More pictures for you

I am including a few pictures of our various children and pets and a cute one of Emily at the school table upstairs with her scarf and purse- what a little lady! And another one of her

joining us for school downstairs in addition to the boys at their desks. Also is daddy's helper in the kitchen at the supper table.

Maple syrup time!

We tapped 3 trees in our backyard for syrup. Did you know that you can not only tap maple trees but you can tap other trees for their syrup? We tap 2 boxelder and 1 maple and combine the sap. The syrup comes out with a wonderful taste, a hint less sweet than pure maple but

very delish! It's really fun to see the process and it is very exciting to go out and find the buckets have lots of sap in them.

We got a new van to replace the one that we have on lease. The lease is due and we wouldn't have a family vehicle- but now we do! A beautiful, red, jazzy, roomy mini-van with a few

cool bells and whistles too! It has the dvd player, backup camera, and a remote starter. Isn't that fun! We love it and can't wait to spend more time in it on a road trip sometime soon.

Emily is growing and learning, just as she should! She copies so many things we do and sounds we make now. She loves to dance and clap and have a good time! She has the "fun" gene as Jeff puts it. She brings a lot of joy and laughter to our already fun-loving family. Jeff and I are so very thankful for all three of our children. They are such a blessing to us!

And my husband too, well, he's the BEST! Boy, he blesses me every day it seems!

I couldn't have asked for better.

And I included a picture of Shadow. He's about 3 years old and he is sooo lazy! He lays by the

dog's water dish and leans over to take a drink. He doesn't even stand up to do it! He's adorable but very, very lazy. :)

More pictures for you!

Still winter here!

Lots of snow sitting around still! The boys and their science projects for the co-op science fair,

and Emily's fever that we wish would ago away! These are just a few of the things that we have

been up to lately. Plus our friends who were living downstairs moved out so I've been starting to organize a few things down there too. It's been a good week except for the fact that I wish

her fever would leave so we can get our happy girl back. We think it's teeth, we won't know that for sure for a couple of days yet I suppose. Here are some pictures from lately, hope you enjoy them!

Here's just some random pictures

Enjoy!

Cake time!

Here are some more pictures from Emily's birthday. I still can't believe it's been a whole year.

What a wonderful, amazing year it has been! A year that I really didn't know if I would

ever have. She has been such a blessing to our whole family! I just treasure every day with her and am constantly amazed at God's desire to give us what our heart wants. Emily is always

ready for fun, always has a smile on her face, is naturally gentle with the cats, loves her brothers, adores her dad, loves her mom, has a special sweetness about her, is a treasure for her family. Happy birthday precious one!

Emily's 1!!

So far this month I've had a son turn 13 and a daughter turn 1, wow! These in addition to another son turning 10, it's been quite a season of changing ages. We had a nice celebration here at home for Emily and my mom came up from Iowa to see her. Emily was newly walking for grandma and it was really fun for her to see her toddle around.

Emily is getting her other front middle tooth but until that one comes in fully, she looks a little lop-sided on the top because her other front middle tooth is already in almost all the way!
So cute~

We've had a good month and a bit of nice weather to tease us. Two days ago we just got about 15 inches of snow and I do believe MN is now tied for the snowy winter ever on record, wow!

It has been nice not to have to see the brown yucky grass I guess, but I am ready for spring now- bring it on! Emily will have such fun at the park climbing and running, I can't wait to see

her there.

Jeremy and Ryan are doing well and are working hard in school. The science fair is coming so they are going to be busy this week and next getting ready for that.

More to come!