My latest tricks

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Cookie time

My friend Maren and I made Christmas cookies. We did all the cutting and decorating ourselves, Mama just put the cookies on the cookie sheets for us. We really liked tasting the special sprinkles but Mama was not a fan of our technique. I had to make a BOO cookie because we forgot to at Halloween.

Museum tour w/ Lussi

Dada had no idea that I was such a fan of art. We went to the Minneapolis Art Institute and I loved so many things. I asked Dada if he could take my picture by some of my favorites so I could remember them.

Table talk

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Little singer

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Sofia likes to sing... both baa baa black sheep and twinkle twinkle. It is hard to tell them apart however she carries a much better tune than her mother. (not a hard thing to do though!)

Dress up at its best

I had so much fun on Halloween. I usually hate walking and really make a fuss about walking more than a block but Halloween night I was motivated to see what each house looked like and of course to get some candy. Not only do I love dressing up, I love candy too... this was so much fun! My Grandma made me this beautiful dress and when it was done I discovered it looked like sleeping beauty's dress so I got to be Aurora or sleeping beauty and my little sister Sofia was a fairy. She sure was cute!Halloween night I even went to a neighborhood haunted house with my Mom and Grandpa... I didn't like the scary clown though and I slept on my parents floor because I was a little too scared.

Tricksters in motion

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Beautiful Fall day...

Our first raking party at our new home proved to be less work than it looked. However, there was a lot of re-raking the same pile after all the "help" from Lussi.

tubby time

Our cousin Silo is a fish and loves to put his face in the water. He's so much fun to swim with!

I don't know!

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I am beginning to copy exact phrases and Da Da taught me this one. I also sing "bough bough baby" lullaby in my own way.

All by myself

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I do not like bottles or sippy cups and often demand to feed myself. The results are usually quite messy but I'm getting the hang of it.

No longer a baby...

Well it's hard to believe but Fia is acting more like a toddler than a baby. She communicates really well through almost words and some words. Most of her words are the first syllable. All Done is "ahh Daa" and more is "ma". She loves to say "hi Di" which we think is Hi Guys. She is full of expression and energy... walking from our front steps to the neighbors and back. But what am I going to do with that hair?

Playing dress up

I am so happy I have a new friend Maren. She has a dress up box just like me and so we run between houses and change costumes all day long. Our favorites are tinkerbell and our "marrying" dresses.

The stonedragons win again!

22 paddlers, 1 drummer, a dragon boat and 1/10 of a second. The race was too close to call, the photo finish camera was needed to show that the stonedragons won by a dragon nostril or to put it in layman's terms... Michael Phelps fingertips.

Dragon Boat race(part1)

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Dragon Boat race (part2)

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swimming with our cousins

We spent a couple of days with our cousins Hanna & Maggie. One day the lake was calm and warm and so we swam all day. Even Fia got in the water to swim. I loved making the long train boats with the inner tubes. We called it a train boat because we couldn't decide if it was a boat or a train.

surfing the net

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For about a year now, Lussi has been obsessed with two children's websites. I am amazed at how she surfs around to find stories & games that interest her. The most amazing thing to me is that she learned how to print and she will come running from the computer with some project she just printed off yelling " mama help me!" She learns all kinds of skills from identifying letters to math to art and the other day I walked in to check on her and she had her left hand placed on the computer in the way you would learn to type. She was playing a game that she found that teaches her the proper way to type. I was shocked... thinking back on my childhood, I learned to type in 10th grade! She is of a different generation, that is for sure.

I'm officially walking more on my feet than my knees.

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I can make sounds but not a lot of words.

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New friends

Mama's friends from the Olympic team came to visit. I had lots of fun with Antija and Henrik. Henrik and I liked playing pirate and princess. I set up the tea parties while he practiced his sword fighting. We also biked around on the sidewalks and ran around the house.

I'm walking... sort of

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Well I have taken after my big sister Lussi and have spent the last month knee walking. My Mama and Dada think it is caused by some quirky gene combination of the two of them because no Grandparents recall anyone else ever doing it. I never saw Lussi do it but it gets me to where I want to go. I do however walk like the rest of my household occassionally when I feel like it.

Giving kisses

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rockin & a rollin

Untitled from karasalmela on Vimeo. I love music and this is just an example of how I act when I hear it.

Sand, Sun & Fun

This was Sofia's first time at the beach. She has been in enough sand boxes to be over eating dry sand but the wet sand was a whole new experience and she began by shoveling it in by the fistful... yuck! By the end sand eating took second seat to crawling head first in to the waves. (Talk about a relaxing time at the beach... don't forget your toddler!)

Lussi's self portrait

For Silo (part 1)

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Watching the super cute Silo singing videos reminded us that we made one for you a while ago and forgot to post it for you so here it is super boy!

For Silo (part 2)

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I came across this video recently. I remember what a challenge last summer was with the fragile baby in the house and a sometimes "rough" three year old. However, the girls are so comfortable with each other then and now.

Looking back... a year ago

Happy Birthday to me

Happy Father's Day

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For Kai & Tia

I know, I know, I know... I have been completely delinquent in blog land. We've been having computer problems blah-blah blah. Anyway here is little Ms Personality. Her hair just keeps getting curlier and her eyes are turning greenish. She is saying lots of "OOOO" words... Oops, Oh-oh, Ouwie and lots of high pitched squeals as well as raspy baby babble. Her personality lights up and she becomes this babbling bubbly baby when she sees DOGS... she spots them on TV, on the street & in books. Our future as a dogless family looks impossible when you experience this love for dogs. Sofia also loves really soft things which Lussi has her own word for "Sovey" rhymes with lovey. Lussi started calling her fleece jacket "Sovey" and I said "what did you say?" She said "Sovey?" I said that's not a word. She said I know, I made it up. So anyway, Sofia squeals with delight and then lays on her stomach over anything "Sovey" She especially likes our sheepskin rugs.

Summer's here... we hope.

We've been getting outside a lot more lately and this is Sofia's favorite place to look out on the yard and squeal at the freedom of being able to crawl out the back door into fresh air and sunshine.

Almost a Princess

Lussi and Amelia dressed up in my old flower girl dresses (circa 1980/made by my Grandma)and played wedding... but what's Lussi digging for?


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Big Baby

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Headin' Home

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It's time for us to come home, hopefully we'll get there soon but with Sofia behind the wheel it could take a long time. Sorry I forgot to turn the camera.

Peek a boo canyon & spooky gultch

This is one of the most incredible things we've ever done. To get in to Peek a boo we had to shuttle the kids up a ten foot rock wall and then once we were in there we realized we had to keep going because it would have been near impossible to get the kids back down this wall. At that point we were wondering what we had gotten ourselves in to but as we hiked along we started to relax and enjoy the scenery and the challenge of the tiny spaces. By the end Lussi was leading the way and loving the adventure. I was a nervous mom until I knew we were close to the end and then of course it became a great adventure because we survived.

Spooky Gultch

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Bryce Canyon

After leaving Salt Lake we headed south to see Bryce Canyon and stay the night in Escalante. We hiked one of the more famous hikes and it was incredible with the contrast of the snow against the red rock. We have a zillion pictures so here is just a sample of what it was like.

Helen my ski instructor

Helen is Lucy's Grandma and she taught me to ski. I got to go with her three times and the last time she brought Lucy and we all skied together. Helen had me look for rabbits in the woods and make pizza wedges with my skis... she says I am really good at the parallel turns too.