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.