Our trip to MN

This past wkd, we got a chance to take a vacation to MN to visit our friends Beth and Jason. We weren't sure it was going to work out because both girls had really bad colds. Mianna was getting over hers, but Hadley had just gotten it. But fortunately we got to go, however, we didn't do any of the outdoor activities we had planned. But Beth and Jason kept us busy doing a lot of other fun stuff! We got there late Thursday night after a very drive. Hadley slept pretty much the whole way, but Mianna was too excited to sleep. So, it took us about 8 hours with all the potty stops! Friday we Beth and Jason took us to Mall of America. Mianna enjoyed riding on the carousal a couple times. Then Jason took her on a little ride for kids that looked like it was going to be really slow and putzy, but once it started, it was FAST! It was not a putzy ride! I thought for sure Mianna was going to freak out, but she didn't. She just hang on to Jason REALLY TIGHT! It was a kid version of a roller coaster! Then Beth took her on the little choo choo train! :) Me, Jason, and Andy decided to go on a roller coaster ourselves. It was a ton of fun! We spent pretty much the whole day there! After riding all day, spinning on the carousal, and playing in Lego land, we were ready to go. That night we ordered a papa murphy's pizza and rented a movie. It was nice just to hang out with Beth and Jason! Saturday, we went to the MN children's museum! It was awesome! There was so much to see and so much was hands on! I like the Milw Children's museum, but this one was awesome! They even had a sesame street floor! Mianna really enjoyed that! After the museum, we went to dinner at the old spaghetti factory! It was great food! :) After that, we went home, put the girls to bed, and played some games! Sunday, we hung out for a bit and then made our journey back home. It was another really long ride home with a couple obstacles on the way. A deer ended up running into the side of our van. We don't know the damage yet, didn't look like any really! But I'm going to wash the van today and check it out. It startled the girls quite a bit. The trip was absolutely awesome, busy, and fun! It was so nice to see Beth and Jason again and hang out! Thanks Jason and Beth for everything!

Staying busy

Its been awhile since I've updated our blog. Probably because we've been so busy. So, I thought id just post a few pictures so you can see what we've been up to lately!



Lots of baking!



Hadley's not too sure about Ronald!
Mcdonalds playdates. Mianna still will not go into
the tunnels, but she enjoys watching everybody else!


Playing dress up



Sledding, sledding, and more sledding!

Mianna goes down all by herself this year!

( Last year she wouldn't go down at all!)

Mianna has been getting into art

Lots of toy playing!

Hadley loves her Johnny jump up

It definitely poops her out!

Mianna working on her painting!

Getting into my makeup

Lots of dancing!

Chrismtas tree 2007

We got our tree on Monday evening after work. When Andy was young, him and his dad would go out every year and cut down their own tree so Andy wanted to carry that tradition on with his own family. So that's what we did. We bundled up, went out on the wagon, and hiked for our tree. Andy cut it down and the guy was nice enough to drag it back for us since we both had our hands full carrying the girls. The night was getting late after Andy fought wtih the cheap tree stand we had all night so decorating had to wait for Tues night. So, Tuesday night we got all our decorations out and put them all on the tree. Mianna loved putting on the ornaments this year! Every time she put one on, she got all excited and we all got hugs! :) It was very cute! Hadley played with the garland all night. The best part was looking at all the ornaments and remembering the memories that went with them. When the tree was all decorated, Andy lifted Mianna up to put the angel on the top. We decided this would be a tradition when Mianna was born; ok, I decided this would be a tradition seeing that i love traditions :) Since Mianna was born, she always put up the angel. Actually this is the first year that she could literally put it on the tree. She felt pretty special. Were going to have to think of a tradition for Hadley so she doenst feel left out... The tree turned out very cute. Last night I was sitting on the couch getting all teary eyed as I couldn't take my eyes off it thinking how lucky Andy and I are to have such a special family! God has been so good to us! Thank you God!!!!

Fun in the snow

Mianna's been pretty excited with all the snow we've been getting. Last wk, we decided to go out and play! It was cold, but she kept saying she didn't want to go in so we kept playing. We made snow angels, sled down the little hill in the backyard where i work, and trampled through the deep snow. The hill was icey so the sled went really fast. I'm not sure she liked that so much, so she decided to slide down on her butt instead. She actually went pretty fast so i decided to try it out. It was a lot of fun! I'm not sure who had more fun, her or me! :)

Christmas festivites

Last wkd, Andy and I decided to take the girls to the Live Nativity Stable in Cedarburg. It was very cute. It was all acted out by grade school children. It was nice to give Mianna a better picture of where baby Jesus was born and how it was back then. The only thing I wonder is if she really thought that was the actual baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I think maybe at first she did, but then i explained to her that they were just pretending to be them to show us what it was like. I think maybe she understood a little bit. Anyways, it was very nice to see and even though it was a bit cold, I'm glad we went. We stayed for about 1/2 hour watching and singing Christmas songs with them, then we left because the girls were getting cold. I highly recommend checking it out. It was very cute and gives the little ones a better picture of where Jesus was born. It is every Friday before Christmas from 6:30-7:30 in Cedarburg.

After that, we decided to take a ride to Belgium to see the house that lights up to music. It was very cool. We went last year too. Mianna enjoyed it a lot this year. If you've never been there, I would check it out! You turn on your radio to a specific station and the lights on the house light up with the music. This year they had a big sign lit up that said, "Jesus is the reason for the season." I was very impressed. I hope we can go again!

MRI and Ultra sound update

Hadley's MRI and Ultra sound results came back. As for the MRI, everything looked great. The cartilage where the bones will be forming where right in place meaning this issue is nothing more than scoliosis. As for the ultra sound, the Dr said that her kidneys look a bit small for her age. She didn't know what that meant so she called the urology Dr and got back to me the next day. That Dr said as of right now because she's so young, there not too worried about it, but they want her to get another ultra sound in a year to make sure they are growing properly. I don't know what it means to have small kidneys, but I think I'd rather not so I don't worry about the unknown. Right now, were not worried about it. I think they'll catch up :)
We have another apt with the orthopedic in Feb. to follow up on Hadley's spine. If it continues to curve more, then she will be put in a brace. If it gets better, chances are it will straighten out on its own.
I will keep you updated! Thanks for praying!

Christmas cookie baking day

Every year since I was a little girl, my sister and I would always have a Christmas cookie baking day with my mom. We'd even get to play hookie from school for it! :) It's been one of my favorite traditions. This year, we had help from our little cookie bakers! It was a lot of fun to carry on the tradition with our own daughters. I had a lot of fun spending some quality time with my mom and sister and look forward to it next year!

The Rorabeck's got Elfed!

This is really cute! Check out this website!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1159812823