Shurson Family Blog

September

2009-10-02T14:17:00.002-05:00

Saint's Game with Grandma and Grandpa Shurson in mid-August. Wish we had more pics but it was raining that day...

More August

2009-08-13T20:06:00.002-05:00

Stuff from my garden so far and Ally's new "big girl bed!"

August 2009

2009-08-13T19:49:00.005-05:00

Ally at the Teddy Bear park in Stillwater

Evan's first day of Vacation Bible School "Crocodile Rock"

Grandpa playing Wii with Evan

Ally's new tap shoes!

Ally dancing with her new tap shoes

A Birthday dinner for one of my friend's husbands

Our friends Nate and Betsy on Nate's Birthday

Ava and Evan at the Washington County Fair

Evan with the motorcycles at the Fair

Ally riding the motorcycles all by herself!!

The Fun Slide at the Washington County Fair

Evan riding a pony at the fair

Ally riding a pony at the fair

Feeding the goats at the fair

More July stuff

2009-07-31T14:33:00.009-05:00

New haircut AND a new Jeep-lucky girl this week!!

Lumberjack Days Festival and Parade

Shurson Family Reunion

Evan's new Karate class

Dave Matthews Band Concert in WI on July 18th

Betsy and I took Ally and Ava to get manicures/pedicures

July...so far

2009-07-13T23:28:00.004-05:00

JUNE 2009

2009-07-13T22:54:00.005-05:00

May 2009

2009-07-13T22:28:00.004-05:00

I am really behind on posting so here are some highlights from May, June and July so far...

More April 2009 pics

2009-05-03T19:45:00.001-05:00

Ally's dance costume for her recital that is coming up in June...

More April 2009

2009-04-23T23:30:00.005-05:00

More April 2009

2009-04-23T23:22:00.002-05:00

Ally's dance costume, St. Croix River with Baggins, Aunt Annie and Evan

April 2009

2009-04-23T23:14:00.003-05:00

Here are some April pictures! Scott installing a closet organizer, Ally using the potty! Evan and Ally at the Mall the day we went to see the Easter Bunny, grilling for the first time this season and Ally and Aunt Annie.

March 2009

2009-04-19T11:24:00.011-05:00

Como Zoo, Model Train Museum, My twin cousin's 30th Birthday Party, Bree's Wedding shower and the St. Pat's Day parade in DT St. Paul

February 2009

2009-04-19T10:54:00.009-05:00

Maling Valentine's Day Cookies, Baggin's passed his Obedience Class and Ally at dance class

Summary

2009-04-19T10:48:00.004-05:00

OK I am going to try to post a couple of pics from the past few months so I CAN FINALLY GET CAUGHT UP! Here are a few from december when my photographer cousin took some great shots of the whole family. I will try to post some more Christmas pictures when i figure out where they are hiding on the hard drive....

Sorry so long!

2009-03-04T00:42:00.003-06:00

I know, I know...it has been so long since we've posted! We've been pretty busy here keeping up with kids and trying to find Scott a new job...so really 'busy' should be replaced with 'stressful'. I know we aren't alone in our struggle to deal with Scott not having a job but it doesn't change the fact that it is the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I toss and turn about before I finally fall asleep. He has some good leads and has had two sucessful second interviews in the last week so we are very hopeful.
Since I last posted so much has happened! We had a nice Christmas with my parents visiting from Montana and my sister visiting from Portland, Oregon. It was wonderful to finally have a place for guests to stay! We had our first party at our new house just after Christmas with my Mom's side of the family-we had 20 people in our house at once! We went ice skating at a local rink and then had a nice lunch.
We had a lovely Christmas Eve at Scott's Dad and Step Mom's house complete with Great-Grandparents too! It was so fun to watch the kids open their many (many!) presents! Dec 31st was Scott's last day at his job and we spent a very quiet New Year's Eve at home amazed at how fast 2008 went and we tried to be hopeful for a better 2009. January brought my Birthday and a ridiculous cold snap to the tune a $300 heating bill!!! Why do we live in MN I often wonder...? Both kids got haircuts in late January-it was a first for Ally who got about 6 inches cut off! She looks so much older now!
January and February were an adjustment for us-getting used to Scott being home and trying to find (cheap) things to do to keep busy. Thank you to all of our friends and family for all of your support and encouragement-it means a lot to know you are rooting for us!
Valentine's Day was a fun holiday for Evan as he had his first school party and got to write and give out Valentines. He loved opening his little mailbox and going through all the cards he got that day! As a wonderful suprise Scott got Aunt Annie (his sister) to baby sit the kids so we could go out for Valentine's Day!! We had a nice brunch Valentine's morning with the kids at the Lowell Inn in Stillwater but we really enjoyed being able to go to a movie just the two of us!
We are hoping March will be a happier, cheaper, warmer and more positive month for us and wishing you all well!! I really will post some pictures soon!!!

