2009 - Year in Review
We have had quite a year. We started in Sydney, Australia. My mother and brother were over and experienced a true Minnesota winter. My grandma Zee turned 90 this year! Troy has developed a growing passion for exercise, while Emma can not do enough coloring. The house has gone through quite a change. We no longer have our "Vanilla" house; it has some color! We also had the first floor decked out in hardwood. Emma had her first and second hair cut this year. She also celebrated her second birthday with Dora's backpack. Troy's interest in cooking has grown and he loves helping me in the kitchen. We spent some time with Great Grandma and Grandpa Vondra. Matt celebrated his birthday - Transformers style! Troy also celebrated his birthday with Bumblebee. We attended our last Twins Baseball game in the Metrodome with Bob, Val, Wyatt and the Vondra family of Paul, Shannon, Kaeli and Isaac. We seemed to spend every other weekend at the lake this past summer. We just love it there! Matt and I were able to get away and have some adult time in Florida for Chad and Krista's wedding. Lastly, Troy was a knight for Halloween and Emma was a ghouly witch. WHAT A YEAR!A big thank you to everyone for making it a blessed year for us. We hope you have a great Christmas holiday, and we hope we can see you all in the new year.
Love,
The Merry Mehlbrechs
Our Visit With Santa
We had a great time at Thanksgiving with Bob, Val and Wyatt. The kids had no idea Wyatt was coming, so we loved their reaction.
Matt and I tried a few new recipes, courtesy of the food network. We had our usual apple pie from the Apple Orchard. The kids even watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade while we cooked. They are finally at that age where they were excited with the singing and dancing, and the huge balloons!
Val and I braved Black Friday, yet again. For getting up so early and dealing with crazy people, we have so much fun. My altercation with a woman in Wal-mart lead to some great memories and many laughs.
Finally, I was excited that the three kids could get together to have their photo with Santa. Troy was not feeling well, but was a trooper. Wyatt was a big help as well. It was just nice that Matt and I did not have to get in the picture this year.
I took video of the kids talking with Santa that I know I will keep watching for years to come.
My Two Rascally Rabbits
I just received some of Troy and Emma's school pictures. They did quite well, if I do say so myself. Only a couple of cheesy, goofy smiles from Troy. Let me know if you want one of their pictures.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
TRICK-OR-TREAT! This was the first year we finally understood that saying. Troy wanted to dress up like Captain Hook for a long time, until he spotted a rather large sword at Target. From then on he was fascinated with being a knight. We found a costume on ebay and the rest is history. Emma was a little harder to buy for. It is frigidly cold here, so as much as we would love to be every princess, the dresses do not keep much heat. So, this witch costume was available and we covered her in tights, leggings, two undershirts, a cardigan...and it was still not enough. Tonight it was 39 degrees farenheit, so many layers were needed.
We headed out with the wagon and a thick blanket. Emma did not last long and before we knew it she was in the wagon and covered up to her neck with the blanket. Troy kept running house to house..."mummy, which house is next?"
Emma and I headed back to the house after covering most of our street. Troy, on the other hand, couldn't get enough. So, he and Matt continued on.
They came back with quite a load of candy...more than any parent really wants their child to have. They had a lot of fun though. Enjoy the pics!
We will be posting more from recent events shortly.
GAP Casting Call
GAP Casting Call Click on this link to go to the homepage for the GAP casting call. You can just type in "Mehlbrech" and it will take you to vote! You can vote for each picture every day. Tell your friends to vote! Tell them to tell their friends to vote!
FOLLOW-UP To SnowFall
I think we received four inches in total. Kids down the street took advantage of the snow and made the first snowmen of the neighborhood. They stuck around for a few days.
As you can see, our turkeys were back as well. It has been a cold week, but next week is supposed to warm up quite a bit. I do not want to see this snow back for a long time!!
WINTER WEATHER UPDATE: Per FoxNews
A minor winter storm is moving our way and flurries will start to fill the air by early Monday morning. By daybreak Monday the snow will be accumulating in the Twin Cities. This could mean wet and slushy roads during the morning commute. Snow is expected to accumulate mostly during the morning and taper off in the afternoon ending by evening. In the Metro we expect 2 to 3 inches. Wind won’t be much of a factor with this system and after the snow moves out clearing is expected Monday evening and Monday night.
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 1 am Monday through 4 pm Monday and it extends from the Twin Cities to southwestern Minnesota. An area of snow from 3 to 5 inches is expected south of a line from New River, Wisconsin to Stillwater and on to Redwood Falls then down to Worthington. Since this zone includes the southern metro we could see areas from Burnsville to Eagan and Lakeville get around 3 to 4 inches of snow.
I would say it has already started accumulating....GRRRRR!
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 1 am Monday through 4 pm Monday and it extends from the Twin Cities to southwestern Minnesota. An area of snow from 3 to 5 inches is expected south of a line from New River, Wisconsin to Stillwater and on to Redwood Falls then down to Worthington. Since this zone includes the southern metro we could see areas from Burnsville to Eagan and Lakeville get around 3 to 4 inches of snow.
