Merry Christmas to all!!
It's been some time since David or I have blogged! I guess the holidays took us away with them and we have not. really, stopped to blog. Everyone is well and we have been busy enjoying Christmas! Christmas Eve was quiet, my kids went with Brad and Paul and Gretchen were at home in Cold Spring. I was frantically finishing Christmas Day entertaining details!!! AAAAAGH! But, a nice dinner with Barb and Rich calmed things down. Emma got to open a couple of presents to warm her up for the BIG event :)
Christmas Day was full and fun! Emma was so excited to open Santa presents in the morning, then family converged for lunch! All of the kids came home and The Houston and Cameron-Enberg families embarked on our new blended family Christmas celebration. I think that all of the kids had a good time and no one got hurt...:)
Since Christmas the kids and parents have been around the Metro on various outings including HopeKids events at the Science Museum, Gameworks, and a movie (Bedtime Stories). We spent a fun day at the Minnesota Zoo, went sledding and snowman making at Valentine Hills, and shared an over-stimulating afternoon at the Mall of America :).
In the morning, we leave for Illinois to celebrate Christmas with the Nord side and have lots of time with new baby Alexis!!!
Pictures to be posted...
-posted by long winded Beth :)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Happy Birthday, Green Elephant!
One year ago, the Chatty Chatty Princess received Green Elephant as a gift on Christmas Eve.
Green Elephant has been her closest friend ever since!
-
Sunday, December 14, 2008
New Photos
Some new pics are on the blog. The first is a picture and letter that Emma dictated and illustrated for Bryanna and Nick. She's very excited to meet Alexis! Emma had breakfast with Santa on saturday morning, with Barb and Rich, at the St.Paul Macy's. Santa came to visit her at her table and they had quite a long and animated conversation while Santa read her list. She came home with the snowflake on her cheek, a balloon braided candy cane, a tummy full of french toast and bacon, and the satisfaction that she got her requests known to "the big guy".
We've been decorating the Christmas trees for most of the week, off and on. The real tree is in the living room and still standing...the fake tree is upstairs and holds the really old family ornaments and really fragile ornaments. Zoe is a good helper and Braxton and Gretchen helped finish the little tree upstairs on saturday. The last pic is from Braxton's band concert last week. He never looks at me or poses for one just one good shot, but this one is ok. He wore the Santa hat all night. Now he wants his own!
We all enjoyed seeing pictures of baby Alexis! Zoe had 5 friends over on saturday for cookie baking and sleep over and they all looked at baby pictures too. Lots of "oh, she's so little and cute!"
Sister in law Jennifer and her friend Norma left on saturday morning for 3 weeks in Columbia to enjoy Christmas with Norma's family. We pray for safe travels for them. We are, however, in the throws of more unseasonably cold weather...
12 more days til Christmas...
-posted by Beth
We've been decorating the Christmas trees for most of the week, off and on. The real tree is in the living room and still standing...the fake tree is upstairs and holds the really old family ornaments and really fragile ornaments. Zoe is a good helper and Braxton and Gretchen helped finish the little tree upstairs on saturday. The last pic is from Braxton's band concert last week. He never looks at me or poses for one just one good shot, but this one is ok. He wore the Santa hat all night. Now he wants his own!
We all enjoyed seeing pictures of baby Alexis! Zoe had 5 friends over on saturday for cookie baking and sleep over and they all looked at baby pictures too. Lots of "oh, she's so little and cute!"
Sister in law Jennifer and her friend Norma left on saturday morning for 3 weeks in Columbia to enjoy Christmas with Norma's family. We pray for safe travels for them. We are, however, in the throws of more unseasonably cold weather...
12 more days til Christmas...
-posted by Beth
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
New Kid On The Block :)
Bryanna Lynn had her first baby tonite! After many hours of unsuccessful laboring, a C-section brought Alexis Kate into the world sometime around 8:15 pm. 7lbs, 70z. and 19 inches long. Mom (Bryanna) is tired but the grandparent and auntie groupies are jazzed up! Pictures posted soon...