Afton Apple Orchard, Election Day and random November pictures

2008-12-03T15:59:00.004-06:00

Ally's birthday

2008-12-03T15:41:00.004-06:00

Ally turned 2 on October 13th so we took her to the Mall of America to do the Build-a-bear Workshop! She loved it and especially loved her new bike from Mommy and Daddy!

WOW am I behind...here's some October and November

2008-12-03T15:38:00.002-06:00

Our new Puppy Baggins!

2008-10-02T22:43:00.004-05:00

We got a new puppy on Saturday 9/27! He is 6 months old and we named him Bilbo Baggins! He has been so much fun to have around and is a very easy-going little guy.

More September!

2008-10-02T22:40:00.000-05:00

More September

2008-10-02T22:35:00.002-05:00

Scott's Dad came up for two days in mid-Septmeber to help us with some projects with our new house! The biggest one was clearing out the backyard which was totally overgrown when we bought it. We still have a long way to go to actually have a lawn but there is plenty of space to work with now!

September

2008-10-02T22:32:00.003-05:00

Scott's Mom,or "Oma" as the kids call her,visited for almost two weeks in early September!

August/September

2008-10-02T22:27:00.004-05:00

Evan's first day of preschool on 9/2/08

Ally's first dance class!
Dylan David Derheim born to our friend's Mike and Amanda and big brother Ty on 8/26!

More from August/September

2008-10-02T22:22:00.001-05:00

Kids in their new beds the first night at our new house

Evan in his ringbearer tux for my cousin Stecey's wedding on 8-30-08

More from August

2008-10-02T22:18:00.002-05:00

At our closing on August 18th
Before Kitchen picture
After
Before
After!

We found the camera cord!!

2008-10-02T22:11:00.005-05:00

Evan's haircut

Ally at Enjoy! restaurant on our 5 year Anniversary
A family picture on our 5 year Anniversary

Since there are so many pictures to catch you all up on I will just add some highlights and try to get back to updating weekly...:)

Update

2008-09-13T23:13:00.003-05:00

I really will post some pictures soon-we are having touble finding the cord to connect the camera to the computer in all of this moving mess. We are pretty much moved in now but have a few boxes here and there and we have nothing up on the walls yet but I finally feel like we are getting somewhere! Before we moved our stuff in I painted the kids' rooms, the kitchen and just recently the upstairs bathroom. It made such a difference to have paint on the walls! We got all of our appliances (the house didn't come with any!) the day before the movers came and it was fun to see the house start to look like a home!
Evan started school at Sunnyhill Preschool in Stillwater and just loves it! He goes two days a week and comes home very excited to have a 'big boy' school to go to. Ally started dance lessons this week and while she basically just stood there and stared at the teacher, she has been talking about it non-stop for the last two days. I think she'll warm up in no time! She calls it "Ally's school" We have really been enjoying getting aquainted with the Stillwater/Bayport area and are so happy to call this area home! There are so many fun restaurants and parks nearby! Come visit us anytime!
Scott has been in-town a lot more lately so that has been nice! His next trip is to TX the second week in October and then he is gone again the 18-21st. We are considering adopting a retired racing Greyhound but need to do some more research until we decide for sure-I would love to have a dog to take everywhere and an excuse to walk everyday!
Hope this finds you all well and we will post pictures as soon as possible!

it is finally done!!

