House Updates

The past couple of months we've been able to work in a few small remodeling projects around the house. In October we tore into our small bathroom and completely renovated it. It took 2 months and about 50 trips to Lowe's, but it's finally (almost) done.


In the midst of that we repainted Kaylynn's room, and she received a whole bunch of accessories (sheets, bedspread, curtains, lamp, pictures, etc.) for Christmas. She is a big fan and very happy to be in a pink room now.


Last week we decided to replace some of the lights in the house, including two chandeliers. One of those has been put up, along with two other lights. The last chandelier is, unfortunately, hanging from a vaulted ceiling that is around 20 ft. high. I'm still trying to figure out how to get up there and install it. If I survive then we'll post a picture of that later. :>

A busy weekend

We had our first of many busy weekends between now and Christmas this past weekend. Here is a brief summary and, of course, lots of pictures!

Last Friday night Kaylynn had her Winter Program at school. The kids sang three really cute songs, one of which was "Twinkle, twinkle":

On Saturday morning was the annual Children's Holiday party at NCAR. They always have a lot of great crafts and fun games. Kaylynn got her face painted and had a unicorn balloon animal made. She also decided to brave Santa's lap again this year too!

Saturday morning Robin HG also arrived!

We watched Otis that afternoon and night so that Mommy and Daddy and Robin could have some bonding time. Kaylynn loves to have her friends sleep over and her and Otis played really great together. They would like to wish you a Mele Kalikimaka!!

Otis is hoping this is what Christmas morning looks like at his house!

On Sunday afternoon was Kaylynn's holiday dance recital. It was much more low-key compared to their spring recital, but still quite cute!

About a month ago we repainted Kaylynn's room, at her request, to PINK!!! When she saw it she said "Mommy, I love it!" She also inherited a canopy from a colleague that I work with and so we hung that up over her bed last weekend. Here she is doing her Sleeping Beauty impression!!

Finally, we squeezed in some time to build our gingerbread house tonight. I think Kaylynn ate more frosting and candies then actually made it on the house (we had to dig some M&M's out of our stash to finish decorating the roof)!!

We are looking forward to much more excitement this coming weekend - stay tuned!!

Turkey Day

My favorite American holidays are easily Thanksgiving and Super Bowl. They both involve lots of food and usually watching some football on the side. We packed up the car and headed to Montana to spend Thanksgiving on the farm this year. First, though, we made a quick stop in Bowman, ND to see our godson, Kevin, get baptized. It also gave us an opportunity to have a nice visit with our good friends Eric and Betty, now that they have moved back from Alaska.

Us with Kevin after the baptism.


Eric and Betty also have a 2 year old daughter named Danielle. Her and Kaylynn hit it right off and had a good old time setting up some dominoes, and knocking them over of course.


Kaylynn and Danielle also helped frost the cakes for the baptism party.

After leaving Bowman we headed over to the farm for the rest of the week. As usual mom, dad, and Pete showed us a good time. I got to do a little hunting with Pete and his friend Todd. Jamie did some quilting with my mom. And Kaylynn played with the kitties and doggies, played games with grandpa, and did a little horseback riding.

Kaylynn also got to tuck grandma in for her nap.

Of course, we ate way too much on Thanksgiving and drank some Tom and Jerry's. If you don't know what those are you are probably not from Montana or North Dakota and you are really missing out.

Everyone is a winner with a trophy!

Fall soccer has come to an end. Kaylynn had a great time this year with a great coach and team. They are going to try to keep them all together for spring soccer so that should be fun! Here are some end of the season soccer pictures (then, I promise, no more - for a few months anyway!).


During Halloween week Kaylynn also had "crazy" day at school so she picked to wear lots of stripes and have lots of ponytails in her hair. That hairstyle was the theme for most of the girls in the class!


Finally, last weekend we headed down to Colorado Springs to watch the UND hockey team play CC. It was a great time (even though the Sioux lost on Saturday when we were there). Kaylynn had a great time using the megaphone to yell "Go Sioux". The next day we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which was really neat. Check out The Honeymoon Baby blog for a few pictures from the zoo, including the highlight of feeding the giraffes!

Did you know Halloween is a season, not a day?

Who doesn't love to squish pumpkin slime through their fingers...Cory and Kaylynn, that's who! I did most of the gutting, but Kaylynn did try so it was an improvement over last year! Here are some pictures of the carving fun.







We have had quite a few Halloween activities already. Kaylynn walked in the Trick-or-Treat parade down Main Street on Saturday. We also went to a party at her soccer coaches house on Saturday night and to "Boo at the Zoo" on Sunday. She got to wear her costume (guess what she is?!!) to all of those and has tons of candy already. Her are some pictures of the Halloween "season" so far...

Our princess:



Henry, Kaylynn and Otis at the parade.


Mommy was an angel, don't you think it is fitting?!


Boo at the Zoo with Nate:

This picture is for Grandma (the baby giraffe was born in August).






Kaylynn loved this baby monkey.


And Nate loved the train!!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!!

The big 3-0 requires a big celebration and that is just what we did! Cory and I cruised off to the Bahama's with my friend Steph and her husband, Tom. We had a wonderful time!

Steph and Tom waiting to board the ship.


Preparing for any stray icebergs in the Caribbean!

Vacation, the only time Cory drinks something with an umbrella in it (or so he would like you to think)!!


Our boat: "Carnival Sensation"



In Freeport, watching more rain come our way!!


In Nassau:


Oprah's house on Paradise Island (that she has never been to - can I use it?!).


The required stop at Hard Rock.

Reminiscing our college spring break days at Senior Frogs...

The sun always has to set on a good time...


Thanks for helping me feel young again!