Christmas Day

Which one should I open first?

We spent a lovely Christmas Day. Grandma Carol came over in the morning and David got to open all his gifts from Santa. We went over to Joe and Dianne's house for a wonderful lunch with Carol's big family. David had so much fun running around with Aiden and Brock...they wore all the adults out and we were just watching them. We then went over to Carol's to open more gifts and have sandwiches and ice cream. David kept on going all day and didn't get crabby at all. I think he likes Christmas a lot!Eating Lunch with Grandma Carol and DustyBeing SillyMandy and Uncle BobMaking sure he gets every drop of ice cream out of the bowl.

David laying on the stairs going "Nigh Nigh"

Christmas Eve

David got a new hat from Dan and Judy and enjoyed his Dessert!

Dusty and Grandma Millie

Jimmy was in bed early making sure he was asleep when Santa came.

Christmas at Dave and Mary's

David's new Tricycle - It was a big hit.

Christine, Rebecca and Mandy won the Celebrity contest!

The boys working on their board.

David and Sophia opening their presents.

Dave giving David some candy.

Happy "Pa Pa" Dave.

Christmas with the Fraser's

Bobby, Greta and David

Damon loved flipping lefse...he said it was soothing.

David watching Auntie Carrie roll out lefse.

Wagner girls making lefse - Grandma Opal would be proud of us.

Bobby got a Wild Hockey Jersey. Greta got a "No Snow Snuggler - mittens built into a jacket so they don't fall off and no snow gets in the cuff"

David got the book "Falling Up". Notice he still has chocolate on his face from the cookies.

Baby Lee

Here are some pictures from our Ultrasound! We didn't find out what we are having, despite everyone thinking I'd change my mind.

3D Image

Trip to Shack with Dusty

We went to the shack again this weekend. Can you tell it is our favorite place? Dusty came with us, as he did last year around this time. We baked Christmas cookies, I got some sewing done, Damon and Dusty got to spend some time outdoors and David got to open Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa. It was a wonderful weekend. The only problem was that it was too short. We had to come back on Saturday night instead of Sunday because a snow storm was expected.
Foxy and David watching out the window.

Making cookies with Mom.

Opening Christmas presents.

David is going to be a Big Cousin!

Mandy and Corey invited us all over to their house for a post-Thanksgiving dinner! I knew something was up and told Damon that I knew they were pregnant. He said that women are crazy and dismissed my suspicion. Well, I was right. Mandy handed David this t-shirt and announced that they are expecting a baby on July 7th! I am THRILLED. I've never met a couple who is so good with kids. We are so excited there were will be more cousins to play with.

St. Nicholas Day

On Friday, December 5, St. Nicholas showed up at our house. David put his boots on the steps before he went to bed and woke up to lots of treats for him and the dogs. Mysteriously, we saw Size 6 Ugg boot prints in the snow near the scene.
David enjoyed all his candy and cars and we read the nice book and learned all about St. Nick!

Christmas Parade

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we went to the International Falls Christmas Parade. We went out for Pizza before the parade with Carrie, Bobby and Greta. We met up with the whole Peterson crew and watched the great parade. We had lots of fun and David loved looking at all the lights and trucks.

Last night David helped me decorate the tree!

Christmas PJs

Grandma Mary bought cute matching Christmas PJs for David and his cousin Sophia. We got together to get their picture taken. Pretty cute kids.

Santa

Today we went to Bachman's with Carol to see Santa. David sat on Santa's lap but was a little nervous.

We also got to see a real Reindeer, Prancer. David got some straw to bring home to feed the reindeer on Christmas Eve.

10th Annual Westfork Women's Weekend

Our camera is near death, so unfortunately there are no pictures until we get a new one, which will be soon because Thanksgiving is next week and we can’t miss taking pictures of that!

This past weekend I went on my annual Westfork Women’s Weekend! This was our 10th annual weekend. We went to Bayfield, Wisconsin. We stayed at the Bayfield Inn in some condos. Me, Britta, Rachel and Jana all rode up together and were entertained by a game of Car Bingo. Jana was the winner. We arrived late Friday and enjoyed drinks and some snacks. Nissa and I got a 6-Pack of O’Douls so we could somehow participate in the happy hour. We went for dinner at a kitschy place called Maggie’s which was really the only open restaurant we could find in Bayfield. Afterwards we went to a good ole’ smoky bar. Everyone was concerned for baby Lee in my belly but I don’t think 1 hour in a bar will do too much damage.

