The Birthday Boy

My baby is one. That happened WAY too fast!

Oh goodness how I love this sweet boy. He blesses us fresh every single day with his quick smile and loving personality. He loves to snuggle with mommy, play up with his daddy (I recently found them watching Top Gear together), keeps quite entertained by his big sister, and is a ferocious crawler (he can get some speed, that boy!).

We had a little birthday party for him with the cousins. We played games, listened to lively bluegrass and had an all around rousing good time.


I made a cake, with fear and trembling since I had yet to have one actually turn out. Poor Mariah's one year old cake could have doubled as a rubber bouncy toy. But this one actually worked! I was relieved and so thankful.

But I guess Micah isn't a cake person. His first real taste of sugar and he basically just ignored it choosing to flirt with the camera instead.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" ~Micah 6:8

Christmas highlights

Here are a few of our favorite moments over the Christmas season, captured on "film".

And that's that

So here we are, at the end of my Minnesota trip. Our last week was packed full of seeing friends and family and enjoying every little bit of Minnesota that we could. Here are a few random shots of it all...

Like father, like son!
I was amused to see that my nephew Thomas has grown so much like my brother. They both have the same ability to intensely concentrate on things, love being the center of attention, are highly intelligent, and like to let you know by using big words and concepts! Ha ha! And they are both crazy fun! And check out their Christmas tree!!...

We also had the blessing of seeing the Fraser family one afternoon. Love this family so much. They are a huge encouragement and an amazing example of Christ-likeness. I really admire them.

And their girls are gems! Mariah enjoyed dressing up with them (or rather, being dressed up!) Wig and all!

We were also blessed by a lovely evening over for supper with my cousins. Their kiddos are close in age to ours and enjoyed playing together. Mariah and Judah are tolerating a rather vigorous hug from Elinor.

And finally, saying goodbye at the airport! :(

Boy, do I ever miss them! I thank God for such wonderful parents and grandparents for my children. Sooooo blessed!!

And here we go...back on the airplane, flying home. I kind of felt like Micah looks at this point too..."HELP!"

Traveling home was WAY harder than the trip over. For one thing, the bassinet that I had tried so hard to reserve didn't work out in the end and we never had an empty seat next to us, unlike on the way over. So it was a bit more work and slightly stressful since I had to hold a wiggly little boy the whole way,. Thankfully the kind gentleman next to me managed to save my tray of food from flying into the air from one of Micah's swift kicks. In the end, we made it and are now home safe and sound. Whew!

Lutefisk!

It's tradition. Other than that, there is very little appeal to this annual fish dinner I suppose, except for all the melted butter you pour on top and of course the social appeal! Here we are, all waiting for our turn to dine...

The fish itself is a bit..."unique" in texture and smell. (You can read more about it if you want.) And so, in the spirit of tradition, I felt it my duty to expose my offspring to this culinary experience.


Mariah's first taste: She forked it in with great delight and eagerness, possibly expecting a similar taste to the yummy Swedish meatballs or buttered and sugared lefse.
But, nope...not exactly.
It never could be persuaded to enter her mouth again. Don't worry, Mariah. It will grow on you!

Micah was prepared to take on the whole bowl! That's a good Norwegian boy!

Grandpa and Grandma and aunts, oh my!

Need to catch up on our Minnesota trip pictures!! Sorry it's taking me so long! I just love these pictures of the kids getting to know family a bit more...

Grandpa on the floor with Micah! Love him!

Meeting two great aunts, my mom's sisters...

Love his suspicious look! And rightly so...when the sisters get together, you never know what might happen! Most likely an out-if-control laughing session at any point.

Grandma showing Mariah how to play a tune.

Snuggles with Auntie Mindy...

And more Grandpa and Grandma time...just can't get enough of that!

My Surprise Visit!

On November 17th, the kids and I boarded an airplane and headed across the ocean toward the USA! My hubby wasn't able to make this trip with us but he sent us off with his blessing and good wishes (and lots of prayers that I would survive travelling for 14+ hours on an airplane with two babies!). I was so excited to see my family. It had been a year and a half since I had been home. The fun part...nobody knew we were coming except my brother and his wife! It was so fun and the suspense was almost too much!

Flying over Greenland

We made it and the kids did so well on the flight. They even slept for the last 3 hours as we flew from Newark to Minneapolis...bliss! I was, however, VERY happy to hear the captain say that we would be landing in good ol' Minnesota in 20 minutes. I was tired and SO ready to see my family.


Matt and Beth took us out to eat and we went to Cabella's. Mariah loved it.



I loved it too...the taxidermy is quite stunning and realistic. Though I have never actually seen a pair of lions attacking a water buffalo in real life before, I felt as if I had after this...Once we arrived at my parent's house, Matt and Beth went in and said that they had gotten something heavy and needed help bringing it in (uh...thanks matt). So out comes my dad who opens the back door only to find us in the back seat. He was totally stunned. Then we went in and stunned my mom too. It was great! Later that day my sister, Mindy, came by as well and the stunning continued (it was her birthday so that made it even more fun)! Mariah was trilled to see her cousins again and it was Micah's first time meeting most of them.

(Mariah looks a bit jet-lagged in this one)

The timing was such that I was able to join in on a concert that they had commited to playing for the bank Christmas party. It felt sooooo good to be singing with them again. Ahhhh...heaven!

(practice session)

We did a LOT of hanging out with the cousins. It is great to watch them get aquainted with one another. I think they will all grow up to be great friends.

I feel so blessed to be able to actually sit in my beautiful sister's house instead of just seeing it all through Skype. It feels like a dream! God is so good.

...to be continued.

Speaking of family...

...my parents came to visit us! It was so SOOOoo wonderful to have them here. I just can't thank God enough for giving me these two amazing people as parents! I am so very blessed.

While they were here, we took a trip up through Scotland which is where the above picture was taken. It was a trip of a lifetime for most of us. David's parents came as well and we were able to visit the places where my mother-in-law grew up. We all enjoyed the trip very much (more about that trip later).

Mariah was really happy to see my parents as well. Since she hadn't seen them for 8 months, we were wondering how she would take to them, but as soon as they got off the airplane, she ran to my dad and hugged him and wouldn't let go for ages! It was great and by the look on my dad's face, it was doing him a lot of good too.

A lot of people think that Mariah looks like my mom and I think they are right.

The time really flew by when they were here because it was packed so full. In the two weeks that they were here we had Micah's baby dedication, they helped us move house, we toured Scotland, and then they helped us get settled into our new house when we got back. Plus lots of cuddling time with the grandkids, of course.

Micah's dedication Sunday

Getting to know their newest grandson!

Some lovin' from Grandma

Running through the rain, rescuing our laundry from off the clothesline! Aren't they great!

Thanks for coming over, Mom and Dad! We sure hated to say goodbye!

We love you!

Nothing like family!

There really is nothing better than a visit from a couple of sweet nieces and a wonderful sister! I was so HUGELY blessed to have my sister Mindy, her baby Analise, and my niece Annika come over for nearly two weeks this spring. I am only just now getting around to posting some pictures of their sweet faces...

Mariah loves Analise!

Thank you so much for blessing us with your visit! We miss you!