Christmas storm 2009.

We got our first big snow storm over the holiday.
We had 40 mph winds and 17 inches of snow. We were snowed in for two days. As you can see we had a snow drift about 7 inches tall.

On Sunday it was nice enough for the kids to play outside. Jason made a walk way for the kids...they had so much fun. Isabelle was amazed by all the snow.

We did some sledding in our driveway with our big snow hill.

Jason had to go get the loader from work to get our driveway cleaned up. I am still amazed by this storm. Everything got shut down for a day but walmart. Our neighbor took me to walmart to get a heavy duty shovel, the roads were terrible...there was only one pathway to get threw the roads and some were completely snowed in. I am learning when it really snows out here, it takes awhile to get everything cleaned up...they aren't used to all this snow. It was nice being snowed in, we got to spend more time as a family and we had a couple of neighbors that came over to visit.

Our Christmas.

Christmas eve morning we opened our stockings. The kids thought it was pretty cool to find goodies in a big sock as Gideon said.
Christmas eve night we had our cheese and crackers and watched our Christmas movie....Gideon did some talking to Aunt Ton.

Isabelle and Gideon got this train table from Grandma, Pa, and us. Jason and I put it together the night before....it was so fun to see the kids faces when they came downstairs.

The kids sure did enjoy opening all their presents.

We made a nice big ham dinner and enjoyed two guests, we ended our night with cake for baby Jesus. It was hard being away from family but God blessed our day in so many ways.

Silly kids.

Isabelle found my hat and mittens.

Gideon wanted so much to get into this bag, he played in it for quite awhile.

I am so thankful for their imagination.....it might be a long winter here. This past month we have only been able to play outside a couple of times.

Isabelle's 3rd Birthday.

My little girl is three.

She got a strawberry short cake doll for her birthday....she wouldn't let it go all night, Our cake lover gave up her cake so she could hold her new doll.

She was very excited to blow out her candles and wear the birthday crown, she just lit up when we all sang to her.

Of course we had to lick the frosting of the candles.

I just can't believe that I have this sweetheart for three years already. There was a time when I thought I wouldn't be a mother, we got surprised with this beautiful miracle that has changed my life. I love that Isabelle is so thoughtful and always concern about others, I love her imagination with her dolls and cooking, I love her excitement on the little things in life, I love that she loves to give everything hugs and kisses (her babies and even her brother). It has been a joy watching her grow up into this sweet little girl. She continues to bless me everyday.

Christmas cookies.

We made our Christmas cookies last weekend
Isabelle and Gideon had fun helping roll out the dough.

They had fun with cutters....Isabelle wanted Lot's of snow mans.

Gideon did alot of his cookies with sprinkles....he also sprinkled alot more than the cookies. It was sure a fun morning in the kitchen with the kids!!

Gideon's 2nd Birthday.

My sweet little buddy is 2.

We had a little birthday party for the kids last weekend and he just loved his new bike.

He helped make his cake this year, he was very excited to have cake and wear the birthday crown.

He blew out his two big candles all by himself.

I don't know where the last two years went. I can clearly remember rushing to the hospital two years ago in a blizzard....remembering his sweet little face for the first time. It has been a absolute joy watching this sweet little boy grow up. I love his laughter,his humor,his imagination,his love for animals and trucks,and absolutely love how he is so cuddly and wants to give everyone hugs and kisses. As I am a little sad that he is growing up and doesn't have any baby to him anymore I feel very blessed by my little man!!

8 month.

It has already been eight months here in north dakota. I am a little behind on my journaling. I have been getting caught up in the busyness of Christmas and getting ready for my babies birthday's.

It has been an emotional month. I have alot of anxiety about the holidays. Thanksgiving went alot better than I thought. Everyone called us which helped out alot. We made our first thanksgiving dinner.....It was good!!! We did some crafts with the kids, enjoyed our dinner,finally after nap we got out of our pj's. A friend came over and had pie and visited with us for a while. We also decorated the Christmas tree. It is our first artificial Christmas tree...there isn't any tree farms out here, Jason is big on cutting one down, so he said if we can't cut it down we should go to artificial. The kids had so much fun. It has been so amazing watching them grow up year by year.

We have enjoyed the outdoors alot this month. It has been just a beautiful month...miss the colors. We had some beautiful colors but we don't have much trees out here.

Jason is still working alot. They are building a pizza ranch....I am so excited, we don't have a whole lot of choices out in my town for out to eat...I LOVE PIZZA RANCH!!

Isabelle is growing like a weed. I just can't believe my first born will be 3 in a month....were did that go? She is such a big helper with cleaning,wash,dishes,and helping with Gideon....she is always making sure he is behaving,at the dinner table she is constantly telling him to eat. She is wanting get herself dress. My favorite this month has been she will come up to me and put her little hands on my face and say"Mom I love you" than she will go back to what she was doing and come back in a few minutes and does the same. It just melts my heart!! We made a turkey out of paper and put feathers on him and wrote on the feathers what Isabelle was thankful for,we hung it on the wall. Isabelle was thankful for the outdoors,kitty cats,God,toys and family. As she gets older I love seeing things threw here innocent eyes.

