Winterfest

Minneapolis parks hosts free family evenings at parks around the city so we decided to attend winterfest at Linden Hills park.  We didn't know what to expect, especially since we haven't seen too much snow this winter, but it was a blast!  We met up with a few of Emily's preschool friends, their families and

We roasted marshmallows

Went ice skating for the first time

Got our faces painted

Went on a horse drawn carriage ride

And enjoyed our share of popcorn, cider and hot chocolate

Overall, a very fun evening that we'll plan on attending again next year!

Puppy love

Fun winter day

Today was forecasted to be in the mid 30s so we made a plan to make the most of it! We started the morning at a nearby sledding hill.  Emily really liked it and it was her first time sledding by herself!

We then grabbed some hot chocolate at a local coffee shop before heading out to see a Korean dance performance that one of my students was in.  Emily seemed to really enjoy the performance, she even told my student that she's beautiful and her dress is very fancy and cool!

We're looking forward to a brunch playdate tomorrow and a day off for MLK day on Monday!

Happy new year!

Happy new year from all of us. 

2014 was a great year and we're looking forward to an exciting 2015 with baby2 arriving in a few months!

Celebrating Christmas

This season has been the most fun I've had in a long time because I have Emily's eyes to see everything through!  At the age of three, this is the first year she has understood and is excited about Christmas.  We began by decorating our house, as well as Christmas cookies with my mom and the Harrison ladies!

Emily also had her preschool concert and she actually learned and sang the songs!

On Stage!

Waiting for Santa

We visited Santa - toy catalog in hand - to tell him all of Emily's wishes (mostly Frozen things).  And then we visited him again on Christmas Eve at Macy's downtown Santaland display with cousin William.

The gift exchange with both families was a lot of fun and we're very lucky to have family that we are able to spend time with at the holidays.

We are lucky to have such a happy, healthy little girl and as I look ahead to 2015 I will hope for the same for baby2!

Cheers! 

Emily: 3 years old

How did the last three years pass so quickly?? We all start to notice just how quickly time really does pass as we get older, especially when you have a little person changing so much right in front of you. It doesn't help that she likes to remind me, daily, that she is a big girl and not a baby (which I still insist on calling her).

Since Emily is such a Frozen fan you can probably guess what her party themes were.

Please excuse the giant belly in the background

We love our strong willed little girl more than ever and are looking forward to the year ahead with her!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We had a wonderful time celebrating all that we have to be thankful for with our families this year.

With Thanksgiving 2014 in the books we moved right into Christmas. Friday morning arrived and we were busy setting up the tree, stockings and other decorations.

We are looking forward to a fun month beginning with Emily's birthday celebrations!