I spoke too soon...

For one glorious day I was under the delusion that everyone in our home was back in good health...haha, I jinxed us. Norah has caught a miserable version of the cold and Ryan and I aren't far behind. We're trying to keep our sniffles to ourselves! Ugh, this has been a gross winter for cold and flu. Poor Norah has such a hoarse voice, I can hardly hear her. Ahhh...fun times. Needless to say I haven't taken any pictures of how cute we've been the past couple days. :-)

Hope everyone is well and in better health than here in the Skogen household!

Out and About

After a couple of sick days we enjoyed a casual day out and about. Norah and I went to Grandma's house and dropped of a belated birthday present for Uncle Kodiak. We gave him a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, so afterwards went to B&N to watch him spend it. Grandma and Norah played in the kids corner with the Thomas the Tank Brio extravaganza while Kodiak and I browsed around the store...fun for everyone! Topped it off with a trip to Starbucks (where Grandma likes to sneak bits of her pumpkin muffin to Norah) and we had a fun, quiet day. Its nice to be back into the regular, non-holiday, routine of life!

This pic has nothing to do with our day, but its one of my faves of Mom and Norah - from one of Neil's wedding receptions.

Go Aggies!

Norah, supporting Uncle Neil and Aunt Dannelle.
Yay, Utah State University!

The many Christmas parties of 2005

We had lots of fun visiting family this year - the week of Christmas was a whirlwind of family parties. Thanks to everyone for including us in the action!

Christanakuh 2005
Woo, was it busy exchanging presents with the 4 little ones - can't imagine what next year will be like with 5!

Sophie and Sara...................Playing with Solomon


What a cute family!.......... Glamorous Aunt Meeps

Lotsa Practice........................ I love my Grandpa!

Christmas Eve

At the Macielinskis with Grandpa and Gramma Joyce. We really enjoyed visiting with everyone and Norah loved playing with Strider.

Whew, was Norah ready for bed on Christmas Eve! She could barely stay awake while we changed her into her special Christmas jammies from Grandma Carmen - we read a couple of Christmas stories then tucked her in.
Unfortunatly Santa waited till the last minute to put together Norah's new wagon. He finished around 1:00am...
...but Norah was up at 7:30 on Christmas morning!

Opening Stockings
"Feeding" her new baby
The wagon is a hit with Norah, although Jones was not too thrilled. :-) You'd think he'd like being buckled in...

Finally off to Aunt Kaye's for the Butler Family Christmas dinner.
Snuggling with Great-Grandma Playing with Uncle Kodiak

You can't catch me! Kiss goodbye from cousin Clair

Our first Christmas tree with Norah

It was cold, rainy and muddy, but she had a great time...!

Grandma Carmen's visit

We had such a fun time during Carmen's visit! She was a good sport about Jonesy's adoration of her (he's using her as a pillow, below). One morning Norah woke up, grabbed a book and climbed up on Grandma's lap to read with her. They cuddled and read for quite a while.
Norah was exhausted after her exciting birthday extravaganza. She snuggled up with Grandma for a bottle and rest, in her special birthday jammies from Carmen.
We can't wait for Grandma's next visit!

Happy Birthday!

I'm a rockstar!

Norah's first birthday was this last weekend and we celebrated with a family luncheon. Thanks to all that were there, it was so special to share the fun occasion with you.

Norah had such a good time! She loved opening presents with Daddy.

Grandma Carmen even flew in from California to share the day. We were so lucky to have her with us and can't wait for the next visit!

Thanks to Uncle Damien for capturing everything on film!