Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas...

to you and yours...

from the Mulders!

Jeff's New Car

After much research, Jeff has purchased what we girls affectionately call "The Geekbox". We actually really enjoy it and Jeff is pretty keen on it. The MPG is supposed to be outstanding and this is the first manual transmission that we have owned as a couple. I will now need to learn, at the ripe age of 30, how to drive a stick. Emily really likes the car, which is good for her because this most likely will be the car she inherits when she reaches driving age.

Happy 4th Birthday, Noelle!

Today is Noelle's 4th birthday! She celebrated the special day with her playgroup friends. She had also requested a special princess cake, leading me to a new baking medium-using fondant icing. I don't think I did too bad.

Minnesota Thanksgiving Trip

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Minnesota for Thanksgiving. The temperatures were FREEZING and it started to snow when we were leaving the Twin Cities area on our way home.

We were able to gather at my mom and dad's house with my brother and his wife. My brother smoked a turkey (he claims he was bullied into it) and I ate way too much. On Friday, we made our way down to Oakdale and visited with Jeff's family before tag-team driving all the way home.
Emily, Reese and Noelle enjoying the outdoors at Mimi's house.













The girls with Mimi.














Look at all these girls! Emily, Reese and Noelle with 5 of their cousins.

Check This Out!

Two Chinese Students

Halloween

First Snowfall of the Season

Noelle is pretending to surf while stuck inside after our first snow drop.

Here are Emily and Reese being good citizens and shoveling the neighbor's driveway after our recent snowstorm.

Cross Country Meet, 9/26

This past Monday concluded the fall Cross Country series for the Land Sharks Running Club. Emily did not do very well last week because she developed a stitch and came in with a time of more than 14 minutes. She psyched herself up for the last race and did very well. Reese also did very well with a personal and seasonal best.Emily is pictured 3rd from the right and she came in with a time of 12 minutes, 2 seconds in the 1-1/2 mile race.

Here is Reese coming in with a time of 4 minutes, 22 seconds in the 1/2-mile race.

Scenes from the Week

Water fowl and foul water.

Admiring the geese in Denver's City Park. 

We'll call this one "Posing with the Dead". This is Emily, Reese and Noelle in front of the 'Poor Woman Mummy' at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Noelle waited patiently all day to see the mummies at the museum and was fascinated that everything there was dead. She constantly asked "Is it dead?" in regards to the mummies, the dinosaurs and the animals. Emily wants to go back in a few weeks when the 'Grossology' exhibit will be in town. Yum, body functions and bathroom humor. We'll have to invite Uncle Paul to go with us. 

Reese 

Noelle, the goofball. 

Here is Reese at her first ice skating lesson in a long time. She was a little rusty on the ice, but enjoyed herself. 

Cross Country Meet, 9/19/05

Weekend Update

On Monday, Emily and Reese had their first cross-country running race. Reese ran in the 800 meter (Kindergarten and First Graders) and placed 20th out of a field of 91. She placed 5th among the girls and 1st for her school. She ran the course in 4 minutes, 27.2 seconds.

Emily ran the mile race (4-6th grades) in 6 minutes, 52.3 seconds- placing 12th out of 126, 2nd among the girls and 1st for her school.

It is remarkable how much improvement Emily has shown since this past spring when she ran the track series. This is Reese's first foray into running club and she is really enjoying it.

There are two more races left in the season and I will post the results of those races as they become available. Maybe I will even remember to bring my camera next time. :P

The Vino Vessel

Recently, Emily had a school project to do that required her to build a boat that would float for at least an hour and try to use materials that no one else would use. With a little help from Mom and Uncle Paul, Emily built The Vino Vessel. Using some corks that Paul had lying around and zip ties, Emily built a boat that floated not only the requisite hour, but the whole day. Paul also suggested the name, which earned some bonus points with her teacher. No one else in class used cork, therefore Emily met all of the criteria for an 'A'.

Noelle's First Day of Dance Class

Here are some pictures of Noelle on her first day of dance class. She is taking a combined tap/ballet class for 3-4 year olds. She has been talking about class for days but only expressed an interest when she heard me calling around to different studios to register Emily. I will have pictures after Tuesday of Emily in her first Jazz/Hip Hop class.

Some Updates on Emily

This past spring, Emily was notified that one of her poems was submitted and selected to be in Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans. We are not sure who submitted her poem, but were pleased anyway. Emily did not even know which poem it would be. We have just recently received the book, and here is the poem:

WINTER
Soft snow warm tea.
Red and blue mittens build a snowman.
Christmas lights fill snowy nights.
Blowing white snow cold windy day.


And, to top off her week, Emily was elected Class President! She is very excited and honored to win the votes of her classmates. She and her Vice President, Danielle, worked hard by campaigning and giving speeches. This was a perfect end to her week.

First Day of School, 2005

Here are Elle, Emily and Reese getting ready for the big girls' first day of school.

New Ride

Check out our new ride!

Too cute not to share

Noelle's facial expressions are priceless and this is no exception. What a ham!

Ocean Shores

On July 30th, we drove to Ocean Shores to take in the Pacific Ocean. We told the kids over and over that this water is very cold and that they could not swim in it like we swam in the ocean when we were in Florida many years ago. After the first frigid toe dipping, they got used to it and did a lot of beachcombing. They came back with many sand dollars, crab shells and oyster shells. These pictures are just priceless and we feel so blessed to have had this opportunity to spend the summer in Washington.





Getting over the initial shock that this water is actually very cold!













Emily













Elle













Reese, Emily, Elle and Jeff



























Beachcombing


















Digging in the sand.














Crab carcass












Jeff and Noelle













Jeff wading in the surf with his girls.














Our resident beach bum.















Mmmmm.....Dinner?

















Summer fun.













Playing on the beach.














Sunset on the Pacific.















Emily on the beach at sunset.