Some Final Farewells

Thanks to our wonderful friends, the moving process this time around has been the easiest we've ever experienced. So many have people reached out to help us. At least 7 different people asked if they could watch our kids while the movers were here. We had meals lined up for every day of the week, several people asked if they could come help clean and we even had friends offering to let us stay with them after the movers came. While this made the moving process easier, it makes moving a lot harder. Leaving behind such an amazing network of friends is going to be tough. I'm just thankful that the internet makes it so much easier to stay in touch, otherwise I'd be a little emotional right now.

The packers came and boxed everything up on Tuesday, and the movers came on Wednesday to load it all up and ship it out. Something about seeing that big moving truck pull up made it all feel very final.

Luckily we got a chance to have a few last farewells before we leave town. On Tuesday night our friends, the Cunninghams, had us over for dinner. We had a great night chatting and reminiscing, then they sent us off with some Minnesota souvenirs (so we'll always remember where to come back to ; ) and a yumm-a-licious turtle ice cream pie.

Through out the week we had similar get togethers with friends (although I wasn't smart enough to bring my camera!) and then tonight our awesome friends the Parish's threw us a going away party so we could say goodbye to everyone one last time.

We can't thank John and Jamie enough for putting such a great evening together for us. Thinking about it I guess I am going to get a little emotional : ) It just really meant a lot to be able to see everyone, give them hugs, and say goodbye before we go.

I love these people like my family. I seriously couldn't ask for a better group of friends and I hope they all know how much we will miss them!

Closing out 2009

Best part of the holidays: Having Taber home from work for 2 weeks! The girls relished all the extra attention from Daddy and everyday Teya asked "Are you going to work today Daddy?" and when he'd say "no" she'd jump up and down and shout, "YAY! DADDY'S STAYING HERE! OUR FAMILY IS ALL TOGETHER!" Here are some of the fun things we did as a family to close out 2009.

A trip to the Mill City Museum with the girls and Taber's parents

At the top of the museum I tried to get a picture of the girls with the great view of downtown Minneapolis. Teya wasn't being cooperative with the camera however, every time I told her to smile she just closed her eyes. So this is what I got. Life with a 3 year old ; )

It was so nice to be able to take Taber's parents and grandmother along. We are so glad they could come out one more time before we leave!

On New Years Eve we took the girls to the Children's Museum in St. Paul. This was the first time we've been able to navigate that place without a stroller! It was awesome not having to wait for the elevators or push through the crowds with that thing. Nice perk of the girls getting a little bit older. Here they are painting their faces at the Spark Cart.

They loved all the hands on activities and I loved having a place for them to make a mess that I didn't have to clean!

This is my favorite picture because I think Brinley looks like a little baby Avatar on her Banshee dragon ready to go to war or something. If you haven't seen that movie, GO! it's amazing.

After the museum our New Years Eve was really low key. We colored signs with the girls and cut out 2010's to tape up around the house. Then we had root beer floats, counted down to "midnight" (8pm for the girls) and shook our noisemakers and danced around.

A picture of us taken by Teya.
Her photography skills are improving, this could be quite useful in the future...

Once the girls went to bed Taber and I talked about and wrote down our goals for 2010. I plan on starting to work on them as soon as the move is over ; )

On New Year's day we spent the morning sledding with our friend's the Ayllons. They have a great hill in their back yard and even though it was only 6 degrees outside the girls were so bundled up that they did awesome!

If you're wondering about the blue tape on the girls' wrists, it looks kind of funny but it keeps their gloves on and the snow out, meaning we can stay outside for much longer periods of time : )

Sledding was awesome! Visiting was friends was so nice too.

And that's it! Goodbye 2009! Goodbye Minnesota! Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

A Minnesota Christmas

This year was the first time we've spent Christmas with the kids in our own home. It was so wonderful not to worry about shipping out presents, catching planes and living out of suitcases for the holidays. Instead we had family fly to us! Taber's parents and his grandmother came to town and enjoyed a beautiful white Minnesota Christmas, the first and last we will celebrate in our Maple Grove home.

The night before Christmas Teya wrote a final letter to Santa and left it by a plate of cookies. When I asked her how many cookies we should put on the plate she thought about it for awhile and then very seriously said, "Well, how about 3. We don't want him to get sick." I thought that was pretty sweet and thoughtful of her : )

On Christmas morning the girls went downstairs to find that Santa had come.

