Words can't express. . .

. . .nor do they need to - why I am SO in love with this little guy! Always smiling, always polite, always excited to hang out and talk my ear off!

(You can click on the 12x12 page to view pictures larger!)

Grandma Nielson

I am very grateful that I was able to attend my Grandma Nielson's funeral this week. It was a very fast and exhausting trip, but I would have felt so bad if I would have missed it. My dad and his brothers were very sincere and emotional as they paid tribute to a beautiful woman! It was also great to see cousins I hadn't seen in years (even decades).

I'm grateful to know that after 20 years, my grandparents are reunited. How awesome that must be for them!

Valentine's Day

Desperate for Summer!

Can you tell how desperate we are for summer?

Snow Much Fun!

In Memory

I realize it has been nearly a year since I have posted anything to this blog, but I have found a new way to blog and I am going to try to be better! I am creating these 12x12 pages on Heritage Makers and then will be able to print them out for my family to see and enjoy as well as post them to my blog.

Here is my first page and my 12x12 blog debut. My grandfather recently passed away and I wanted to be able to remember the day and the feelings so I quickly put this page together.

So Many Reasons to Smile!

We've had a great week with a lot of fun and smiles so I thought I would share some of the reasons why!

1 - My little brother, Kyle, surprised us with a visit so we have taken the opportunity to drag him along and do a couple of fun things like - -

Brookfield zoo - I'm trying to justify the membership I purchased so it is going to be our summer hotspot! The kids act like it's the first time everytime! We even pretend we are afraid of the animatronic dinosaurs!

2- Seriously, do I need to explain? This little guy is the happiest, funniest little thing I have ever seen. He has finally decided that walking is cool, his blue eyes could melt you, I'm starting to get used to his slobbery ways, he teases his sister like crazy, he's always up for an adventure, AND he LOVES kisses. The big, wet, slobbery, cover-your-whole mouth kind! He's a keeper!

3 - Katelyn officially made it through her first year of preschool. YIPEE!

4 - The kids have BOTH been sleeping through the night - enough said!

5 - HOLIDAY!!! We have a holiday with THREE daddy days in a row. Patrick is awesome about getting us out of the house and making memories. We went on a little Saturday trip to Starved Rock state park and did a little hiking and sight seeing. It was great.

Tomorrow (Memorial Day) we are off to Six Flags. We'll see if we are still smiling after that!

One Fine Sunday

I'm going to interrupt my monthly recaps to post some pictures of the fabulous Sunday we had yesterday! The weather was PERFECT and we spent the entire afternoon outside. Patrick even cooked up some salmon on the grill for dinner. It feels like we have been waiting for this for several long, cold, dreadful months!

February

February was a fun month! We began the month by celebrating my big 32nd birthday. It was a great birthday. We took the kids to a fun bowling alley. After coming home and getting the kids to bed, Patrick and I enjoyed sushi for dinner and a little Rock Band with our band members.


Katelyn talked me into letting her have a Valentine party. We had some of her friends from church over for crafts, games and cupcake decorating. What cute girls!


My little Jake just gets more and more handsome! I can't believe a year has flown by since we welcomed him into our home. I am grateful for every single day of that year. He is a very special little guy and we adore him.


Patrick wasn't able to make it home from work on Jake's actual birthday (ssshhh, don't tell Jake!) so Katelyn and I celebrated with him the best we could. We got pizza and had cupcakes. I think Jake just enjoyed the attention.

When the weekend came and Patrick was able to be home, we celebrated it all over again. Jake was actually a little hesitant about the whole candle thing and we practically had to force his hand into his cupcake, but once he got the hang of it I think he quite enjoyed it.

December & January

Blogging isn't for people like me! Ok, I freely admit it. Of the gifts that I was given (I'm still trying to find out what they are), being organized and finishing projects definitely don't make the list! Those of you who do possess these strengths would gasp if you saw my closet of unfinished projects. SO, blogging is one of those things - the more behind I get, the more overwhelmed I get, and so for my sanity - I quit!

I keep saying I will get better, but I don't so maybe I will just relent to posting a broad update every now and then and lay my guilt to rest!

In my defense, I have already got my 2008 Yearbook completed and it turned out awesome. You can view it if you want by clicking here!

DECEMBER - was a very busy month! Busier than I would like any other December to be. The first weekend, I went on a girl's weekend to a spa in Wisconsin. The next weekend, we took the kids to Wisconsin Dells for a little getaway. The last weekend before Christmas was all the last minute preparations for what turned out to be a great Christmas.

We were excited to have my parents and Kyle come visit for Christmas. We had a great time!


JANUARY - was filled with snow, snow, and more snow! I became quite handy with a shovel as Patrick worked long hours.

Finally at the end of January, we got away on a little vacation. The kids and I went to Idaho to see Grandpa & Grandma's new house. We had a great time in Idaho and suprisingly, they had a lot less snow than in Chicago!


We ended our trip in Boise where we were able to catch a couple of Kurt's basketball games before he hung up #44 and got a real job! (JK Kurt!) Katelyn even wore a #44 jersey to the games and sat right on the front row to scream and cheer on her boyfriend/Uncle Kurt.