Catch-up!

 It's been way too long!  I'll try and catch-you-up on what's been going on these past few months!  

Rachel loves her big sisters...

... and she also really loves her pacifiers!

Lillian made these cute Valentine sucker flowers for her friends

Lillian had her first friend sleepover at our house!  Rachel and Lillian really enjoyed sleeping in the Hello Kitty tent (who wouldn't!?). 

Rebecca out enjoying some NICE weather - finally!

Ahhhh ...

Nothing like having the wind blow through your hair!

My mom spoke at a ladies luncheon at our church -- she did a great job!

Rachel found some stick-on earrings -- who ever said they could only go on your ears?

I went to a home schooling conference in Duluth and the girls stayed home with Daniel.  They had a big slumber party with Daddy in the living room.  The last one to fall asleep had to turn the movie off (Lillian was the winner falling asleep around 11:30pm!).

Happy 32nd birthday Daniel!

Waiting patiently at Great Grandma Haglin's to go find some Easter eggs!

Our little movie star

Thanks for the great pictures, Trent!!

Rebecca showing me her balloon poodle from our Awana carnival

The two Lillians  :)

Lillian turned 7!

(She asked for this lemon bundt cake which was just fine with me!)

Excited to eat some cake!

We got Lillian a Bible with her name engraved on it -- she reads it every night.

I guess April was a big month for Lillian because she also had her first piano recital.  She did a great job playing "Ladybug Boogie!"

We LOVE Mrs. Romportl!

Awana Awards Night

Abigail finished her 2nd year of Cubbies and Rebecca finished her 1st year.  Next year Abigail will be a Sparky with Lillian!

(make sure to notice the commander up there as well...)

Lillian finished her 2nd year as a Sparky

Abigail made these to go with our supper last night -- celery cars!

Well, you're all caught-up for now!  Until next time...

Christmas in MN

 Well, last weekend we finally made it to my parent's to celebrate Christmas!  As usual, we had a really fun time with family!  My dad's birthday was this past Monday so we had a little party for him as well.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Love you, Dad!

The whole gang

(no, this is not Beth with her 3rd grade class...)

Mike & Susann, Mikayla, Serena, Lydia and Andrew

Dan & Beth, Alan and Delaney

 Us

The "real" us  :)

Great Grandma Gumball helping out Andrew

Rachel showing off her big belly

Grandma looking at her new scrapbook calendar

Not sure what's going on here

All-boy-Alan trying out his new Ultimate Multishooting Buzz Arm

Mom made these really fun aprons for Beth, Susann, Grandma and me!  Thanks, Mom!

Abigail's gag gift... perfect!

Oh, little Becca-Roo  :)

Dad squeezed in the back of the van on the way to go sledding (he wanted to sit there...)

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Wait!  One more thing! 

We've been blessed with a new nephew!

Jack Silas -- what a cutie!!

Congratulations, Enoch, Sarah and Luke!! 

Christmas 2010!

This year's Christmas was an extra exciting Christmas for the Birx families.  Instead of breathing down each other's necks at the Birx homestead in Maryland (a place that we dearly love), we enjoyed a spacious 7 bedroom, 6 bathroom Virginia Beach rental house!  There was plenty of breathing room -- especially for the 12 1/2 grandkids to run around!  Other than the 6 kids and 3 adults who got "the bug," it was a very fun and special time with family (although, that's easy for me to say because none of us WI Birxes got sick -- Sharon and Alisha may say otherwise!).  Tim and Phyllis even brought a real Christmas tree for the house!  I truly do enjoy Daniel's family and realize more and more just what a blessing they all are to me.  I love every single one of them!

The following are some pictures of our time pre, during, and post Christmas... 

The Sunday before we left, Lillian played the piano in our church for the first time!  She played 3 Christmas songs during the offering and did an excellent job!! 

Somewhere in West Virginia on day 2 of our drive out to Virginia Beach, VA

Lillian with a couple of her most favorite people ever -- cousins Hannah and Lydia

Hannah and Lillian enjoying the Christmas tree.  The kids made all the decorations for the tree!

We took a short road trip to Cape Henry.  This is where the English Colonists first came ashore from Britian in 1607, and a year later settled Jamestown, VA.  Notice Daniel and the girls waving from inside!

Lydia and Lillian enjoying the view of the Atlantic Ocean from the top of the lighthouse

The view of the ocean from ground level -- it was a very windy day

The computer station (3 more laptops were hiding somewhere)

Listening intently to Grandpa's story

The cousins enjoying Christmas breakfast together

Unlce Nathan getting that perfect shot while out on a walk with the kids

A calm view before the storm...

... the storm -- a snow storm!  Strange to see snow on the beach!

Nathan and Josh trying to stand their ground

"A Bay Star" covered in SNOW!  Who would have thought?!!

The whole family  :)

After a week in Virginia Beach, we stayed in Maryland with Daniel's parents for about 4 days.  We toured Herr's Potato Chip Factory in Nottingham, PA (we also visited there this past summer).

That same day we also went to the Choo Choo Barn in Strasburg, PA

It was a huge, very detailed, model train display

The cousins enjoying some lunch after a busy morning of driving around Pennsylvania

On our way back home to Wisconsin, we stopped to see my Grandpa Whyte (93!) and his wife, Naomi, in Illinois -- the girls loved seeing Great Grandpa Whyte and Naomi (I enjoyed it, too!)! 

The day after we got home the girls were so excited to open up their gifts from us.  Abigail struck gold with Calico Critters...

Lillian hit the jack pot with "American Girl" accessories...

and Rebecca broke the bank with Fisher Price dollhouse additions!

What did little Rachel get you ask?  Nothing!  The poor thing!  Although she didn't even seem to notice...

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We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!