Christmas Celebrations

Checking out their activity books.

I got new boots!

Natalie took her 'ol sweet time opening up her presents which drove the other girls crazy!


It was nice to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day home with the kids this year. Christmas Eve day Brian went to the office for a good portion of the day to get some things taken care of before his week of vacation. The girls and I hung out, took a sled ride to the Pulse to work out, and anxiously awaited the evening. We made a nice family dinner, meatloaf, baked potatoes and green beans. Yummy. After cleaning up, the girls started bouncing off the walls in anticipation of opening up a few gifts. PJs for everyone this year, even Brian and I. We got a family game, family puzzle, family book and family movie too!

This is Caitlin and Emily at 7am!!! Can you see their excitement??

Natalie is just raring to go!

Good Morning Rachel!

Hmmm...I wonder what it is??

Much better christmas for Rachel this year than last... :)

Christmas morning!! We told the girls the night before that they couldn't come downstairs until at least 7am. It was 7am right on the nose, when we heard Caitlin and Emily tiptoe down. Then squeals, whispers, oohs and aahhs filled the living room. It was so fun to listen to! Brian and I got our rears out of bed and the excitement could hardly be contained! We sat and chatted with C & E about what they thought they had gotten. Then we could tell they really wanted to open them! So Brian woke Rachel and Natalie-poor girls-they were really tired. Then the chaos began! C got a huge Lego set, E got a bike, Rachel got a Barbie Jet and Natalie a grocery cart. And then, generous Santa left the girls a huge play kitchen with play food and pots and pans. They were all so excited! Brian and I were just grateful we can have moments like this to cherish forever. After the excitement settled a bit we got ready to go to mass. Caitlin and Katie Schilling were singing a song with the Mens Choir. (brian also sings) so we had to get there early. The girls did a beautiful job! Celebrating Mass was the highlight of my day. After mass, we lounged around home playing with new toys, putting puzzles together and eating. We made homemade pizzas for supper, which were super good!

20 Grandkids and 1 Great-Grandkid-quite the crew!

<

Christmas at the Salfer's was celebrated then on Sunday the 26th. As always, we had yummy food, yummy christmas candy and lots of fun with cousins! After opening their gifts the kids, Brian and Mike went outside and built 7 tunnels in the snow that connected in the middle. It was really cool! The kids worked on it for hours. The rest of us visited and played games. It was a very fun day.

a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYabvD4iFl8qkAFu_ZMKgy5mdwByKC369HUluo2VGOyIBny52TUjIKVTUytolFnuGE5LrAuceeqvqqE_X4wjQx0Nr3_LUCePdDS73Os5dIFjGbivVVx6xl8xZg-9lO0rGpGSQY58Gz8mE/s1600/December+2010+074.JPG">

Christmas at the Moore's was celebrated on the 30th. Annie and Matt weren't able to come down due to the blizzard that was taking place in Fargo and the rain/sleet that was happening here. Bob and Laura and the girls were able to come and Natalie and Rachel had a good time playing with them. Caitlin and Emily were too busy playing Xbox Bob brought down. We had a yummy meal of pork loin and corn. The potatoes came later, kind of a 3rd course! They were well worth the wait though! Salads and desserts were also good. After our meal, the next round of chaos began. There was no rhyme or reason to our gift opening which irritated me since I had the most children opening. I like to see what everyone is getting!!! Anyway, we slowed down and managed to make it last more than 15 minutes! The kids were all excited about their gifts but mostly their aprons that my mom made. Super cute! The rest of the day consisted of playing Xbox and cribbage and eating way too much! As we watched the snow fall we were wondering if we would make it back the next day to St. Peter to host our New Year's Eve party.

Christmas Preparations and Programs

We've been busy baking cookies, cookies and more cookies! On Sunday afternoon we made 7 different kinds of cookies and I'm not even sure how many dozens we made. I left Brian in charge of cut-outs. I do not like them! My favorites are the coconut macaroons with the hershey kiss on top. They are excellent! It was alot of fun but an all day affair!

After the school closings/delays, Caitlin and Emily finally had their christmas program. Before the show, the kids could show off their talents with piano/guitar solos. Caitlin and Emily decided on doing a duet together. They did great!

Caitlin as one of the angels

Emily's class singing "little drummer boy"

Then Caitlin was asked to play a solo on her clarinet before the band played. She did a super job with no squeeks or honks!

Rachel had her christmas program and did a very nice job singing, doing finger puppets and shaking the bells. Afterward the parents were able to have cookies and juice and watch them open up a gift from one of their classmates. Rachel was so happy to see Emily and Caitlin there to watch her. They were able to leave school to do so. It was a nice treat!

