Spring has sprung!

The weather is warming, the days are getting longer, and Avalon is blooming! Whew, are we ready for spring or what?! To combat cabin fever, Ava and I have had LOTS of playdates and a regular schedule of going to the Rochester Family Y to get out of the house. She loves going swimming and playing at the Kidcare with her cousin. She is starting to talk a lot and loves to try to scare Mark at any given opportunity. She is really into books, her dolls, and surprisingly, trains and cars (compliments of Josiah). It is fun to watch her grow before my eyes. Myself, I have been busy with regular mom and lia sophia things. I've also started on the painting of the basement bathroom. The walls are primed and the ceiling is painted... now for the color on the walls! Mark has done an awesome job on the mudding and taping, and is now moving on to mudding/taping the bedroom. As for Mr. Mark's updates... He'll have a lot more time to work on the basement because not only has he wrapped up another trimester at Augsburg, but he was one of the 50 Crenlo employees that were laid off in the most recent round of layoffs. He has been there about 11 years and the company went back 13 years. Yikes! That is a lot of jobs that have been lost. He is actually very positive about the whole situation. He sees it as an "unexpected opportunity" to move forward more quickly with his journey towards a different career path. Mark is very intelligent and ultimately, it is in God's hands... so we're all good =) We are definitely going to take advantage of this time to expedite the basement-finishing process. We are getting so much closer!!! Anyways, I hope you are enjoying these warmer days. God bless!

December Catch Up!

Happy New Year!!! I hope that you are ringing in the new year with great memories of 2008 and a positive outlook for 2009. We had a very busy December... hence the lack of keeping my blog updated... so here are our main December highlights:

1. Helping Katie's family move to their home in Byron, and shortly after that, celebrating the birth of their new daughter, Grace McKenzie Lins =)
   
2. Going to see the Holiday Train... even though it was freezing COLD!!!!!
3. TWO Graduations~ Both of Mark's sisters graduated from college. Way to go sistas!! They beat Mark to the punch, but he'll always think he's smarter than them anyways...
4. Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Did I mention Christmas? One of the greatest things was being able to see my sister Mandi and her family, who are smart enough to live several states south of arctic MN.
   
5. Mark and I celebrated our 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY on the 20th! Yee haw! So is it the 5 year mark when couples start gradually thinking like each other????
   
6. I was able to ring in the New Year with a couple of my close friends, Jess and Amy. I witnessed the weirdest New Year's tradition that I ever could have imagined, compliments of Amy.

December was busy, fun, tiring, and filled with a whole lotta love. Here's my love and good tidings for an awesome 2009. God bless you all!!!

Disco Elf!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Road Trippin' and Chicken

Do I dare say that it has been a busy week? I mean, who is not busy, really?? Monday through Thursday, Ava and I went to Iowa to stay with my sister, Katie, and her little boy, Josiah. Her husband was on a a business trip for the week. My main mission was to help Katie out since she and her family are MOVING TO MINNESOTA!!! Her husband, Ryan, was offered a new position through his company, Syngenta. They could move anywere in Minnesota and picked the Kasson area. You rock Ryan! Katie made sure that fun was on the agenda also. And fun it was indeed. On Friday (Halloween), Mark, Ava, and I went to a Fall Festival with my parents and then met up with his family afterwards. We were the proud parents of a cute little chicken that night. Pictures are in the Smilebox below. All in all, it was a busy but great week!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Lutefisk Lover!

Well, it's official... Avalon is Norwegian indeed. Not only did she have her first taste of Lutefisk this past week, she also couldn't get enough of it. On Tuesday night, we met up with my mom, grandma, aunt, and uncle to partake in the the Norwegian tradition of the Lutheran lutefisk dinner. I have been to several of these dinners before, but go mainly for the family time, not the fish!

Nana and Papa took Avalon for two nights this past week, so Mark and I were able to meet up with some friends of ours. We met their adorable 10 week old twin boys, who are nothing short of a miracle! They have been in the Mayo NICU since birth and are very tiny, but they are in extremely good hands. Speaking of Mayo Clinic, I can give a health update also. Yesterday, I went in for some brain and spine MRI's and received some wonderful news from my neurologist. The lesions (areas of demyelination) on my brain and spine have stayed the same size, which means that my condition is staying very stable. The worst case scenario would be if the lesions were increasing in size or if new lesions were appearing, and the best case scenario is stability in their size and shape. This was great news to hear!!! I am meeting with a Multiple Sclerosis specialist on November 6th, but other than that, there are no more doctor appointments for me in the near future. Yee Haw!!!!!!! And just to be clear, I am NOT DIAGNOSED with MS. The neurologists need to make sure to rule out any other conditions that may be mimicking MS. Although they suspect it is MS, I do not have a clinical diagnosis at this time. =) On a totally different note, below are some new pictures (some from Ava's 1 year portraits). Have a great weekend and love you all!

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Project time is ending...

Now that the days are cooling WAY down, our work time outside is coming to an end. It is bittersweet because we love being outside, but at the same time, we look forward to a season (or two) of rest from yard work. As of this afternoon, Mark has completely finished the lattice work project below our deck and it looks amazing! But now he's getting busy with his beer making hobby and is even going to visit a brewery up in the cities next weekend. He'll be going with Matt, our neighbor and fellow "zymurgist" (beer maker). Mark and Matt can talk about beer making as much as middle school girls can talk about boys... Avalon and I are still recooping from her big birthday party last weekend (pics to come later). Below are some pictures of what we worked on this summer. Happy Fall!

Avalon is one!

It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone. Honestly, it seems like just yesterday that Mark and I found out the big news that I was pregnant! God decided to send a little angel, Avalon Rose, down to us. It has been such a privilege being the parent of a child with a heart so big, a love so deep, a laugh so contagious, a smile so brilliant, and a joy that lights up the room. Man, does she have us wrapped around her finger or what??? I thank God for her every day and am amazed at how deep love can go... and even more amazed to think that Christ loves us all this deeply!

I posted Ava's first birthday pictures (and even a couple of videos) in the Smilebox below. A word to the wise: When you open the Smilebox, HIT THE "PAUSE" BUTTON AS SOON AS YOU SEE IT. Then you can just click the arrow to move through the pages at your own pace. Autoplay does not seem to work the best when videos are in the Smilebox. Enjoy!