without having Kenzie along.)  They had fun and made an adorable yummy looking gingerbread house.  Such a fun activity we have been able to do with the kids at their schools the past 3 years.

Landon's Gymnastics.

After an entire summer of watching both of his sisters do gymnastics Landon finally had his turn.  He begged me every time we took Kadence to her class so we decided to let him do a class when his flag football was over.  He is in an all boys class on Monday nights.  There is a wide range of ages (6-14) which has been a good motivator for Landon.  The class is 730-830 on Monday nights so Ryan took him to class while I would stay home with the girls.  The last class of the session was parents day so the girls and I also went and watched.

 It was pretty cute to watch Landon show off all of his progress.  He was super embarrassed with me there taking pictures.  His face kept turning red and I could tell he was embarrassed.  It was kind of funny because I have never seen him that way with all the sports he has done-t-ball, flag football, soccer, basketball, tae kwon doe.

I couldn't help but think of my little almost 4 year old boy doing his first activity- a gymnastics class, in Sioux Falls.  How did he grow up so fast?  He looks so grown up now.

 Sioux Falls September 2010

Landon passed levels 1-6 and did an excellent job for his first time!  He wants to continue to do gymnastics so he is signed up for the next session in January.  He will also be starting basketball in January!

What a cutie pie he was!!!  I just can't believe he is already 7.  Tear...

Christmas Cookies.

We always try and do cut out cookies with the kids around Christmas time.  We most of Sunday afternoon baking and decorating the cookies.  Cut out cookies are quite time consuming and even more so when you let little people help.  It is totally worth it as the kids love doing it and are always so proud of their creations.

 They were the yummiest cookies EVER!