Happy New Year!

Chris and I are planning on going out for supper tonight with some friends and then over to their house for games. Thank you so much Cathy and Dale for keeping the kids for a few days so we can get some things done around the house and go out and celebrate the new year!

Best Animated, Festival, New year Forward this Picture

Brielle's New Hair Style

Brielle came home from daycare with a new hair style. It looks like she went to Jamaica on a vacation!

Christmas 2011

Happy Holidays! We had a great Christmas. We hosted Christmas Eve and Day for my family this year. My parents and sister came to our place, and we opened gifts Christmas Eve afternoon. I made a ham and all the fixings for supper on Christmas Eve. They stayed overnight, and my Grandma Vune drove down on Christmas Day. I made scalloped potatoes and ham for lunch. We played cards in the afternoon. On Monday, we went to Chris' mom and Dale's house and celebrated with the Chose family. We all had a good time playing games, eating, and opening gifts. Thanks for all the gifts!

A photo slideshow by Smilebox

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

School Holiday Program

Cade and Paige had their holiday program at school last night. They both did a good job, and it was fun to watch.

I thought this poinsettia was so pretty.

Sunday School Christmas Program

Today the kids had their Sunday School Christmas program. Cade had a reading part, Paige was an angel and sang "Angels We Have Heard on High", and Camden was supposed to sing "Away in a Manger", but he was pretty shy and didn't do any singing. Grandma Cathy, Dale, Grandpa John, Grandma June, and Trisha came for the program.

Where do your mom and dad work?

I just had to share this funny story: At daycare yesterday, Camden's teacher went around to each child and asked where their parents worked. Camden replied with, "My mom goes to the high school, and my dad goes to the college"! His teacher thought it sounded so funny, as did we, that she had to write that on his daily sheet that he brings home. We got quite the chuckle out of that!

We Saw Santa!

Tonight we went to see Santa at NDSCS. This is an annual tradition for us. The kids told Santa what they wanted for X-mas, and Santa gave them a gift bag full of goodies. Brielle was pretty unsure of Santa right away and clung tight to Mommy, but soon wanted to sit on Santa's lap and get a "treat". Camden had a lot of questions for Santa (What are your reindeer doing?, Do you really go in the sky?). The kids then decorated a Christmas cookie and made a chef hat. On the way home, Brielle kept saying, "My Santa!".

Decorating Christmas cookies

Brielle in her chef's hat

If you need a laugh, click on the link

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/C2xPvSdFtpOJId4U?cmpid=jj_url

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Breckenridge 3rd grade basketball tourney

Today, Paige played 3 games in Breckenridge's 3rd grade basketball tournament. They won their first game, so that was pretty exciting! Of the 8 points in that game, Paige scored 6 of them! I sure like their coach.....;) Haha!!

Tanya the Teenager

Yes, what you are seeing is true. I got braces today! This is a surprise to some of you because I didn't tell many people I was getting them....I wanted to surprise some people! I should've had them as a teen but didn't, so finally decided to take the plunge. I ended up having to get a tooth pulled on Halloween to make more room in my mouth, so I joked that I was a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. There is a chance I may have to have 2 more teeth pulled to make room, but hopefully not. I don't get my bottom braces on until January since my top teeth need to move some. If I would've gotten them on now, I wouldn't have been able to chew because my top braces would've hit my bottom ones. They look a little strange now but should look better the straighter my teeth become. After eating supper tonight, I said, "This is going to be a long 2+ years!". I couldn't believe how much food got stuck in them!!

At first Camden didn't like my braces, but now tells me that he likes them.

Brielle Dancing in Walmart

Here's our dancing girl dancing in Walmart.

Paige Playing Basketball

Here's a clip of Paige (#13 dribbling the ball) playing basketball. She's really improved since the first game and is really aggressive out there. She is having a lot of fun!

Happy Halloween!

New furniture

Since we sold our downstairs furniture that we'd had for many years on Craig's List in September, we were in need of some new furniture. We had originally thought that we were going to get a sectional for downstairs but then decided to get new furniture upstairs and move that set downstairs. We had looked this summer and hadn't found anything we really liked but finally found something a month ago. We knew we wanted leather because with the kids, it's easiest to clean. We ended up settling on a chocolate brown color for the new furniture, even though it's a similar color as our old furniture. We had to special order it for the color, but we were lucky and it only took 4 weeks to get as opposed to the 6-8 weeks we were told it usually takes. Our friend, Scott, was kind enough to lend us his muscles and help Chris move the furniture...thanks so much, Scott!!

Chris and Scott moving the recliner downstairs.
Our downstairs furniture

****NEW FURNITURE***

The recliner and reclining couch.

The rocking and reclining loveseat.

Brookgreen Gardens

On our trip, we went to Brookgreen Gardens (http://www.brookgreen.org), which was near Myrtle Beach. There was so much to see and do there....tons of plants, flowers, trees, and statues.

Paige starts basketball

Paige started 3rd grade basketball, and Chris is her coach. The team consists of both 2nd and 3rd graders since there weren't very many 3rd grade girls. The girls are VERY new to basketball so have a lot to learn. They played their first game yesterday and lost. They improved greatly though from the first half to the second half.

Chris is a Pit Crew Member

We went to the "Nascar Hall of Fame" in Charlotte, NC. It just opened last year and was really nice. Here's a video of Chris pretending to be a pit crew member.

