Surprise!

The big moment!

Steven had the idea months ago to surprise Kristina for her 30th birthday!  He secretly got her to Indiana (on a weekend even) and to mom and dad's church where many friends were waiting to surprise her for her birthday.  Everyone was waiting in the basement to surprise Kristina who was "getting an organ book for mom" to bring home after their "dinner at Notre Dame."  She was completely surprised and even got teary-eyed as she realized all of the friends that came to wish her a Happy Birthday!  Steven also had a video from all of the guests that couldn't make it to IN for the party.

Landon, Emmy, and Gunnar were hiding under the table in anticipation.

Kristina with her yummy ice cream cake!

Black frosting = NOT A GOOD IDEA! :)
Thankfully it came off before church the next morning!

Then after the yummy meal of Nelson's chicken and many other delicious items provided by mom and dad :), we had a NW Class Picture session.

Class of '97:
Amos, Dan, John, Mikel, Jessica, me, Matt (and Kristina)

Class of '00:
Becky, Andy, Jessica, Kevin, Lindsey, Tony, Suzy (holding Oliver), Erin and Kristina

Class of '99 (even though 1 wasn't from NW):
David and Brent (and Kristina)

People who married in to the NW family:
Emily, Brent, Steven, Jess (and Kristina)

The only adults I missed (I think) were mom and dad, who were working tirelessly in the kitchen!

Happy Birthday to the best little sis in the world!  Kristina, you've always been my biggest supporter and friend.  Even when you moved to NC, we've stayed close (Hey, you're the only person I talk to on the phone for more than 10 min. :)).  I am SOOO excited at the chance for you and Steven to move closer to us so we can hang out even more.  I love you!  Happy 30th Birthday!

She Did It!

Well, I think Emerson's figured it out!  After months of asking, then letting her be, then asking, etc, Emmy decided that she wants to use the big potty!  She's filled up a chart, earned her first prize (a strawberry shortcake doll), and is almost through another chart already.  She is so big!  She will also go by herself most of the time (seems like she wants to do everything "by herfelf" these days!).  We are so proud of our little girl....who I guess isn't so little anymore!



Em with her completed potty chart and new baby.



So Proud of My Hubby

Last night, we attended a dinner in honor of two special teachers.  Matt and his buddy, Jamie Smith, were nominated for the Conservation Educators of the Year.  One of the parents of a Boundary Waters student nominated the two for their dedication to putting this trip together every year for the 7th and 8th grade students.  They do a lot of work each year getting ready for this trip.  So it was neat that someone noticed and recognized them both.  (Plus we also got to learn more than I ever wanted to know about the soil in the Netherlands...thanks to the very lengthy presenter! :))  So congrats to Matt!  You rock!

Matt and his Major Award

A Few Winter Pictures

I realized that I've taken a few pictures and not shared them yet, so this is what I've been missing over the last month.  Emerson is very particular about her clothes and hair now.  She loves to mostly wear pink (not sure how we got the owl shirt on her in the pictures below! :)) and she has specific ideas about her hair most days.  On the Sunday of the Super Bowl, she wanted pigtails and she wanted her picture taken.  It was pretty cute because she kept calling it a "Pooper Bowl Pahty."  Her 's' never comes out as an 's' sound.  It's either 'p' or 'f'' (which Matt finds funny when she wants a sucker :)).

Ready for the party at the Davis'



Me: "Let's get ready to go."  Em: "I'm ready."
 In Landon's coat and "smiling" for the picture!  What a stinker!

The kids love to eat at the bar area.  So most Sundays when we don't have a lot of time for breakfast, Daddy has them sit at the bar to eat and they love it!

 Here's our Valentine's creations.  Instead of picking gifts, we decided to cook for V Day.  The kids picked everything out from the cake mix, frosting, sprinkles, and even the Valentine plates.  We had a blast!  And yes part of the cake is unfrosted for Matt! :)

We've been enjoying our winter.  It's been nice that it's been sunny and not too cold.  I'm just glad we didn't buy new boots and snowpants for the kids this winter because we've only used them a few times!!

February Meals

I liked my freezer meals for Jan. so much that I decided to try and continue it for Feb.  I realize that it's almost the middle of Feb. and I just put the meals together today, but we had 2 meals left from Jan. and Matt and I have been sick this week (better now thankfully! :)).

So here's my ideas for this month:
Lemony Flank Steak
Chuckwagon Casserole
Pizza Pasta Casserole
Honey Teriyaki Pork Chops
French Toast Casserole
Grilled Honey Lime Chicken
Fast Friendly Family Stew
Tangy Pineapple Chicken (repeat from Jan.)
The above recipes come from Freezer Friendz.  We had a lot of success with their recipes last month.  The only ones we didn't care for were Um Um Skillet and Angel Chicken.

Then I also decided to use some recipes we already like and freeze those.  So these 4 are ones we've had, just not frozen before.
Chicken Marinara
Sweet N' Sour Chicken
4-H Fair Pork Chops
Meatloaf
This helps so much during the week.  It took almost 3 hours to put together these meals, but each night it's preheat the oven (crockpot or grill) and dinner is done!