Easter 2016

This was so long ago I'm just doing a photo dump! We had a great Easter:)

Christmas in Wisconsin 2015

After a 10 hour drive the kids were SO excited to be in Wisconsin to see Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins! They are always wound up after being stuck in a car for so long and run around like crazy with excitement.  They always pick up right where they left off with Dean and Kathy.

It was the first year that the kids could just go off and play with their cousins and we didn't have to follow them to make sure (Kieran) wasn't getting into anything he shouldn't.  Ashlyn is old enough to be that watchful eye and they enjoyed the freedom to soak in some time with them. They LOVE their cousins!

Opening presents!

The Dornfelds open one gift at a time starting with the youngest person so we get to watching everything happening.

We enjoyed our time.  The kids always struggle with sleeping the first night, but after that it went well.  

They love coming to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Merry Christmas 2015!

Christmas 2015

Watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  This became a favorite this year.

Christmas Eve

This might be one of my favorite pictures of Kieran.

Trying to get a picture of the two of them before church.

Love that smile!

And that one too!

Almost done with pictures:)

Gaga was here!

And Papa too!  He flew in this year from Mexico.

We went to church and Dan preached a great sermon. Hallelujah was sung by Nolan and Jon and it was SO amazing. Afterwards my family came over for dinner.  My aunt and uncle Brunsdale happened to be in town for Christmas this year so they came over.  My aunt Shirley (my grandpa's sister) brought her Norwegian dress for Svea to try on and take pictures.  It was so cute watching her help Svea get it on.

Svea was so proud to show everyone!

It's a good thing we did this now as she would most likely outgrow the dress soon.

She loved it!

Great-Aunt Shirley will now frame a picture of her in the dress just like her other grandchildren are at her house under where she displays the dress.

Our little quarter Norwegian girl:)

Then it was time to open presents!

books, toys, games, and clothes, oh my!

We had a good time watching the kids.  I love our family room.  It's a perfect space for a lot of people to lounge around.

Santa came over the next morning and brought the kids some shopkins and candy!

We're not sure what they thought.  They didn't get too excited or say too much.

Hugs with everyone when it was time to say goodbye.

Kieran playing with play-doh and still doesn't want to take a picture.

Then everyone left on Christmas morning and we continued to lounge and lay around and pack for the next day for our journey to Wisconsin!

Fall Family Pictures

We found an area photographer to do some family pictures.  He was insanely affordable and we went with him because we knew we might get approximately 10 minutes out of Kieran for this shoot.  We got about 15 so it was a success. We will treasure these forever!

Grandma and Grandpa D Visit!

 Grandma and Grandpa D came for Svea's birthday party weekend!  We had an absolute wonderful time!  It was a BUSY weekend as well as daylight's savings Sunday.  I don't know about you, but I'm still adjusting:)

 Grandma and Grandpa had Svea open her birthday presents with just us so that we could all enjoy the time because we all knew her birthday party would be crazy.  Svea has been loving her gifts.  We've played memory, flannel board, and used the tray that goes over her car seat to color and draw in the car.  She loves her little Olaf outfit and wants to sleep in it.  We really appreciate the nice gifts for her birthday!  The best part has been the legos for her as she is just a lego nut!  And I can't forget the books....the kids always love books and the Dr. Seuss books are so great because they are entertaining and non-fiction.  Love it!

Someone looooves her Grandma and Grandpa!  Thank you for coming.  Thank you for letting us share our crazy weekend with you.  When Dan and Kathy got here we immediately went to Trunk or Treat at the church.  Then on Saturday it was Halloween and trick or treating with the neighbors.  Then, Sunday afternoon/night was Svea's birthday party.  It was crazy fun, but crazy:)

The Last Two Weeks and Then Three...Four!

I had very good intentions of posting this about two weeks ago to let you know what we'd been up to, but two weeks has now turned into four and I really can't pack in four weeks into one post!  So I'll let you know about a few things and then do new posts on Svea's birthday party and Grandma and Grandpa Dornfeld coming for a visit!!!

My mom was here three weeks ago and stayed with the kids while Dan and I went down to the cities to stay with Pam and her now fiancé Rob. She was having a housewarming party as they moved into a fabulous new house/going away party for her friend Fernando who moved to New York.  I took a personal day on Friday and we stopped in Fergus Falls and bought a different silver mini van.  The post I did a few weeks back was about one in Fargo.  It fell through, however I left the post up because we bought the exact same car/year/trim level! It was so incredibly fun to have some time just between the two of us.  We had a lot of fun, laughed, and I even got Dan to dance!  Well, ok...he waved his arms a bit, but was a good sport when the whole party was dancing and he stood and smiled and waved.  Hahahahah!  We now officially have a minivan then and we are all loving it!  I can't believe I just said that:) Thank you mom for watching the kids for us.  They always love their time with you and we hadn't gotten away for quite awhile.  So fun!

The weekend before that my dad came for a visit and we also had a blast going to the library and just hanging out playing with the kids.  They were both wild about having Papa here and we were all worn out by the end. I think Kieran's goal was to pin Papa the whole time, but that might take a few more years:) Thank you for visiting us Papa!  We can't wait until you can come back again!

Halloween and More Grandma and Grandpa!

 Svea was a mermaid this year!  She was so excited to be one, but her costume was a little big so she didn't get into it as much as we thought she would.  She had a party at school and they got to go to the nursing home and go trick or treating there.

 Cousin Laura stopped by on Halloween and Iron Man is giving her a kiss before we headed out!

 Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa all dressed up a little bit too!  It was a little chilly so they were mostly all covered up with their coats.  Kieran had gone as a monkey to Jill's for daycare earlier that day, but that night he wanted to be Iron Man!  We walked with the neighbors again....Haley, Ryder, Tony, Angie, and now baby Kate too.  Poor Kate...she kept rolling down driveways in her stroller as we all had our attention on the littles.  We took turns pushing her or rushing to grab her from going into the street.

 I love this picture of Grandpa and the kids reading!

Kieran wasn't having the group picture! Thanks again for visiting us!  We love having you come!