Sunday, December 29, 2013
Curls!
I got a new curling iron the other day and used the girls to test it out ... they love the curls!
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas Day 2013
The girls actually didn't get up any earlier than any other day and we were awoken by them at 0815 ready and excited to see what Santa brought them and to get the day started!
The girls were so excited to see that Santa pulled through with the Frankie Stein Mirror Bed that Alyssa wished for and the unicorn that Madison wished for ... they even brought them with them to Grandpa and Grandma's later that morning!
We had a very casual breakfast of orange cinnamon rolls, milk and juice. The girls decided that jammies were the best way to go for the day and opted to stay comfy for the day at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Once we got the truck loaded with food, children and gifts, we were off to spend the day with family in Belle Plaine.
Grandma outdid herself again for with too much food and we all ate ourselves to very expanded tummys before the night was over. It was a wonderful day with a great family.
The girls were so excited to see that Santa pulled through with the Frankie Stein Mirror Bed that Alyssa wished for and the unicorn that Madison wished for ... they even brought them with them to Grandpa and Grandma's later that morning!
We had a very casual breakfast of orange cinnamon rolls, milk and juice. The girls decided that jammies were the best way to go for the day and opted to stay comfy for the day at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Once we got the truck loaded with food, children and gifts, we were off to spend the day with family in Belle Plaine.
Grandma outdid herself again for with too much food and we all ate ourselves to very expanded tummys before the night was over. It was a wonderful day with a great family.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Christmas Eve 2013
After our busy night last night, we up and about extra early so we could go pick up Grandpa and Grandma and head to St. Peter for our annual Christmas Eve breakfast at Whiskey River. Carrie and Kory sadly had to work this year, but Josh and Kaylynn joined us and it was a great way to kick of the day!
Breakfast was great and the bloody marys were amazingly good this morning ... I had to have two!
The girls were excited to see the wild turkeys again this year, they had been no-shows the last two years, but this year we got the whole flock to join us for breakfast!
After breakfast we headed back home and started preparations for the night. Grandpa, Grandma, Granny M and Sherrin would be joining us later and I still had to prep food and wrap gifts!
We managed to get everything done and we had a nice relaxing evening with family and friends. They girls even got to open a few gifts! They each got a new Monster High doll, new clothes for Rudolph and Clarice and lots of goodies from Sherrin. They were also super excited to find a handful of money from Farmor and they can't wait to go shopping!!!
Breakfast was great and the bloody marys were amazingly good this morning ... I had to have two!
The girls were excited to see the wild turkeys again this year, they had been no-shows the last two years, but this year we got the whole flock to join us for breakfast!
After breakfast we headed back home and started preparations for the night. Grandpa, Grandma, Granny M and Sherrin would be joining us later and I still had to prep food and wrap gifts!
We managed to get everything done and we had a nice relaxing evening with family and friends. They girls even got to open a few gifts! They each got a new Monster High doll, new clothes for Rudolph and Clarice and lots of goodies from Sherrin. They were also super excited to find a handful of money from Farmor and they can't wait to go shopping!!!
Monday, December 23, 2013
The Phantom of the Opera and Other Fun Things
Tonight is the BIG night, we are taking the girls to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, it is their first "broadway show" and we are all excited. Peter also decided to book us a hotel room downtown so we would not have to drive back home so late at night. This way we can sleep, get up a little early and head down to St. Peter for our annual Christmas Eve breakfast with my family.
We headed to Minneapolis mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel room at the Hilton Marquette around 3:30 pm. Upon arriving at the hotel, the girls were immediately excited to find a huge gingerbread hotel right in the foyer, so they while they were busy checking that out, daddy was busy checking us into our room for the night!
We unpacked our things and the girls explored the room for a short while before we decided to head out and check out the sky way system.
The girls especially liked checking out the view of from our hotel room windows!