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Playing Catch Up
Hello Everyone!
It's been awhile since I've made a blog entry, and it's my turn. Since our last entry, time has moved quickly. The holiday season is, very much,upon us! I've started the shopping, baking, decorating, and card stuffing. Zoe filled out our cards this year, David wrote the letter and put together our family photo, and I put on the stamps. :) There's just never enough time to take care of details and simply enjoy Christmas.
We chose a beautiful tree in under 3 minutes on a very cold and windy day last weekend. Even Emma ran for the warm van. We decorated the tree and enjoyed it for a couple of days before it fell over, on tuesday, while no one was at home. Braxton came home first and called Bayley home to help him push it back up against the wall. When I came home we wrestled with it for more than a half hour before we got it to stay up. It's been 3 days and it's still standing!
Braxton had his Christmas band concert on monday evening. He looked cute in a Santa hat! It was a good concert full of traditional holiday standards and even a chance for audience sing along. On wednesday, my Pre-schoolers put on their annual Christmas Chapel at Bethel's great hall. The place was packed and the pre-schoolers delivered a great show! I have been the stage manager for the past 3 years and spend the whole show running kids around back stage and shoo-ing them on and off stage when they're cued. Watching the DVD is always so funny to see all the spontaneous things that the kids do. On tuesday we attended a Christmas show at our church. Barb and Rich came along and everyone enjoyed it and the cookies at intermission!
The weekend will be spent having more Christmas fun, and finishing projects ( I hope). Zoe is having some friends over to decorate cookies and stay overnight. Some nasty snow is predicted for sunday so it will be a good day to stay inside and do Christmas stuff.
At present, we are all awaiting the birth of our newest family member! Bryanna is in the hospital laboring to have her first baby girl. I remember the day that Bryanna was born so waiting for her baby to be born seems surreal. Life is weird...
That's all for now. It's time to do some Santa work while all of the kids are out of the house. Emma is waiting for another tooth to fall out and is expecting that the Tooth Fairy and Santa will work together to bring her something special this year :).
-posted by Beth
It's been awhile since I've made a blog entry, and it's my turn. Since our last entry, time has moved quickly. The holiday season is, very much,upon us! I've started the shopping, baking, decorating, and card stuffing. Zoe filled out our cards this year, David wrote the letter and put together our family photo, and I put on the stamps. :) There's just never enough time to take care of details and simply enjoy Christmas.
We chose a beautiful tree in under 3 minutes on a very cold and windy day last weekend. Even Emma ran for the warm van. We decorated the tree and enjoyed it for a couple of days before it fell over, on tuesday, while no one was at home. Braxton came home first and called Bayley home to help him push it back up against the wall. When I came home we wrestled with it for more than a half hour before we got it to stay up. It's been 3 days and it's still standing!
Braxton had his Christmas band concert on monday evening. He looked cute in a Santa hat! It was a good concert full of traditional holiday standards and even a chance for audience sing along. On wednesday, my Pre-schoolers put on their annual Christmas Chapel at Bethel's great hall. The place was packed and the pre-schoolers delivered a great show! I have been the stage manager for the past 3 years and spend the whole show running kids around back stage and shoo-ing them on and off stage when they're cued. Watching the DVD is always so funny to see all the spontaneous things that the kids do. On tuesday we attended a Christmas show at our church. Barb and Rich came along and everyone enjoyed it and the cookies at intermission!
The weekend will be spent having more Christmas fun, and finishing projects ( I hope). Zoe is having some friends over to decorate cookies and stay overnight. Some nasty snow is predicted for sunday so it will be a good day to stay inside and do Christmas stuff.
At present, we are all awaiting the birth of our newest family member! Bryanna is in the hospital laboring to have her first baby girl. I remember the day that Bryanna was born so waiting for her baby to be born seems surreal. Life is weird...
That's all for now. It's time to do some Santa work while all of the kids are out of the house. Emma is waiting for another tooth to fall out and is expecting that the Tooth Fairy and Santa will work together to bring her something special this year :).
