Visit with Santa

Every year we go through the same routine of getting a picture with Santa. Madi is such a good child and loves sitting on his lap year after year. On the other hand there is Ethan. Ethan is scared of anything wearing a suit i.e. Santa and Mickey Mouse to name a few. So needless to say it is not a fun time trying to get his picture with the big jolly red guy. So this year I held nothing back and threatened him with no presents if he did not sit on his lap and let me take a picture. So with that being said he ran as fast as he could and jumped on his lap smling for his picture before I could even get Madi's coat off.

House in Manassas, VA

Here is a picture of the house in Manassas that we fell in love with. We still do not know if we got the house and will not know for probably a couple of weeks. It is your typical 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath with a full, unfinished basement.

We are on the move.....

As many of you know, our time left in Pierre, South Dakota is slowly coming to an end. We have had some awesome opportunities while living here. Our family has bonded over many a nights camping around the states of South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. We have meet some great friends that we are truly going to miss, who know that they are welcome anytime at our new house. We also have gotten the chance to spend as much time with Dan's family as possible. These are just a few of the many wonderful experiences we have had here. But as our departing time draws closer we plan to spend as much time as possible doing the things we have come to love about the small town of Pierre, South Dakota.

Trick or Treat

The kids had a great time trick or treating this year. Madi went with some neighbor friends all over the neighborhood while Dan and I took Ethan on our street. He loved getting all the candy and was so excited to be trick or treating "outdoors". We are not sure what he meant by that. To aleviate some of the stress off Dan and I, we allowed Ethan to take his John Deere tractor to ride on. It was so funny. At first we thought we would put the candy in the bucket on the front. Well that lasted about 1o minutes before he dumped it all out and laughed as Dan and I picked it up. Not funny!! So needless to say we put a stop to that and decided to carry his bag for him. Overall we all had a good time and got lots of candy.

Ethan, my fire marshall

Ethan has become a fugitive wanted by the federal law in town. Here is the story:
On Monday, Ethan and I headed into the local federal building/post office to mail some packages. Everything was fine heading into the post office. We got our packages mailed out quickly as no one was in line. Heading out the door on the way to the car Ethan is trailing behind me. Halfway out the door I turn around to see my son pulling the fire alarm. I proceed to freak out and reprimand him right there on the spot. He doesn;t cry but has a terrified look on his face as the alarms and flashing lights start going off. I proceed to grab him and take him back into the post office to tell them what just happened. I told the man behind the counter and he takes off running. I guess this is protocol when the alarm has been set. So I proceed with Ethan to the car. Once safetly inside the car I proceed to call Dan at work. His office is on the third floor of the building. He starts laughing hysterically at what his son has just accomplished. I am mortified at this point and continue to reprimand him as we are driving away from the scene before the fire trucks show up. About fifteen minutes later I receive a phone call from Dan stating that the maintenance guy from the building came looking for him. He needed to get Ethan's information for the fire report. Also the federal security agent for the building caught the whole thing on tape. I asked for a copy for Ethan's baby book but they said they can't release it.

Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Vikings

The past weekend, Dan and I got to enjoy an awesome weekend in Minneapolis. Dan's parents traveled from Montana to babysit our kids for the weekend. They had a great time with the kids and really enjoyed spending some one on one time with them. We left on Saturday morning with some great friends, Brian and Kris. While in Minneapolis we got to enjoy a Minnesota Wild hockey game on Saturday night and a Minnesota Vikings football game on Sunday. The Wild game was their season opener. It was packed with a sold-out crowd. Dan and I had never been to a NHL game. It was an awesome game with non-stop action. The Wild beat the Boston Bruins 4 to 3. On Sunday we ventured to the Minnesota Vikings game. Dan has been a Vikings fan since I have know him. He was so excited to finally be at a game. We had some great seats right on the 25 yard line. This was also our first NFL game. They beat the Detroit Lions 12 to 10. We headed back home Sunday after the game. It was a great trip. I did not take my camera so as soon as Kris emails me some pictures I will post them.

Montana Marathon

This past weekend our family went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Montana. While there Dan participated in his third marathon. He ran with his niece, Briony. They did an awesome job and had a good time. Madi and Ethan also got to join in on the fun. They ran in the Kids Race. Ethan had to run half a football field and Madi had to run the whole football field. They did great and had a blast. Hopefully we have two track stars on our hands.

Madi's first day of second grade

Here is Madi on her first day of second grade. She looks so grown. She loves her teacher and was glad to see all her friends.

Ethan's first day of preschool

Here is my baby as he ventures to his first day of preschool. He goes to the local Montessori preschool three days a week. He had no trouble telling me bye and heading in to the room. He just did not understand why he had to wear his slippers. They do that so the floors will not get so dirty. He thought it was cool after I explained the reason to him. I took a few pictures and left him there. He did great and so did I. I will probably lose it when he goes off to K5.

South Dakota State Fair

We had a great time at the South Dakota State Fair. We saw lots of animals and ate lots of carnival food. They kids really enjoyed all the 4h animals. Madi even wanted to buy one of the rabbits for sale. He was pretty cute and cuddly. We watched the pig races and went to the petting zoo. It was a fun day with some beautiful weather.