Snow crazy

We have gotten so much snow in the past week it's unbelievable, considering its only the middle of December. I can remember in the most recent past we were lucky to have snow by christmas. I do have to say though, it's very pretty and peaceful, unless you have to be out driving in it, which I don't. :) St. Peter got at least 7 inches of fresh snow today. I ended up shoveling two times today and it wouldn't be so bad but the snow plows totally fills in the end of the driveway and it is NOT fun to shovel. Also with the snow banks almost as tall as me, it's hard to throw the snow that high up! This morning school was called two hours late and eventually closed . The girl's christmas program was scheduled for today so it was a bummer that it had to be rescheduled to next week. The girls were excited and anxious! SO we had a party instead. Some of our crazy, brave friends drove to our house for coffee and bagels and then stayed for pizza! We had 11 kids and 4 moms! Quite the little zoo we had! It actually was nice to sit for a change and not have to hurry out the door or run an errand. I'll post pictures of our house and all the snow hopefully tomorrow. It's pretty amazing!

Oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches

Our annual outing to Brewery Hill near LeSueur to get our christmas tree was a fun one indeed. It had snowed, it was some what warm out, we weren't crabby, we were rested and ready to have a good 'ol tree hunt. Natalie fell asleep about 5 minutes before we arrived and slept thru most of it. We put her in a sled and she didn't even stir! We must have looked at a million trees and they all started looking the same after 10 minutes of searching. "was this the one?", "no I think it was this one" and so on. You get the drift! Finally after 30 minutes of fun in the snow, our toes and fingers getting a little cold, we decided on "the one". Rachel was more excited about getting apple cider than she was about the tree! On our way back we stopped at Whiskey River for some hot soup and the view of the wild turkeys, cardinals and birds. It was such a fun day! Decorating the tree was also fun. The girls get so excited about their ornaments we've collected over the years and anxiously wait to find out what we've gotten for them this year. Natalie was super excited about the lights on the trees and wanted to play with the ornaments that made noise. She was pretty careful and didn't break a one!

Natalie's 18 months

Can't believe the babe is 18 months old already. She has a lot of spunk for being such a peanut. We had her well baby check a couple weeks ago. She's 20lbs 4oz (7th %)and 31.5" (41%). She's basically a miniture Caitlin. The kid is so stubborn and very persistant. Is this the quality of a child who's 4th in line? She's still very cuddly-only when SHE wants to be. She has the funniest little laugh and facial expressions. She makes all of us laugh! She doesn't want to say a whole lot yet-maybe once the nuk comes out of her mouth she'll start talking. :)

More pie please?

Celebrating Thanksgiving continued this past weekend. Saturday we entertained my parents, brother Bob, his wife Laura and their girls, Mya and Ally at our house. I tried a new recipe, champagne basted turkey. It was so pretty, smelled good and tasted even better. Of course the usual fixings to go along side. And then the pies...we had four different pies. Seriously people. But it was all so good. The kids loved playing with their cousins and we had fun playing Cadoo. We missed Annie, Matt and Owen though. Move closer!! :)

Sunday, after mass, we traveled to Wabasso for the Salfer Thanksgiving. This year we added 4 additional guests-boyfriends and girlfriends!!! We had a total of 40 people!!! Gladys made two turkeys, two pots of potatoes, two roasters of stuffing, green beans and all we had to contribute was either a salad, dessert or veggies. She's an awesome cook!!! Brian's sister Charlene made an awesome pecan pie. Not too rich, just right! That's why I had two pieces! Oh and REAL whip cream! We don't usually have that at our house! ;) We had a nice time visiting with everyone and seeing how grown up the kids have gotten. I have a feeling there will be some weddings to be celebrated in the very near future! The girls had a blast playing with all their cousins. It's probably their favorite part of any holiday-hands down!

We are blessed.

Thank you God

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving and for two reasons. Being Thankful for all we have and the FOOD!

This year our family was on our own Thanksgiving day and Caitlin had big plans for decorating the table. She insisted on using the china, having lit candles wine glasses, and she would make everyone's seat assignments, complete with name and the silverwear was wrapped in our napkin neatly tied with a ribbon. It was all very cute!

We went to mass in the morning-Brian sang with the men's choir and in the afternoon we hung out, played games, napped, went sledding.

We do have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed our lives abundantly. We have eachother, our health, many friends and wonderful families.

Happenings and Updates

It's been a L-O-N-G time since I've posted on our family blog. Somedays I figure I'll get to it and then something or someone changes my plan. :) Other days I was just plain lazy! Well, it will be a small feat for me to remember everything that has happened in the last few weeks. November was another whirlwind of a month.

