Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas! It is crazy how quickly the year flew by! I am now 3/4ths of the way done with my second year of dental school. Bjørn performed jury duty last week in a case involving tax fraud. He enjoyed the experience and learned quite a bit! We will be traveling to Minot and Rapid City over the Christmas break.

We pray that everyone will have safe travels, joyful times with their families, and most importantly, that God will be glorified through all of the celebration of this holiday season!

"How Many Kings"

by Downhere (one of our favorite Christian bands)

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliness hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
It’s who we’ve waited for

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me

All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you

Just a few pictures from this month:

I took Leif to a "Winter Wonderland" exhibit in downtown St. Paul. They had many decorated Christmas trees and gingerbread/candy houses and exhibits. This was the largest one, about 3 feet tall, and created by students from a culinary school.

I told Leif we needed to reorganize our little food pantry, and he got on the job right away!

Leif learned how to crawl into his Lego tub, and it is now one of his favorite things to do! Sometimes he needs help and says "Out, out!" to get in, then "Out, out!" to get out. "Out" means a lot of things, including: in, out, on, off, up, down, open, and close.

Sitting on top of it is fun too!
My little Cobber!

More fun in the tub...this time with bubbles!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Sit back and relax--we've got lots of catching up to do!

I can't believe the end of the semester is in sight--just a few more weeks! Though it can be somewhat overwhelming learning how to be a dentist, it's been a fun semester learning how to do various procedures. Bjørn has been enjoying his time home with Leif. Leif can confidently say "Daddy" now...however, he calls us both by that name! Sometimes it can be confusing figuring out who he is referring to! We also have been keeping busy with our weekly church small group (kid friendly, which is nice!), playgroup, Bjørn's late hockey games, and Settlers of Catan Sunday game nights with friends (yes, we are nerds!) .

Leif started walking in August and officially stopped crawling in Sept. He celebrated his 1st birthday at my cousin Renee's wedding to Franklin Charon on Oct. 10th. This year sure has flown by! It was a lot of fun to see so many relatives! We had a big birthday party for him the weekend after. Thanks again to everyone who came!

Leif's vocabulary has grown quite a bit this fall. He says: ball (he will say "baba" for baseball and "football" also...pretty much anything circular is a ball and kiwis are footballs as of today), "guck" for truck (anything with wheels, including bicycles and strollers), duck, out, "bop" for book (he always does the sign language for this at the same time), "Uh-oh," "tot" for hot, cold, cool, bye, "mmm" for good food, "gogo" for yogurt, and "pop" for poop. His sign language is particularly helpful. He knows: milk, eat, more, all done, please, thank you, tree, book, brush teeth, poop (he does the hand waving "pee-ew" gesture), and bath. He's pretty good with his animal sounds also: dog, cat, gorilla, monkey, owl, wolf, snake, chicken, and tiger/lion/bear (how do you teach the difference between their roars?), and his favorite, the elephant (complete with raising his arm...hippos, dolphins, giraffes, and other animals apparently also make elephant sounds!).

Leif's favorite activities include: putting lids on things, putting things inside containers (we have to keep an eye on him as he likes to throw things away!), closing things (he's a good helper with closing drawers even if I want them open!), reading books (they have a soothing effect on him), playing with his hockey sticks (and watching hockey with Daddy at the same time), balls, Baby Einstein movies (a lifesaver when I need to cook!), and brushing his teeth (with help, of course). He knows where his nose, mouth, tongue, eyes, and feet are. He is also very talented at getting in the "somersault" position (see picture below).

What joy Leif brings us! It's so fun to teach him things! God definitely had a sense of humor when he designed little boys! I got it, guys! One year old! Hmmm...I can't seem to make out what this says... Leif's first 5K run with Mommy! He had it easy though... Get me out of here! Second to last Twims game (our last) in the Metrodome! Go Twins! They were doing a water-proofing project outside on our apartment building. Leif had fun watching the skid steer. Leif also loves football! Leif celebrated his 1st birthday with some wedding cake! He liked it! Congratulations, Renee and Franklin!
Sisters! Our dresses were similar--not planned! We borrowed this sweater from cousin Stuart, however, we couldn't get it over Leif's head! With permission, Bjørn did some altering and made it into a V-neck sweater complete with his old hockey laces. He did a nice job! Leif's 1st Birthday party! We rented out the loft area in student housing's office building. It worked out well. Thanks to everyone who helped out! Bjørn made Leif a snake cake! He didn't really want to eat much, but he kept saying "Ooooh!" and pointing at it! Maybe he's not a big chocolate cake fan like me (however, he liked the marble cake at the wedding), or perhaps he was just full from dinner? Opening presents...the wrapping is always the best part! Grandma Hanson came with Auntie Holly and cousin Micah and stayed overnight with cousin Riley also. It was a fun time! Lots of firsts! Grandma Hanson gave Leif his first haircut (she did a nice job!). Before: Leif did really well. He was pretty tired! After: (The mohawk is still there! Yay!) Enjoying the fall leaves in the neighborhood Friends at first sight! Leif was Tigger for Halloween. We carved pumpkins at the Rock family's annual carving party. Bjørn did the one on the right while I kept Leif out of mischief. We went trick-or-treating with friend Lincoln. Lincoln showed Leif how to knock on doors and get candy just by being cute. On the way, they met Elmo. Leif petted Elmo's back when he wasn't looking. This will most likely be the only year when the parents get to eat all the candy! Leif likes to play with the candy (unopened, of course).

This is what the boys do while I'm at school...play with duct-tape!

Leif's "angry face"

Somersault position! He gets ready and we flip his legs over for him.

Bjørn went to Minot for Thanksgiving to renovate his parents' basement bathroom. Leif and I stayed here, which is a good thing because Leif developed an ear infection! The poor guy was miserable but has already fully recovered! I'm so thankful/relieved that it wasn't the flu! We spent Thanksgiving day with Auntie Kayla and Kevin.

Until next time!