-posted by Beth
Monday, December 1, 2008
Going to the Holidazzle Parade
Starting on Thanksgiving, downtown Minneapolis has a "Holidazzle" parade Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings through Christmas. These parades are fun and family oriented with lots of bright lights and festive music.
The weather was warm on Saturday so we decided to take the whole circus out to see the parade. It was great!!!
+ posted by David
The weather was warm on Saturday so we decided to take the whole circus out to see the parade. It was great!!!
+ posted by David
Sunday, November 30, 2008
haha...snow=)
Here's a shoutout to Grandma Beverly and all the Illinois relatives to supposed to get 5-7 INCHES OF SNOW!!!!! We didn't even get a quarter of an inch. Be sure to call and tell Mom how much snow you actually got!
Wonderful Wicked
On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Beth and Bayley went to the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis to see "Wicked." They ordered tickets last May through the drama department at Bayley's school. This was Bayley's first time seeing "Wicked," So she was super excited to see her favorite musical on stage. During intermission, Bayley said that the show was "AMAZING!!" Her favorite song was "Defy Gravity" and Mom's favorite song was "For Good." Bayley was lucky enough to be sitting next to one of her friends, but unlucky enough to not be sitting next to Mom. It turns out that the drama department had the students sitting next to the students, and parents sitting next to the parents. But the good things from the show outweigh the bad by far. All in all, the show was...Wondeful.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving Celebration
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving by going to David's Sister's house in Deephaven, Minnesota (a suburb to the southwest of Minneapolis about a 35-minute drive from our house).
Catherine got married this Summer and brought another blended family to the Houston Clan. Catherine's new husband is Kevin Cameron and he has three boys - Neil, Craig, and Carter.
Also invited to the festivities were David's parents - Rich & Barb - and Kevin's sister Kathy and her family. Paul & Gretchen were not with us this year, but Kathy and Tony brought their children - Kaylin & Thadeus. So all together we had nine children at our celebration: Neil, Craig, Carter, Allie, Jack, Bayley, Braxton, Zoe, Emma, Kaylin, and Thadeus.
Plenty of fun for everybody!
It was a nice early winter day - sunny and in the mid-30's. Some of the kids went ice skating on the small pond behind the house. Other children enjoyed television, video games, or ping-pong.
The food was wonderful. Catherine prepared us a fresh turkey after the defrosting accident caused the loss of the original frozen turkey and some other "incident" caused the loss of a turkey breast. Other family members filled out the feast by bringing garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. We had numerous desserts: pumpkin, apple, pecan and french-silk pies; and cookies and brownies.
After the great feast and celebration we went home and took our traditional walk through the neighborhood. The highlight was seeing the new light display in the center of the neighborhood where one man creates something new each year. It's like Christmas morning - the anticipation of seeing what the new theme will be.
This year it is a 25 foot tall pirate ship.
Way cool!!!
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!!!
+ posted by David
Catherine got married this Summer and brought another blended family to the Houston Clan. Catherine's new husband is Kevin Cameron and he has three boys - Neil, Craig, and Carter.
Also invited to the festivities were David's parents - Rich & Barb - and Kevin's sister Kathy and her family. Paul & Gretchen were not with us this year, but Kathy and Tony brought their children - Kaylin & Thadeus. So all together we had nine children at our celebration: Neil, Craig, Carter, Allie, Jack, Bayley, Braxton, Zoe, Emma, Kaylin, and Thadeus.
Plenty of fun for everybody!
It was a nice early winter day - sunny and in the mid-30's. Some of the kids went ice skating on the small pond behind the house. Other children enjoyed television, video games, or ping-pong.
The food was wonderful. Catherine prepared us a fresh turkey after the defrosting accident caused the loss of the original frozen turkey and some other "incident" caused the loss of a turkey breast. Other family members filled out the feast by bringing garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. We had numerous desserts: pumpkin, apple, pecan and french-silk pies; and cookies and brownies.
