9 years:)

My favorite part about ringing in a new year is celebrating another year of marriage with Matt. Today is our 9-year anniversary. We have been through a lot and are stronger than ever. I am so grateful and feel so blessed to be married to Matt. When I was younger and dreamed about getting married, I always wanted to find someone who I knew would be a great father and who I would feel comfortable growing old with. I definitely found that man and he treats me like a queen. I love you babe!

happy 7th birthday, Ethnie!

Ethnie got to have a little birthday party the day before her birthday with three friends. She really wanted to go bowling so that's what we did. There's this little hole-in-the-wall place in highland park that's really popular in St. Paul. It was the perfect place because it's smaller and simple. It's connected to The Nook, which is nationally known for their burgers. Ethnie had a great time with her friends. It was Emmett's first time at a bowling alley and he didn't know how to control himself! All the bowling balls rolling down the alleys - he was in heaven.

pep talk

Ethnie's good friend Olivia and her mom Traecy

go Sadie!

anticipating a strike

Harry's turn!

Ethnie and Sadie

my boys

the ball didn't quite make it all the way down a few times...

nice push!

Emmett's turn:)

happy birthday!

Sunday was Ethnie's actual birthday. Her day was going perfectly until about 3:00 when she spiked a fever. :( She was so miserable and I felt so bad for her. We came home right after church and she was camped out on the couch for the rest of the evening. The biggest bummer was that we had a family party planned at Matt's brother's house and Ethnie and I had to stay home. She felt so sad that she wasn't there, but there were many birthday wishes, cake and some gifts sent home for her. Matt even took a video of everyone singing 'happy birthday' to her.

happy morning

Emmett helping out.

new Barbie movie

new books

Emmett's gift to Ethnie:)

new boots

We hope you had a wonderful birthday sweet girl!

**Unfortunately, Ethnie is still sick and now Emmett has it. Yikes. The flu is going around....

the most wonderful time of the year.

I know it's been awhile since my last post. We have been busy enjoying the season! Christmas for us was lovely. We had multiple celebrations to go to and still have our last one in two weeks.
 Since we decorated our house for Christmas, Emmett has been so curious and excited about all the new things to touch and play with. (so he thinks so.) I've had to watch him like a hawk around the tree and stockings. He's already broken something and hurt himself a couple of times. Sigh... He has also loved listening to Christmas music. He dances around and stands next to the music dock- so cute. Ethnie asked me every day of the month, "When is Christmas?" "When do we get to go to Grandpa's house and Nana's house?" She loves "organizing" all of the gifts under the tree.
I really love it when our place is decorated for Christmas. It feels very warm and inviting. More than usual, I guess. And I love how we focus on the spirit of Christ and His birth. It always makes our home a happier place and keeps us focused on what really matters to us.

 a couple pics of our little tree.

     We headed up north for a few days over Christmas. First, we spent a couple of days at my dad's house and had a great time! It was so nice to spend some quality time there and watch the kids play with all of the fun stuff there and open their gifts! We also went over to my grandma's house for the big McMullen family gathering and had a lovely time there too. I always love catching up with my family and spending time with them. 

 loving Lily!

 playing pool with Grandpa is always the funnest part of going to his house. this time, the kids were getting a real pool lesson. :)

After having fun at Grandpa and Grandma's house, we went to Brainerd to stay at Nana's house for Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful time there too! I think the best part was that Santa came Christmas morning. We also got to spend time with my brother, Steve, and sister-in-law, Alison.

 we definitely needed a fire. it was freezing outside!

 this was Ethnie's letter to Santa. not sure if you're able to read it, but it was the sweetest thing.

 new jammies (very low lighting when I took these pictures so some didn't turn out so well)

 quality is bad, but her face....priceless.

 not quite understanding what's going on...

 new ballet apparel

 so grateful to Nana

 Christmas morning aftermath

 Elsa!

We hope all of you had a special Christmas this year! Cheers to 2013!