Winter is here!

At the end of November, we decided to head north for a little family vacation before Miss Aubrey makes her grand entrance. We stayed in a little town called Beaver Bay, which is about an hour north of Duluth. All in all, it's about a 5 hour trip from Rochester. We had a beautiful view of Lake Superior. We had never been up north and knew we wanted to go before we moved. We didn't pick the best time of year to go, and we knew that driving up. Then a winter storm hit and we got about 4 inches of snow and we found the whole thing pretty comical. We drove from where there was no snow to a place colder and snowing. Ha! Oh well, the plan was to bond and spend time together as a family, just enjoying each other and that's exactly what we did.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

Stopping for lunch on our way up to the cabin. Can you guess where we ate?

Our view from the bedroom window.

I brought some little crafts and whatnot to keep us busy.

Kinsley - showing off her penguin ornament we made. 

Louie cooking us pizza for dinner.

We brought Trout and boarded the other two. He was in heaven and his daddy spoiled him rotten.

Working with playdough.

So excited to go outside and play in the snow. Thankfully she doesn't remember the "michelin man" incident from last year. 

Checking things out with Daddy.

Headed down towards the water. Don't worry, we couldn't get too close.

The lake truly looks like the ocean. Even with no leaves on the trees and snow everywhere, the view was beautiful.

Kins helping with Daddy and Mommy's puzzle. 

Overall, we had a great trip and it was so nice to get away with just the 3 of us (well, 4 including Trout). Louie devoured a non-orthopedic book and the goal of relaxing was achieved. Yay!

I decided to sign Kinsley up for two new classes when we returned from Texas in November. We finished up our soccer class and romp and roll class and have begun gymnastics and a music class. They're both fabulous and I have already signed us up for January as well. Here are some pictures from her gymnastics class.

My little gymnast. I found this leotard at a resale shop... and it's a good thing, those things are pricey. 

Kinsley and Coach Daniel practicing on the bar.

She still needs a little work on the balance beam. 

The video below is a just a short 21 second clip of Kinsley showing off her trampoline skills. She loves jumping down the tramp into the foam pit. :)


For Thanksgiving we headed over to our friends', Anne and David's, house for a yummy pot-luck style Thanksgiving meal. Louie and I brought stuffing, a pecan pie, spinach dip and some cute little chocolates that look like acorns. There was quite a showing and a LOT of food. In fact, I ate wayyyy to much and came to the quick realization that late pregnancy and large quantities of food don't mix.  I was so uncomfortable, but boy was it good!  I was terrible and did not take any pictures.

Here's a pic of some of the girls at Thanksgiving. Anne was the host. She's in the red to my right. Such a fabulous hostess!!

The little acorns I made. Hershey kiss, Nutter Butter bites, and mini chocolate morsels. So easy and yummy!

Anne's beautiful Thanksgiving table.

Such a beautiful place setting. 

David smoked a turkey and it was delicious. 

The rest are just some random pictures here and there. I'll explain with the captions. :)

I have some super talented friends. Here is a picture of Kinsley modeling her new ruffle skirt that Emily made. It's just too cute!!

Kinsley LOVES Santa! Here she is at the Festival of Trees event in Rochester telling Santa what she wants for Christmas... "painting." (We are hoping that Santa is able to interpret that correctly as a new set of paints.)

Kinsley insisted on sitting and listening to the music at the Festival of Trees and then clapping when the song was done. 

The MFC tree that Emily, Rebecca, and Sari (and some others) help decorate. The trees at this event are over the top and all have themes. I love it... Louie, not so much, but he's a good sport about coming along with his girls. :)

Again, a visit with Santa at the MFC Winter Carnival. Kinsley had a blast. She again told Santa she wants painting. 

Decorating a cookie at the Winter Carnival... or rather, eating the decorations. 

We got our first big storm this past weekend. I'd guess about 4-6 inches. It was a very wet, heavy snow so all the branches were hanging low with the weight.

Winter sure knows how to make a big entrance!

I know this is really a hodgepodge of pictures and events but it's what I've got right now. More to post on the pregnancy front soon. :)
-Catherine