Winter Fun

 We have definitely discovered that the winters are harsh here!!  They are L-O-N-G and the temps are much colder.  We have about triple the snow now from these pictures.  Most were taken in our yard, but there are some down at the bottom that were taken over Christmas at my parents house.  Oh, and, I should also say that all of these pictures were taken by my Dad.

How can you make up for a year in one post? I'm going to try.

Where do I even begin to catch up on my blog after almost a full year of not posting a thing (and even before that it was pretty sporadic!)?  I've decided to try and resurrect this because even if not a whole lot of people look at it, it is a very simple way for me to keep track of our family memories...truly an online scrapbook and something I can look back on. 

Our life went through a real whirlwind back in August of 2011 when Michael left to pursue his doctorate at NDSU.  Boy, what a difference a year and a half makes!  In that time Michael got a new job, we put the house on the market, our beloved dog Dolly died, our house was still on the market, we packed & packed some more, I put in my notice at Mayo, more showings on the house, I found a new job, we finally got an offer on the house 2 weeks before moving, we packed up our huge moving truck & drove to Fargo, started our new jobs at Concordia College, lived (for almost 2 months) in a one-bedroom apartment, Eleanor started Kindergarten, Miriam started daycare and got potty-trained, went house shopping, went church shopping, found & purchased a home in Moorhead, got moved in & settled in the new house, had many friends and family members visit us, celebrated our first homecoming since graduating 12 years ago, Michael had his first glorious Concordia Christmas Concert, & we survived the holidays!  Whew.  That was a lot.

Now it's February and I just celebrated my 35th birthday.  Life is starting to feel more and more settled here in Fargo-Moorhead.  We miss our friends back in Rochester a great deal, but have had some occasions to see them!

I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up on this blog a little more!  If you're reading this, thanks for being a friend.

Meeting Claire

Claire Irene Anderson

born March 16, 2012
Oldest cousin holding youngest cousin

Excited Big Brother, Seth!

The kiddie table

This past weekend we went up to Grand Rapids to meet the newest addition to our family, Claire. We stayed at the Timberlake Lodge and the girls LOVED going swimming (even though Miriam doesn't look that way in this picture). Michael met us up there and it was a nice (but very quick!) family weekend.

The three BIG cousins!!

Eleanor just loved holding Claire. Claire is such a good baby and she just let Eleanor hold her for quite awhile. These are precious memories and we were so thrilled we could make it up to north to see her while she was still so little. Seth is a sweetheart and it's so fun to see the cousins play together. We hope to see the Anderson family again very soon!

Fall 2011

Since I've gotten really behind on blogging, I just decided to do a highlights post of some pictures from this fall. The above picture is just from one morning when the girls were playing together and Eleanor was so proud of getting her doll, Lili Anna, all dressed up in her riding outfit. She decided she needed a picture! Also, I know that a lot of these pictures have been posted on Facebook, but we have several "elderly" relatives that don't have Facebook and so I better keep them all up-to-date (you know who you are!). We love you all and wish you lived closer!!

The next few pictures are from our annual visit to the Northwoods Orchard. Miriam is wearing the infamous pumpkin sweater & hat knit by Auntie Janis (one of those "elderly" relatives I was telling you about). :)

Halloween! The girls were both mermaids. Specifically, Miriam was Ariel and so Eleanor thought she could be one of Ariel's older sisters. They really had fun at a couple of different Halloween parties we went to and trick-or-treating. Even Miriam (at just 2 1/2) was so excited to go! I don't even understand how she knew what we were doing. But, if Eleanor is excited about something than Miriam is too. Pretty cute.

Eleanor took her first dance class this fall. We just went through Community Ed and she really enjoyed it. Wednesday night was her last class and they allowed the parents in for a little show. Cameras were rolling! She was the tallest girl in her class and (not surprisingly!) listened to every word the teacher said. She is so focused!! Don't know who she gets that from. ;)

Well, I hope I caught you all up on our fall. Now that we're heading in to the holidays we'll see if I can keep up. I'll try! We love you all and appreciate the love & support you give our family.

Cobber 2024??

I'm playing some serious catch-up with the blogging these days...but, I couldn't miss posting these pictures. Eleanor and I visited Michael in Fargo back in September and we took some sweet pictures of her on campus. The campus looked beautiful and was all decorated because it happened to be Family Weekend.

Eleanor at the mission statement at 10 months and again at 5 years old!

Eleanor's 5th Birthday

Happy Birthday, Eleanor! The BIG 5!!

Now that September is almost over (unreal!) I figured I better get Eleanor's birthday pictures blogged. We had her party over Labor Day weekend and she wanted a Tangled theme. Her little friend Olivia was able to come again this year! Those two are so cute together. We also had Grandma & Grandpa Anderson, Mari Lee and her friend Alice (Olivia's Grandma), Matt & Melissa, Jodi & Dave and Siri, Theodore & Lucy. We really wanted to have the party outside at the Assisi Heights shelter, but it was cold and rainy. So, we had a full house!

The kiddie table! Miriam was so proud to sit with the big kids.

Sweet sisters!

Eleanor got a little shy while we sang Happy Birthday...

Our first born is 5 years old and I just can't believe it. It's true what they say when raising children..."The days are long, but the years are short." Eleanor, you are our self-confident, intelligent, funny, polite, mature, talented, kind, and lovable 5-year-old. We love you so much!