A visit with Santa!

Ruby screamed when I tried to put her on Santa's lap, and Maggie froze up when it was her turn to talk to him.......Oh well! There's always next year!

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a great day on Wednesday getting ready for Thanksgiving! Maggie and I made the turkey cookies shown above and then once Ruby woke up from her nap we walked up to Chux to have lunch with Dad and say hi to Grandpa. The weather has been so nice lately! In the 50's and even 60' on Thanksgiving! We spent Thursday at Grandma and Grandpa Souvigier's where we had a delicious meal and went for a walk to the park to enjoy the awesome weather! Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Demulling's and got to see Trent and Aimee and the kids who made the trip up from Omaha! Also, the Dauwalters, Margo and Dan, Sara and the boys, Rhett and Jack, Great Grandma Helen, and Great Aunt Jean! Grandma Alice made some excellent lasagna and once again we all ate too much! All of the cousins had a great time playing together!
Saturday we switched gears and got in the Christmas spirit. We put our tree up and Chuck even got up on the roof to put some lights up too (pictures to come)! Saturday evening we went to the Campbells for a little pizza and bonfire with the kids and then on Sunday, we went to the Dauwalter's for Sidney's 5th birthday party! It was an incredibly busy weekend, but we had so much fun spending time with our family and friends!! All of whom we are so thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween weekend! Saturday we spent at the West End in St. Louis Park. There was trick-or-treating, a DJ, and fun games for the kids. Then we went out to lunch and came home for a well needed nap! Sunday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Souvignier's to celebrate Bernie's birthday and carved up our pumpkins. We have more pictures at the end of the October album in picasa- October has definitely been a fun month!!

October Fun!

We've had a great autumn so far! There have been so many nice sunny days- above are pictures from the Pumpkin Train ride with Grandma Alice. This year Great Grandma Helen, Joyce, Chad, Missy and Natalie joined us too! And then it was off to Randy and Mary's for a hay ride. There are more pictures in the October album in picasa. Maggie is very excited about Halloween this year! We hung ghosts in the tree out front and made pumpkin shaped cookies and checked out some Halloween books from the library! It's so fun to see such great excitement about the little things in life!! I just love it!!

Above are pictures from Scott and Jessica's wedding reception. What a fun day!! Maggie's favorite part was the barn dance! There are a few more pictures that I added at the end of the September album in Picasa.

1st annual Surf & Turf

On Saturday I did my first paddle board/ run duathlon. We paddled 2 miles around Lake Ann in Chanhassen and then ran 3 miles on beautiful wooded trails. It was really a fun race and the weather was awesome!! Above is a little video of the start- I only saw one person fall off.....and it wasn't me!
Once you hit the play arrow, hit the little square on the bottom right corner to make it a full screen and I am wearing a white hat and red life jacket.

Labor Day with the Demullings!

Trent and Aimee and fam came home for Labor Day weekend. Grandma and Grandpa had all of their kids and all 8 of their grandkids together!!! The picture above is of the Taylor's Falls Princess. We rode it on the St. Croix on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and a fun ride. More pics in the picasa web album.
Here is Grandma reading to the older grandkids. Grace, Coop and Ruby were already sleeping.
Here we are after the boat ride. And below is the pic of the whole family!

Happy 1st Birthday RUBY!!

Ruby had a great birthday! I can't believe that she is already one! We celebrated with the grandmas and grandpas and Toni and D fam and Chris and Jen fam up at Oak Knoll Park by our house with a little barbeque and play time at the splash pad. She loved her chocolate cake and wore it well! There are more August pictures in the Picasa album.

A great birthday!

I just had to post a picture of the delicious chocolate cake that Maggie and Chuck made for me!!! They did it all on their own and it was really great!! There were plenty of sprinkles on there (pretty sure that was Maggie's job). It was a great day!!

Fun Times at the cabin!

We spent a whole week at the cabin and had a great, relaxing time. Grandma and Grandpa Demulling and Toni and John and the kids also came up and spent a few days with us.
Maggie likes to ride in the tube behind the boat and also just float in it on the shore!
Our latest purchase is a paddle board from Silver Creek Paddle (Rob and Dee Dee's new business). We had a lot of fun paddling around the bay. There were a few nights Chuck paddled out to see the sunset around the edge of the bay. The early morning and evening rides where the water is completely calm are our favorites!
I was a bit skeptical of Chuck when he decided that we needed a speed boat, but I'm glad he talked me into it! We have really enjoyed it! From taking the kids out on the tube, to pulling the adults on skis it has been great fun! We have even used it to go for an evening ride and put kids to sleep!

Happy 4th of July and the Tucon Souvigniers visit!

We had a great 4th of July this year! The Tucson Souvigniers were in town and we all spent the weekend up at the cabin. The weather couldn't have been better and it was so nice to all be together! I have finally updated the picasa web album with some more pictures from the summer!

Ruby walks!

Happy Father's Day 2011!

We spent the beginning of Father's Day weekend up at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa Souvignier. The weather was a bit cool and rainy (like many of the weekends this summer) but we still had a fun time out on the boat. Grandpa pulled mom and dad skiing and Maggie got to ride on the tube! We had some nice bonfires and didn't even get too many masquito bites! Sunday morning we got up early, packed up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Demulling's. We met up with Toni and John and the kids and Grandpa grilled up a delicious lunch! Frank and the boys stopped by and Great Grandma Helen stopped in too. The girls are pretty lucky to have such a great Dad and two awesome grandpas!

