Our Big Girl

Svea is our funny girl.

She's messy.

She's cute.

She drags her little potty out to the family room to take care of business.

And she wears the most gorgeous outfits!

We love you, Svea!

Just another ordinary day

Another sleepless night. Ants in the kitchen. Potty-training failure. A spider. Cute kids. Fun snacks. And pirate fighting! All in one day!!

Good morning, sunshine!

He just loves his little sister.

Even when she grabs his eyebrows and pulls!

Wow! Look at those legs!

Napping after being up so much at night . . . got to catch up on her sleep so she can keep me up tonight!

Some snack fun. Graham crackers, chocolate chips, and marshmallows . . .

Waiting for the marshmallows to turn golden . . .

A self-portrait by Viggo! I can't even believe I am letting him touch my camera. I must really love him!

Yum. This isn't junk food, right?

This basket of laundry sat on the porch all day. I was about to fold it this morning when Svea discovered a spider in it. I hate spiders. They give me the willies. So, instead of searching through the laundry looking for it, I just put the basket out on the porch. It sat there for about six hours. Then we had to check it . . . Viggo didn't want to, and I considered paying him but then decided I would probably live if I actually found - and had to kill - the spider. So I ended up folding laundry on the porch, which was actually very pleasant. And thank goodness, I didn't find the spider.

While folding the spider laundry, Viggo created this thing. I'm not quite sure what the final name was but it was some sort of swamp boat creation. And Svea ran around in the front yard, screaming.

She was scaring the pirates away.

Fred the Larva

Viggo has all sorts of little friends.

Meet Fred the larva.


As you can see, Fred joined us for lunch.

Yep. There he is in all his green, wiggly, legless, disgusting glory.

I'm sorry to say Fred didn't make it through the night.

Poor Fred.

Sleeping Beauty

Our little sleeping beauty . . . she's just so pretty!

Time to wake up! Of course we usually see these bright little eyes in the middle of the night. We're working on the day/night thing . . .

Farewell to a friend

Last Monday our friend Bryon went to be with the Lord. He leaves behind him his sweet wife, Joy, and two wonderful kids - they are such a dear family. Nate and I spent the week wishing we were back in Minnesota, helping the family out in any we could. It is horrible to feel so helpless. I have been thinking about Joy and the kids constantly and just praying that in some way God can bring peace to their hearts.

My favorite memory of Bryon was shortly after his daughter, and Viggo, were born (they are three days apart). He and Joy and Nate and I all managed to be at church one Sunday when the babies were a month old, and we were all sleep deprived - but happy. When I saw his little girl in his arms I said, "Oh, she's beautiful!" And I will never forget the look on Bryon's face as he gazed at her - he was just so in love with his gorgeous daughter, and so proud of her! The smile on his face said it all. He was such a great dad, and a wonderful husband. He always had something positive and meaningful to say, and he was just fun to be with! We always had a fun time hanging out with him. I loved hearing him tell stories. He made us laugh.

Nate was blessed to have just seen Bryon up at Lake Vermilion in June. At the time I was so excited that Nate had a good visit and some great conversations with him. We never could have imagined that was the last time Nate would see him this side of heaven.

We consider it a great privilege to have known Bryon. He was a godly man and countless people admired his uncompromising faith. We are thankful for the promise in Christ that we will see him again someday. Peace be to his memory.

{To see a video memorial of Bryon, click here.}

While we were sleeping . . .

Boy did we get a surprise yesterday morning! Viggo, along with his faithful sidekick Svea, surprised us with breakfast in bed.

Viggo carried a tray laden with goodies upstairs. I had my eyes closed when I heard Nate say, "I wonder how he got some of this stuff . . ." I can only imagine a chair and climbing on counters was involved.

There were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And yogurt.

A little box of raisins.

Graham crackers nestled in my cow measuring bowls.

Water in my favorite ceramic cups.

And a slice of American cheese.

Yum! Thanks, Viggo - you're a good one!

Viggo informed us that he and Svea had yogurt and fig bars for breakfast. "So you wouldn't have to worry about making us breakfast, Mom."

He also offered to make lunch.

A NASA moment (with brownies)

It was rainy this weekend. So we ate some brownies (can you see all the crumbs and brownie smudges on these little faces?). Viggo and Svea wore their Discovery t-shirts from our favorite rocket scientist/NASA insider, Uncle Bo, while we watched the Endeavor land, and then they pretended they were astronauts. I think they got their love of space from me - Sally K. Ride was my hero :)



. . . And Nate and Svea built a fort out of furniture and sheets (that also doubled as a rocket). Our living room instantly became much cooler to be in !