Teya rushed over to her note and plate of cookies and sure enough, the cookies were gone and Santa had written a long letter that had an interesting bias towards her Grandpa and how she should come visit him more often. hmm.... ; )

The rest of the morning was Christmas magic. Teya was so excited about every gift she got. From the goodies in her stockings to the littlest toy. She opened each one exclaiming "Thank you Santa!" and "Oh I love this one!" Her gratitude was so genuine and sincere, it was the sweetest thing to watch.

She even did well when she opened a package of clothes. Instead of tossing it aside or getting mad she smiled and laughed and said, "This is a silly present!" But she was still happy and grateful just the same.

The girls in their new matching outfits from Grandma Karen

Brinley was thrilled with everything too. She just kept bringing presents to me and saying "Opig, opig!" (open open!)

After opening up a few stuffed animals she pulled them all into her chest and just sat there cuddling them and zoning out into her own world.

It's funny because I was kind of sad when Teya asked for more big girl things this year like princess stuff, Polly pockets, Ariel dolls etc... But at the end of the day it's not uncommon to find her sleeping with Brinley's elephant and piglet. I'm glad she's not quite out of the stuffed animal phase yet ; )

As you can imagine with two little girls in the house we had an explosion of girlyness! Pink fairy wings, sparkly crowns, princess dolls, bows and pink clothes.

Still, we do have one little boy in the house, and he was quite thrilled to have his very own brand new Mighty Bone to chew on to his hearts content.

Everyone enjoyed the morning opening presents and just hanging out together in our jammies. When we were done with gifts Grandma Karen made us her famous Christmas rice pancakes, something that Taber always talks about from his childhood. I've actually never made them for him so I was glad she was here to do it and teach me how.

Later that day we bundled up for some fun in the snow. We had quite the storm the night before and there was tons of sticky snow, perfect for snowman making!

Teya really wanted to make a snowman family so she, Taber and Grandpa dug, rolled, patted and sculpted until 4 happy little snowman stood in front of our house.

It's crazy to think that that next week we'll be gone and starting a new chapter of our lives. I'm so glad we got to spend a Christmas here before we left. Minnesota is an amazing and beautiful place. I never imagined I could love it so much but I do, and I will miss it. A lot.

Good Friends and Grilling on Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve we joined up with our neighbors, the Wests, for an amazing Prime rib and Turkey dinner grilled up by our Iron Chef husbands. A little snow from the night before couldn't stop these guys from firing up the grill : )

Taylor is a master chef and he gave Taber one of his own customized recipes for the fabulous Christmas turkey. It involved a recipe for the brine that we soaked the bird in for 48 hours, a flavorful rub, savory aromatics, and a mop to be brushed on the turkey as it cooked every 20-30 minutes.

The recipe also called for a stock pot and a roaster with a rack. We didn't own either of those dishes but thanks to this turkey, now we do! I'm excited for my new dishes and hope they help me expand my cooking repertoire.

Taber tended to that turkey with true dedication. He was out there checking on it every hour or so, basting and turning and monitoring the temperature.

Taylor came over a couple times to look at it with his expert eye and to share his grilling wisdom with Taber. Thank goodness he lives so close!



Since Daddy was outside the rest of us came out to play in the snow. Brinley looked so cute all bundled up like a pink and brown marshmallow.

My little snow bunnies

Grandma Karen getting in on the action in her stylish denim snow gear.

One final check and the turkey was done! After all the work Taber put into it we couldn't wait to eat it!

We took the food over to the West's where Taylor was finishing up his Prime rib.

Taylor then showed Taber how to cut the turkey for optimal presentation.

The food was so mouthwateringly amazing. I think this will forever be the way we prepare our Christmas turkey.

After dinner the girls joined with Abby and little William to act out the nativity. Teya was Mary, Brinley was a sheep, Abby was an angel and William was the baby Jesus.

I think when the baby came on the scene the girls kind of forgot their parts and just gravitated towards him. They all kept petting his sweet little head. It made me smile to think that the baby Jesus surely had that same compelling draw to all who came near him.

We were so happy we could celebrate Christmas eve with our neighbors and dear friends the Wests. Not only have they opened our eyes to the world of year round grilling, but they have been the truest most wonderful friends you could ever hope for. We will miss them terribly when we move!