First Snowfall...

We got our first snow today. Ben is blowing the snow off the driveway as I'm typing this. Karis can't wait to make a snowman and go sledding! Baby update... we are oficially 12 weeks today. Unfortunately, the end of the first trimester did not bring relief from nausea yet.

Karis the "ROCK STAR"...

Karis was playing "ROCK STAR" this morning as I was wrapping some Christmas presents. This picture is a little fuzzy, but it just shows how much she was shakin' it! Karis decided to name her band "Christmas Town." Notice the antlers on her head.
This one's a little clearer. Pregnancy update: nausea and fatigue... I'm now on medicine. It's not eliminating the nausea, but it takes the edge off a little. I overdid it yesterday trying to Christmas shop. We are trying to get things done early since the Christmas season is so crazy with church, plus planning our trip to PA.

Our BIG news...

We are officially announcing that Karis is going to be a BIG SISTER! She tells everyone that she's going to be a big sister and her mommy has a baby in her belly. Sunday (16th) will be 10 weeks- 1/4 of the way through. This pregnancy is much defferent... nausea is all day and fatigue is even more extreme. However, we are excited to celebrate our dream of having another child. Baby Newman is expected to arrive around June 14th... the day before Karis turns 5. We don't plan on finding out the gender, unless there's more than 1. Yes, that's a strong possibility.

12 years!!!!!!

Today we are celebrating 12 years of marital bliss! This picture was taken last night. We went to the "Tiny Tim Gala" at the La Crosse Center. It is a big fund raiser for the free medical clinic, a transitional housing program and the cancer fund that I work with on a daily basis. I was honored to be a greeter. Ben joined me for the dinner and the silent auction. We were at a table with several of my co-workers and their spouses. It was fun to dress up and go out to eat grown-up food! Chocolate dipped cheesecake was the highlight of the night.
Ben and Tim watched the PSU/Iowa game yesterday. We were sad to see PSU lose, but it was nice to have a friend watch the game with Ben.

Happy Halloween!

Check out our Halloween crew! Karis went "Trick or Treating" with Autumn, Lilly, Isaac and Hannah. She got LOTS of candy and had a good time as a fairy princess.
I attended a conference in Minneapolis this past week. Ben and Karis joined me for a few days. They explored the city while I was in class. Charles Schultz was from Minnesota, so there's a lot of the Peanuts characters hanging around.

Ben in his glory!

We ate some interesting food. Check out the lobster corn dogs!

Ben and Karis also explored the aquarium at the Mall of America. Karis was petting a stingray in this picture.