Good Morning from Myrtle Beach!

Here's a view from our hotel....it's a beautiful sunny day in the 70s right now. We're having a lot of fun! The ocean is beautiful!

Paige is "Student of the Month" for September

Once again, Paige was chosen to be "Student of the Month" for September. She was chosen by her 3rd grade teachers, Mrs. Werner. Congratulations, Paige!

Brielle & Jenny

Carol brought her new puppy, Jenny, to our house this weekend, and the kids really liked her. Here is Brielle holding Jenny. And, no we will not be getting a dog!

Happy Birthday, Tanya

Happy Birthday to a wonderful wife and mother!!

"E" is for Electricity

Camden has been studying the letter "E" this week at daycare, so his class took a trip to Ottertail Power Company to talk about "electricity". They all had a lot of fun! He is the one in the blue hat next to his teacher in the blue shirt.

The Doctor to the Rescue

We've been at the doctor quite a bit lately. Yesterday, daycare called saying they thought Camden had an ear infection, so I brought him in. Turns out he has a sinus infection, which he got antibiotics for. Tonight, we had to take Camden in to get a cut that he got at daycare glued...another child sliced him on his eyebrow with a plastic shovel. Brielle has been sick all week. She lost her voice on Monday and has been getting worse all week. She's been coughing and congested and started running a fever, so we brought her in, and she's being treated for strep throat/sinus infection. Since it was the evening, she couldn't be tested for strep, but it was going around daycare, so he gave her Zithromax. Hopefully she'll start feeling better soon...she just hasn't been feeling very well at all! I had the 24 hr. stomach flu on Monday, so hopefully this "junk" will soon leave our house!

Root Canal

Well, I had a root canal today in Fargo at Cook Endodontics, and I survived (barely)! It really wasn't very pleasant. I was feeling pain many different times and required many shots of anesthesia. He assured me that this was normal and happens to 70% of people. Maybe that's why root canals get such a bad name!? He needed to give me anesthesia right to the roots in order for me to be relieved of pain. I'm taking pills for pain and am doing OK. It was 1 1/2 hours of "not much fun". But the good news is....it's over!! The bad news is he thinks another one of my teeth may need one before too long. Ugh! I would definitely recommend an endodontist do a root canal over just a dentist. They are definitely the root canal specialists!

Cade Plays Football in Lisbon

We made the trip to Lisbon on Tuesday night as Cade's football team played Lisbon. We went a little early and had supper with Grandpa John and Grandma June, as well as Grandma Vune before the game. Cade's team ended up losing their first game, but they had fun, and it was a beautiful evening for a football game. Grandma Cathy and Dale were there (Dale was taking lots of pictures). It was a late night for everyone but also a fun one!

Cade was one of the captains that got to go out for the coin toss, which they won.

'51 Chevy Sedan Delivery

We finally sold Rodney's old '51 Chevy Sedan Delivery that he had intended to fix up. We had advertised it quite awhile ago with no luck. We listed it again on Craig's List and sold it to a guy from Breckenridge. He's a really nice guy who is going to fix it up and drive it, hopefully by this spring. He even told Chris that he was going to put "In Memory of Rodney Storhoff" on the back of the car. That meant so much to Chris. He also told Chris that he can take it for a drive whenever he wants and help out fixing it up if he wants. Not only is the car going to a good home, but Chris also developed a new friendship with him and his wife (who is Robbie Daniels from 107.9 THE FOX Radio Station)! We couldn't be happier that the car will be very near us, and Rodney would be happy, too!

NDSCS Homecoming Parade

Today NDSCS had their homecoming parade. Chris' IT Dept. entered a float for the first time. He'd been busy in his spare time preparing for this, and they did a good job. He drove the pickup and pulled a trailer. Cade was on the back throwing candy with some of his co-workers and their friends/family. Paige, Camden, Brielle, and I enjoyed watching the parade. The kids got 3 ice cream pails full of candy!


Chris driving the pickup in the parade. Their motto was "Delete the Chaparrals"!

Brielle LOVED the band's music as you can see!

First Football Game

Cade had his first tackle football game tonight, and his team won 30-0! He played offensive line tonight. He has another game on Thursday night. Let the fun begin!

Cade is wearing the yellow long-sleeved shirt under his jersey,
so he's easy to spot (he's #68)!

A Busy Saturday

Yesterday was "Headwater's Day" in Breckenridge. We went to the parade at 10:30. It was so beautiful out...a great morning for a parade. The kids got a lot of candy. That afternoon, Chris took Cade, Jack (Cade's friend), and Camden to the NDSCS football game. That evening we had some friends over, and Camden got to play with his new friend, Henry. It was a busy day!

Brielle & Camden waiting to get candy.




Cade rode in a pickup pulling the Breckenridge Lutheran Church float.
He really enjoyed throwing candy. (Cade is in the light gray shirt).

*Below Cade and Camden are showing their decorated faces at the NDSCS football game.

First Day of School

Today was Cade and Paige's first day of school. They were pretty excited. They both said they had a great day. Camden and Brielle had a pretty good day at daycare as well. Brielle surprised us by not crying when being dropped off. Camden was restless at naptime; but otherwise, enjoyed playing with his old buddies.