Our Winter Get-Away

Chuck decided that we needed to find a way to enjoy the winter, especially since we still have a good share of it left! He found this beautiful cabin for a great deal on Craig's List and so we decided to rent it for Friday and Saturday night! The cabin was on Butterfield Lake in Emily, MN. We talked Grandpa Bill and Grandma Bernie into coming up with us too! We had a great time cross country skiing, taking Maggie on the tube down the hill, going for walks with Lou on the lake, relaxing by the fireplace, and going out to dinner. It was a much needed get-away! Maggie had a great time- especially with Grandma and Grandpa all weekend! More pics of the trip are in the picasa album.

And........We are excited to welcome baby #2 this August!

The shirt says it all! As you can see from the previous posts, this little one will have lots of cousins to play with right around the same age!!

Welcome Baby Grace Olivia Demulling- 8 lbs 5 oz

Gracie's birthday is January 22 too!

Welcome Baby Alison Rebecca Souvignier-- 9 lbs

Ali's birthday is January 22

Welcome Baby Cooper Roger Dauwalter 7 lbs 13 oz

Cooper's birthday is January 19th

Good Bye Great Grandpa Demulling We all will miss you very much

Grandpa Don Demulling
Jan 5 1931- Jan 11 2010

Grandma & Grandpa

My favorite childhood memories with Grandpa

-Looking for Easter Eggs he hid outside at the lake. Grandpa had so many grandkids to hide eggs for, he wrote down where they were all hidden. When we came in for clues, he would send us in the right direction, but he didn't make it easy for us......they were always in some pretty unique spots and it took a long time to find all of our eggs.......or maybe that was just me!!
-Going camping with Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins in the pick-up camper. Once when it was raining we were all stuck in the camper eating dinner. Grandma make Mac & Cheese and accidentally used hot red pepper to season it instead of regular black pepper. We were all sitting around the little camper table squished together and none of us kids would eat it, but Grandpa didn't even notice the difference!
-Snowmobiling up north, having weenie roasts at Shone Park and staying at the cabin
-All of the teasing he did like coloring our finger nails black with his marker and poking us with his cane all the while grinning ear to ear.

Merry Christmas!!

Maggie had a lot of fun this year opening up all of her gifts (with a little help from mom!)

Such a fun age for Christmas this year!!

Here is Maggie with her cousins Cully and Sidney! It was so fun to all be together for the holidays!

Maggie with Cousin Jack and Grandma Bernie! She has her new phone and Jack has her pretend lipstick!!

We had so much fun at home the week after Christmas just hanging out and playing with her new toys. A couple of days we met up with Toni and the kids, on New Years Day Chuck, Maggie and I went to Edinburough Park (the indoor playground) to get a little energy out, and we managed to get outside and go sledding on one of the days off that wasn't freeeeeezing cold.
This was the year of the big Christmas storm. I think we got over 15 inches of snow over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It made for slow traveling, but we were still able to make it out to Grandma and Grandpa Demullings on Chrstmas Eve day, back to the Souvignier Grandparents on Christmas Eve night for a fondue dinner and then back out to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Demulling's for Christmas Day! It gets to be pretty busy, but I just love seeing everyone all together!
Every year especially around this time I feel so fortunate to have such a great family- and I'm talking immediate family and large extended family. I don't ever want to take that for granted. I think this quote by Brad Henery kind of sums it up!

Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.