2008-08-18T23:11:00.002-05:00

We FINALLY closed on our house today! It took six long weeks before we finally got a closing date and then it got moved to today at the last minute. We are so glad it is over and that it is finally ours!! We post pictures soon! Come visit us in Bayport!!

Children's Museum

2008-08-15T08:41:00.004-05:00

We went to the Children's Museum a few days ago with my cousin and her two boys and had a great time! The kids even got to touch a snake!

Dakota County Fair

2008-08-15T08:38:00.003-05:00

Last week we went to the Dakota County Fair with some friends and had a great time on the rides!!

Ally is 22 months old!

2008-08-15T08:36:00.001-05:00

As of August 13th Ally was 22 months old already!!

Silly video of Ally

2008-08-15T08:14:00.001-05:00

Ally says the word 'snack' really funny and I finally got a video of it!

Eden Prairie Mall Play Area

2008-08-05T15:28:00.002-05:00

Evan had his tux fitting for the Wedding he is in at the end of the month so we took the opportunity to play at a great little indoor park.

Saint's Game

2008-08-05T15:25:00.002-05:00

Here are some highlights from the Saint's Game with Grandma and Grandpa Shurson!

Ally-only weekend.

2008-08-05T15:18:00.003-05:00

One of Evan's Birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa Shurson was to spend a weekend with them and go to their County Fair. We scheduled it for last weekend so that we could all meet up again on Sunday at our annual St. Paul Saint's Game. Scott and I had a great time having just one kid all weekend and we realized how long it's really been since we had just one (22 months to be exact!) We went swimming in our apartment's pool and then went out to dinner Friday night and Saturday we went to the Uptown Art Fair and the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens. Evan had a great time with his Grandparents and couldn't stop saying he had fun with "no Ally, just Evan..."

Veggie Tales

2008-08-05T15:14:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday we picked Scott up from the airport and went out to lunch where Ally kept pointing at my plate of steamed broccoli. I somewhat ignored her because neither of my children will touch a vegetable within an inch of their lives but after several loud squacks from Ally I handed one over. She ate it. Then she ate another one....then the next day we took her to Big Bowl and she ate FIVE green onions. Who is this child?

Evan's Haircut

2008-08-05T15:10:00.003-05:00

Evan is going to be the Ringbearer in a wedding August 30th so I had been waiting as long as possible to get his hair cut but I couldn't stand it anymore..so today we cut it all off! After we left Kids Hair Evan told me his "head feels cold." He gets the thick hair from me I guess....

Evan's Big Boy Bed

2008-08-05T15:06:00.003-05:00

We finally passed on Evan's Firetruck bed and got him a regular twin sized bed for when we move to our house. Here is a rare picture of him actually sleeping deeply enough that my camera flash didn't wake him up!!

Hanging with Annie

2008-08-05T14:58:00.004-05:00

Scott was out-of town for almost two weeks so Aunt Annie came down and spent a lot of time with the kids and I! I appreciated the company and the chance to get some things ready for our move and the kids just plain had a great time!

Centennial Lakes Concert

2008-07-28T18:32:00.001-05:00

Last week I took the kids to a kids music concert in Edina which they just loved!!

Segway Tour

2008-07-28T18:26:00.002-05:00

Scott and I scheduled a Segway Tour around Minneapolis last year for our Anniversary but it rained that day so we got gift certificates to do it again sometime...well, sometime turned into almost a year later but we finally went and had a blast! I would highly recommend it to anyone!

House

2008-07-22T07:51:00.002-05:00

We finally did it! We bought a house! We are still waiting to hear when our closing will be (gotta love buying from a bank!) and we still have some details to work out but I think it's pretty sure that we will be moving to Bayport, MN sometime in the next month!

Packing up!

2008-07-22T07:50:00.003-05:00

I will never say it is easy to pack with two kids but it can provide some great photo opportunities!

