yee haw...

yee haw: i started preparing for sophia's third birthday on saturday, which has been decided as a "horse theme". My friend, Sarah, loaned us some cowboy boots, and we had the rest to get into the western style. Here are some pictures from our cowgirl photo shoot. The girls had a great time, and I got some great pictures for Sophia's birthday invite. Yee Haw! so cute!

cutest cowgirls in the county

giddy up!

tangled...

tangled: as ANOTHER winter storm was hitting hutch, we decided to get away at the cheap theater . It was Sophia's first movie theatre experience, and she was great! She and Livia loved the individualized movie boxes and it was just the right size for their little tummies. We all saw the movie, "Tangled", and enjoyed every minute of it - the movie and spending memorable time with our girls!

happy 1st birthday, owen...

happy 1st birthday, owen: we celebrated our godson's, owen's, first birthday on saturday. He had a fun "paw"ty with oodles of poodles and puppy dog decor.

I loved the puppy dog cake and dog dishes!

Here are some pictures from our afternoon with Owen...what a cutie! happy birthday, owen!
owen with bobby (a.k.a: the godfather)

this little guy also stole my heart at the party - marco.
bobby flat out said, "we are NOT having any more kids!"
he knew what i was thinking...tee hee.

owen's puppy cake...not only did it look great, but it was also delicious!

not sure what to do with his cake...

"hey, this isn't TOO bad."

opening gifts at his first birthday party with mom, laurie

paul, laurie, and birthday boy, owen

owen with his gift from the girls- a puppy dog that flaps his ears

thanks for the lovely "paw"ty gifts, laurie, paul, and owen!

we "woof" them!

be my valentine...

be my valentine: bobby and i ventured to gale woods farm for a valentine's sleigh ride and eats. Here are some pictures from the evening...
at our table

this was the illuminated trail to the sleigh ride (you could even take a sled down the hill)...it was beautiful in the moonlight!

waiting for our sleigh ride to begin ("jake" and "mack" were our horses)

the only "good" picture of me from the evening (hee hee...) on our way to the gray house for dessert and hot drinks.

before we made it to gale woods, we stopped off and had a drink first at the chanhassen legion. i couldn't resist taking a picture when i saw their temperature sign (no, it wasn't that cold, but it felt like it during the previous week!).

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a BIG "thank you" to my parents for taking the girls for the evening (sorry for the unexpected sick child, dad!), and "thank you" to my best friend, bobby, for being a willing participant in some of my crazy ideas. it was a fun evening...i love you!

build-a-bear and bowling...

build-a-bear and bowling: last weekend we decided to take a trip into the cities to use the girls' build-a-bear gift cards (thank you, sederholm family!). Here are some pics from the experience. sophia putting stuffing in her puppy
rubbing their dog's heart on their ears to make sure their dogs listen

making a wish (look at livia!)

cleaning their puppies

princess and pinkie (thank you, sederholms!)
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friday evening we decided to take the girls bowling. This was sophia's first time, and she loved it! I wish I could say that the experience ended well, but we had some crying as we left the bowling alley...we'll try it again in a few years (sigh).

sophia next to her bowling ball on alley #8

waiting for her ball to make it to the end of the lane

livia trying to use the ball with her three fingers

what's the score? oh, that's right...mama won!

fancy nancy...

fancy nancy: we celebrated "grandma nancy's" birthday today at our house. It was a lovely day filled with lots of great food, fun, and family. Here are some pics from the day...we love you nancy pancy!

fancy nancy on her "day"

(actually her real birthday was on thursday, but who doesn't mind extending their birthday wishes a little longer??)

the decann family and nancy

(michael, jenny, laura, caleb, jim, and matthew)

the withers family

(susan, jenny, nancy, and bobby)

great grandma nancy with great grandson, caleb

the family took in some mariocart wii before supper

mom to sophia, "open up your eyes when i take your picture."

this is what i got...

we love you, nancy!

a little behind...

a little behind: it has been too darn cold to do anything around here except eat, sleep, and well, you know...two weeks ago we had a lovely supper over at the withers' household. Here are some pictures from that weekend. enjoy!sophia and livia after eating their "fun-dips"...thanks, auntie susan!
late christmas gift for uncle jim

okay, okay...so we bought up the entire liquor store for the decann family ;)

livia, grandma, and sophia playing with the play-doh

livia "close-up"