Svea's Party!

 Svea had a cat birthday party.  We had it at Courts Plus at their indoor play land.  Our kids LOVE this place and it's a great place to burn off pent up energy.  She invited some church friends and her class.  I think we learned out lesson in inviting the whole class.  This party was huge and maybe a little overwhelming, but she handled it very well. Gaga and Grandpa Ron came too as well as Great great aunt Shirley! We weren't too good with pictures.  It was hard to keep her sitting still for a picture, which is understandable. 

 It was fun to see her interacting with all of her friends, giggle, laugh, be creative, and run around.  

 Presents were a huge hit as you can tell!

 I think Dan should be in charge of ordering the cake next year.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I ordered WAY too much cake.  We ate 1/3 of it and the other thirds we'll eat for my birthday at Thanksgiving and I guess we're having Christmas cake.  

 Eyes closed cutie face:)

 Svea and Meeko with a tiny fingerprint.  Woops! 

We love you Svea Grace! Happy Birthday!

Svea is Six!

 Svea had a fabulous time turning six this year.  She loved her special day and soaked up the attention, cake, and presents.  On her actual birthday Papa came for a quick visit before leaving for Mexico.  They got in some good story time before bed.  We had spaghetti and Halloween cake.

 The next day Grandma and Grandpa D came and this is Svea's reaction to opening presents with them.  I think she was excited, but I'm not sure.  

 Here she's opening a pet cat with a carrier and all of the things to take care of it.  She choose to have a cat birthday party so her cake had a picture of herself and Meeko on it.  More on the party later!  The kids get so excited and love having Grandma and Grandpa here.  We think we wear them out, but know they love it too.  We went to the zoo one day, had the party another day, church, and trunk or treat at the church!  It was a packed weekend. 

Svea on her birthday getting cat pajamas from mom and dad.  Svea Grace, we love you so much.  Your silly spirit and drive to be creative at whatever you are doing is so fun to watch.  Your deep concern for others is humbling and the love that you give us melts away our crazy days.  We love spending our days with you and it was so fun to celebrate you on your birthday! 

All Things Fall

Pumpkin Painting!

Tongues out for concentration!

Almost done!

All Done!

Our favorite tree out our front window.  It isn't ours, but our neighbors.  They can't see it from any of their windows and it's about a foot from our property so we claim it for pictures!

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!