After the great feast and celebration we went home and took our traditional walk through the neighborhood. The highlight was seeing the new light display in the center of the neighborhood where one man creates something new each year. It's like Christmas morning - the anticipation of seeing what the new theme will be.
This year it is a 25 foot tall pirate ship.
Way cool!!!
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!!!
+ posted by David
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Bring Your Chatty Chatty Princess to Work Day
Emma has no school today and the other kids are at Brad's house. So Emma is visiting David's office today and providing entertainment for his colleagues.
+
+
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Weekend Run Away
David and I were able to take some time and escape up to our favorite treks on the North Shore. We took off on friday morning and wasted no time winding our way up Hwy 61 towards Grand Marais. We, first, made s stop at Tettegouche State Park's rock beach to give me some cairn building time. It's a favorite pastime while up north:) The beach is sheltered from wind and, usually, secluded. Once in Grand Marais we had an early dinner at the Blue Water Cafe and a stroll through the Ben Franklin and the Trading Post, then we were off to check in at the Outpost Motel. Rufus and Sunny were whining to get out and run trails before we even got settled. Saturday the winds were up and a few flurries made it pretty cold hiking but some trails through sheltering woods made it feel much better. With deer hunters around, David and I had to choose hikes where they weren't. We started up Eagle Mountain, but descended when the hike got boggy and headed further north to the Canadian border to check out Pidgeon Falls. The spray made it feel more like Niagara! Beautiful though! Late afternoon moose hunting on the Gunflint trail yielded NO moose but we did come across a beautiful wolf checking us out as we checked him out (from our car). He disappeared before we could get a good photo :(.
Today, we packed up and stopped at Cascade Falls, a regular and favorite hike of ours. The falls were running fast and ice has begun to form on the trees and pathways. We, also, hiked a short path through Gooseberry Falls State Park. The lake side paths were open but the inland paths were closed to hikers but open to hunters. We walked down to the Superior shoreline and checked out the "agate beach". Since neither one of us knew what an agate looked like we didn't find any. A nice hike though and another chance for the dogs to stretch their legs off leash before putting them back into the car for the ride home.
Kids at home jockeyed between Brad's house, my house, and church. Bayley went to see the Rockettes in Minneapolis with her GS troop. She loved the show! Who wouldn't love the Zeigfield- like toe kicking Rockettes?! Brad took the 3 kids to see "Madagascar 2", also. Emma spent the weekend with Barb and Rich. They went to see Madagascar 2, as well, and Emma attended a b-day party for an old pre-school friend on sunday. A busy weekend for all!!
a P.S. update on Braxton...we saw the ortho doc, last week, and Braxton has finally gotten the all clear to lift weights and start conditioning for spring sports. YEAH!!!
-posted by Beth
Today, we packed up and stopped at Cascade Falls, a regular and favorite hike of ours. The falls were running fast and ice has begun to form on the trees and pathways. We, also, hiked a short path through Gooseberry Falls State Park. The lake side paths were open but the inland paths were closed to hikers but open to hunters. We walked down to the Superior shoreline and checked out the "agate beach". Since neither one of us knew what an agate looked like we didn't find any. A nice hike though and another chance for the dogs to stretch their legs off leash before putting them back into the car for the ride home.
Kids at home jockeyed between Brad's house, my house, and church. Bayley went to see the Rockettes in Minneapolis with her GS troop. She loved the show! Who wouldn't love the Zeigfield- like toe kicking Rockettes?! Brad took the 3 kids to see "Madagascar 2", also. Emma spent the weekend with Barb and Rich. They went to see Madagascar 2, as well, and Emma attended a b-day party for an old pre-school friend on sunday. A busy weekend for all!!
a P.S. update on Braxton...we saw the ortho doc, last week, and Braxton has finally gotten the all clear to lift weights and start conditioning for spring sports. YEAH!!!
-posted by Beth
Catching Up
Sorry all ... we've gotten a little behind with posting.
Here are some pictures of recent events: (i) the kids in a corn field at the local apple orchard, (ii) some pictures from the baby shower weekend at Auntie Pam's, and (iii) Halloween costumes.
