Christmas with friends

Emily, Jim, and Reese had all of us over for a fantastic Christmas dinner. The kids had their meal first, and then the adults had their fancy meal while Callie "babysat" the kids (Callie is almost 4 years old!).

The girls played really well together and even posed for this picture! Easton and Evan were in their own worlds.

Here are my three best girlfriends: Kara, Emily, (Me), and Arja.

The kids exchanged gifts, the parents enjoyed the white elephant game, and everyone loved our first cookie exchange. Thanks, Emily and Jim! Minus our crying and moody kid, that was the best Christmas party yet. Emily, you can out-do Martha Stewart any day!!!!!! Your dinner and decorations were FANTASTIC!

Best holiday lights ever

Ben took me to see these holiday lights near Turtle Lake. This is really someone's house!! They actually built a frame for the front of their house that held this incredible light display of a castle.

goofing around

Ben bought me (us) a new camera for my birthday. I've been trying to get to know it. Digital Camera technology has really changed in the last four years. The camera I got can do some funky things, like only showing one color in the picture (1st three pics), and it can turn an object a different color (last pic--Mary's [purple] hand). I'm still learning a lot about it, and how to download to my computer.

My 30th Birthday

Being pregnant, I didn't feel like having a big celebration for my 30th birthday, so Ben and I finally went on a date and did two things that I've always wanted to do. We ate dinner at the Melting Pot in Minneapolis....

and we went on a wintery carriage ride in the snowy streets of downtown, Minneapolis. It was so romantic!!!

advent calendar

Emily, Kara, and I got together for a craft day and made these advent calendars out of felt. All of our kids love checking it each day. Evan always makes sure to remind us!

Surprise!!!

We're having another BOY!!! I was completely shocked to find out I am pregnant with a boy. My motherly instincts, all the signs, and the Chinese Calendar were WRONG! Here are baby #2's first photos. Sorry for the slightly inappropriate one. It's just to prove that we are indeed having a boy :)