Christmas Fun

Singing Christmas songs on Gma's piano!

Does your family do the Christmas Pickle tradition?

Tina was the most observant adult and Ethan was the most observant child.

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone had a great Chirstmas this year. Did you all make it through the storm to see your family?? We did! WE packed our bags and the truck (just in case) but made it safely to our destinations over this Christmas season.

Taylor had a Christmas concert at Daycare....it last 12 minutes, but was great entertainment. Her class sung We Wish you a Merry Christmas and danced to another song.

We started out celebrating with the extended Lieser and Spanier families the weekend before Christmas. It was great to see all of the family again and Taylor just loves playing with all of the little kids.

The Lieser Great Grandkids that were present!

Dad was teaching Taylor to hang on to her "monies"

G-Gma Lucille and Taylor

Christmas was extremely FUN this year with Taylor - she really got into her presents and was so excited for the parties! Santa found Taylor's house on Wed afternoon, so Taylor got to open her presents Wed evening after dinner! Santa brought her Dora Dominos, Tinkerbell underwear, Dress up clothes, Barbie or as Taylor says it "darbie" movie, candy, and a high-chair for her dollies.

Christmas Eve we always spend with my family at mom's in Paynesville. We had a great evening of family, food, fun, presents, and laughter. Again, Taylor had a blast with her cousins running and jumping and dancing in the basement! Raegan was after everyone's present after they opened it, but once she opened some of hers - she was enjoying them as well - even if they were supposed to be for her babies!

Godmother Brooke

Christmas morning when we woke up there was 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. Eric suited up and headed out to help blow and shovel snow with dad. Not long after Taylor and I were out there, playing and sledding. The temperature was nice so we were able to stay out longer, Taylor had lots of fun, we even had a snow ball fight!!

Christmas Day we traveled to Melrose in the late morning, the roads were horrible but we managed to make it with no problems. We actually drove past the barn fire near Greenwald, very sad site. There was an outpouring of help from the neighbors and other passer-bys.

Once Taylor woke up from her nap, another party started at Gma and Gpa Spaniers. It was a great afternoon with Eric's family as well. The kids had tons of fun, as did the adults. They played piano and sang songs, opened presents, looked for the pickle in the Christmas tree, and watched movies!

Sunday we had one more Christmas party to go to. Taylor and I headed up to Paynesville to celebrate with G-Gma Schaefer.

We ended our long Christmas weekend playing with all our new toys. Taylor, daddy, and myself had lots of fun.....

Thank you to everyone for celebrating with us this year. Thank you for all the Christmas gifts and money. We are lucky to have all of you as part of our family!

Happy New Year!!

Long overdue....again!

The holidays are here, everyone is as busy as ever. Thanks for visiting our blog if you find the time!!

It has been awhile again since I last updated so I will do my best to stick to the important details...Taylor is busy as ever with her babies and dollies. She loves changing their diapers and giving them stroller rides. She is enjoying daycare every day and surprises us everyday with new things she learns and brings home from there. Her little mind is always going, has an excuse for everything, and makes us laugh all the time! People say her vocabulary is really great! They are amazed at how well she can talk and all the words/sentences she says. Right now she is busy learning Christmas songs, she loves singing Rudolph in the car. I am excited to see how she does at her Christmas program at daycare this week!

We are also in the process of potty training, she is doing OK. Has a few accidents but at least she is interested! I have to give her credit with this busy time of year and traveling, she is doing good with all the foreign toilets!! We'll see how she manages through Christmas.
Grandma sent her "underwears" in the mail!

Eric is still busy at work. Their concrete crews have slowed down for this time of the year, but they are hoping for some snow so their plowing crews can keep busy! If it is going to be cold, there might as well be snow.

I am very busy at work as well. Once I get through my first year, I think things will be better and not so crazy on a daily basis. But that is what I love about my job - it is never boring and never the same day twice! We are both just happy to have jobs.
Big helper with decorating this year!

We hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year! Hopefully Santa brings you everything you were hoping for. We look forward to seeing any and all of you over the holidays! Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday Drew

Jessica and Taylor

Raegan Turned ONE!!

The kids' first Twins game.

We made it until the 4th inning! Not too bad.

Happy FIRST Birthday Raegan!

Taylor was giving Drew a ride in his Truck!

Hang on!!

Pictures...Pictures...and more Pictures of Summer 2009

VACATION AT THE LAKE

So things have been a little BUSY!!

It seems I have forgotten about this blog but really I have a hard time fitting it into my day. Maybe it was just because I didn't know where to start.


