Ella's first solo ride

Last night, Carl took Ella's training wheels off her bike, and she tried riding by herself! Although she did try a little last summer, she really hasn't had much practice riding by herself. We were all pretty impressed with her first solo ride :)

She is pretty proud of herself...here is a sneak peak!

My new camera!

For quite some time now, I have wanted to purchase a new "big girl" camera . . . and this past weekend I finally pulled the trigger! Carl heard a advertisement on the radio for a big sale going on at National Camera Exchange. I ended up getting $170 off of my new-and-improved camera (which has two lenses!!)

I have joined a "Shutterbug Club". It is a group of teachers who are interested in learning more about photography. It is headed up by a awesome professional photographer who also works in our building. I can't wait to learn as much as I can from him!

I had fun snapping a few photos this past weekend . . . even though I really don't know how to use it yet!! Here are some of my first shots:

Yeah!! We finally got outside :)

so big!

this shot was taken after multiple flashes!

Joc was at the lake this past weekend with her friend, Mandy, which is why she is not featured in any of my photos. Hopefully I will have many more photos to come!

Better late than never. . .

Two weekends ago, we headed north and west to FINALLY meet my nephew, Myles John. He is a sweet little boy who seems to be very cuddly, happy and satisfied :) His mommy, Jessy, looked great (sickeningly great!) and looked like an old pro as she fed and cared for her little man.

M.J. was a real trooper. He tagged along as we went to lunch, hung out at home, and then even took a 45 minute drive to Argyle! I can't wait to watch him grow up and become great play-mates with his cousin, Claire (they are only 9 months apart - - same as Jocie and Daysha)!

Carl stayed back in Argyle on Saturday to take part in the "Vintage Snowmobile Run". This is an annual event that starts in Stephan, goes to Argyle, then onto Warren, and then doubles back the way they came (40 miles total). The race starts at the Northern Lights Bar (shocker) in Stephan, where all of the snow-cats line up for judging. Then the racers head down main street to show off their machines in a parade. The racers then head down the river banks, and speed away (or not . . .depending on the shape of the snowmobile) towards Argyle, where a pit stop is needed at the Farmer Dell (also a bar . . . starting to catch a theme?)

After refreshments at The Dell, the racers head towards Warren to Mick's Bar . . . if their classic snowmobile has the guts to make it that far. Many racers are not that lucky, and breakdown before they can make it. Lucky for Carl and Dwaine, they had a pit-crew (Loren and Diane Adolphson) following them in their vehicle, just in case they were to break down. They made sure to keep a close eye on Team Adolphson throughout their journey! After the second pit-stop, they headed back to the Legion in Argyle for polish sausage and sour kraut. They finished up the run by ending where they started in Stephan.

After all that excitement and fresh air, Carl slept like a rock . . . and so did Claire :)

On Sunday after church we headed to East Grand Forks for brunch at Boppa's house, where we got to spend a little more time with Myles before we had to hit the road.

Here are all the grand kids on the Lundby side . . .poor M.J., surrounded by so many women!

But, on the other side, he has many loving cousins that will be watching out for him!

This weekend, we helped throw a baby shower for Katie (Darin's Katie) who is expecting a baby in the next few weeks. I had fun putting together this diaper cake for the food table.

Katie's due date is April 8th, so we may have yet another Adolphson Easter Baby (same as Daddy Darin, and Cousin Claire). We can't wait to meet him or her!

(Dana, Grandma Judy, Ella, Katie (Darin's), Katie (Keith's), me and Claire)

We've got a crawler!

Claire is in motion! She started moving by rolling to where she wanted to go, then up-graded to scooting on her butt. Now, she is officially crawling :) I don't know if I'm ready to have a mobile baby yet...but I guess I have no say in the matter.

Here is a sneak peak....

The last games

Jocie's second year of traveling basketball has come to an end. Last year, as forth graders, most girls were new to the game and were just getting used to playing as a team. Often times at tournaments, they were put up against 5th grade teams and struggled to score many points.

This year as fifth graders, they really learned how to play as a team. Many of the girls from last year came back to play again this year, which made our team stronger. The girls practiced really hard, and along with Coach Carl's brilliant plays, the girls had an amazing year!

This weekend, we had our final games against Waconia and Glencoe/Silver Lake and beat them both, which brought their final record to 16-2!!


Jocie played some great defense (as you can see). According to Carl, she still needs to work on being more aggressive. He said he won't be satisfied until she starts getting fouls for knocking girls down when she boxes them out...


As you can see....I need a new camera!! If you can see (in this dark picture) Jocie was playing such great defense that she caused a turn-over during this play by intercepting this pass.

Claire watched the games intently...while taking frequent water breaks :)

Time Out - the girls needed some words of encouragement

After being fouled, Jocie went to the line to "swish" this free throw. Look at that form!!

Carl getting Jocie fired up!

After wins, the girls always meet in the middle of the gym to do their "Magic" cheer....along with the water girl, Ella!

The girls are looking forward to the summer when they will make a few 3 on 3 teams so they can enter into the St. Michael 3 on 3 tourneys. We can only hope that next year will be as great as this season has been!

a LOVEly day

Our Valentine's celebration started on Saturday night after church, when Carl took his 4 Valentine's out for dinner. Much to our appreciation, all three girls were very well behaved :)

On Sunday morning, we all got to sleep in until about 7:00 (woo-hoo!). Carl left to get the paper, and came back with flowers and Caribou for everyone! I got a LARGE coffee and a lovely bouquet of flowers.

The two older girls enjoyed a cocoa . . .

. . . . and each girl was given a red, long-steamed red rose (ahhhhhh)

Now it was my turn to give some Valentine Love. I made my usual Valentine morning breakfast of pink, heart-shaped pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs and cut heart-shaped strawberries.

Claire got to eat her very first pancake. She didn't know what to think about it at first. She looked at it for awhile . . .

and then she looked at me with a, "what am I supposed to do with this?" look.

Once I cut it up, she dug right in and ate every last morsel!

I think the best part of this years Valentine's Day was just relaxing and hanging out together. Sometimes it's nice to get all dolled up, get a baby-sitter, and head out for a romantic night on the town with your hubby, but I must say, this was WAY better!

Birthday Party #2

This past weekend, Jocie had her "friend" birthday party. We celebrated by taking four of Jocie's friends to the Holiday Inn/Indoor Water Park in Elk River. The girls arrived at our house after school. We began by opening presents, and then we filled up BOTH our vehicles with GIRLS!!

When we first walked into our "Kid's Suite" we were blown away! It was a three room suite with a living room, master bedroom and a kid's bedroom equipped with a double bunk-bed and big screen TV (one of the three TV's in the suite) and gaming system! We quickly got into our suites and ran down to the water park. The girls swam for a while then took a pizza break up in the room. After dinner, Carl went back to the water park with the girls where they swam until closing time (10:00pm).

My camera wasn't working so well...too dark...but this is just the "kiddie" area. Then there was another huge area with 5 water slides and a "toilet bowl" slide!

Even Ella had a blast!!

Claire wasn't digging the water. Anytime we tried to put her toes in she immediately started to cry. So she spent most of her time having snacks on the sidelines.

Jocie was sick of birthday cake, so she opted to go with decorated "monster cookies" for her birthday treat.

Even though the room was quite loud and nobody got much sleep, we all had a lot of fun!