JFK Dance Recital

December 16th...

The girls were in a Special Session of Just For Kix. Their Mommy & Me class was for 2 and 3 year-olds and they were all so cute! They only had 5 practices but they remembered most of their routines. It was pretty hilarious. Some of them just stood there in shock from all of the people in the bleachers looking at them but my girls put on a pretty good show! They both loved the whole experience and I'm sure this is just the beginning of many more to come!!!


The Mommy & Me class... Chloe and Morgan are on the right.

"Wheels" for Wheels on the Bus

2 out of 8 had the right pose at that moment ;)

Chloe telling Morgan she was supposed to be doing her "X body" pose. Ha!

Lyrical performance with Lily (front, left) and Brianna (middle, left)

Brianna being lifted. Such a beautiful dance!

No nap = sleepy lil' dancer!

Cousins... Morgan, Lily, Ava, Brianna and Chloe

Morgan & Lily... Too cute!!!

Birthday Boy

December 14th...

Jared turned 8 years old!!!

He had the option of having the usual 'family party' or try something new... 'friends party'. You can about imagine that it took him 2 seconds to pick friends. Keith and I were actually kind of excited about it. There's something about having to clean and cook and have a house full of 30 people that's a little daunting. ;) He got to pick 4 of his buddies (cuz that's all that could fit legally in the van). We picked them up Friday night and headed over to the Wow! Zone in Mankato. They bowled, played laser tag and played lots of arcade games. It was a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure they all had a great time. :)

Thomas, Jared, Brendon, Kyle and Carter

Angry Birds Cake

Make a wish!!!

Gearing up for Laser Tag

Jared and Thomas on the hunt

Shooting the bad guys

Buddies

December 8th...

Jared has Super Hoopers on Saturday mornings and since it snowed the night before, he wanted to have a friend over to play in it. We brought home his buddy, Thomas, and they had an absolute blast! There was just enough snow to be able to drive the 4-wheeler (2-wheel-drive) and pull a rider but not too much that it got stuck. They'd stay outside until they got too cold, come in the house for some hot cocoa, warm up, play some video games or whatever and then go back out for more fun!

Snow!!!

December 7th...

It finally snowed!!! The kids were SO excited to play in it right after we got home from daycare.

The 4-wheeler was lots of fun in the snow!

The girls were bummed that the Gator didn't get very far :(

So pretty!

SAE Christmas Program

December 6th & 7th...

St. Anthony Elementary put on a Christmas Program. They did a wonderful job!


Jared's 2nd grade class

The other 2nd class

All of the 2nd graders

Trimming the Tree

December 4th...

Jared putting on the star... Keith looks so enthused!



They were pretty excited to help decorate the tree!

The cow in the barn looks like he's had a few too many ;)

7th Anniversary

December 2nd...

Keith and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on November 19th. Times flying! Kinda crazy to think about how much our lives have changed in less than a decade. Looking forward to many, many more years to come!

We were able to take a short, overnight trip to the cities to do a little shopping and just get away. We went to the Holidazzle Parade for the first time and ate supper at Manny's Steakhouse. The parade was great and the food was out-of-this-world! I always have to laugh when Keith says he wants to go out for steak. We raise beef... just filled our freezer with a fresh half... the guy can grill a pretty amazing steak on the grill... why not eat something that we don't normally eat at home?! Well, I'm sure glad he wanted steak cuz that meal was the BEST meal I've ever eaten. Period. Still makes me a little dizzy just thinking about it. Ahh-mazing. It was also the most money (by far!) we've ever spent on a meal but boy-oh-boy was it worth it! I could go on and on but I'll quit. ;) Here are a few pics fromt the parade...

First float

Last float... Santa is waving at everyone

'tis the season!

The holiday cards are rolling in and I love going to the mailbox and seeing whose cards are in there every day. Joe and Amanda's card came last week and all I did was show it to the girls and they were all "Ohhh! Joey and Manda!!!" I've tried to get them to pronounce Ah...manda but it's so cute how they say it. ;)



And then Paulette & Doug's card came with their family picture (with Joey and Manda) so it was lots of excitement all over again. ;) Gotta love the simple things that cause so much joy in these little girls' lives!

Gymnastics

November 14th...

The girls have been going to gymnastics at NUAGA this Fall and totally love it! They are in a class for 2 and 3 year-olds so it is perfect for them. Here are some pictures from one of their last classes. The lighting in there is horrible so I struggled to get nice shots. I wanted to avoid using the flash. They have enough distractions the way it is. ;)



Running for warm-ups. Bad pic of Chloe but Morgan's face is hilarious!


Tumble Track!



Balance Beam

 

Just For Kix

November 17th...

The girls are doing a Special Session of Just For Kix called Mommy & Me. Thankfully... the mommies don't have to do any dancing. ;) They will be performing in the Winter Show on December 16th.

December 9th...

Dress rehearsal at NUHS...

Bounce!!! Chloe's costume came a day late but she still looked cute!

Chloe is SO into this! Morgan loves it too. It's so much fun watching them come home and do their little routines together... even in the bathtub!

13 and counting...

December 2nd...

The big treehouse tree at the farm died and had to be cut down so we lined up all of the grandkids on it in order of age...

Lily (8) - Jared (7) - Brianna (7) - Alec & Ava (6) - Emily (6) - Chloe (3) - Ashlyn (3) - Morgan (2) - Aaron (2) - Gavin (1) - Isabel (11 months) - Claire (9 months)

2nd Grade School Pictures

My little boy is growing into a little man so quickly!

Kindergarten           -           1st Grade           -           2nd Grade



Daddy Shot a Deer!

November 4th...

Deer hunting has been a bit of a dry spell for a few years for Keith so everyone in our house was petty excited when we found out he finally shot a deer! Of course, we had to load up and go to the farm to see it right away.
 

Jared is very diligent about wearing blaze orange during hunting season so he doesn't get shot. It's hard to keep a straight face when he's so serious about it but it's not like he's out wandering around in the woods... but ya never know! ;) He was concerned that Chloe and I didn't have any orange on when we went to the farm. I assured him that it's illegal to hunt after dark and that we would be just fine. :)

Craig, Roger & Keith

'Driving' Grandma's 4020

The best part is the story about how he got it. Craig sent Keith a text to let him know that he saw it and it was heading his way. When the deer got close enough, Keith shot it and it went down right away. He walked up to it and realized that he just grazed the buck's head and pretty much just knocked it out. He finished it off with a shot to the heart. Not a 'mounter' but we'll take it! Way to go, Daddy!