The Bigs

Big Brother Erik . . .

Big Brother Noah . . .

and now, introducing for the first time, Big Sister Annika!!!!!

New Bjorndahl set to arrive in July!

Out of this World!

Saturday we blasted off into party land as we celebrated E's 5th and A's 1st birthday. It was kind of tricky to come up with a theme that worked well for a five-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl, but we decided that we'd go with an outer space theme. E played the role of moon-roving astronaut and A was our shining star! Here are some pictures from the day . . .

After a rousing game of "protect the earth from asteroids", the kids posed by the rocket and mission control.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!"

Here E's "very easy to make" moon cake! I just love cute ideas that are easy to pull off!

A's was another story . . . my goal was to create a regular old star, frost it in pink frosting, and cover it with a ton of sparkling sprinkles (to cover up any frosting flaws!!!) Somehow, I ended up creating a 6 point star . . . and had already frosted it before realizing that what I was creating looked a whole lot more like the "star of David" than the sparkling star that I had envisioned! Oh well, I think it still tasted pretty good!

After we finished eating supper, E announced to all of his friends that it was now time to do a craft project and create their very own space suits. You can imagine my surprise as I looked at the other moms and explained that this was the first I had heard about this - I didn't have any plans, or supplies for that matter, to create space suits. But, as usual, E already had a plan of his own. He promptly walked over to the hall closet and started assembling his space suit.

Then there was some card reading . . .

and some gift opening.

Of course they blew out their candles and . . .

ate their cake.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this day so very special for our astronaut and shining star!

A Wrestling Party??

Well the real party for this little one-year old is tomorrow, but tonight as a family, Miss A opened a few presents and then wrestled with her dad and brothers to ring in the new year!

Can you tell how much she's enjoying this?

Going head to head with N.

A gentle take-down by big brother E.

You may have noticed that Miss A rarely makes an appearance in public without a headband & bow on her head. Yes, we do like to "frill-up" our little girl, but the real reason is to distract from this . . .

Miss A's hair just has a mind of it's own and it keeps growing and growing straight up!!! Seriously, the picture doesn't even do it justice! So if you come across any cute hair accessories, hats or something stronger than hairspray, smoothing cream, and baby oil - send the information my way!!!

Little Miss A, you have filled our hearts to overflowing. We just can't get enough of you. God has given you a magnetic and charismatic personality that just draws people in. We can't wait to see how He will use your joyful heart and sparkling spirit to reach the world for Him!

Five

Happy Birthday to our wonderful 5-year-old!!!

Here's a picture of the big guy at his school celebration a few days ago.

And here he is this morning - officially 5 years old!

E is really into building and creating these days, so we decided to get him a set of Zoobs for his birthday. So far, they've been a hit!

This was the ladder that E & N built together. The goal was to build it higher than N was tall!

After some great Zoob building, it was back to the waterpark. We're spending this week at a resort in the Wisconsin Dells and have been having a blast!

Since he is 5 now, E thought he should conquer the cargo net, wobbly walk.
He did, and was SOOOO proud of his accomplishment!

Oh, E. We love you so much, and you bring us more enjoyment, surprises, interesting converstions, and entertainment than we could have ever imagined! You are wonderful!
Happy 5th birthday, EKB.

Halloween at the Bjorndahl House

Introducing the Bjorndahl Trick or Treaters!!

Big E as Adrian Peterson. All ready to beat the Packers tomorrow!

N was sportin' some pretty impressive muscles as Spider-Man!

Baby girl made a pretty sweet little honey bee.

I just had to include this picture. It perfectly captures the
way Baby Girl looks at Henrik. She is truly a "Daddy's Girl"!

For supper we met up with a group of friends for our Second Annual Halloween Celebration at Pizza Ranch! It was a good thing that we had one of the meeting rooms because the kids were WILD!! Check out this picture that I snapped while trying to take a picture of all the kiddos!

Can anyone say "Sugar High"?

Here are the sweet girls - Strawberry Shortcake, Minny Mouse, and Baby Bumble Bee. Miss A was having a wonderful time and was full of smiles, but I didn't catch hers at the same time as the other girls! The boys never slowed down enough for a group picture - lets just say the energy and volume were both running HIGH!

Home again and ready for trick or treating.

Henrik and the boys headed out to our street while Baby Girl and I stayed home to hand out candy.

"Mom, any chance this one is for me?"

"Hmmmm . . . how can I get this open?"

"No problem! I'll just try it this way!"

Workin' on Walkin'

This little sweetheart is growing up faster than we can believe! She just crossed over the 11 month mark, and is getting close to walking. Along with doing whatever it takes to be wherever her brothers are, she's enjoying the typical 11 month old behaviors: emptying cupboards and drawers, pulling books off shelves, and seeking and finding any and every little crumb on the kitchen floor! Miss A is a joy. She literally sparkles and has filled our hearts to the brim with love!

Loving this Walk

Six years together. What a wonderful journey.