Captain Underpants

2008-07-22T07:47:00.003-05:00

We just finished reading Evan's first chapter book called Captain Underpants recently and the other day I went into the bathroom where Evan told me he was Captain Underpants...pretty cute!

Park Pics

2008-07-22T07:44:00.003-05:00

Some recent park pics...I actually forgot the stroller at this park and when I realized I had forgotten it (ahem, 2 days later) I went back and it was still there...in the same spot!

Chuck E. Cheese with Aunt Annie!

2008-07-22T07:42:00.002-05:00

We went to Chuck E. Cheese last week with Aunt Annie!!

Doctor stats

2008-07-12T16:47:00.004-05:00

I took the kids to the Doctor for their 18 month and 3 year check-ups the day we left for Montana and they are doing just fine and growing like weeds! Evan also had a hearing and vision test and passed with flying colors! Ally is actually just about 21 months old now but since we didn't have insurance for awhile I had to hold off on her appointment. We're so lucky they are so healthy!!

Evan is now 40.5 pounds and 40 inches tall (97th%'tile for both height and weight)

Ally is 26.6 Pounds and 35 inches tall (96th%'tile for height and 65th% for weight)

Ally dresses

2008-07-12T16:43:00.002-05:00

I know there a probably too many pictures on here of Ally in a cute dress but I can't help it...it's a sickness I think.

Misc Pictures from Grandma and Granpa Johnson's visit

2008-07-12T16:41:00.002-05:00

Kelli and Shane's house

2008-07-12T16:37:00.003-05:00

Last night while my parents were still in town we went to my cousin's house for a BBQ. While we were there quite a storm came up and gave us an amazing lightening show!

Racing!

2008-07-12T16:30:00.002-05:00

My parents came home with us from Montana and stayed all this past week so we found lots of fun stuff to do of couse! One of the best was we tried out a race car simulator at the Mall and Evan got to ride along with Grandpa Johnson...Ally wanted no part of it and was content to sit in her stroller and watch.

More Montana pictures!

2008-07-12T16:24:00.002-05:00

Montana trip!

2008-07-12T16:15:00.004-05:00

Over the 4th of July we all drove to Montana to visit Grandma and Grandpa Johnson! We drove all day on Wednesday and made it Miles City Montana, stayed at a hotel and then got up and drove three more hours to Red Lodge! We made it just in time for the parade! On the 4th we went up into the mountains to see some awesome fireworks (even though the kids preferred to be in the car with their movie on) and on Saturday we drove up to Roundup Montana to see my parents' new log home on 60 acres which they call Blu Valley Ranch! We had a wonderful time and couldn't have asked for better weather! The best part was Aunt Lindsay was able to fly in from Portland too!!

MN Zoo...again

2008-07-12T16:12:00.002-05:00

Yup, we go there a lot....

Beach with Riley and Allison

2008-07-12T16:08:00.003-05:00

Also at the end of June, we met my friend Allison and her baby Riley and a beach for the day!

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Shurson

2008-07-12T16:04:00.004-05:00

At the end of June the kids and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Shurson for a few days while Scott was on a business trip. We had a great time playing outside in their huge yard and relaxing!

Waterpark

2008-07-12T16:00:00.002-05:00

The last weekend in June Scott and I took the kids to a local waterpark and while it was kind of chilly at first we had a great time! We can't believe how comfortable and independent the kids have become in the water...such a change from last Summer!

Ty's party

2008-07-12T15:57:00.002-05:00

My friend Amanda's little boy turned three on June 21st and Evan was sick so just Ally and I went to the party and sadly, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures of the actual party but I took some of Evan opening his goody bag which was a little mailbox.

Zoo with Kelli and the boys

2008-07-12T15:53:00.002-05:00

I know, I am way behind on blogging!! We've been super busy with company and going out of town and just with Summer in general so here is me trying to catch up.....

Back at the end of June I took the kids to the MN Zoo with my cousin Kelli and her two boys:

Beach day!

2008-06-19T22:07:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday we went to a beautiful playground and beach in Lakeville with my cousin and her two boys!

Father's Day!

