2010 Christmas Album

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did. It couldn't have gone any better. The magic was certainly alive. I just finished my Christmas album and it feels so good to have it done. I documented every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This is the second year that I have done this project and love to look back on our daily activities. Many of my friends at Designer Digitals are also doing this project and it is so fun to see how different everybody's books are and also to see how they are spending their day. This is the cover... All products are from Designer Digitals.

If you would like to take a peak at how we spent our days leading up to Christmas, you can look here.
http://community.shutterfly.com/gallery/post/start.sfly?postId=/gallery/1/post/GMGDFgwYN27ly0cAjrKRrK

Merry Christmas

Dear Family and Friends, I want to wish each of you a very blessed Christmas. I hope that this special day fills your heart with love and happiness!

We just got back from celebrating with my side of the family and had such a fabulous time. It sure is a treat to be surrounded by family during this wonderful time of the year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! God Bless You!

Almost Christmas

Christmas is almost here and everybody is excited at our house. We are looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus with our family. The presents are wrapped, the food is ready to go, the bars and goodies are baked and we are just looking forward for this special time together.

One of the things that we have enjoyed this season is baking. We have baked a lot and it has been fun...messy...but fun. I thought I would post a few pictures of what baking looks like at our house.

December Daily

Ali Edwards is a very inspirational person in the scrapbook community. A number of years ago, she coined the phrase "December Daily" encouraging people to document their lives leading up to the holidays. This is the second year that I have done this and I am really enjoying the project. The kids love looking back on our book from last year and seeing what we did each day.

As 2011 approaches, I have been thinking about what lies ahead. As you all know I am passionate about preserving memories through scrapbooking. It has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I have discovered over the course of the last couple of years that one of my favorite aspects of scrapbooking is the idea of sharing...sharing memories...sharing techniques...sharing ideas...sharing designs...sharing inspiration. In 2011, I am planning on doing more "Scrapbook-Related" blog posts...people always ask me about it and it is something I could talk about endlessly.

Today, I thought I would give you a little glimpse into my "December Daily" book which I actually began at Thanksgiving. It has been a fun project to do. I am using a basic template series by Ali Edwards who is a designer at Designer Digitals which allows each page to come together quickly.

I hope you have a wonderful week! It is brutally cold here so inbetween Christmas programs, running everybody around and baking....I am hoping to spend plenty of time by the fireplace!

Ellie's Day

Seven...it has certainly snuck up on me...can hardly believe that Ellie is seven. We had a wonderful day together as a family...here are some of the pictures... Thanks GMa and Papa...I LOVE IT!

The girls and Junie B Jones...

Teamwork...

Ellie's Birthday Party - Blizzard of Fun

Today was a blizzard...seriously...I think we have received about 18 inches of snow. I went out this morning to pick up Ellie's cake and balloons...people were stuck ALL over...as I drove around, I saw one car after another trying to get dug out from the drifts. I couldn't get the shopping cart to my car at Target because it was soooo thick. Ellie was worried that nobody would come to her party and yet everybody showed up...even Julie and Ava came all of the way from Apple Valley...unbelievable in these conditions. The party went soooo well and soooo fast...the girls were wonderful and Ellie had a blast. The birthday girl waiting for her guests to arrive.

Some of the guests were doing crafts and waiting for the others to arrive...

Ellie's take on the rock star poster!

What a cute bunch of friends...

Everybody got their own map for the treasure hunt...

checking the goods after the treasure hunt...

And doesn't every seven year old need a socket set...apparently Fritz and Jan think so...they are the best....they will go in her new toolbox along with the pink tools that Fritz bought her last summer. She is ready for some more serious action in his garage!

I can't believe she will be seven tomorrow....the time has gone by so quickly. She has certainly been a blessing to all of us. Her spunky personality keeps us all on our toes. Tomorrow I am surprising her with tickets to see a Junie B Jones play "Jingle Bells..Batman Smells". She loves those books. I hope you are all safe and enjoying some warmth in your home.