Maggie is three!

Maggie was so anxious for her birthday this year. Shortly after Chuck's birthday, she started asking about when hers would be and she would mention something about her birthday every other day (no exaggeration!!) Grandma Souvignier found the perfect count down wheel for her to turn each morning to count down the days.
She had a great party out at Grandma and Grandpa Demulling's house. The weather was a little cool again this year, so there was no swimming, but they still got some good hot tub time in! Maggie was so excited to help me make cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles!
Both grandma and grandpas were there and Toni and John and the kids and Chris and Jen and the kids too! Toni knew how excited Maggie was for her big day and made her the cute shirt pictured above.
She was spoiled this year with lots of great toys and cute clothes!! Thanks to all!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Maggie!!

1 YEAR OLD
2 YEARS OLD
3 YEARS OLD!!!

Mother's Day 2011

I love my Mom and my girls!

Happy Easter 2011!

We had a great Easter weekend! Saturday, we spent the afternoon with the Souvigniers to celebrate Jack's 3rd birthday! He and Maggie had a blast together!
Sunday morning we went out to our back yard to find eggs from the Easter Bunny- Maggie was up bright and early so eager to get outside!!
After we collected all of the eggs from outside, we came back in and got ready for church. The girls looked so cute in their Easter dresses. Church was packed and filled with so many cute little girls and boys all decked out in their Sunday best!
After church we swung by to pick up Lou and then headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Demullings. It was a really nice day! Great Aunt Jean, Margo and Dan, Jack and Lori, Bob and Deloris, and Frank and the boys were all there.

Getting Ready for Easter!

Maggie had lots of fun decorating eggs at Grandma and Grandpa Souvignier's house. We forgot to take a picture of them when they were all done......above is what's left after we each ate some the past few days!

More pictures!

We went in for Maggie's 6 months pictures. Yes, I did dress them alike- they're wearing their Easter dresses. Quick story- One day I was shopping with the girls and Maggie picked those dresses out. She said something like, "Aren't these cute, one for me and one for Ruby!" I thought that was so sweet! I'm going to take advantage of this time while they still want to dress alike.....because I know that will change down the road!

Ruby in action!

Ruby started crawling a few weeks ago and now she is a pro!

A few short videos...

Ruby is at a fun age and has really been enjoying her toys! As you can see from the video below, Maggie has been having fun with Ruby's toys too! I'm on spring break this week and it has been so nice spending the days with my girls!! Monday we met some friends at the Children's Museum, today we went up to Chux for lunch and Wednesday we are meeting Toni and the kids at Pump It Up for the toddler play time. Should be fun! I posted a few more random pics in the picasa web album. Ruby just started crawling last week! I will post some video of her in action soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2011!

The girls were all decked out in green thanks to a little package that arrived in the mail from Grandma Alice!

Happy Valentines Day 2011

Valentines Day was a lot of fun this year! We made heart cookies over the weekend and frosted them pink to give to the guys at Chux. Maggie filled her little treat bags for her friends at daycare and was very excited to give Cheryl some flowers! Normally Maggie has a hard time waking up on Monday mornings, but not this morning! We topped of the day with a little dinner at the Park Tavern!
Ruby will be 6 months next week! She is so much fun- giving us lots of smiles, squeals, and giggles! She loves to roll and will roll clear across the room if you let her! She is just starting to push herself up to crawling position, and it won't be long before she's off!
More pics were added to the Picasa web album.

Christmas in January!

This is a picture from the gorgeous cabin that Grandma and Grandpa rented for us all! It was beautiful, on Clear Lake in the town of Clear Lake, Iowa. It was a perfect gathering spot- we each had our own bedroom and bathroom and there was lots of space to hang out. Also, it was about half way between here and Omaha. The kids had a blast together! We woke up Saturday morning had a nice breakfast and then the kids all opened up their presents from Christmas. They had a great time playing with their new toys and running up and down from the basement play area. Even though the cabin was pretty big, the volume level got quite high from time to time with 8 little ones running around!! Well, make that 7- Rubie wasn't keeping up with them quite yet! Grandma and Grandpa brought some GREAT food, we watched some football including a Packers win, played a few games of Farkel, tried to play with the kids outside (it was very, very cold!) and sat out in the hot tub overlooking the lake! That was one of my favorite parts! Oh, and I learned how to play cribbage! Very fun, and not as difficult as I thought it would be! I will download the rest of the pictures from the weekend into picasa when I have a little more time.

Happy New Year!!! 2011

The Souvigniers rang in the New Year at Boyd Lodge this year. Thanks to Bill & Bernie for the weekend! We had a blast! The Cross Lake area just received a bunch of snow right before we arrived which coated the trees- it looked looked beautiful! Our lodge was perfect- Chuck loved tending to the fire which made for a warm and cozy cabin! We had a great time sledding down the hill to the lake, cross country skiing on the groomed trails, and Chuck and Maggie took a quick soak in the hot tub (it wasn't too hot so Maggie loved it!) We had delicious food all weekend with the highlight being a Raclette dinner. The Souvigniers are known to fondue every Christmas, but this was something new to us and really good! It consisted of lots of great veggies and meat, with really good cheese melted on top of it all in your own personal pan- you cook it yourself right at the table. Because it's hard to explain, I'll include the Wikipedia link on it if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette
We also had some heated games of Farkle and lots of good laughs! It was such a fun weekend- a great way to enjoy the winter!!