2008-06-19T22:01:00.003-05:00

We went to see Grandma and Grandpa Shurson (and Aunt Annie and Great-Grandma and Great Granpa too!) on Father's Day!

Daddy's Birthday!

2008-06-19T21:58:00.002-05:00

Scott turned 29 last week and since he was traveling for work on his actual birthday we celebrated the next day when he got home and again on Father's Day with his family!

While Daddy was gone

2008-06-19T21:54:00.003-05:00

Scott has been traveling a lot lately for his new job so I have been trying to find new parks and new things to try with all this time on our hands....here are some pictures of a new park we found where the kids had the best time just running from one end of the baseball diamond to the other...whatever tires them out I guess!

Sad at swimming

2008-06-19T21:52:00.003-05:00

The last few weeks Evan has decided to cry when he gets to swim class for no reason-it's actually kind of funny and he always snaps out of it after a few minutes. I can't wait to show him these pictures when he's older....

Ally's new furniture and 20 month picture!

2008-06-19T21:48:00.003-05:00

When we move to our house (and no, we don't know when that will be yet because the bank has not gottenback to us about whether we got the Woodbury house or not!!) Ally will have new furniture! I bought her a princess set that has a table and chairs, toddler bed, bedding and a little toy organizer with bins. So far we have only put together the table and chairs but she loves to put her dolls in the chairs and set plates out for them...super cute!

Also, as of 6/13 Ally is 20 months old! I can't believe that before Halloween we will have a two- year-old and a three-year-old!!!

Como Zoo

2008-06-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

We went to the Como Zoo with our friends Tyler and Amanda last week and saw lots of animals and even rode a train!

Beach!

2008-06-09T23:56:00.004-05:00

I took the kids to the beach today and we had a lot of fun I wish I could have taken more pictures but it was kind of scary having both kids near water by myself. They really did well and were actually being pretty good listeners so I relaxed a little by the end:)

Lake with Nana

2008-06-09T23:49:00.002-05:00

We took a walk around a nearby lake on Nana Johnson's last night in town and got some cute pictures...some really nice guy came down to the path from his yard and handed Ally a flower and she wouldn't let go of it until she went to bed that night:)

Stacey's shower

2008-06-09T23:34:00.003-05:00

My cousin Stacey is getting married the end of August (Evan is the ring-bearer!) and we had her shower on Sunday! What she didn't know was that my Mom was in town so we suprised her, my Uncle and Aunt!

Riley's 1st Birthday

2008-06-09T23:29:00.003-05:00

My friend Allison's son Riley turned one last weekend! It was a great party with a 'frog' theme!

Lookout Ridge

2008-06-09T23:22:00.002-05:00

On Friday we went to Lookout Ridge play area and the kids totally wore us out!

Birthday presents and Nana..and a another cake picture

2008-06-09T23:17:00.002-05:00

Evan is 3!!

2008-06-09T23:10:00.002-05:00

On June 4th our baby boy turned 3 already!! His big suprise was that his 'Nana' came all the way from Montana to see him on his Birthday! We went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate and had a great time playing games and eating way too much....

Grand Old Days and Stormy weather

2008-06-09T22:58:00.003-05:00

We left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa Shurson (weather pictures are from our drive back home from Byron, MN) two weekends ago so we could go see Spamalot on Sunday night (fabulous show BTW!) and since we didn't have the kids we went to Grand Old Days-something we haven't done in almost four years! Scott got to smoke a cigar and I got to have cotton candy!

Ava's party

2008-06-09T22:32:00.002-05:00

Evan's friend Ava had her 3rd birthday party on 6/1 and her Mom made a beautiful Little Einstein's cake from scratch!

BLAST Birthday Party

2008-06-09T22:24:00.002-05:00

On Friday 5/30 we had our big Birthday party for all the kids in my Mom's Group at the BLAST play area in Eagan. We had a great time watching our newly-three-year-olds play and open their gifts (we drew names). I can't believe how big they are!!

