Thanksgiving

Emma and Ben on Thanksgiving

Emma having Lefse (pronounced lefsa) for the first time.
It's a Norwegian bread my family makes every year for
Thanksgiving and Christmas

Being cuddle bugs...

New Tutu

This has been on my list to do for a long time and I finally got it done! I wanted to make Emma her own little tutu. It was so easy to make and once I put it on her, she was immediately giddy with excitement. She is growing up so fast.

Planting a garden

We have been wanting to plant a garden for a long time, so we started with a green bean plant. Figured we would start small and work ourselves up to a bigger garden later. The kids loved helping and Emma loved flinging dirt everwhere! We had such a blast.

Girl fun!

Emma, being her goofy self! We are seeing more and more of her personality these days. She is a spitfire and a sweetheart all wrapped in one! She loves the camera (just like her brother!). You pull a camera out and they're posing before you even turn it on!!

9/11

I don't have too many pictures from this particular weekend, but we spent 9/11 down in San Diego and went to the tidepools and really enjoyed the day together.

Mo caught a crab - the kids thought it was awesome!

We observed him for a while and then put him back in his home.

Broken Foot {insert sad face here}

Ben's cast! He's in that thing for a total of 4 weeks!! For those
that don't know, Ben broke his foot August 27th -- 3 metatarsals
in 4 places! I still can't believe he broke it.

He's doing great {already running around
in that thing!} He has barely complained about any pain and the
pediatric orthopedic surgeon says he is healing beautifully. {yay!}

San Diego - Coronado Island

Hoover Dam

We decided to go see the Hoover Dam on the way to California. It's something we've attempted to see in the past a few times but never *quite* made it! I was happy we got to do it this time. It was really neat. I used to work for the Bureau of Reclamation so it was interesting to see what they are doing down there! The project itself is absolutely amazing -- some techniques used by civil engineers were unproven, so they were venturing into unchartered territory. Yet they started the project in 1931 and finished in 1936 two years ahead of schedule. The workers worked 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. And it all started because the Colorado River was seen as a source for irrigation water. It was a loooong way down!

Inside on the tour - it was really interesting! Um...not

quite sure what Ben is doing with his arm!

Emma was out! It was 115 F that day!

This bridge was just amazing

Mario booked an awesome place for us to stay in Henderson.

{and I do mean awesome!}

In the garden at the resort

Ben out on the terrace

65th Anniversary Party

Emma's 1st Birthday!!

On June 28, 2010 at 3:52 a.m., my daughter was born. I can't believe she's 1 already! The year flew by. A lot happened in that one year - we moved when she was only 5 weeks old (and have since moved again!) She is now walking and is trying to talk. After a lot of indecisiveness about the cake design, I decided to go with the ladybug (with invitations to match - I was feelin' a little crafty!)
I love my Grandma!

A pillow or balloon?!
Ready to dig into the cake!
Mmmm....that cake was good!

California - beaches and gardens!