We celebrated Taylor's birthday with a great party with both of our families....that was the last of our quiet weeks and weekends!!


The following week, I was offered a full-time job, which I accepted at Gopher News Company. After 7 great years at SNG Construction, it was time to move on, simply because I needed full-time work! It was a very hard departure; which just showed how much I loved it there! I am now settling into my new position at Gopher as the Personnel Director/HR. It is quite challenging but I am working through it and love every minute of it.

Check out the website at http://www.gophernews.com/


My hours are different from the early morning rise I have been doing for the past 7 years! We are still up early but not quite as rushed as we used to be and best of all, I get to spend time with Taylor in the morning! She is getting used to the laid back mornings as well....she enjoys milk, muffins, cartoons, and cuddling with both mom and dad on the couch before we need to head out the door for daycare! I do think I can get used to working this shift.

Taylor is growing and changing every day as well. She is becoming her own little lady. She loves to wear her dress up shoes around and make noise on the floor, carry a purse, have beads, play with her babies and dollies, still loves to do puzzles and lots of other things.

We were able to go up to the cabin that Spanier's had rented for a week in August. Altho, Eric or I couldn't take any time off of work, we managed to get there both weekends, which also happened to be the best weather days also. I will post pictures later this weekend (hopefully)

Eric and I were able to enjoy a weekend at the lake with a group of friends as well. At the end of August we had a great time with Thieschafers, Althaus', Frielers, Meyers, and Eveslages at the T's cabin on birch lake. No kids - need I say more!! This was actually the first year we had decent weather.

Last weekend, Eric and I went to see Johnny Cash in Greenwald, MN!! Turned out to be a great show and a very fun night!! The next day, my parents, Taylor and myself went to the Nelson farm by Litchfield for their harvest fest or so. Taylor got to pet and hold a baby chick, see all kinds of farm animals like, goats, chickens, bunnies, turkeys, pigs, horses, ponies, and more. She also ran through corn mazes, and hay tunnels, and crawled through other tunnels. She was having lots of fun, as was mom and dad watching her.

This weekend we have Raegan's FIRST Birthday party already! WOW that went fast. Happy Birthday Raegan - se eyou on Saturday.

Sunday, Taylor and I, Rick and Drew are going to the Twin's game - shoudl be interesting!

My next post will be ALL pictures....check back!

Happy Birthday Taylor!!

Our little girl is 2 today!!

Summer is going GREAT!!

Taylor is almost 2!!

Melrose Parade June 27th

Ben Taylor Emma

Family weekend at the T's cabin.

The kids did great!

House projects - stained the sidewalk


Water fight at Gma and Gpa Spaniers

Taylor pushed Ethan out....or was it Eric!

We headed to the COMO zoo Friday July 3rd - Taylor loved it!

Playing piano in the garage.

Parade in St Joe with my family on July 4th.

Fun at the lake on July 4th.

We are having Taylor's party on Saturday, she LOVES DORA so we are spoiling her with everything DORA for her party!!

Check back for pictures of that next week.

Only 19 more days until our baby turns 2!

Summer is going GREAT!!

Taylor in her Pool!!











Mom and Taylor

Summer is definitely here.....a conbination of hot days and busy weekends is the definition of summer, to me anyhow!!

We've had a lot going on over the weekends which has been great. Now that I am working PT, we are more apt to doing things all weekend long. I have a few days during the week to get things back on track and/or pack for the next weekend! I am making the most of my days at home with Taylor. She is enjoying her new sandbox that dad built, and new playset that we got from a co-worker. I am currently working on painting it, then I will post a picture of it! She loves the SLIDE. The other day, I ran the water hose on it and she thought it was the best.










Lieser Cousins










Kids eating

Last weekend we had a busy 2 days! Saturday we celebrated father's day and dad's 60th birthday with a SURPRISE at his house. Mom had everything planned out, except the amount of beer she needed. Towards the end of the party, at 9:45, Eric ran to the liquor store to get more beer for all of his friends. He was definitely surprised and just cannot believe he didn't know about it! Great work MOM!










Taylor with G'ma and G'pa











Taylor and Jessica checking out mom's garden











Brooke and Taylor at the party

Sunday we celebrated Grandma/Mary's birthday and father's day at Ryan & Tina's. It was a rainy day but everyone had fun, especially the kids in the bounce house.

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's!!

This weekend we are heading to the lake with the Thieschafers and Althaus' at Birch Lake. The weather looks good, there will be food, beer, pontoon rides, good friends and fun with the kids....should be interesting.