Christmas 2009

Christmas 09 was our first Christmas in years where we didn't have Renita or Mark's families with us. How are we to spend our 2 week break without them? We'll find a way to manage... I drove up to my mom's at the beginning of break to exchange gifts with her. Next year she'll be in Temecula!

Christmas Eve we went to church with Steve's mom and dad. After dinner, David read the story of Christ's birth from Luke.

Jenny and Matt were with us!

Tabby and Kel waiting for gifts. Let the games begin!

Tabby was shocked and thrilled to get a Kindle!

Jacob was stunned and speechless when he opened his iTouch.

Amanda was excited to get a U of M sweatshirt, Coach gift card, and dvd's of her as a baby.

Kel thought that the most fun was her new iPod. She could hardly contain herself when she opened her autographed football from Sidney Rice (thanks Janel!) and her Rice jersey.

Scandinavian Night

Steve's Uncle Bruce was in town and hosted "Scandinavian Night" with his cousin Missy.

Appetizer of herring, cheese, and flat bread.

The infamous Lutefisk was the main dish. Missy also made chicken and dumplings for us "normal" people (her words :) )

Sandra fixing her plate of white food, except for the nicely colored green peas.

For dessert we had cloud berry sauce over vanilla ice cream. The berries are from the very north of Sweden. Delicious!

Thanks so much for Miss and Bruce!

Happy Birthday Renita

My dear sister-in-law turned the big 50 this December. We made our way to Scottsdale for her surprise party last weekend.

While the guests were arriving for a well planned surprise party we headed to a local wine bar. Don't Renita and Terry look great?

Mr. Fabulous and I

Daughter and Mother

Me, Sandra, Jenny, Jessica

Back at the house the surprise was a success. Renita had an idea that something was up. Even with that she fell on her rump (literally) when everyone yelled "SURPRISE!!!"

Our Last Christmas Program

Tabitha had her final elementary school Christmas Program. She is part of the "Pawformers", the chorus group at school.

She had the important role of bell ringing. See her way back in the middle of the photo? Yep, that's her. The guy in front of me kept leaning back to video. The worst part is his daughter was on the opposite side! Let me see my Tabby!

There she is again...

This trip is trouble (not really) Megan, Cristin and Tabby BFFs.

New Dog, well, kind of...

Meet Parker. He is the newest temporary addition to the Molstre house. My brother and his family moved to San Diego to an apartment that doesn't allow pets. He called and asked if we could keep him for a couple of months while they found a house. (My mom took the cats, lucky her). He is just great, very well behaved and doesn't shed! Molly was a fan at first but is slowly coming around. She has stopped trying to take his head off and is resigned to the fact that he may be here for a while. Of course, the kids just love him.

Halloween

This halloween the girls headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. (We were at our friend's for a birthday dinner and Jake was at his first halloween party). Carter and Savannah joined in the fun.

Tabby dressed up as a witch. She had to choose a costume from what she had because I wasn't buying costumes this year. We are just about out of that phase! Maddie came over to join as well.

Soccer Finale

Tabby's team got together tonight for the end of the season party at Pizza Factory. While we finished in 11th place, she had a great season. Her coach was great with the girls and was always positive. Though this was his first year coaching soccer, Tabby learned a lot more about the game and her position of goalie.

Tabby received an Outstanding Player award from her coach. He said "I looked to her to be a leader on the team as she was one of the oldest girls. I learned a lot from her about the game of soccer as well as how to speak". Apparently Tab would correct his grammar at practice. I guess that's what you get when your parents are teachers!

The girls and Coach Casey. We were missing a few due to illness.