So the weekend of the 5th/6th Brian was off to our church's youth retreat in Sleepy Eye with a bunch of teens. The girls never want him to leave them so of course there were tears. He's only going to be gone for 2 nights. Not a big deal, or at least thats what I thought. I had made plans for me and the girls to go up to the cities to see my friend Gina and her girls-the girls were super excited! I woke up feeling ok, not super, but ok. We made it to the cities and long story short I end up getting the flu at Gina's. Not good. In the meanwhile Rachel wasn't her crazy self, instead laying on my lap saying she didn't feel good. Great. We just infected the Bieringer household! We left only after 2 hours of visiting. I asked Gina for some plastic bags just in case. She gave me two-thank goodness. As we get on Hwy 169 Rachel starts crying and says she doesn't feel good. I throw back a bag and she throws up. Now, I'm trying not to think about it because I'm barely holding on myself. Emily starts crying...she can't stand it when someone gets sick. Caitlin is right next to Rachel with her nose plugged. A few more miles go on and Rachel wants me to pull over. Good thing. She pukes again. We are only to Shakopee. 45minutes left to go. We make it home just in time for me to take my turn. I'm miserable, on the couch, Caitlin and Emily are holding down the fort. It was only a matter of time before none of us could make it without our strong foundation...Brian. As I'm in the bathroom, Rachel comes in and starts crying telling me she's missing daddy. I am too. We call Brian and he leaves immediately. He barely makes it in the door before we are all crying tears of happiness. He is loved SOOOO much! It was a very memorable weekend for us all!

November 8th: Our friend Adam is layed to rest. Adam leaves behind a wonderful wife, JoAnna and two very special kids, Grace and Jared. It was a hard day. Adam will be missed. He was a wonderful man.

November 13th: THE SNOWSTORM...how could this happen?? This is my shopping weekend away with my mom, sis and sis-in-law. Mom luckily made it to St. Peter the night before. We get up on Sat. and decide to brave the roads. Stupid...just stupid. It takes us 2hrs to get to Eden Prairie which is only 50 miles away. We saw cars in the ditch, 2 snow plows stuck, and a semi that couldn't get up the hill by LeSueur. Mom was white knuckeled the whole way and she wasn't driving!! We ended up making it there in one piece and ready to shop. It was a great weekend to hang out with the girls. Eden Prairie ended up getting 9-10 inches of snow!

November 17-19: Brian drives to Montana for business. Here we go again...girls don't want Brian to leave, tears are shed, ugh. We survive!! No sickness, the girls were happy, we played games and watched movies. We still don't like having our man gone though. :)

Next up: Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday-Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Honey! Hope you have a wonderful day! We love you!!

Tricks or Treats

We carved pumpkins as a family on Saturday night and the girls did surprisingly good this year. Normally they're all excited in the beginning but then it get's "too hard" and Brian and I end up finishing them. Natalie didn't know what to think of the pumpkin "guts". She just kept making this "uck" sound and shaking her head no. It was pretty funny! All of the carvings turned out pretty well.

Trick or treating was fun this year. The weather wasn't too bad, no one had strep throat, no one was crabby or tired. We went to our neighbors, Mike and Irenes house first. Natalie had NO idea what she was supposed to do but figured it out pretty quickly after learning she gets candy if she opens her bag. :) Then friends, Gracie, Jared, Ella, Luke and Levi stopped for treats at our house and a quick picture. We ended up going to our friends the Gracks, neighborhood and the kids went door to door and got WAY too much candy. We stayed and had pizza and veggies before diving into our children's buckets of sweets. It was a fun night even though it is not my favorite holiday. :)

So this is what you do on a lazy Saturday

Caitlin as the Halloween Queen

KATIE

RACHEL

ELLA

ABBY

EMILY

THE BEAUTY QUEENS

While Caitlin went to a halloween birthday party (as a halloween queen), Emily and Rachel had their friends Ella, Abby and Katie over to play and this is what they did on our lazy Saturday at home! Pretty cute! They played ALL afternoon!

Quirks

We all have our own little quirks right? Well, Natalie has shown us what she likes to do with her time-her own little quirk. So cute and funny. So nice and neat. Rachel used to do something similar with markers and then play with them as if they were people. Usually she was the purple one! I just love this age. :)

MEA Break-Wet and Wild!

Our 2nd annual trip to Wisconsin Dells with the Gracks and Gilbertson Families was wet and wild! There really isn't a dull moment ever when our families get together. There's always drama of some sort. We were the ones to have the drama. We left on Thursday morning with a set of brand new tires on the van. Stopped in LaCrosse for lunch and on the way back onto the freeway I tried to avoid hitting a piece of wood on the road but instead hit it. Ugh...about 5 miles down the road our tire pressure light goes on. Great. We luckily made it to Sparta only to find that two tires were punctured. Guess the wood had a nail in it and the front tire spit the wood back to the rear tire. God was definitely watching over us. We were able to get both "new" tires fixed and back on the road in less than 20 minutes and $30. I guess it was good to get the drama out of the way at the beginning of the trip, right?! We had a fabulous time at Glacier Canyon-3 waterparks and awesome rooms with an awesome king size bed. We had WAY too much food, WAY too much beer and WAY too much fun! The kids were great and loved going on all the tube slides. I had a better time this time too since I wasn't nursing a 6 month old and didn't look too ridiculous in a swimming suit. Natalie enjoyed the water and snacks. Emily was excited to have grown enough to go on the Hurricane! Rachel and Levi chased each other in the pool and Caitlin and Kylie were always off somewhere. It was nice that each of the kids had a playmate. Got lots of visiting in and not much sleep. Looking forward to next year already! Time sure flies when you're having fun! Thanks Grack and Gilbertsons for a good time!