Happy 1st Birthday Amelia & Nora!

Hard to believe that a year has passed since we welcomed Amelia & Nora into our family! At 1 years old, their personalities differ. Amelia is a little more "busy" she has done everything first, she was first to roll over, first to get a tooth, first to stand by furniture and now has been the first to let go of the walker or us and stand in one place. No steps yet (without holding onto anything), but I'm sure they will come soon enough. Amelia has 7 teeth, where Nora has 6. Nora may be a little behind Amelia in some things, but Nora has been the first one to say a word, she says, "Uh-oh"  and she waves, "Bye-Bye." Both girls LOVE to eat table food, they are completely off bottles and have been drinking whole milk for about a month. Amelia and Nora both had double ear infections and pneumonia diagnosed on January 5th, but after a switch in antibiotic for Amelia and a recheck last week they are healthy. I went back to work 20 hours a week last week and the girls are going to daycare at Kid's Inc.
Today, is a bit bittersweet for me. It is crazy to think how fast a year has gone, and how much they have changed, but I am excited for them to become a little more independent and for us to really see their personalities.
We love the girls SO much, they are the perfect completion to our family. They are two amazing "honeys."

SW

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Here is an update from our past year.  We're making it a New Year's resolution to update this blog on a more regular basis. 
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Our year started off with the birth of our two “honeys”, Amelia and Nora, in January.  They are both doing great and are growing up so fast.  They are standing, cruising along furniture and are no longer on formula!  They love table food and are interacting with each other more and more.  They sleep really well at night, aside from the occasional teething nuisance.

Isaac has been going to preschool at Kids Inc and ECFE here in Hutchinson as well.  He loves to build things with Legos, Tinker toys and has a great imagination.  He turns 5 in February and is having a lot of fun with all that Christmas has to offer this year.  He loves to wear a Santa hat out and about and has his own little Christmas tree decorated in his room.  We enrolled Isaac in swimming lessons in Chanhassen, as he had a fear of putting his face into the water.  After one 12-week session, he now puts his face into the water and is ready for his next lesson in January!

Ellie is in fifth grade and turns 11 in January.  She is dancing at Kelly’s Dance Academy, is in Student Council, Choir and started taking piano lessons this year.  She is getting quite tall and she almost has the same shoe size as Sara!  Ellie has been very helpful with the girls and will do whatever is asked or needed to help with them (except change poopy diapers!) J  Ellie gave up her crown as Junior Queen of the Water Carnival in June, but enjoyed her reign very much and hopes to run for Miss Hutchinson some day!

Sara feels fortunate to have spent the first year at home with the girls. This past summer she returned to working Fridays at Hutchinson Dental Center and will go back to 20 hours a week starting in January.  She has really gotten into running this year, doing several 5k runs and plans to do a half marathon in 2016.  She even roped me into running the Vikings 5k with her!

I still work at Target as a Senior Engineer in their Technology Services group.  I served as Commodore of the Water Carnival in June, completing 17 years of service to the organization.  I took a “guys” motorcycle trip to the Black Hills in August, riding through the Badlands, Devils Tower and spending time in Sturgis for the 75^th rally.  I continue being an avid fan of the Vikings, am hopeful they make the playoffs this year and am excited to attend games next year in the new stadium as an SBL/season ticket owner.

Our family took its annual vacation to Heath’s Resort up on the Whitefish Chain this past August.  We look forward to that trip each year as we are able to be out in our boat, swimming, tubing, skiing and relaxing.  New this year, we purchased some fishing rods and did some fishing!  We caught quite a few sunfish and it was neat to see Ellie and Isaac’s reaction after catching them.  Chris and Sara went to Denver in October with another couple for a long weekend and attended the Vikings/Broncos game while out there.  Even though the Vikings came up just short on the scoreboard, it was a great time and fun to explore downtown Denver and visit the mountains.

We would like to wish you a wonderful 2016!