I would say it has already started accumulating....GRRRRR!
"Baby, it's cold outside...."
kare11.com Twin Cities, MN First snow falls but more is on the wayShared via AddThis
I hope I did this right and you can check out this article. We woke up to snow on the ground today, the earliest since 1985. Yeah, not happy. We were supposed to have family pictures taken outside, so those were canceled.
The kids had gymnastics also, but at least we did not have to go far. I got outside with Troy and he said, "It's as cold as a refrigerator outside!! Brrrr...."
Monday is supposed to be a bit colder with possible accumulation. Now, why did we move to Minnesota again?
Vikings v. Packers - October 5, 2009
What a game!! We had a great time and we could not have asked for more! Favre had three touchdown passes, there were 8 sacks on the Green Bay Quarterback, and a safety in our Endzone! It was great to see Favre in action and for the team to do so well to beat the Packers! The Packer fans were quite nice also. They were high-fiving us towards the end for a job well done. Merry Christmas Matthew!
BIG SURPRISE!!
It is late on Friday, October 2nd here. Matt and the kids are upstairs sleeping. What Matt does not know is that I was able to obtain some tickets to Monday nights big football game, the Green Bay Packers v. the Minnesota Vikings!! Matt and I went last year for his Christmas present and we had such a good time! This year, with Brett Favre joining the Vikings, tickets were a little pricier than usual to see the big rivalry game. He currently thinks I was not able to get tickets. But, as the saying goes, I know a guy...
So, these pictures will be what Matt wakes up to tomorrow morning. A little scary, I know. However, he will hopefully be a little excited as well. SKOL Vikings!!!
P.S. Yes, I am still a Cowboy fan.
Gymnastics
The kids started taking gymnastics this fall. The school is just down the street and they are having a great time! We are also meeting some new families.
Emma is in the mini-mites group, for boys and girls who are 2-years-old. Matt or I attend the class with her. Her favorite apparatus at the moment is the trampoline.
Troy is in the muscle-mites, a class strictly for 4 year-old boys. He is really doing well and loves jumping into the sponge pit. The class is every Saturday morning and it seems to help us just start the weekend. I am sure these pictures bring back a lot of memories for my parents.
Florida Trip: Day Four
We finished up our last day going to the beach, reading by the pool, going miniature golfing and finally to Miller's Ale House to watch every football game known to man on various televisions.We met up with Chad and Krista and other friends and family to eat greasy food and enjoy our time before heading back to Orlando.
We made it back to Orlando for our last evening out. Texas de Brazil came highly recommended and who doesn't love having men walk around with meat on a stick?? They asked me what kind of lamb I wanted - chops, leg or rack, and I responded..."all of them!" I thought it was the obvious answer. We had a great dinner and a great trip. It all had to end though as we made our way back to Chicago on Monday. It was great while it lasted. A big thanks to Bob and Val for watching the kids!
Florida Trip: Day Three - Part III
Congratulations to Chad and Krista! The main reason we went down to Florida was to attend their wedding. Chad and I have been friends since freshman year of college. We met in an odd way and have been friends ever since.They had a beautiful wedding and Krista's dress was gorgeous! It was great to share their wedding day with them.
BTW, these pictures come courtesy from other people at the wedding. I, of course, forget my camera at the main event.
Florida Trip: Day Three - Part II
For those of you who know me, you know I hate NASCAR, a.k.a - car racing. However, it seemed kind of odd not going and checking out the most infamous race when it was right in front of us. It's huge! We were able to walk in and go up into the grandstand to see the track. These pictures were mainly for Becky, Matt's sister. So, enjoy! 
Becky, I have more if you want them.
Becky, I have more if you want them.
Florida Trip: Day Three - Part I
Saturday morning we made our way to the golf course near Daytona Beach. We worked out that I had not been golfing for over a year and boy did I have some work to do. The weather was nice and hot while we golfed the front nine.
Florida Trip: Day Two
Friday, we drove to Marineland, which is between St. Augustine and Daytona. Here we got our first glimpse of the Atlantic, and I was in heaven! We then had our turn to swim with the dolphins. A big thank you to the team at Marineland. They were great and let us experience so many things with the dolphins. Phoebe is the beautiful dolphin in the pictures. She is 7 years old and was a good sport.
Florida Trip: Day One
We flew into Orlando on Thursday, September 17th. It was nice and hot, but it was strange being in Orlando and not having the kids.
We made our way to Downtown Disney for a great seafood dinner, a Cirque du Soleil show and drinks at Pleasure Island. We had not really been to this area before since it is not really for children. However, it was nice to be able to do something we had not been able to do before.
"At the Car Wash..."
It is really hard to find good help these days, so it appears it all depends on your technique. As you can see in the pictures, we use the one handed technique as well as the finger painting technique. If these work for you, please call 555-WASH!!
The End of Summer
This is the last weekend that the "Africa" display is on at the Minnesota Zoo. So, we headed out early this morning and had a few good hours in the sun with the animals. We were not disappointed, it was a great day and the kids had a blast. 
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)