Christmas Programs & Christmas!

The last few weeks have been filled with Christmas programs. The first was her dance class program, then her preschool program and then her Sunday school program. All of which she really enjoyed :)

The look on Gretta's face when she saw her sister enter the chapel at the preschool Christmas program. The look of pure joy.

The look on Mari's face when she spotted her sister sitting in the audience of her Sunday school Christmas program. The look of pure joy!

What a sweet angel. She did a wonderful job singing all the songs & listening to her teachers.

Then the real fun began-celebrating 5 Christmases! The first Christmas was celebrated at Sydna folks' home, then off to Minot to celebrate w/Grandpa Dave's family. Christmas #3 was at our home in Aberdeen then off to Sioux Falls. Christmases #4 & #5 were celebrated at Grandma Sandy's & Grandpa Loren's.

Mari & Ben were 2 peas in pod that night. Where there was one there was the other. They even had to sit on the same side of the dinner table. :)

Mari sitting next to her gift from Santa, her favorite gift. A life size dog, Biscuit, that obeys 6 commands. That is 6 more than Copper!!!
Gretta figuring out the gift wrap on a present. Someone is enjoying the holidays!
We are attempting to get a picture of the great grandkids. Gretta's window for this event was short. The photo taken right after this one is of her walking away. We have had a nice Christmas season. Thank you to all that made that enriched our holidays.

Dance class

Mari had a little dance class recital today. Parents & friends were invited to watch, record & take pictures from inside the dance studio. (Normally we sit in an observation room.)

She was so excited to have her daddy watch her dance. I don't know who was more excited Mari or Simon. :)

Here are pics from her dance class today.

20 Week Ultrasound

This morning we got to see our little one. The baby was active but curled up in a tight ball. The doctor & u/s tech tried & tried to uncurl our little one. Stubborn...just like Mari was during her u/s.

Everything looked healthy, measurements are right on track for this point in development.

We did take the girls with to the appointment. Gretta had no interest in looking at the baby. Mari kept saying "that's my little brother!". We did have the option to find out the gender but since we are split on that decision we took home a sealed envelope so the option is there. Here's hoping I can break Simon down!!! LOL!!

Below are some pics of our little one. The first one is Baby's face, raised arms & the cord across his/her chest. The second is his/her hand across her/his face. The 3rd is a close up of her/his eyes, nose & little mouth & belly.

Thanksgiving

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at Sydna's parents' home. In preparation for the holiday Mari wrote out the place cards & decorated them. She only needed help writing her S's and C's. Simon baked 2 pumpkin pies & Sydna made an apple pie cheesecake. All Gretta had to do was be cute!

This holiday weekend we also celebrated Sydna's 30th birthday. Her mom made a yummy chocolate cake and piled lots of candles on top. We also traveled up to Minot for the baptism of Hannah Louise. Hannah is an absolute doll!

It was nice weekend filled with lots of family time. The only down fall was Mari getting a little flu bug and a cold. She managed to bring pink eye home with her too. She did manage to keep her spirits up while she & Simon hung a few Christmas lights on Sunday evening.

Happy Halloween!

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Simon returned home in time to see the girls in their Halloween costumes. That was a nice treat!

Mari was Tinkerbell & Gretta was a piece of candy corn. Both girls loved their costumes & had fun wearing them for trick or treating.

Simon was not home in time to take the girls trick or treating so Grandma Sandy & Sydna took the girls. We went to Slumberland, C-express (gas station next to Slumberland-they gave out free full sized candy bars & pop!), and all round the neighborhood. The most anicipated house was the "Halloween house", their yard is filled with blow up figurines, fog, skeletons & ghosts. They give away juice drinks to the kids & for the dressed up adults they give candy. :)

sorry the quality is poor, had to be taken quickly before a trick or treater passed through

All the home owners were so nice & Mari always said "trick or treat" & "thank you" and she always gave a piece of candy to her sister. :)

Pumpkin Carving

This last weekend we carved 3 pumpkins. Mari enjoyed every minute of it! Gretta could not figure out why we were sitting at the dining table & not eating anything!

Here are some pictures from the evening.

Mari thought she would try the pumpkin. She soon realized raw pumpkin, not good.
Of course the first night we lit the jackolaterns we forgot about them so the candles burnt the whole night through. :)

Mari is 4!

Time sure does fly. We can't believe Mari is all ready 4 years old! We had a nice party for her on her birthday, October 18th.

The theme was Strawberry Shortcake, everything from her invitations to her "cake" was Strawberry Shortcake. Here are some pics from the day.

Mari opening a gift

Gretta helping Mari open her gift
Daddy showing Mari how one of instruments in her medical briefcase works

Mari taking care of Grandpa Loren
Grandma Sandy made a quilt for Mari & her babydoll. Below is the babydoll quilt.

Mari's birthday "cake"

Mari enjoying her cake

Attemping to get a family photo. :)

At least 2 of us were looking the right direction!

#3

We sent this picture out to family & friends this week to announce our pregnancy. Sydna is 10 weeks along (2 1/2 months).

Good bye Summer, Hello Fall!

Last weekend we spent our time switching seasons....We spent Saturday at the zoo (which to me is a Summer activity) and then on Sunday we went to Papa's Pumpkin Patch. We did both activities with Grandma Barb, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Larry, Aunt Dinah (greats to the girls), my cousin Lezlie, her husband Fred & their little boy Ben.

Gretta spent Saturday being pushed around the zoo by grandpa, which she thoroughly enjoyed.



Mari & Ben were excited to see every animal!

Papa's Pumpkin Patch is amazing! They have hay rides, pony rides,train rides, food, mazes & acres of pumpkins!

It was also our 5th wedding anniversary!!