Gideon is growing like a weed...not much baby look to him anymore. He has such an imagination..so much fun watch him grow up. He tries so hard to keep up with his sister...he wants to do everything she is. He is tyring very hard to get himself dressed too. I have had to do a little more house proofing...he figures out everything. My favorite this month is he will tell you something and at the end of the sentence he will say "huh"(mom daddy's at work huh). It is so cute. He is just a little ham....I don't know where he comes up with half of his stuff. He has been really into getting dressed....especially if it has an animal or a truck on it. He brings me 2-3 pairs of PJ's before bed and wants to were them all..he gets very upset when only gets to wear one.

I have so much to be thankful for, as it was hard being away from our family this holiday God blessed us with a wonderful day with our children and he has given us his strengh. We have been blessed with such wonderful family and friends that love us so much all the way out here in north dakota. We send you all our love!!

Christmas tree 2009.

The kids had so much fun decorating Christmas tree this year.
Every year the kids get into it more and more...sooo much fun.

We put our popcorn on our string to put on the tree.

The kids really enjoyed it. The tree looks so nice with our popcorn strings.

My two precious gifts.

Our last playdate.

Gideon and Lacy hanging out.
The kids just love to play with the baby.

We had to say good-bye to our friends last week, they are moving to fargo. About 4 hours away. It was a very nice visit. The kids had so much fun and we enjoyed some good food. Isabelle makes sure that the baby is happy and wants to help out in anyway, Gideon just loves to play and entertain her. We have been sad to see them go but we have been blessed to get to know them and are very happy for their new opportunity in fargo.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009.

Our first thanksgiving in north dakota. It was different staying home and making a big dinner for just us. We are so thankful for all of you!! You all have been amazing with your support,prayers,and love. We hope you all have a blessed thanksgiving!! We love and miss you all!!

Gidder at work.

little Miss mother hen.

Isabelle has grown to love her babies and she takes such good care of them. I came across these pj's that had matching ones for her baby, Isabelle gets so excited when they get to dress a like.

7th month.

It has been 7 months here in north Dakota...can't believe it!! It has been a cold month, we have had some snow. It has also been a very busy month here. I started work and the kids have gone to daycare. The kids love daycare. Isabelle has made a friend there, she talks about her almost everyday. It was really hard for me at first dropping the kids off but it has gotten better...it has been such a blessing knowing that they are safe, having fun,and that they feel security there. I have enjoyed getting out to work. It has been a big change being gone every night. This week I got our new prices for insurance from my work and the insurance went up 280.00 a month...which came out that I would be making 6.00 a week an income. I have been very discouraged and wondering what to do here, since I enjoy being home with our kids but needed to get health insurance. After alot of praying,talking to our family and pastor and some bible searching we feel like God has something else better plan for us and we have complete faith that he will continue to guide us to our next step. This has been a very hard decision for me since I have enjoyed getting out and the kids do love daycare but God has given us everything we have prayed for in Jason's job. The kids are still going to go visit their friends at daycare 1-2 mornings a week and I have decided to volunteer there and the kids can come with me. Jason has been still working long days and Saturday's. He got his foreman job. He has been pretty excited with all his new responsibilities. We are looking forward to the upcoming months when things slow down at work.

Isabelle has been really blossoming with her talking. She has became quite the funny little girl. It has been a fun month with her and Halloween....everyday she asked"mom can I be a cowgirl today". It has been a joy watching her at daycare too...she plays so nice with the kids,there is a baby there and I have been told she is a big help and always runs to her when she cries and tries to give her pipe or blankly. I had to take the kids to work one night because they were sick and Jason couldn't get home early. Isabelle was so proud that she was at work. She kept saying"Mom Belle's working"....as she is running around the room.

Gideon has had a hard month with some sickness. He had a very bad cold which led into a sinus infection and a ear infection,we also got the H1N1 flu and he got it the worse....so he hasn't been quite himself this past month. He has been the smuggler this month. Gideon is talking more and more.....I think he gets funnier by the day. He was really into his Halloween costume....he loves his boots and hat. His favorite has been his little peoples barn and his farm puzzle that makes noises.

It has been a good month. God has given us so many blessing with Jason's job and showing me where my place is right now. He has given us alot of guidance and clarity this month. I know that everything is in his time and he is always faithful. We miss you all very much and send Lot's of love.

Halloween 2009.

Here is our little cowboy and cowgirl. It has been different Halloween for us here in north dakota,not visiting our favorite people and the children have the swine flu. The kids are still enjoying their outfits and we made a Halloween hunt and game for the kids. They go to each door in the house and say "trick or treat" and get a little treat to put in their pumpkin. We hope you all have a wonderful day and we miss not seeing you today.

Our pumpkins.

We did some pumpkin carving last weekend.
Gideon wasn't so sure on helping Dad get the seeds out.

Isabelle didn't want to help carve, she wanted to color her own face on the pumpkin.

The kids love their pumpkins. When we go away they have to say goodbye to their pumpkins and give them a hug. Thank you Pa and grandma for such nice pumpkins.

Painting pumpkins.

We did some painting on our little pumpkins. The kids had so much fun.....they just love to paint especially when it is something else than paper. We have four beautiful pumpkins on our window sill.

Fall crafts.

We made some fall cookies . Gideon enjoyed eating them a little more than decorating them.
Isabelle loves baking,especially when she gets to lick the frosting.

We made some pumpkins and glued pasta to them for their faces. Isabelle had a ball.

We also made some leaves and acorns and glued pasta to them. Gideon did a very good job too. We put their beautiful art work on our front window. The kids go over to the window and remind almost everyday that they made those pumpkins and leaves.