Where did a year go???

It happened.  She's ONE.   We are having international themed parties this year and Greta was France.  We had Creme Brulee French Toast (yum!).  I looked for a french type dessert- but nothing was messy enough for a first birthday cake- Not that my chocolate cake ended up being very messy.... But she settled for a pink Eiffel Tower and a poodle on her shirt and cake.  And I must say, she is the cutest one year old....EVER.  (Though please excuse her messy hair.  After being blessed with 2 girlies that sit still amazingly well- this one won't stop for a second.  Anyone that knows me knows this is going to be a challenge!)

Old Man

Happy Birthday Ben!  He seems to think he needs to have a mid-life crisis- but he can't decide which crisis to choose.  Hopefully its not too big of a crisis.  :)

So many candles I don't even need a flash! ;)

Christmas dresses....and sweater

It took me a while to pick them out- I am still being that crazy mom that wants her kids to match, but I wasn't having any luck finding dresses in the range of sizes I needed.  I had forgotten about this cute little dress that both Maija and Brielle wore on their first Christmas.  So I just went with something that matched that.  Maybe I should start looking early for next year?

We cut down our own tree again this year and it was wonderful!  So sunny that day and no snow- so we could drive all the way to the top of the mountain and find the BEST tree.  We didn't even need to wear our coats. 

MAIJA 7

BRIELLE 5

LEVI 3

GRETA 11 months



Christmas!

Of course it was fun!  We all got what we wanted.  Maija was able to sing about her "Two Front Teeth" this year, but she was glad Santa didn't bring them to her.  Greta only got boring clothes from Santa- as he knows we already have every single toy available and he was nice enough to not give us repeats. It must have been really boring- because I didn't take any pictures of her opening presents.  :(

Christmas break at the beach!

We hadn't been to the beach in forever!  So we headed out to Brookings just before Christmas.  We stayed right on the beach in a little house with a hot tub and a loft for the kids. The weather was beautiful and we wanted to stay longer.

I love that you can see her red hair in these pictures!