Santa Visit 2009

We went to the Russell School for our yearly visit to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas this year. Rylie asked for animals that live at the Zoo. Addisyn asked for a Bike with training wheels. I sure hope they are good and get what they asked for!

Kaysie Baptism

We had Kaysie baptised at First English Church in Tyler on November 29, 2009. Her sponsors are Shawna, Brooke and Brett. Congratulations Kaysie!

Happy Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!! This year Rylie decided she wanted to be something very scary so she picked out a Gorilla costume. Addisyn has been waiting to be Dorothy for the past six months and Grandma Andrea gave Kaysie the cute little pumpkin outfit. We had a really good time and although halloween has ended my girls insist on wearing there costumes daily........all in good fun!

Rylie Preschool 2009

Rylie started preschool last week on October 5th. She will be attending Mondays and Wednesdays all day in Russell with Auntie Tammy as her teacher again. Since she is a summer birthday we decided to hold her one more year so she will attend Kindergarten next year. Grandma Andrea and Grandpa Dan got to bring Rylie to her first day of Preschool since I was in the hospital. Rylie's favorite part of school so far is coloring and playing with the animals. :-)

Preschool 2009

Addisyn started preschool last week on October 6, 2009. I was in the Hospital so did not get to take her on her first day. Auntie Tammy offered to keep her overnight and bring her to school on the first day which ended up working out really well. Addisyn will go to school all day every Tuesday for the 3 year old program in Russell and Auntie Tammy will be her teacher. I asked Addisyn what her favorite part of the whole day was and she reported that her favorite thing was riding the school bus!

Little Blessings....

Kaysie Ryann Serreyn has arrived to bless our clan. She was born October 5, 2009 weighing in at 7 lbs. 5 oz. We are so happy about our new addition and hope she continues to be healthy. Big sisters, Rylie and Addisyn, are trying their best to be as helpful as they can. We have had ALOT of questions at our house the past week!! Welcome Kaysie.....We love you!

T-ball 2009

Rylie participated in T-ball again this year. They play games on Monday nights for about 6 weeks. Rylie really began to enjoy the game alot after the second week. She was hitting pretty good and running after the ball while in the outfield. A few of the kids on her team this year were Allie Christianson, Kate Cowell, Jack Christianson, Sam Nibbe and many others.

Valleyfair 2009

Tammy and I decided to make a quick trip to Valleyfair this year with our kids. Mason, Morgan and Rylie all got to come along and we even invited Grandma Mary along for the fun! The kids were very well behaved and had a blast on all of the rides.

Mason on the Moon Buggies. This was the first year he was tall enough to go on the White Roller Coaster. We never got him talked into the corkscrew.....maybe next year Mason????

Rylie and Morgan on the "Mild Thing" roller coaster. They rode this ride more than any of the others while we were there.

All smiles and lots of fun! Next year maybe Addisyn and Dawson will be old enough to take on the valleyfair trip.

Double Birthday Bash

Addisyn's birthday is June 20th and Rylie's is July 20th so we celebrated both of their birthdays this past Sunday (July 5th). Rylie decided on a Princess Party for her 5th birthday and Addisyn wanted a Wizard of Oz Party to celebrate birthday #3..........so we split the cake in half and managed to fit both "themes" on one cake!!

All the kids were ready for ice cream cake.........yum :)

Rylie (5) and Addi Jo (3)

Addisyn's 3rd Birthday

Addisyn turned "3" on June 20, 2009 so we had a small celebration until we could fit in her official party! Addi is definitly my "Princess" She loves to play dress up and spin around in circles. She has an infectious laugh and makes me smile daily. She is a special little girl and I'm so lucky that I can call her my daughter.

Storybook Land 2009

This past weekend we headed up to Aberdeen, South Dakota to check out "Storybook Land". There were 7 campers and 17 kids in attendance! We ended up going early Friday morning which was a good thing since Saturday/Sunday ended up being so cold and rainy we couldn't do anything. This top picture is Rylie in her 3D glasses. Due to the rain on Saturday we ended up going to a movie in the afternoon just to escape the camper. Below are pictures from Friday. My girls love the Wizard of Oz among other characters so this was right up there alley. I just wish we could have spent more time enjoying it.

Addi and Rylie with Snow White

The whole family with the Wizard of Oz crew

Rylie and Addi with Dorothy and Toto

My girls favorite witch - Glinda. They think I should be Glinda for Halloween this year!

Rylie's Concert - 2009

Rylie's 4 & 5 year old preschool class had a concert at the end of the year. They sang songs which was entertaining for all. Each child also received an award for something special or unique about them. It came to no surprise to me that Rylie got an award for the "biggest animal lover" in the class. Teacher Tammy said Rylie would go so far as to hide certain toys or animals in the classroom so at play time she always knew right where her "favorites" could be located. What a hoot! Way to go Rylie.

Circus Field Trip

I went along as a chaperone with Rylie's preschool class to the Circus this past Thursday. She was so excited to get there. She ate an entire bag of cotton candy and she couldn't wait to see the clowns. Of course when she actually saw the clowns she was to shy to talk to them.