We decided to grab a hot chocolate at Starbucks to keep us warm while we explored the sky way system that connects all the major buildings downtown. It was a good decision as Ms. Madison was only wearing a short sleeved T-shirt and the sky way was a little chilly despite being enclosed.
While walking through the sky ways we found ourselves at Macy's and since we still had some time before we needed to get ready for our dinner reservations, we decided to go check out Santaland on the 8th floor of the department store. Macy's has a Christmas display up there every year and although it has been the same display for the past six years or more now and despite the fact that the girls have seen it before, they really didn't remember it, so it was new to them! So, once again we toured "A Day in the Life of an Elf"!
After touring the display at Macy's we headed back to the hotel room to get ready for dinner and then the big show. The girls looked super cute in their holiday dresses!
We had dinner reservations at Crave and our booth had a beautiful view of the theater below and the girls were so surprised to see the Phantom sign right out our window at the restaurant.
Both girls opted for sushi rolls for dinner ... although they were fish-less ... avocado rolls and they loved them!
Once we finished dinner and dessert, it was time to head across the street to the theater and find our seats for the show. The girls hit the souvenir stand immediately and both decided on T-Shirts that would, for now, serve more like pajamas, but they were happy! They absolutely loved the show and were amazed by the special effects and, of course, the falling chandelier which landed just one row in front of us. We had a great view from the 4th row and the girls were given little booster seats to sit them up a little higher to see over the adult heads in the row in front of us. One of the ushers came and took the girls to see the orchestra pit, which they thought was pretty cool.
Following the show, we had to brave the cold and walk three blocks back to the hotel outside as the sky way was now closed. The girls didn't complain in the least and just kept thanking us for taking them to the show and were excitedly talking about all they had seen. When we got back to the center that housed the hotel, we stopped for a quick photo op in front of the big Christmas tree before heading to the hotel lobby.
Once inside the hotel lobby, we made a quick stop by the bar and ordered a couple drinks and two hot cocoas to warm up the girls before bedtime. They sipped on the drinks and modeled their new pajamas for us with pride! It was a great day/night and one I will always remember with my beautiful family.
We headed to Minneapolis mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel room at the Hilton Marquette around 3:30 pm. Upon arriving at the hotel, the girls were immediately excited to find a huge gingerbread hotel right in the foyer, so they while they were busy checking that out, daddy was busy checking us into our room for the night!
We unpacked our things and the girls explored the room for a short while before we decided to head out and check out the sky way system.
The girls especially liked checking out the view of from our hotel room windows!
We decided to grab a hot chocolate at Starbucks to keep us warm while we explored the sky way system that connects all the major buildings downtown. It was a good decision as Ms. Madison was only wearing a short sleeved T-shirt and the sky way was a little chilly despite being enclosed.
While walking through the sky ways we found ourselves at Macy's and since we still had some time before we needed to get ready for our dinner reservations, we decided to go check out Santaland on the 8th floor of the department store. Macy's has a Christmas display up there every year and although it has been the same display for the past six years or more now and despite the fact that the girls have seen it before, they really didn't remember it, so it was new to them! So, once again we toured "A Day in the Life of an Elf"!
After touring the display at Macy's we headed back to the hotel room to get ready for dinner and then the big show. The girls looked super cute in their holiday dresses!
We had dinner reservations at Crave and our booth had a beautiful view of the theater below and the girls were so surprised to see the Phantom sign right out our window at the restaurant.
Both girls opted for sushi rolls for dinner ... although they were fish-less ... avocado rolls and they loved them!
Once we finished dinner and dessert, it was time to head across the street to the theater and find our seats for the show. The girls hit the souvenir stand immediately and both decided on T-Shirts that would, for now, serve more like pajamas, but they were happy! They absolutely loved the show and were amazed by the special effects and, of course, the falling chandelier which landed just one row in front of us. We had a great view from the 4th row and the girls were given little booster seats to sit them up a little higher to see over the adult heads in the row in front of us. One of the ushers came and took the girls to see the orchestra pit, which they thought was pretty cool.