On Saturday we had a light breakfast and headed out to the shops. The storekeepers must have loved watching 10 women walking in their stores. Especially the Scandinavian store which I am sure we dropped $800 collectively. I did my part by purchasing a beautiful Finnish lamp that I’ve eyed for the past 5 years and I finally just did it with a little coaxing from Britta, of course. We returned to the condo with many many shopping bags in tow. During the evening we played some fun games and had lots of interesting conversations. It seems as though the Westfork Women could save all the worlds problems…at least we all think so while enjoying cocktail hour!

Sunday morning we went to breakfast at The Ritten House, a beautiful B & B and then headed back home. It was a wonderful weekend to get away, although I missed my little guy very much.

Damon took David to the Wild Rumpus book store on Saturday. David stayed overnight at Carol’s house because Damon’s band was playing once again. She has lots of fun with him and sure thinks he is smart and talking a lot more now – I agree. On Sunday Damon took him over to his Dad’s to hang out for the afternoon. Mandy taught him how to kick his leg while dancing and he looks like Elaine from Seinfeld – it is hilarious.

Now I am very much looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving next weekend. We are having a old fashioned Thanksgiving at the Shack with the Peterson family. Twenty of us at a long table in the new Shack addition. I can’t wait!

Goodbye Mark...kinda

As most of you know, Mark has been my boss (and one of my best friends) for the past 11+ years. He was my first (and only) boss I've had over my entire working career. Today is his last day as my boss : ( He is taking on another job in our agency. I am more sad than I'll actually admit to him. We've had SO MANY wild and crazy times. And he is actually a good mentor too.

Here are some pictures of his last day with us. (he is just moving to the office down the hall, so I'll still see him 100 times a day)

My group at work.

Our last day!

Wearing my mullet wig. So gross.

Ultrasound

Today I went in for an ultrasound. Carol came with because Damon was working a job he couldn't get away from. It was a screening ultrasound for Down Syndrome and some other genetic diseases. Everything looked great. We saw the little baby bouncing around and moving all about!

They bumped my due date up 4 days so I loved that! Now it is May 17th.

I'll have another ultrasound next month. This time we do not want to know what the sex is. I'm very excited about it and think it will be a thrill to go into labor not knowing what we'll be having. I am really glad we've made this decision. I figure it will save me lots of money too since I won't be able to buy stuff before it is born. My goal is to only buy two "going home" outfits - one boy and one girl. Carrie will be dying to bring over all of Greta's clothes if we have a girl. I told her that is just fine but that she has to organize the nursery before I get home from the hospital.

Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures that David's Daycare lady e-mailed to me today! They are having a Halloween Party today. Enjoy!

In other news, Damon is going to Iowa again this weekend to play bass w/ Ross William Perry. He has been filling in a lot lately...he loves to play so it has been fun for him. I had a doctor appointment today. All is well with new Baby Lee. My doctor said he or she is quite a mover as she had a hard time calculating the heart rate because he/she kept moving around so much. I have another ultrasound next Tuesday. Damon can't come so Carol (Damon's Mom) is going to come with me.

Poor Jimmy

Jimmy and Foxy's back yard obsession is squirrels. Watching them, chasing them, staring up into the trees and waiting for them to come down.

Today Jimmy got one. The only problem is that it got him right back. Damon heard yelping in the backyard. He ran outside to find a squirrel latched on to Jimmy's nose biting him. Poor Little Jimmy. Jimmy killed the squirrel (yuck, he isn't sleeping with me tonight), but Jimmy's nose took quite an attack. Damon called the vet and they assured him that he should be find since he is up to date on his rabies vaccination. They said it is rare for squirrels to have rabies anyway.

An exciting start to Halloween!

Halloween

For David's 1st Halloween he was a Chicken.

(2 months old)

Last year he was a Dinosaur. (homeade by me)

Stay tuned for pictures of this year's costume. (not homeade by me...where did all my time go?)

Fall Fun at the Shack

This weekend the Rose Family (Amanda, Steve, John and Josie) came up to the Shack with is for 4 days of Fall Fun. Steve and Damon hunted. Even though they didn't get many grouse, they had a nice time walking the trails, shooting clay pidgeons, and visiting the Peterson Guy weekend going on at the end of the road. David spend lots of time with John and Josie who were the BEST KIDS. I was so impressed by them. We walked in the woods, rolled down the hill, decorated cookies, carved a pumkin, ate pizza and drank "Kool-Aid on the Rocks" which was a big hit. Here are some pictures of the kids.