Eagerly Anticipated

Here are the boys and the belly. They can't wait for their new baby brother to come!

What a Difference a Year Makes

Here is a picture of Ron and I on our 15th anniversary last year (Jan 16), which we celebrated in Sanibel Island, Florida.



Here is a picture of the thermometer at our home yesterday morning, Jan 15, about half an hour before I had to send my kids off to school. All I can say is "reality [frost]bites!" (note: the clock on here is wrong--it was 7:30am, not 5:30am)

Christmas in Texas

Seventy degrees for Christmas--I wasn't complaining! I was NOT dreaming of a white Christmas! We felt so blessed to make it to TX. On Friday morning, the day we were supposed to leave, the entire state of Iowa was "travel not advised." By 2 pm, when we left, it was clear, although we did run into icy conditions south of Des Moines and could only really use the right lane. We made it to Bethany, MO, where they had had a half inch of ice (the motel parking lot was a skating rink). The next day, as we headed south to warmer climes, Iowa was socked again by snow. We really had just a little window to get out! Texas was very relaxing, and our long drive was non-eventful. It was nice to see my parents before our lives are changed in February with a new little infant!


Here are the boys with the fort they had built behind my parents' house in November 2007--it had mostly survived the year, including Hurricane Ike! I vote at least one of them goes into architecture!


Here we are outside the Houston Temple, enjoying the sunshine and flowers!



We also celebrated the twins' sixth birthday in TX. How did they get so big?






Of course, it was soon back to reality and Minnesota. But the boys love the snow and sledding. When we drove through Dallas, I happened to see some kids going outside to play, all bundled up in big, puffy coats. I didn't think anything of it for a second, and then I looked at our car thermometer--50 degrees--a real cold spell for Texans! I had to laugh, and when I told the boys, they were amazed--"We'd be wearing shorts at home if it was 50 degrees!" My little Minnesotans.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We did something new this year. We went to Rum River Tree Farm and cut down our own Christmas tree. A nice change from our old K-mart special artificial tree! I think we've found a new family tradition.

Baby Boy #4 Coming Soon!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of a new baby brother, due February 26, 2009. We are all very excited here, although we fear we have run out of boy names (I refuse to name the baby Ted--sorry, Ron). Yes, we've kept it a secret a long time!

Mom and Dad visit!

We were so thrilled to have my parents come out to see us this month! We hadn't seen them since Christmas. We took them to Mill City Museum and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. We carved a pumpkin, went to our ward Halloween party (which I was in charge of, so I didn't have much fun!), and the boys went trick-or-treating with three other families--fifteen kids in all. People answering the door looked overwhelmed! Gavin was a SWAT officer; Ian was a Star Wars clone trooper, and Trevor was Wolverine of the X-men.