Travis, Sarah, & Maggie + One More

Monday, February 2, 2015

Maggie's Winter Gala

Maggie has reached another milestone: putting on a music program at school! On Jan 27th, Travis and I were able to watch Maggie and her classmates put on an adorable program and art show. We are amazed at what her teacher is able to accomplish with 20 three-year-olds! It's amazing.

Maggie's Winter Gala Video

Monday, January 5, 2015

Christmas 2014

As we return back to work after some glorious time away, it makes for a perfect time to reflect! We had a blessed Christmas season and were able to see Burnetts, Hochsprungs, and Rothers. While we might complain about the Minnesota winters A LOT and dream about moving to a warmer locale, being close to our families is priceless.

Our first Christmas celebration was right away at the beginning of December. Grandma Joy and Papa Joy (what Maggie calls her Grandpa Don) always host a fun family celebration the first weekend in December. I think the highlight for Maggie was having her picture taken LOTS of times. She's a total ham! Gets that from Daddy, obviously. We also had a great time hunting down the tree for Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was Maggie's first year looking for the tree. Wonderful memories.

The Burnett Christmas confirmed that Maggie is obsessed with babies as she would rarely let Jamis or Titan (her cousins) out of her sight. We were negligent parents and forgot to take pictures. Luckily, Auntie Cari got one of Maggie and Jamis hanging out poolside at the hotel. It was great to be with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, and lots of cousins on Dec 20th.

Christmas Eve we celebrated as a family of three. Travis made a delightful brunch and Maggie opened gifts from mommy and daddy. We go by the rule of three for her gifts: 1) educational: a new book that she just adores about a little boy who uses TOO MUCH GLUE 2)practical: bubble bath and some new bath crayons 3) fun: tickets to Disney's Frozen on Ice. The premise of the rule of three is that baby Jesus got three gifts, so we give 3 gifts to remember his birthday. It also really helps us not get carried away! We also went to church together as Travis sang at two services at Family of Christ in Chanhassen. They have welcomed us with open arms as new members and Travis has jumped right into being actively involved with music. It was a treat to hear him sing such special music. After church we joined Grandma Kimmie and Papa Dan at the Mystic Lake Steakhouse for dinner.....delicious way to end a wonderful day!

We spent Christmas morning with the Rothers and had a nice time eating brunch and visiting. (Funny how food is such an important theme of this post!) Patty and Jamie really know how to host a lovely event. Maggie enjoyed every minute of being around another baby! She was loving Grayson (Travis's cousin Chelsea's son) SO much. We only worry about her loving her own brother or sister TOO much. Luckily, babies are pretty boring when they are first born, so we hope Maggie becomes a little less infatuated with babies then. It's a delight to see her interact so lovingly towards others.

Mid-afternoon, we left Patty and Jamie's for Dundas. We were excited to join Grandma Kimmie, Papa Dan, and the Hochsprung family for Christmas dinner. It was the perfect ending to a busy, family-filled day. Grandma Kimmie, Auntie Karen, and Uncle Troy outdid themselves with the food. Everything was rich and delicious.

All of our Christmas festivities reminded us of how blessed we are. We are looking forward to an amazing 2015 as we welcome Baby Nugget into our family. On Sunday, our pastor asked us during her sermon to think about a single word that represents our personal goal for 2015. The word "balance" popped into my head right away, as I am sure it's prone to do for most working parents. Travis's word is "less" as he thinks about his roles of husband, father, teacher, and coach. Wish us luck as we tackle 2015!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Fast forward 16 months or so...

The last year+ has brought us such a tremendous amount of joy. We are settled into our home and love it from top to bottom. It has been a wonderful place to watch Maggie grow from a toddler into a pre-schooler. Our little girl is kind, spunky, and smart. She is queen of the one liners and puts a smile on our faces every day.

As Travis recently posted on Facebook:
My favorite Maggie quote of the day: "You know what song I have stuck in my head?" Pause for dramatic effect. "Baa Baa Black Sheep."

Above and beyond it all, the most magical thing has been watching Maggie step into the big sister role even before Baby Nugget is here! Earlier this week she woke up early from her nap at day care and was just laying on her cot. Her teacher asked her what she was doing. "Thinking" was Maggie's response. Wanting to dig deeper, and knowing that Maggie has a gift for saying funny things, Maggie's teacher asked, "Thinking about what?" Without skipping a beat, Maggie replied, "About Baby Nugget." Hearing this little story just warmed our hearts!

Daddy and Maggie attended a "Frozen"-themed Princess Ball. Maggie was just thrilled to have such special time with Daddy. We look forward to creating more unique memories like this for both of our children. (Wow! It feels weird to write BOTH of our CHILDREN.)

We are so excited to see what March brings as our family of three expands into a family of four.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Jacoby's Birthday Party!

We had the pleasure of heading to Western Minnesota for little Jacoby's 1st birthday party. Maggie has only met Jacoby a few times, but you would think he is her best friend. She sings about him. She is always asking us, "Where's Jacoby!?"

We headed out to Morris a few days early so Maggie could get some family time in. She and Jacoby got to play a little.

Jacoby loves his sandbox!

At the party, Maggie had fun playing with the big girls and the cool toys that Aunt Cari has!

Cousin time in the sandbox!

And Grandma Becky!

I don't think cousin Rayna liked that Maggie was sitting in her chair.

Maggie with Great Grandpa!

This will be great blackmail some day!

Maggie loved the slip and slide and her cousins really helped her get the full effect!

Mostly she dominated the slip and slide by splashing around on it and jumping into the reservoir at the end. You can see, she had quite the audience and enjoyed putting on a show.