What Do You Mean I Haven't Blogged Lately???

OK...you are right...I haven't blogged lately. I'm not sure it's even worth it to go back and tell you how fast the summer has gone and all that the kids have done this year. Our annual trip up north has already come and gone, and now we prepare for the county and state fairs (which truly mark the end of summer for us) and get ready for the new school year. We are taking each day as it comes and trying to enjoy each and every one of them.

We did however get some AWESOME pictures taken at the arboretum by our new friend Tirisha Dirks at Content Photography. She made us all feel so comfortable (Tori included) and she got some great shots. This is just a sampling of her work.

We have some other really great photos that I will try to add soon. It's hard to choose our favorites!

Hope the summer has been great for all of you. Drop us a note on our blog sometime. Maybe it will encourage me to post again!

Happy New Year's!

We spent New Year's Eve with our neighbors, The Witte's. Here is just a taste of the evening. The video is of Nolan and Jack busting a move!

Nolan's First Mite Hockey Game

The weekend after Christmas, Nolan participated in his first hockey game. The ice was split in half, and 2 games went on at the same time. They played 3 on 3. Although, Nolan likes to hang in the back of the ice and wait for the action to come to him, he did score 3 goals in his first game. It was very exciting!

Here's #15 in action.

Looks like he is having a ton of fun, right?

After, we went and enjoyed pizza.

Christmas 2009, Part 2

Christmas morning is always fun. The kids had been up so late the night before, it was 8:30 before they rolled out of bed that morning. And even that was tough...until we reminded them that Santa came.

Tori got a FurReal kitty Lulu. She moves and meows just like the real thing (except you can turn her off).

Camden got a pop up toy. He was OK with it, but again, thought the paper was better!



Nolan got a Nintendo DSi. He had been saving his money to buy one, but lucky him, Santa brought one instead. He has since used his money for games.

Christmas day was spent out at the farm with the Halloran's. There is always way too much food, and way too many presents. However, that is what makes the day so great!
And this pile of presents we only for 3 out of the 5 of us. We should have brought a trailer for all the stuff!

We were very blessed this Christmas, and fortunate to be able to spend it with our loved ones.

Christmas 2009

Yes, the first week of February is over and done and I am just now blogging about Christmas. But, what can I say besides we are a crazy busy family and I have found a spare hour to get caught up on some stuff.

Christmas started on the 23rd at our house. This is when we as a family opened presents.

Clothes, stuffed animals, jammies and books were among some of the many things the kids got.

Cam wasn't sure about all the present opening. I think he was happier with the boxes and paper!

Nolan must have asked a hundred times for a skateboard. He's a very lucky boy!

Here are the kids with some of their favorite presents.

On the 24th, the Manning family braved the snow storm and joined us here for Christmas Eve. We had a full house, which made it a ton of fun. The Syverson's even hung out and spent the night with us.

A Much Needed Update

It's been awhile, so I will recap the last couple of months.

With a few nice days before the snow flew, we spent some time out at the farm. Uncle Jon taught the boys how to properly shoot a gun. As you can see, they are all paying very close attention.

The Manning girls had their sister's weekend at Dianne's house. We had a good time of shopping, bowling, playing games and just having fun.

All bets are off when Elvis starts playing. Things do tend to get a little out of hand!

Tori is our good helper. She is always wanting to feed Cam or help with changing his diaper.

We spent Thanksgiving out at the farm. We had our annual hay ride, and if you can believe it, this year was much warmer than others.

This is Tori's new best friend. This cat is perfect for her. The kitty lets Tori drag her around without any complaints. Tori is in heaven with kitty.

Camden is getting so big. He looks like such a little man. He is crawling all over the place, and getting into everything...just like a little boy should!

We love to have the Christmas tree up, but it really is a chore to do so. Tori was at least in a festive mood, and is ready to put the star on the top.

Tori and I went to see Disney's Princesses on Ice with the neighbors. Here she is proudly displaying her Minnie Mouse ears from the night before.

And Nolan has started a new season of hockey. He is #15 on the black mite team of the Mound Westonka Hockey Association. He has practice on Saturday's and Sunday's, and has his first "game" coming up over the Christmas weekend. All are welcome to come and watch!

And so that takes us to Christmas break. We only have a few days of shopping left, and a few days of work to get through, and then Santa arrives. I am ready for a break and a few relaxing days.

Wishing you all the best and warmest holidays!

Trick or Treat 2009

Happy Halloween!

Here are our trick-or-treaters posing before our company came over. What is Tori you ask? Well, she's a blue haired ballerina princess of course! And Nolan is our blue haired dirt biker. Why the blue hair? They just thought it was cool!

The Halloran's and the Witte's

Our little skeleton was the only one that didn't get to hit the streets to collect candy. I think he was OK with that!

And we're off!

We had a really great evening. The Witte's joined us for pizza before we went out trick-or-treating. Then after the kids had their fill of candy, we headed to the Swenson's for a post candy collecting party. It was a very Happy Halloween!