Ballet cuties!

Ruby took ballet again this year with her little buddy Abby.  So cute in their little leotards! 

100th Day of School!!!!

This school year is flying by!!!!  I love how the elementary school celebrates the 100th day of school!  It's a big deal!!!

Quick trip to L.A.

Chuck and I got away for a quick weekend in L.A. for a screen printing convention.  Thank you Gma and Gpa Demulling for coming to our house and watching the girls and Lou.  The girls had a great time!  It was a little chilly while we were there, but it felt better than the single digits back home!  Most of the time we spent at the convention. Fortunately, our hotel was right near the convention center, so we got in a lot of great walks, including the picture above which was a peaceful morning walk on the beach. 

Fun at Chux

Maggie's Girl Scout Troop did a service project this winter that included filling canvas bags with school supplies and sending them to Haiti for kids in need.  The girls also learned about the process of screen printing.  Together they drew a design and then took a field trip to Chux where they got to learn about printing and then actually print the design. 
The other pics above are from a time when the girls and I visited after work one day and the guys were jamming out in the back.  They were very sweet and let the girls try for a bit too! 

Winter Fun!!

We had a short winter this year.......but made the most of it!  In January, the girls took ski lessons at Elm Creek Park in Maple Grove.  Three out of the four Saturdays were freezing......below zero windchill.  They did great though and didn't even mind the cold.  We had fun sledding down the Glen Lake School hill and got out skating a few times......this year the ice was not the best. 
Also, the girls and I cross country skied at the Glen Lake Golf Course.  Fun to be able to take them both now!! 

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!  This year we went up to Craigan's Resort near Brainerd with Grandma and Grandpa Souvignier!  We stayed in a small cabin not far from the main lodge and had a great time!  The girls loved the pool and hot tub- we spent a lot of time there.  Also, there was a fun kids party on New Year's Eve night that included a DJ dance party, a big Jump House obstacle course, and lots of fun games for the kids. We brought up our Pie Face game (Thanks Gma and Gpa Demulling) and had fun playing that back at the cabin as well! 
We also spent some time outside as well- went on a couple nice walks by the lake and the girls and I even went on a dog sled ride! 

Christmas Blessings 2015

Christmas 2015 was filled with many blessings! 
Christmas Eve started out up in Maple Grove where we met Gma and Gpa Souvignier at the new skating path in Central Park.  It was a great day for skating and the girls needed something to keep them busy as they were so excited for the cousins to come over and open presents!
We came home and got things ready for the traditional fondue dinner with Gma, Gpa and Chris and Jen and kids.  After dinner the wrapping paper was flying as presents were opened.  And then we all piled into the Chuxwagon for a drive around the neighborhood looking at all of the luminary bags lining the streets.  Gma and Gpa stayed overnight with us and got to witness the morning excitement of Santa's delivery!  Ruby was awake at 4:30am........I layed with her and talked her into going back to bed for a couple of hours and then around 6:30 the pitter patter of little feet raced to the tree.  They took a look at their stockings and the gifts under the tree and then woke up Gma and Gpa to come see them open everything up!  It was fun to see their reactions.......Christmas through the eyes of a child is so precious!  The big gift Santa brought this year was an American Girl Doll for each of them.  They also got a new piano keyboard that was a big hit later after we got it out of the box and set it up.  We went to church and then quickly came home to get ready to do it all again! 
We headed out to Gma and Gpa Demulling's house where once again they were spoiled with lots of great gifts that they were so excited about!  And then headed to Great Gma Helen's house to see lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. In fact at one point in the day there were 59 people there.......good thing Gma Helen has a big house!  Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, we have been able to relax as a family the past few days and enjoy each other.......and all the new toys! I feel so fortunate to have my family and extended family to share this special time of the year with!