Cute Evan and Ally video

2008-05-29T23:28:00.002-05:00

Memorial Day

2008-05-29T23:25:00.002-05:00

We went to Centennial Lakes Park in Edina for a picnic where the kids had a great time feeding their lunch to the birds and chipmunks brave enough..and there were plenty. I opf course forgot the camera but I did get pictures of Ally trying to strangle Evan in the stroller after she decided she'd had enough of shopping at Southdale Mall....

Ally with "Potter"

2008-05-29T23:23:00.002-05:00

Ally has a new addition to the things she carries around with her everywhere (the other two being her paci and her pink blankee) his name is "Potter" (Pink-otter).

Zoo

2008-05-29T23:20:00.003-05:00

On a recent nice day we went to the Zoo for a few hours...we even got to see the Bird show outside (Evan's favorite show next to the Dolphin Show)

Two kids for $9.97

2008-05-29T23:17:00.001-05:00

Evan's Haircut

2008-05-19T22:15:00.001-05:00

It was finally time to tame Evan's crazy hair!!

House?

2008-05-19T22:09:00.002-05:00

Last Monday we put an offer in on a house in Woodbury and we are waiting to hear if we got it or not. It is a bank-owned property and there are two other offers in so we won't know anything for at least another week and possibly up to 30 days. Keep your fingers crossed!! My favorite part is the huge yard!

Playing at the Mall

2008-05-19T22:06:00.002-05:00

This projection interactive game play area in Burnsville Mall is one of the kids' favorite things-they both ask for it everytime I ask what we should today so I finally took a picture!!

Mother's Day!

2008-05-19T22:00:00.002-05:00

We joined Grandpa and Grandma Shurson, Great Grandma Viv, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Schwartz, Great Aunt Gret and Aunt Annie for lunch and to celebrate Mother's Day!

New Baby Labatt!

2008-05-19T21:56:00.005-05:00

Jenna Lyn Labatt was born at 11:59 on Friday May 9th to our friends (and realtors!) Nate and Betsy and big sister Ava. Jenna was 9 pounds and 2 ounces!!! Congratulations!

Ally-Princess

2008-05-19T21:54:00.002-05:00

While Daddy and Evan saw the movie, Ally and I shopped and she picked out this cute princess nightgown...

Speed Racer Movie

2008-05-19T21:52:00.003-05:00

On Scott's last Friday before he started his new job he took Evan to see the new Speed Racer movie! Other than going to the bathroom SEVEN times Evan did really well and they both enjoyed the movie!

Lunch at the 'Big Kid Table'

2008-05-19T21:49:00.003-05:00

We decided to mix it up a little when Daddy went off to his first day of his new job..,

Picnic at Lake Calhoun

2008-05-19T21:47:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago (kind of behind on blogging I know!) we had a picnic at Lake Calhoun-it's so nice to finally be able to be outside again!!

Music class

2008-05-15T10:21:00.004-05:00

I have had the kids in a fun little music class for the past months and they jsut love it! Evan walks around singing the songs they learn and Ally is even picking up the chorus of a few songs....

New Gym Class video

2008-05-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

New Gym Class

2008-05-05T22:02:00.002-05:00

Evan started a new gym class today and he just loves it!

Orchard Lake Park

2008-05-05T21:58:00.001-05:00

On Sunday we found a beautiful park on a lake and the kids loved throwing rocks in the water most of all!

Patrick....sigh

2008-05-05T21:57:00.001-05:00

Don't worry, Scott:)

Eagle's Nest

2008-05-05T21:54:00.004-05:00

We found a new indoor play area near Scott's new job and tried it out last week. The ball pit was a big favorite!

BLAST with Daddy

2008-04-28T21:54:00.003-05:00

The kids went to play at an indoor park with daddy while Mommy got some stuff done at home!!

Mom's Group event at Edinborough

2008-04-28T21:50:00.002-05:00

Park

2008-04-28T21:43:00.002-05:00

We went to a nearby park last week after Evan's swimming class and enjoyed the nice weather!

Recent visit to the MN Zoo

2008-04-28T21:39:00.001-05:00

On one of the few warm days we had last week we went to the Zoo!