The kids had the opportunity to ride ponies and elephants while at the circus. Rylie only wanted to ride the ponies. She smiled the entire time!

I guess one of mom's favorite things was watching the elephants perform but Rylie enjoyed the princess ponies the most. It was a great day, beautiful weather and fun had by all.

Easter 2009

Easter 2009 ~ Lots of time spent with family and friends. Rylie and Addisyn got the "Wizard of Oz" and "Tinkerbell" this year from the easter bunny......they were very excited.

Texas

2009-Cook, Shawna, Mary and Myself all decided to go visit Grandma down in Texas this year. We flew out on February 27th and returned to Minnesota on March 3rd. Grandma knew Cook and Shawna were coming but my mom and I had to fly on a different flight so we decided to surprise her. Gary and Carol were nice enough to pick us up at the airport and take us to a restaurant called "Logans" so we could meet grandma, cook and shawna there. After the surprise took place we decided that we might not do that to her anymore as she was so shocked she could barely stand up and it took her about an hour to say more than one word at a time (love you grandma)!! We had a good time practicing "retirement" in her park. It was a pretty relaxed and low key trip with lots and lots of laughs. Memories I will cherish.

Disney Live

This past weekend, I took Rylie (4 1/2) Mason (6 1/2) and Morgan (4 1/2) all to "Disney Live". Originally it was scheduled for December but ended up being cancelled due to a blizzard. This was part of my Christmas gift to Nephew Mason and Niece Morgan. We had a good time. The kids picked Dairy Queen as there food of choice for supper in Sioux Falls. I made sure they all understood that they had to eat more than just ice cream for supper and of course they all understood completly :)

Mason and Morgan both agreed that Handy Manny was there favorite character of the night and Rylie reports her favorite as Minnie Mouse.

It was a really fun night for me and I always enjoy spoiling the kids! Love you guys!

Eight Things Tag

Eight Things Tag.

8 Favorite T.V. Shows:
1) Greys Anatomy
2)Private Practice
3)The Bachelor
4)Oprah
5)House Hunters
6)American Idol
7)Desperate Housewives
8)Property Virgins

8 Favorite Dishes:
1) Homemade Pizza
2)Grilled Cheese
3)Wade's Oyster Stew
4)Club sandwiches
5)Salad
6)Crab Legs
7)Prime Rib
8)Moms Chili

8 Things that happened Yesterday:
1) Got out of bed
2)Had a fight with my garage door
3)Worked all day
4)Went to the bank
5)Paid bills
6)Checked for airline tickets
7)Did laundry
8)Went to bed

(pretty exciting stuff......A day in the life.........)

8 things I look forward to:
1) Watching my kids grow.
2)Going to Texas to visit my grandma
3)Loosing 10 lbs.
4)Camping this summer
5)Giving Rylie and Addisyn another sibling someday
6)Training for a 1/2 marathon some day.
7) Warm Summer Days
8)Spending time with family

8 things I love about Winter:
1)Watching movies
2)Christmas
3) Being Snowed in
4)Watch kids play in the snow
5)Going on vacation to escape the cold
6)Watching the snow melt :-)
7)Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies
8)The end of Winter - Spring Begins!

8 things on my Wish List:
1)Have one more child
2)Have happy and healthy children
3)Run a 1/2 marathon and finish
4)Buy a new camper
5)Having happy and healthy extended family and friends
6)Teach my children to be caring, honost and compassionate people.
7)Learn something new
8)Live in the moment

Hawaii Time

Aloha Everyone~ Just returned from our vacation in Hawaii. We flew out on January 8 and returned on January 16. We had 14 of us flying to Hawaii and we stayed in Oahu for 7 nights. The travelers were Bob, Mary, Becky, Wade, Tammy, Joe, Brian, Bobbie, Randy, Val, Jim, Voni, Sue, Roger. Six of us ("kids") returned to Minnesota after one week and the rest of the clan went on to Maui and will return home on Wednesday, January 21.

The sunsets in Hawaii were one of my favorite things......absolutly beautiful. I probably took 25 sunset pictures and still feel like I don't have enough. Pictures don't do it justice.

We went on a dinner cruise and enjoyed Lobster as a group which was fun. Wade and I also went on a dinner cruise just the two of us. Wade NEVER wins anything and actually ended up winning a door prize the first day we were there. It was a $75.00 dinner cruise so I bought a ticket and joined him. Lots of laughs.

This is the patio at our hotel. We would meet late afternoon before supper and have a few cocktails before going out to eat. They also had grills you could use at the hotel which some used a few of the evenings. Above must have been the adult table and us "kids" are below. I laughed cause us siblings and our spouses were referred to as the kids the entire trip......

The trip ended entirely way to soon....but it truely was a great trip. We enjoyed the beach, snorkeling, climbing diamond head, visiting pearl harbor and attending a luau. I am pretty sure you would not have to ask me twice to go back! Aloha.......