Downtown Minneapolis

We dropped Ellie off at school and headed to downtown Minneapolis to see the elf's workshop display at Macy's and to meet Santa Claus. Of course, Quinn's Halloween costume had to make an appearance today. When Quinn walked in to see Santa, he said "hey, we match". We got quite a few looks and smiles walking through the skyway system. We enjoyed seeing the decorations and everything else...it was a fun morning.

Designer Digitals Creative Team

As many of you know, I am very passionate about photography and preserving our memories through scrapbooking. A year and a half ago, I found an amazing site called Designer Digitals that allowed you to purchase scrapbook produts online. In addition they have a gallery where people post pages that provide an abundance of inspiration. Somehow I got the courage to post a page a year and a half ago. I was so nervous, I couldn't sleep that night. People leave comments on the pages in the gallery and everybody was so kind, it gave me the courage to post more. I have stayed at Designer Digitals for a number of reasons but most importantly because I LOVE their product line and I have developed some wonderful friendships that reach around the world. It has been such a blessing to me! I have been asked to be on creative teams at other sites but I passed them up because Designer Digitals is the only place that I want to be.

On Wednesday of last week, the owner of the site asked me to be on the Creative Team. You many have heard the screams and there were certainly tears. I have wanted to be on the team for sooooooooooooooooo long. The Creative Team makes scrapbook pages using the products from the store to inspire others to purchase their product line. Let's just say that the spots on the team are VERY rare. I am beyond thrilled...BEYOND THRILLED to be officially part of the Creative Team at Designer Digitals. The team is filled with amazing people who are so creative and so inspiring. It is truly an honor to be included on the team.

I have not slept much since this happened. I explained to Jeff that it is like somebody put you on the doorstep of the Mall of America and said "you can have anything you like". My mind has been racing since. The owner and the team have been so warm and welcoming. It just feels like family already. I just wanted to share this news with you. I still feel like I am dreaming.

Rosemount Irish - State Runner Up

Rosemount played in the state championship game tonight and although they didn't win, they certainly have a lot to be proud of...what a fun journey it has been. Here are few shots from the last couple of games in the dome. Congratulations Rosemount on an awesome year! Spending time with Lara is always a treat!

Maki showing off his pipes.

Go Team Go!

A hug from Kennedy and Jackson is nearby

Jeff with his seniors....

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends and Family, Happy Thanksgiving! There is so much to be thankful for this year and you are certainly at the top of the list. We thank God for all of you and for all that He has blessed us with. I love Thanksgiving...and today I get to enjoy it even longer since I woke at 5:30 to Quinn yelling for me...found him staring at the table that we set last night...I guess I'm not the only one who loves it. We are looking forward to family coming over today to celebrate....thankfully Jeff does all of the cooking for the big meals so the pressure is off. I am SOOO looking forward to the next few days....we have alot going on. On Friday, we will go to my brother's football game in the metrodome....they are playing for the state championship against Wayzata the old school that I used to work at. I am SOOO excited and SOOOO very proud of him and his team. He has worked incredibly hard over all of these years...certainly a dream come true for him and all of us. GO IRISH! On Saturday, we will be decorating for Christmas....I LOVE this and then on Sunday I am taking Ellie to "The Christmas Story" at the Children's Theater....My dear friend Kris's nephew is playing the lead role....THE LEAD role and I can't wait to see him perform.

We hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love! God Bless You!

Winter has arrived!!!

Winter came in like a freight train. We awoke to find not a dusting of snow but rather inches of snow. It was unbelievable. Quinn woke up at 6:15 and I turned the patio light on for him to see and he was so excited...."me go snow right now"....ahhhh, I don't think so. The girls were equally excited and ran from window to window. It was coming down like crazy...I have no clue how much we got but it was at least 7 inches.

My poor birch tree just can't take this kind of treatment....


The crew as excited as can be...

Quinn in the cul de sac...it was so deep and the plows did not come through today.

Mia thinks it is just one big feast...

Snowman time...we need to find some eyes....

It was a fun day. I love the snow because it is soooo pretty and my camera gets a workout....I just don't like the cold...a wimpy Minnesota girl!