Enjoy!!
+
Here are some pictures of recent events: (i) the kids in a corn field at the local apple orchard, (ii) some pictures from the baby shower weekend at Auntie Pam's, and (iii) Halloween costumes.
Enjoy!!
+
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Dropping Prices!
This morning I filled my tank for 26.00!!! Gas by our home is 2.09 today!
That's a praise! Now we can start taking those lazy weekend drives again :)
-posted by Beth
That's a praise! Now we can start taking those lazy weekend drives again :)
-posted by Beth
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Full Weekend!
Braxton and Zoe and I hit the road, saturday morning, and made our way to Illinos to Auntie Pam's house to attend Bryanna's baby shower. We arrived on saturday afternoon to visit with, very pregnant, Bryanna and Nick, newly pregnant Alissa and Peter, Uncle Jeff (and Sadie), Kaitlin (and Cheyanne), and Nicole with her busy brood of 3. It was a family party in and of itself! Sarah (Hill) and Isabella were there and plans were underway for food prep for the next day.
Sunday's shower was very nice. The girls did a very good job with the food, decorating and games. Lots of family and friends and babies! It was so nice to visit with everyone. My cold got worse as the weekend went on and by the end of the shower I had no voice. Oh, well. Seems to happen to me more often than it should. Uncle Jeff kept Braxton during the shower and Zoe and I went to meet them for dinner later. By monday morning the kids and I were tired out and not ready to climb back into the car fpr 7 hours but...we did. It was a blustery drive home packed with flurries, rain, wind, breaks of sun, and construction.
We got home just in time to pick up Emma from school then go home to play catch up with Bayley too. She stayed behind to take the ACT exam. Emma stayed behind to go to a friend's birthday party on saturday then a Children's Theatre production of Madeline and the Gypseys on sunday with gramma Barb.
Only 3 more days til Halloween and I don't have costumes sewn! David is in Orlando til thursday so I'll be working on just costumes til then :).
-posted by Beth
Sunday's shower was very nice. The girls did a very good job with the food, decorating and games. Lots of family and friends and babies! It was so nice to visit with everyone. My cold got worse as the weekend went on and by the end of the shower I had no voice. Oh, well. Seems to happen to me more often than it should. Uncle Jeff kept Braxton during the shower and Zoe and I went to meet them for dinner later. By monday morning the kids and I were tired out and not ready to climb back into the car fpr 7 hours but...we did. It was a blustery drive home packed with flurries, rain, wind, breaks of sun, and construction.
We got home just in time to pick up Emma from school then go home to play catch up with Bayley too. She stayed behind to take the ACT exam. Emma stayed behind to go to a friend's birthday party on saturday then a Children's Theatre production of Madeline and the Gypseys on sunday with gramma Barb.
Only 3 more days til Halloween and I don't have costumes sewn! David is in Orlando til thursday so I'll be working on just costumes til then :).
-posted by Beth
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Emma's Lament
Beth, Braxton, and Zoe have gone to Illinois to visit with the rellies and to go to Bryanna's baby shower. David, Emma, and Bayley are behind in Minnesota.
While Emma has had a weekend full of entertainment - a birthday party yesterday and a trip to the Children's Theater today - she still feels as if she has missed out.
This morning she said:
"I sure wish I could be at Auntie Pam's. My friend Alissa is there and if I was there I could give her a big hug!"
+ posted by David
-
While Emma has had a weekend full of entertainment - a birthday party yesterday and a trip to the Children's Theater today - she still feels as if she has missed out.
This morning she said:
"I sure wish I could be at Auntie Pam's. My friend Alissa is there and if I was there I could give her a big hug!"
+ posted by David
-
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Kids on the Move!
It's MEA Week in Minnesota and the kids are on break from school. So naturally the kids have found some places to go.
Today Bayley went to Moorhead, MN to visit Minnesota State University at Moorhead. This is one of several schools she will be visiting to as she makes plans for college.
Paul & Gretchen are on a trip to Disneyworld with Rich & Barb.
