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That's how many times Bryndel said, "All done!" today. 

New Fallen Snow

The girls have enjoyed this especially snowy winter week.  Extra fluffy white snow along with extra cuddly snow days - what's not to like?

 

One and a Half Today!

How is it that Bryndel is already one and a half?

She's just a couple days old here.

And what a sweet & funny little thing she's grown into! 

She's full of smiles, giggles that make her hiccup, and awesome hugs for her 'favorite' people (which include just about everyone who is nice to her, as long as they are not wearing a weird hat, hehe).

And hands down, her most frequently used words every day are: All done!  Maybe the snowplow drove by and it is now 'All done grrrrr', or maybe Hadley has hugged her one too many times...so be 'All done!', or maybe she's tired of avacados for lunch and says nonchalantly 'All done' as she's pitching them onto the floor :). 

This was Hadley at one and a half.

And this was Piper at one and a half.  WOW! They certainly are sisters!

We are ever so glad for the constant brightness of her smile, the added humor to our lives, and the bond she already has with her big sisters.  Happy one and half, Bryndel!

GWO 2014

We had our first ever Graham Winter Olympics over the weekend!  The idea burned its way into our thoughts and imagination last August while having a campfire.  Mike, being the crazy guy that he is, was having a bit of fun running around the dark backyard with a 'torch' and the idea was born.  This is what the backyard looked like then...

And this is what it looked like this weekend!  After some serious planning, elbow grease, and quite the MN winter, Nathan & his 'Crew' built this amazing Bobsled - Luge - Skeleton track!

Bryndel got in some good Grammie & Grampie love before the Games began.

She's certainly a Grandpa's girl :).

When the athletes arrived in the Olympic Village, Kenzie passed out her carefully crafted torches, and we had the Opening Ceremonies complete with music, flags, and an LED lit cauldron!

From there, we made our way out to the track.  And was it ever a blast!  The track had been strategically built up, shoveled off countless times, iced down, walking path smoothed, lit by tiki torches, and sent each and every rider down in smiles directly onto the frozen lake!!!

The luge engineer, Nathan, and his littlest helper.  The rest of his 'Crew' included: Grandpa, Grandma, Mike, Kyle, and of course his very patient wife :)

Grandpa was thee best pusher up on top, and sent these two down in squeals every single time!

Hadley was probably the most frequented track rider. Her favorite trip down was on the spinning saucer; yikes!

These two were the smallest spectators along the course.  Cylas thought riding was fun too.  Bryndel did N.O.T. 

We attempted a 5 person bobsled by squishing our whole family on a sled.  Hilarious, but Bryndel shouted 'All done' the whole way down, hehe. 

This is what wiped out looks like when you're an Olympic athlete :) 

After an official timed father/child bobsled race, Piper was awarded the gold medal, Brooklyn the silver, and Hadley the bronze. 
Not to worry, all of the other athletes were awarded medals and got to sing along to the National Anthem on the podium as well :).





It was an Olympic event just feeding all 9 kiddos - Special medal to Grandma for that!

And we may have snuck out after the kiddos were all safely asleep, and had a few adult timed races :)  The track & lake were pretty spectacular lit up by the tiki torches and our whoops of encouragement.

Plans for the 2016 GSO are already in the works, but how do you top that luge track? 

The Abominable Baby

Since the start of this cold wintery season, Bryndel has been fondly known as the abomindable baby around here.  Each morning as we bundle up for the quick trek over to school, Hadley & Piper get a good little chuckle out of Bryndel all snug in her awesomely puffy and very warm Gap coat (thanks to Audrey & Cece for lending it to us!!). 

And the teeny little gold shoes... she chooses that pair every single day!  I think they might be Audrey & Cece's too!

When she isn't being abominable, she can be found running after her big sisters;

smiling at her big sisters;

and very likely taking a break somewhere to suck those special little fingers.  Hard to believe she will be one and a half later this month!!

Sledding Adventure

We had a great weekend up North sledding with the Anderson Family!  The weather was cool (isn't it always these days?) but not too windy, so we trudged on out to Kara & Frank's property and spent a beautiful evening sliding together. Adventurists~ Ava, Kyle, Bryndel, Sydney, Piper, Brooke, Kara, Hadley, & Kim

We were even treated by 4 deer who crossed the pipeline right after us.  Kara & Frank sure live in a beautiful area!

These two were the most fun to watch slide down in their little sled!  I'm not sure who laughed harder, them or the girls below?

Bryndel seemingly enjoyed taking it all in with me from the top of the hill.

Uncle Frank rescued us from the long deep walk back on his snowmobile.  Even Bryndel got a quick ride, but adamantly told me 'ALL DONE' over and over :)

Bryndel was much happier back at Grandma & Grandpa A's warm house, where she thoroughly enjoyed the attention of all those doting cousins, aunties & uncles.

The girls were sure happy to get some Uncle Kraig love too.

What a blessed bunch of cousins.  We love being with our Anderson Family!