The last year in quick review!

So...Once again I'm a slacker when it comes to my blog! Have a feeling this is going to be pretty common on here. :) Since the last time I posted was October 2008, I've got about a year to update here.
Winter 2008/2009: It was cold! I'm certainly missing the winters in Omaha.
Spring 2009: Jacob turned 2! He's talking, walking, running, entertaining us, and just being a typical boy. Lexi is really turning into a sweet little girl and wishing she was in school like Hailey. Hailey finished up Kindergarten in May. She loved it, but it looking forward to being in 1st grade this fall. We had the Flood of 2009. The water here was up quite a ways, but we were in no danger of getting flooded out in our house. The gravels roads were another story...never thought I'd be mud running in my van, but that's what I did! We've also been spending this time gearing up for a family vacation to Quebec, Canada and Baltimore, MD/Washington DC. Aaron's brother, Brian, is getting married!
June & July 2009: We spent packing and finalizing all our travel plans. Our family of 5 flew from Fargo to Manchester, NH and then drove up to Sherbrooke, Quebec for the wedding. We spent a few days there getting to know Susie and Melina a bit better and also for the wedding where Aaron was the best man and I did some of the pictures. Sunday after the wedding we drove back to Manchester in order to catch our flight the next morning to Baltimore to see my brother and sister-in-law who live there! We spent a few days there seeing a few of the sights. Have to go back again sometime to see more of what we didn't get to this trip. A couple highlights was Arlington Cemetery, the National Zoo, and Charm City Cakes! Because of our flight being cancelled, we were able to spend an extra day with Jason & Robyn and see Charm City Cakes and go out for dinner that night for Hailey's birthday. We got home July 3rd. For the 4th, we spent a lazy day at home, bought some fireworks and lit them off that evening. The girls each had a birthday - Hailey turned 6 July 2nd and Lexi turned 4 July 8th! July 11th was spent in Binford celebrating my Uncle Red's 20th Anniversary of his heart & double lung transplant. It was a great day spent with family and friends celebrating the extra 20 years we've gotten with Red. The day was ended with quite a fireworks display honoring Red's organ donor (which we do every year).
August 2009: The girls and their friend Kyra had a triple birthday party with their friends at the park. We had a cup-cake and then the kids each got to add sprinkles, oreos, teddy grahams, etc to theirs. Fun, fun time! That same day, Hailey learned to ride her bike without her training wheels!!! She was SO excited. Lexi then started riding her bike (with training wheels) more and she won't be too far behind Hailey! Aaron celebrated his 30th birthday with dinner and cake at our church with family and friends. Hailey started 1st grade this month and is pretty happy to be back in school and with her friends. Mommy is happy, too, because she was starting to get grumpy being at home all day. :)
September 2009: Labor Day weekend was spent with family again, but this time it was celebrating Grandma Berg's 90th birthday! Great time! I certainly hope I'm as full of energy and look as good as she does when I'm 90! Aaron and I celebrated out 7th Anniversary on the 21st. Can't believe it's been 7 years already! That evening, we watched our wedding video with the kids and I even showed them my wedding dress. I still can fit into it AND shut the zipper!! :)
October 2009: We've been enjoying the nice mild weather this month...spring came late, didn't have much summer, and now have been having a prolonged fall...no complaints there! Gretchen and I spent the weekend of my birthday in Minneapolis for the Women of Faith conference. We volunteered as ushers for the weekend and were truly blessed by serving. We met some new friends who we are excited to see again next year and also got some encouraging words from the speakers. I came home to a "suprise" party by the kids. Aaron made his first angel food cake and they hung up some balloons with "welcome home," "happy birthday," "mommy," and a few others but I don't remember what was written on them. That was a nice treat to come home to. :) Halloween was spent going for a hay ride that afternoon and then trick-or-treating with the Mortenson's that evening. Aaron ended up taking Hailey and Kyra because they were wanting to go faster than the little kids could walk and Betsy & I had the little ones. Worked out pretty well! After we were done trick-or-treating, we all went over to Valley Free in Portland and joined everyone there for bbq's and games to end the night.
November 2009: I realize we're not done with this month yet, but I'll update to the current. Hailey has started ice skating lessons this month! She's really liking it and doing quite well for her first time. Perhaps we have a future figure skater? We'll see. Brian, Susie, and Melina were home for a week! It was fun to see Melina experience a few things for the first time. The kids had a blast playing together and we had almost perfect temps the whole time they were here. There was playing in the leaves, shopping in Fargo, riding motorcycle, swinging on the rope in the hay loft, riding in the combine while they harvested the beans by our place, a bunch of shooting with the .22s and bb guns, walks in the woods, food, food, and more food...yeah, a good time! :) We have started the potty training process with Jacob...it's going slow as I haven't been pushing too much. I'm trying my best to not get frustrated with him, because that doesn't do any good. It's going to be a bit more challenging with him, I think, BUT....last night we had our first success!! He actually went potty in the potty chair!!!! In his words, "I had water come out my little hotdog!" :)
That pretty much sums the last year up! I'm sure I missed some things, but I'm going to try to be more proactive at this. Thanksgiving plans are heading to my mom's after school on Wednesday and coming back home Friday afternoon/evening since Hailey has skating lessons on Saturday. It'll be good to get away for a few days...and the girls are in desparate need of haircuts! :) Happy Thanksgiving everyone!