A day with the Berges

Monday we headed to the Berge's house to spend the day with them. We had a great time catching up! It was so great to not have to worry about the kids in their nearly completely child-proofed house. There were 7 kids playing together and it really wasn't all that chaotic...crazy and lots of fun! Thanks for the great day!

Andy and I got to meet our godson for the first time!

Luke and Joe-Joe.....Luke is the sweetest kid!!

The dad's and the kids

The 7 kids

Noelle and her godmother. We think that Elle must get her curls from Andrea.

Tim and Ike giving Joey tips on playing basketball

The Joe-Joe's

Our Joe-Joe "helping" their Joe-Joe (or baby as Elle calls him)

Some things never change...notice Elle trying to help her dad by tackling Adam, Ike and Tim wrestling next to their dads, and Josiah watching closely to get tips for the future.

Visitors from a far

Okay, they were just from South Dakota, but we were SO EXCITED that they came to visit!!!! The kids spent a lot of last weekend literally jumping on Uncle Greg. They had lots of fun with Montana, too. Thanks, Montana, for all the help you gave me and for helping me shop, too!

Thanks for coming to visit us!!!! We can't wait to see you again soon!

Playing catch-up.....again!

Once again I have neglected to post pictures for quite a while. My dad just told me, "the zoo pictures are getting old." Pretty funny considering we live next door to him right now and he sees the kids quite a bit! I think he is just looking out for Grandma and Grandpa Larsen, so here are some new pics.

We had birthday dinner for my sister a couple weeks ago and had a little bonfire in the backyard. Here's Ike showing Grandpa and Uncle Kaare how to be cool!

Kathryn and Joey keeping Uncle Kyle warm

Kat giving Joey a little kiss

Even Great Grandma joined us outside

Kat and Elle warming up inside

My Grandpa Kaare brought these kimonos back from Japan when he was stationed there. Ike and Elle got to model them for us.

A view of the back. The cutest part of this picture is that we didn't tell Ike to put his arm around Elle! What a good big brother.

At our last Kvenild sibling dinner all the grandkids wore their Halloween outfits from Grandma K and even cooperated long enough to snap a few pictures of them together.

Elle and Ike putting Elle's "baby" down for a nap.

Apple Orchard

We took our first trip of the season to the apple orchard. The highlight for the kids was the little petting zoo that was there. Ike and Joe had so much fun petting the donkey and the goats, but Elle preferred to stand back and watch. Ike kept saying the donkey was "like A Ba's horse". Well, I guess horses and donkeys do look a little alike.

Elle's baby

Elle got this doll from my cousin, Dawn, and she absolutely adores it (it was Dawn's doll when she was little)! The other day the Andy and Ike were outside throwing the ball around, and Elle and her baby were out "playing" with them. Thanks Dawn!!!!

A visit to Watertown

Last Sunday Andy was preaching just south of Watertown so we all went along (the drive was an adventure for sure) so we could visit with Uncle G and cousins M and D. We had lots of fun with them!

We made two trips to this park because the kids loved this old, scary,super fast slide. They now call the park "Uncle Greg's park".

Elle got Uncle G to go for a horseback ride with her!

A trip to the cabin

Last week we went with Grandpa K to the cabin. The goal was to get his new shed stained....accomplished! Andy did most of the work, I helped with the putsy stuff, and Grandpa played with the kids. The kids got to go for a few rides on the tractor, well in the trailer hooked to it. It is the same trailer I used to get rides in with my Grandpa Irv when I was a kid, so it brought back lots of memories.

Exploring

Is it lunch time yet??

"We're ready. What's taking Grandpa so long??"

"Ok, let's go!"

Elle and Ike got to "help" drive

We got to visit some with Great Aunt Bonnie, too

Of course just because you are outdoors doesn't mean you can't have your purse along!

Nope, they aren't checking out the water pump. They're looking at a SMALL frog.

The Olsons stopped by for a visit a week or so ago. We had lots of fun catching up and watching the kids interact. It was especially fun to see N and Joe play together since they are so close in age. We even fit all 8 of us around our little table! Thanks for stopping by guys!

Our Joe-Joe

We're thinking he's going to be the goofball of the family!

A different view

Playing Catch Up!

Here's a glance at some of our activities over the past couple of weeks.

All five of her great-grandkids visiting with Great Grandma Gladys


Bonfire and roasting marshmallows at Uncle Kaare and Aunt Michelle's house....nummy!

The kids actually playing together!!! It only lasted a few minutes, but we'll take what we can get!

A trip to Como Zoo

The highlight at Como was the construction being done on a new house for the polar bears!

A Picnic at "Uncle Kyle's Park"

My brother is a Trail Patrol Officer (at least I think that is his title) for some of the parks in the northern metro. Friday we took a trip to see him at his park. The park was lots of fun! It had lots of slides and ropes to play on. Afterward we had a picnic on Medicine Lake. It was a great day! The kids have now named the park "Uncle Kyle's Park".

Noelle's first haircut

Noelle finally had her first haircut this week (Joey's already had his cut 2 times). I had trimmed her bangs once, but she had never had the rest of it cut. Rosie, the lady who cut her hair, was the lady who gave me my first hair cut, too. She said that Elle reminded her of me because she wouldn't sit still and just wanted to look around. She just had her bangs trimmed and about 1/2 inch taken off the rest, but it made a huge difference!