Following the show, we had to brave the cold and walk three blocks back to the hotel outside as the sky way was now closed. The girls didn't complain in the least and just kept thanking us for taking them to the show and were excitedly talking about all they had seen. When we got back to the center that housed the hotel, we stopped for a quick photo op in front of the big Christmas tree before heading to the hotel lobby.
Once inside the hotel lobby, we made a quick stop by the bar and ordered a couple drinks and two hot cocoas to warm up the girls before bedtime. They sipped on the drinks and modeled their new pajamas for us with pride! It was a great day/night and one I will always remember with my beautiful family.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Holiday Fun with The Hokansons
After spending a fun-filled morning at our good friend Sherrin's house while daddy and I were out shopping, we headed straight over to The Hokanson's house to make Christmas cookies and have a playdate with the boys.
We started out easy by having the kids unwrap chocolates to make pretzels, it was a nice easy way to start the messy afternoon off ...
Next up was the much anticipated sugar cookies ... we rolled, they cut ...we baked, they decorated and ate!
The cookies turned out pretty darn good and we are making huge advancements on the technical abilities of our decorators year after year!
The finished off the afternoon with a little gift exchange and some play time with good friends ... it seems that trading tips on Minecraft keeps them entertained for quite some time ... at least long enough for the adults to relax a little too!
We started out easy by having the kids unwrap chocolates to make pretzels, it was a nice easy way to start the messy afternoon off ...
Next up was the much anticipated sugar cookies ... we rolled, they cut ...we baked, they decorated and ate!
The cookies turned out pretty darn good and we are making huge advancements on the technical abilities of our decorators year after year!
The finished off the afternoon with a little gift exchange and some play time with good friends ... it seems that trading tips on Minecraft keeps them entertained for quite some time ... at least long enough for the adults to relax a little too!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
2nd Grade Holiday Concert
Tonight is the 2nd Graders Holiday Concert at JES (the elementary school). The girls came home from school very excited because they BOTH had been selected to have speaking parts during the concert. It was completely randomly drawn and out of 165 kids, our two kids were chosen ... and they think they are not "lucky"! They both accepted the positions and were practicing their lines as soon as they walked in the door.
We got ready for the big show but Alyssa was having troubles keeping her eyes open for pictures, so this is the best shot we got of them dressed up:
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We meet Grandma and Grandpa at Clancy's here in Jordan for dinner before the big show. We got there plenty early so getting a table was not an issue at all and the food was pretty good!
After dinner headed up to the High School for the concert which was being held in the gymnasium there. The girls' class has 165 kids in it, one of the biggest ever going through the Jordan school system.
The girls both did a great job doing their speaking parts ... even if they were not done perfectly, they still stood up there in front of a lot of people and did their best, we were very proud of both of them!
All the kids did a great job and the concert was a lot of fun to watch and listen to. We finished up the evening with a drive by of a holiday house that has lights and music that play together and make a show. Everyone enjoyed watching it, even Grandma and Grandpa!!!
We got ready for the big show but Alyssa was having troubles keeping her eyes open for pictures, so this is the best shot we got of them dressed up:
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We meet Grandma and Grandpa at Clancy's here in Jordan for dinner before the big show. We got there plenty early so getting a table was not an issue at all and the food was pretty good!
After dinner headed up to the High School for the concert which was being held in the gymnasium there. The girls' class has 165 kids in it, one of the biggest ever going through the Jordan school system.
The girls both did a great job doing their speaking parts ... even if they were not done perfectly, they still stood up there in front of a lot of people and did their best, we were very proud of both of them!
All the kids did a great job and the concert was a lot of fun to watch and listen to. We finished up the evening with a drive by of a holiday house that has lights and music that play together and make a show. Everyone enjoyed watching it, even Grandma and Grandpa!!!
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