Danivus!

Greetings!
This past week was full of celebrations!  Dan and Grandpa Paul both celebrated birthdays!  Lots of fun times.  Birthdays are great reminders that each day and year counts.  It was really special to have Elsa and Jonas singing happy birthday and understanding that someone else's special day was coming up....this is a big deal to 3 year olds who are used to every day being their special day:).  What great kids!  They gave great birthday hugs and kisses.

We had a great time visiting in person and on the phone with so many family and friends this past week!  Elsa and Jonas had a great time at the zoo, hanging at the lake, going bowling for the first time (we can't believe we don't have pictures--next time Grandpa Harold!!!), and so many other great activities this past week.  Whew...we need a summer vacation:)

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Working hard...

Greetings!

We have been working hard this week and wanted show off some of our skills!

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Greetings! 
Jonas and Elsa are really starting to get into the summer swing of things.  With the weather so nice, it has been such a treat to let the kids run and play in the backyard!  They love to dig, and run, and throw baseballs, kick soccer balls, and play.  It is great!  (the weather has now turned a bit--rain rain go away:)

Jonas and Elsa are really excited because they have their first gymnastics performance.  It is a end of the school year program and they are going to do great.  You can expect lots of pictures and stories in the next couple of weeks leading up to this event. 

Dan spent most of last week indoctrinating Elsa and Jonas about the Norwegian Flag and Norwegian Constitution Day (May 17th).  He tried, unsuccessfully, to get them to greet everyone with a friendly "Hip Hip Hurrah, syttende mai!"  There is more work to do.

Pictures will return this weekend!
God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

A new haircut!

Greetings!  Wow!  The weekend flies by!  Happy Mother's Day!  We had a blast spending times with our moms this past weekend.  It was great to play and have fun together. 

The weather is current mid to high 80's.  Amazing!  We ran through the sprinkler yesterday because Jonas and Elsa remembered to say "we can use the sprinkler it is a hot day!".  Great times.

Jonas had been protesting a haircut for a while and finally relented tonight.  Check out the picture for his new hairdo.  Very stylish.

God Bless,
Mari & Elsa & Jonas & Dan

Here comes the sun

Greetings!
We couldn't quite believe it but the sun returned to the great Northwest.  This gave us a chance to spruce up the "fort" in the front yard that Jonas and Elsa like to sit in.  It is a big Rhododendron that has a rock in front of it.  Jonas was a little upset with some pruning and kept asking what happened to the window!

We got a couple glimpses at our family photos from last weekend!  Check them out!

Jonas and Elsa received some sweet musical instruments from Grandpa Harold....Jonas now has a red play guitar so he can play guitar just like daddy!  Elsa has been practicing her piano on her Dora keyboard.  We have got the band together several times and are sounding great!  No videos yet...but give us time...the tour is still a little ways off.

The walk for babies is next weekend and we are going to try our best to be there to support research for premature babies.  It is a special walk with lots of medical professionals and families. 

God Bless,
Dan & Mari &Elsa & Jonas 

Picture Day

Greetings!
Wow, we can't believe it is Tuesday already!  This is a really late blog. 

This weekend we had the absolute pleasure of having our family pictures taken by Sarah Fuccillo.  It was so much fun having our photos taken near a farm while we tried unsuccessfully to keep Jonas and Elsa from diving into mud puddles and rolling in dirt.  We saw a couple of the photos on her camera and they were so great looking!  Sarah's son Justus was in the NICU around the same time as Jonas and Elsa.  It was great to share a moment with someone who has had a similar experience.  (Her family is having a fundraiser auction this month for her son to get a service dog...check out http://www.pawsforjustus.com/Paws_for_Justus/index.html for her story and more information)

Speaking of auctions...our school's annual auction was this weekend too!  It was a great time to see lots of community folks who haven't had a chance to meet Jonas and Elsa in person.  This is not to say that the two sat still to meet anyone at the auction.  They had a great time running around the school, up and down stairs, up and down stairs, on to chairs, across stages...they had a blast and slept hard as a result.  Dan's item for auction--his one man band singing children's songs for a kid's party was well received and the winners (the Hurleys) were very excited!

We are all keeping Cousin Super Kaelen and Aunt Jane and Uncle Ralph in our prayers.

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas