the big ski girl

Pip, xmas and a party

Merry xmas everyone !! Hope your holiday was full of love, laughter and family . We finally had some snow so we went skate skiing for the first time this year. Lilja did amazing and I can truely say it was one of my favorite days so far. We had some friends over for xmas that did not have family around and we had a great time .

Lilja carried pip today when he got tired. She is a great dog owner and cares so much for Pip. 

Running ahead , two buddies

First sled ride down our hill with pip. Not sure if he appreciated it but he  had no choice .

Lilja's present from dara and eddy was a huge hit ! Pip was not sure about it !

Look wat came in lilja's stocking ?

He is such a good boy 

Merry xmas from the three of us, plus pip and maggie !

They play so cute together . Here pip is trying to pull her sled . Trying hard !

We only did this once to him 

This is the way we go walking the big dogs .. the little guy gets carried 

Lilja did amazing skiing her first day of the season. Love that toothless smile !

Previous morning, lilja on her kindle while Pip is passed out 

Xmas performance 2016

Last night was lilja's first grade xmas performance . It was remarkable to see the difference in lilja in one year . We really feel her teacher has made a huge difference in lilja's confidence . What you do not see in this video is her jumping up and down from excitement . You can't keep a jumping girl down ;)

Busy last couple of weeks

Well, Pip has been with us for two weeks and he is doing great . Lilja and him are becoming buddies and she is looking forward to her vacation so she can play with him all the time. She is a little jealous that he is with me all the time .I am loving having a little pipsqueak around ..but it is a lot of work. We had waljs, playdates, santa and lots more this week. Here is an overview.

Santa ofcourse this year . She did not ask for anything this year except a shirt with a corgi on it and guess what ..a shirt with a corgi on it appeared miraculously a week later from Mimi, lilja's birthgreatgrandma. Not sure how she knew that but what a wonderful gift.. lilja loved it . Santa has to pick up his game !!

Not sure if she is starting to not believe.. aubri her best friend realized it was a husband of a friend of her family . How do you explain that ?

Lilja and I went to the nutcracker, all dressed up. Did not realize till later that we got photobombed ! See Pip?

First little walk in public at our annual leonard burch walk . He did not win

Oh my look at that grin. As of today her two front teeth are out and a little lisp has appeared. It is very hard not to laugh .

Our "finding our xmas tree" picture with Pip in tow 

Lilja is loving hom

Maggie not so much 

Loving our new walks we are doing !! The big positive for having Pip.. exercise! !

Tada...her two front teeth are out !!

A girl and her dog

Lilja had her xmas performance last night . What a difference a year makes . The little shy girl was no more . She sang her heart out, was silly and did amazing . SO PROUD Of HER 

A girl and her dog

After careful consideration.. we decided that lilja needed a dog in her little life . a dog  to snuggle with, take care of, to love and to play with .. so Pip was chosen to complete her little life. we were going to pick him up on Dec 16th, but the breeder has counted the weeks wrong and we could pick him up on friday ..a surprise for lilja!

Pip, pipster, pipesaurus, pipsqueak or little pain in the butt ..

He is trying to make friends with maggie, but she is not appreciating him hanging on her tail ..so he needs to try harder

If I would let her, she would walk around like that all day 

Getting closer 

But no, he got push off the bed very deliberately , he does not care...yet 

Our first morning with Pip.. lilja is in love 

And we are too

His ears will start standing up pretty soon. sometimes we get a little glimpse of the true Corgi face 

On our ride home. lilja did not believe us when we told her we could take him home . but when she got in the car she said, come on boy, let's go home . 

Toothless lilja

Well, the teeth are starting to fall out . we are up to number three now. probably number four pretty soon.

Happy thanksgiving !!

Happy Thanksgiving !! So thankful to be a family , to have all our family healthy and happy , to have a wonderful house , great friends and to love our jobs.. we are so thankful !!

Aran's best friend Matt, Jacci his wife and their two daughters Eleanor and alice came and joined us for thanksgiving . lilja loves the girls and they had a blast . however she is now in bed with a 102 fever ..

The girls and I had a nice hike to the river .. three girls and water  ..yep none of them were dry by the end of the hike 

Our weekly visit to Pip was monday.  oh my he is getting big. lilja just carries him around everywhere and he just relaxes . very cute ! 

7 years ago

7 years ago we became a family... after a failed adoption where we had met the mom at 6 months pregnant, went to the hospital and loved Jessi for one month. The adoption fell through. We lost a child and were heart broken. On veteran day 7 years ago we both were doing our own thing. We had huddled down, cried a lot and became a stronger couple through this. Aran was cutting wood and I had just asked him if I should hang the baby clothes back up or put them in storage .. a call came .. a birth mom had chosen us and would like to meet us. We were so excited, scared and aprehensive at the same time . We met jasmin that Saturday and just loved this soft spoken, sweet, funny girl. We knew she would fit in our family as we had decided on an open adoption. Luckily she loved us too..and we went to meet Lilja . That little girl with the curly head of hair captured our hearts instantly . The next day was the placement ceremony with jasmin. A very emotional ceremony on which we pledged to always be there for lilja as a triangular system. Birthparents to adoptive parent to lilja . Then we took Lilja home.. and had the first night as a family . Thank you jasmin for chosen us , we are indebted to you always . You made us a family !

Our first night as a family 

The picture lilja's cradle care mom took of lilja as I asked about her .  she said.. nicole, come get her, look she is smiling for you !! 

Last couple of weeks

Because I was still sick.. yes it has been pneumonia .. we did not do very much .. just laid low, got our wood and cleaned the house to de-germ it . Now aran is hunting and hopefully will bring some yummy deer meat home ..so it is just lilja and I for the next week.

We did go to a science fair and did some fun experiments . lilja loved it and I bet she will become a science girl ! here they added vinegar to baking soda to see what would happen.. that balloon blew up !!

Oh my is she getting big or what .. this year really "helping" daddy stack wood.

We won 1500 dollars from ashley furniture, so we got a leather  chair and a half. This is why... snuggled up watching TV together !! 

Gotta add some favorite pictures from Pip.. lilja just can' wait . she thinks we are going to pick him up December 16th   but we are actually getting him the 9th.. surprise lilja !!