Bayley will be going to northern Minnesota for church camp at Covenant Pines over the weekend.
Emma also gets to take a trip. Tomorrow she will go to the office with David and have an adventure in downtown Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, Beth and David will continue to go to work this week and work on installing some new flooring this weekend.
+ posted by David
Today Bayley went to Moorhead, MN to visit Minnesota State University at Moorhead. This is one of several schools she will be visiting to as she makes plans for college.
Paul & Gretchen are on a trip to Disneyworld with Rich & Barb.
Bayley will be going to northern Minnesota for church camp at Covenant Pines over the weekend.
Emma also gets to take a trip. Tomorrow she will go to the office with David and have an adventure in downtown Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, Beth and David will continue to go to work this week and work on installing some new flooring this weekend.
+ posted by David
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Life Is Good When You're a Princess!
Drawing by Emma. Notice the Princess Crown on top of her head!
++
Recovery Weekend (for David)
After running the marathon last weekend, David was able to settle in for a quiet recovery this weekend. He went to Cold Spring on Friday to join Paul & Gretchen for "Family Fun Night" at their school. They played games, did a school-wide scavenger hunt, and played Bingo.
Braxton spent Friday night at his friend Andrew's house. He seems to have found a posse of teenage boys to hang out with and do whatever it is that teenage boys do while not talking to one another.
Saturday was a quiet day for David. He took Emma to her swim lessons in the morning. She is really taking to the water! She works very hard and seems to have fun no matter what they are doing. David spent the afternoon watching the Gopher football team get a road victory against Illinois. Then he took the dogs for a long walk on a beautiful fall day (sunny & 75 degrees). David was going to run with the dogs, but his legs are still sore from the marathon.
Zoe had a soccer game on Saturday. Braxton and Bayley had a service project at church.
Beth had a busy Saturday which also featured a recovery theme. She met some friends for breakfast and then went to Zoe's soccer game. After that she went out with the Houston girls - Barb, Cathy, and Jenny - and they all went to the spa together. This was an outing Cathy had given them all for Christmas last year. Beth got a deep tissue massage. The masseuse indicated that Beth had the tightest, tensest shoulders she had ever worked on. Beth needed that massage!
Sunday was also a nice quiet recovery day - for David. The family went to Sunday School together in the morning. Then Bayley, Braxton, and Zoe - supervised by Beth - went to their Dad's house to do some cleaning as part of his birthday present.
David went home and squirmed through a Viking's victory over the hapless, winless Lions. In the afternoon, Beth & David took advantage of the warm day (80 degrees!) and took the dogs for another long walk.
+ posted by David
Braxton spent Friday night at his friend Andrew's house. He seems to have found a posse of teenage boys to hang out with and do whatever it is that teenage boys do while not talking to one another.
Saturday was a quiet day for David. He took Emma to her swim lessons in the morning. She is really taking to the water! She works very hard and seems to have fun no matter what they are doing. David spent the afternoon watching the Gopher football team get a road victory against Illinois. Then he took the dogs for a long walk on a beautiful fall day (sunny & 75 degrees). David was going to run with the dogs, but his legs are still sore from the marathon.
Zoe had a soccer game on Saturday. Braxton and Bayley had a service project at church.
Beth had a busy Saturday which also featured a recovery theme. She met some friends for breakfast and then went to Zoe's soccer game. After that she went out with the Houston girls - Barb, Cathy, and Jenny - and they all went to the spa together. This was an outing Cathy had given them all for Christmas last year. Beth got a deep tissue massage. The masseuse indicated that Beth had the tightest, tensest shoulders she had ever worked on. Beth needed that massage!
Sunday was also a nice quiet recovery day - for David. The family went to Sunday School together in the morning. Then Bayley, Braxton, and Zoe - supervised by Beth - went to their Dad's house to do some cleaning as part of his birthday present.
David went home and squirmed through a Viking's victory over the hapless, winless Lions. In the afternoon, Beth & David took advantage of the warm day (80 degrees!) and took the dogs for another long walk.
+ posted by David
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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