Getting Ready for Christmas

Here are pictures of us (well most the girls) decorating the tree.

Gretta couldn't let Mari have all of the fun putting the angel on the tree. She had to "straighten" it.

We also worked on a gingerbread house. The girls really loved that...or should I say Mari loved it, Gretta just wanted to eat the decorations & Simon was all about the "physics" of it. Tate & I were content to watch!

5 years old!

We can't believe its been 5 years all ready! My how time flies. Miss Mari has blossomed into the most amazing little girl.

We celebrated her 5th birthday with pizza, salad, fruit, & of course cake & ice cream. Grandmas Sandy & Barbie, & Grandpas Loren & Dave came to help celebrate. Mari recieved lots of wonderful gifts & had a wonderful time. She told me last night before bed "this was my best birthday ever". What a sweet girl!

Here are some pictures from the day. After the party we attempted to take some family pictures....Man its hard to get all of us to look at the camera at the same time!!!

Mari telling & showing us she is 5!

Look closely at the flames, they are the same color as the candles

Sorry about the funny photo colors, I forgot to switch the setting when we went outside :( & apparently the pics that were taken with Loren & Sandy, were not taken with our camera.

Mr & Mrs. Odland

We had a wonderful time this weekend celebrating Carissa & Isaac's new life together! Mari & Gretta were flower girls-along with Carissa's niece Lydia. The girls did great & were so adorable-all 3 of them!! I wish I had more pictures of them.

Simon was co-best man along with his brother Joel. Their bestman speech was great!
Here are some pictures from the weekend

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Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall!

Last weekend was spent packing in as many activities as possible into one weekend! :) Simon ran his 2nd half marathon Saturday morning, Sydna & Dave (Sydna's dad) were able to cheer him on at about mile 12. That afternoon Simon, Sydna & kiddos, Dave & Barb, Fred, Lezlie & kiddos and Dinah went to the zoo. It was so nice to get the kids to the zoo one last time before the season was over.

We all had dinner at Sydna's parents' house that night, I think we can all agree we had too much to eat!

On Sunday we had Gram E, Sue, Terry & Tracy over for brunch then met up with Fred & Lezlie's gang at Papa's Pumpkin Patch. The kids had a great time riding the train & the ponies. I think they like that better than picking out the pumpkins.
Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Mari & Ben at Dakota Zoo

Sept. 20, 2009 our 6th wedding anniversary

Our God-daughter Hannah getting a kiss from her mommy

I wore Tate all afternoon, it was so nice to be hands free and allow him to look around and take in the sights.

Ben, Mari, & Gretta on top of a hay bale fort.

Family Wedding

Last weekend we traveled to Dakota Dunes, SD for the wedding of Heather & Cam Will. Heather is Simon's cousin. It was a gorgeous outside wedding at a golf course.

Loren holding Gretta, Mari in front of Sandy, Sydna holding Tate, Simon, Joel & Isaac in the back row and Emily & Carissa in front of their respective loves. :)

The girls had fun dancing the night away. Tate enjoyed being held by family and was such a good baby through out the day & evening.

Emily (Joel's wife) holding Gretta, Carisaa (Isaac's wife to be) holding Tate & me during the wedding dance.

Heather & Cameron Will

Party, Party!

Party 1: Gretta turned 2!
Party 2: Celebrating Tate's baptism!

Gretta's party was filled with food, family & fun! A deep fryed turkey, yummy salads & a elephant birthday cake was enjoyed by all!

This year Gretta knew the party was for her. When she saw the presents she would exclaim "Me, Me!" She also knew the cake was for her too. She really had a fun time.

Tate was baptized on Sunday June 14. He wore Simon's baptismal outfit. Tate did not enjoy the baptism. He was sleeping so nice until Pastor Chris put water on his head. Then when Toni passed him to Pastor Chris, he cried louder & harder. The congregation got a kick out of it, Pastor Chris did not. Ha ha!