He shoots, he scores

Gus has been getting faster and faster on his skates, but his specialty is still the 'slow and steady' approach.  He wasn't taking his eyes off the net for the first 8 seconds of this clip.

He is on the orange team, #14.





The next line change, he came in as goalie.  So an hour before the game he was watching NHL clips on YouTube which would explain the fact that he dropped down into the goalie splits to stop the shot on goal.  Hilarious! Go, Gus.

Happy 40th Anniversary

40 years together is reason to celebrate!  January 19th marked a wonderful milestone, Dave and Vickie's 40th Anniversary.  We had a great weekend with them in Fargo.  The weekend celebration included a lovely dinner out, hours of playing with dolls and cars, hockey, and of course, cake.

Work hard, play hard

Just when we thought Gus and his dedication to hockey would fill up all our time, Nora and her best friend, Peyton, have stepped it up and are keeping a pretty solid calendar, too. 

They started gymnastics last week and are loving it.  They both ask to go every night.

But their hard work and training has already paid off.  To distract them (and because we can't take them to gymnastics everyday) Peyton's mom and I decided to take them to Elmo Live so they could enjoy Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster for a day.  They both loved it and neither of them uttered a word about gymnastics.

 Who doesn't love Elmo? 

Family in Frisco for football

The NDSU Bison football team made it back to the Championship game for a second year in a row.  This time, my Dad, his brothers, and his nephew (all NDSU grads or soon-to-be grads) decided they were not going to miss out on the fun.

They jumped on a plane to Frisco and had a blast at the big game.

And the Bison won! They are back-to-back champions in their division.  That's pretty awesome.

Another pretty awesome thing is this photo.  Stan, Steve, Todd, and Braden.  (Braden, where's the 'stache??)

Christmas Break 2012

We enjoyed our long break this year and spent most of our time off in Minot with our families.  Besides missing out on Josh, Christy, Will (who were in SD for Christmas this year), and Steph, Mike, and Hava (who stayed in Boston because Steph is just a few weeks away from delivering baby #2), we had a great time.

But before leaving for Minot, we had a few details to cover.

Gus made his list for Santa and checked it (twice).

 Christy and I held our 2nd annual Vangsness Cookie Baking Extravaganza.  It was delicious!

Gus performed in his pre-school Christmas program.  He did great.  Here he is with his preschool teacher, Mrs. Julie.

Finally on the 22nd, we took off for Minot.  Here's Nora settling in for the long road trip.  She is beyond girly with her pink and purple (right down to her cell phone).

Grandpa Dave took Gus on his first ever ice fishing adventure.  Gus stepped in the hole which is why he is shoeless in the ice fishing house with his foot up to the heater.

 He caught a big Northern!

Later that evening, we had a chance to catch up with our friends, Tadd and Jody.  They have the most precious new lil guy, Leo.  He is a mini-Tadd!  Gus and Nora loved playing with their girls Olivia, Violet, and all of the other Demars kiddos while we oogled over Leo.

Nora decorated cakes with her Grandma Debi.  She was a big help.

Gus and Nora played nice for a picture because they knew it was soon time to open gifts.

Nice aprons, huh?  They received these hand-made, beautiful aprons all the way from Hava in Boston.  And it was perfect timing because they played host to a big group on Christmas Eve night.  Because Josh and Steph's families weren't in Minot, we decided to merge families for a night and had my parents, Ross's parents, and both great-grandmothers over for dinner. It was great!

 Nora loved the attention she received from Granda Betty and Grandma Vickie.

Christmas Eve 2012....then onto Christmas morning.  Santa didn't disappoint.

We spent the afternoon at Patty and Paul's and got caught up with all the college-kids.

Baby Cooper is getting so big.  He's adorable.

Gus convinced Paul to play checkers with him.  I don't know who won, but I do know Gus hates losing.

After we returned to Fargo, we met up with Josh and Christy and Mom and Dad over New Year's for a mini holiday celebration.

The cousins loved this fab gift from Hava (we missed her!).

 Then they wrestled.

While the kids were wrestling, Josh, Christy, Ross and I snuck out for a night on the town.  There's nothing like having a grandpa and grandma in town to babysit!

As you can tell, they hate it when we leave them home with their grandparents.

Happy New Year, everyone!