This is faith...

I love this picture of Dane jumping in the arms of his Auntie Colette! The mountains behind them...

Greta's fun end of summer visit...

Greta came for a short fun visit at the end of summer.... we literally got her off the plane and went to Galveston for a walk on the strand and a burger at the SPOT!  We love you Greta....we had so much fun!

The River behind the farm...

I could sit here for hours.... this is the path by the River behind my parents house. The lush green of summer is caught in this picture....

Dane on the Farm

Did I ever put these on? Dane on the farm tire swing this summer.... These may be some of the sweetest pictures of our summer. The lazy days on the farm..... the swimming in Duluth... the fun with family in Minneapolis... we love our time.

Year in Review.... (August)

Our time in New Mexico late summer was so sweet... We started our time in Carlsbad where we did the great Carlsbad Caverns. I know it's December and my mother reminded me gently....that I hadn't posted a picture since September 1st. I couldn't believe that was true..... SHE was RIGHT! So here is my attempt at delivering....a review of the "rest of the year!"

(the reason Gunnar is not in some NM pictures.....he had to fly home early with Chris to start his first season of Texas Football)

Little kids on the Prairie..

The Prairie.....right in the middle of the Badlands is a native prairie...it was our first experience with letter boxing and we had a little surprise waiting for us (see last picture:)

Ice Cream at WALL DRUG with MorMor

An unsolicited picture of the "kids on the Prairie"

Our little surprise after letterboxing...Gunnar had just replaced the letter box and jumped back onto the boardwalk. When we started walking away Audra squealed....THERE IS A SNAKE!! It was a rattlesnake just below us!

FIrst Day of School

                                             Audra (6th grade)   Gunnar (4th)  Anders (1st)

Friday Night LIghts...

Raiders vs. Falcons 

(Gunnar on the farthest left)

With the long black socks...

Raiders 7  Falcons 18

Gunnar 1 1/2 tackles

 

Worth the "out of the way" ....

Ok.....this is one of my favorite pictures of our whole summer? I don't know why but maybe cause we went out of our way to visit the famed Corn Palace of Mitchell South Dakota which I had been to when I was a kid. I was shocked to be reminded that the original corn palace was built in 1892...."to showcase South Dakota's rich soil and encourage people to settle here"  A lot of history in those husks....pictures upon pictures and a tasty cornball. Who wouldn't want to stop at the Corn Palace?

The Badlands....

His pose for the summer

I keep joking that these pictures look like the Brady episode of the Grand Canyon? This was our Badlands stop on our way to Rapid City. Over 100 degrees....but worth the heat. 

First stop..... the Farm

First stop..... The Farm It didn't take long for Grandpa to ask Anders to get inside the bailer to tighten a bolt!

A quick ride on the mule....
We stopped in Windom to pick up Mor Mor before heading to the Black Hills!

Summer 2012

We may publish our kids lives by this picture?!! We made our annual trek to Minnesota .....photos to come! We had a good time, no broken arms but WARM weather. My family is starting to think I shouldn't come.....I bring the heat!! Back in Texas.....

Last Day of School

 Last Day of School....June 1st. I'm pretty sure Gunnar is in the exact same outfit? This marks the end of Audra's elementary school days which is hard to believe.  Middle School....here we come!!

FIrst Day of school.....

By the hair of their chinny chin chin...

They pulled it off....They won their first two games in the "post season" securing a spot in the Championship game against the First Place team......the White Sox. Last night these boys fell asleep and lost to the White Sox  15-9. Because they hadn't lost and the White Sox had...(double Elimination) They played again tonight and they squeaked out a 31-30 Victory..... (sounds more like a football score!)

And there you have it folks..... One baseball season wrapped up! And it's a first for us.....we have piles of trophies (from soccer, baseball, 1k runs, you name it) but this was the first trophy our kids ever really earned.... (did I mention THEY ARE ONLY SIX!!!!!!!!)

And a ROCKIE too...

Although Anders team has made it to the final Championship game.... Gunnar's Rockie team has suffered from some "close game" losses. They lost in their first play-off game... but he kept a GREAT attitude and enjoyed playing short stop. He even got an over the fence home run in practice one night. Gunnar loves sports......that's all there is to say about it!!

Baseball is Back...

It's Tournament time and Anders team.....the PIRATES (as you can see) have actually come in to the tournament as "2 seed team". They plan their first game tomorrow night. Although Anders started as first basemen this year he was since moved to 2nd. This is Anders playing his position.....sometimes it takes a little while for kids to get a hit (five swings and their out) so if he has too much time he "fake throws it" to first!!

Rainbows and lots of girls

Audra wanted a "rainbow" party (I think she saw it in a family magazine and it looked like lots of fun) so in our family traditions we cut out letters from scrapbook paper and then I learned how to make tissue paper flowers soon recognizing that my flowers lent themselves to a Mexican fiesta more than a girls b-day party:)
rainbow cupcakes and with a little help from the interned I quickly learned how to make "rainbow" cupcakes. Yep....the inside of those cupcakes is pure rainbow!
Audra and some friends (Sofia, Hayley, Kate, Blaire, Katherine and Michelle)
If I would have known? The girls thought the rainbow fruit kabobs were the best part of the party?
and Twister wasn't too bad? Happy Birthday Pickle!

Happy 11th birthday on the 11th Audra girl...

Happy Birthday Audra girl.....Here she is in her full 11 years! She had a normal day at school and her brothers both had baseball games...so we'll celebrate with pasta and meatballs tomorrow and a "rainbow party" on Saturday....

We love you Audra!!!!!!!!!! Look at her smile today cause she's getting' braces on Monday!

Lost puppy......found?

LOST PUPPY:

found....by friends who have two dogs

WHEN: St. Patricks' Day

HOW: hhhhmmmmmm kids beg, we say no, kids cry....we say not so much! One child says "I may never forgive you!" to which I respond "I am so sorry for you, forgiveness rots the bones and that's not going to be pretty!" They accept and then with some thinking....we agreed to "Foster" Lost puppy! So here she is...."Clover" for lost puppy found on St.Patty's Day.

HAPPY EASTER!!

Happy Easter!!!!!!! HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!! Here we are once again (this picture actually in front of our friends house....where we parked to walk to church) with our pastels and our shoes..some too big, some too small....some in crocs!! Celebrating with family....near and far....this HAPPY DAY!! We miss you all!

Kirsie's rainy February visit...

Kirsten and Simone came from Colorado in February.... to be met with a rainy weekend! (in our drought!) we didn't let it stop us....boots and umbrellas!

We were so grateful for our weekend together!!!!!! rain or shine!

Rodeo Dance...

Go Texan Day followed by the Rodeo Dance at school.....just to remind you, we DO live in Texas! (Gunnar thinks he belongs in Sweden....not Texas and refuses to wear bandana!!)

More of Christmas (in March!!)

Warmest Christmas EVER!! But we went skating....none the less!! and sking in Duluth!
Our Oldests.... Audra and Oskar on the slopes doing their thing:)
This is a perfect shot of my niece Ilsa!! aaaahhh she has charisma!!