"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings"

We are so blessed. For a long time now, I've been meaning to write about the friends in Isabel's and my life. I feel alittle stressed writing about this because I just don't know where to begin and I don't want to forget anyone. Well, here goes....growing up in EGF was great. It's not too big, not too small. And the best part was the people I met. When I was still in diapers I met Ellen Hammarback. Ellen is one of my best friends and is one of Isabel's godmothers. In elementary school I met Kalee Mack. I remember she was the "coolest" girl in our grade (don't get any ideas Kalee...haha). Kalee is still one of my best friends. Then in middle school I met the beautiful Kelly Holtman. Kelly is the nicest person you will ever meet and I'm so glad to call her my best friend. Now although I had other friends outside of these 3 girls, and although there were times we weren't always close and together, these 3 woman are incredible and I'm so lucky to still call them my best friends. And because I've known them for so long, we've gone through fun, wild, sad, serious, and happy times together. I've always known how much these gals love me, but perhaps I never truly knew the extend until I was pregnant. First off, they threw me pregnant parties (lots of apps and no booze) all the time (I think it was just an excuse for them to eat yummy food). For my baby shower they bought me a changing table (which we now use as Isabel's dresser...thanks ladies) and when I was in the hospital waiting for Isabel to arrive these 3 gals were right there with me. They took turns bringing meals for Jason, they kept me company, and the excitment they had when they met Isabel was truly amazing. Those moments will always be close to my heart.

In the summer of 1998, I met Heather Brunelle while working at DirecTel (telemarketing..perfect fit for me, right??haha). Heather is one the strongest, most determined people I've ever met. She is a close friend who I'm very protective of and sometimes treat like my own daughter...only becomes I care so much about her:-) Her friendship has always been such a blessing.

Then along came St.Cloud. I met Erin Rautmann and Emily Kratzke in St.Cloud while living in my freshman dorm. It wasn't long before us 3 became inseparable. Erin is the crabbiest, funniest, most sarcastic person you'll ever meet (Jason thinks she's great...big surprise) and Emily is beautiful, funny, and so talented. These are my 2 friends who I love so dearly, but don't get to see very often because they live so far away (okay, they only live 4 hours away, but that's alot when you have a family to take care of). My memories with these 2 girls are filled with tons of laughter and completely drunken moments (it was college, what do you expect)!!!

Now going back to my baby shower. I have to thank everyone who was a part of that. The amount of gifts we recieved was crazy. I so emotional because everyone was so giving and so loving. I think my cousin Grace bought me every supply under the sun. And Carla bought Isabel's summer wardrobe, and my sister....where to begin. I am so blessed to have my sister. She is the most giving and selfless person I have ever known. She not only threw me a baby shower, she also proceed to buy the bassinet, crib, diapers, and clothes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

So August of 2004, I was working at Marshall Fields and along came Carla Spokely. I remember when I first met her. I was glad to finally be working with someone I had something in common with. She, like me, was a newly wed. She was also pregnant, and I was trying to get pregnant. Carla and I hit it off right away. We would spend hours on the phone telling stories of our past....and there was a lot to tell, since we met so late in our lives:-) What a complete joy it has been having Carla in my life. Her daughter Tatum and Isabel are 1o months apart and are totally best friends. Watching them play and laugh together is so cute.

So in September of 2006 Isabel and I joined ECFE (baby school). The program is designed for an hour of mommy/toddler time with songs and a snack and then an hour of moms meeting with a child specialist to talk about parenting issues. What a great program. When we joined ECFE I met a handful of awesome mom's who I am sooo lucky to call my friends. They include Danielle Brundin who has a daughter Paige and son Seth, Sara Dietzler whose daughter is Greta and now has a son Adam, Polly who is the most calming and soothing mom I've ever know, she has 4 sons! And Jenny Hanson, whose daughters are Isabella and Veronica.

When I met Jenny I knew right away we were made for each other. And it wasn't long before her and I became very close. There are weeks were Isabel and I practically live at the Hanson house. Jenny is so kind, loving, passionate about her faith, and truly inspiring. She has brought me closer to my faith and inspired me to be a better person, I am truly grateful to have her in my life.

Along with all the wonderful woman I named, I also have been blessed to have meet even more wonderful mom's in the last year. They would include; Tammy, Becky, Laura, and Sarah (high school friend)and Emily. And the best part of getting to know these wonderful woman and calling them my friends, is having their children and Isabel a part of each other's lives.

If you ever ask Isabel to name her friends....she'd probably start off with Isabel Hanson (her name is actually Isabella, but because I call my Isabel, Isabel Aaker when we're with Isabella Hanson, Isabel now call Isabella, Isabel Hanson....I hope that wasn't too confusing). Then she'd say 'Ronca (Veronica), then Tatum, Greta,Paige, and so on. And listening to Isabel talk about her friends is soo cute. She always wants her friends to come to her house and she always asks to see her friends.

Every wednesday, after dance, we head to McDonalds. This is my favorite part of the week. We have a McDonalds "crew". This started out with 3 of us moms (Jenny, Sara, and me), but now we've grown to a group of up to 6 moms and sometimes more. When you count all the moms and kids, we easily make up a group of over 20. Now since we go to McDonalds every wednesday we have become quite close with the McDonalds staff. They not only look forward to seeing us, but they love our kids and our kids love them. One day one of the McDonalds workers came into the playland to chat with us moms. I was sitting next to Sara, gushing over her perfect baby boy Adam when the lady came by to admire him. As she gently rubbed his head she said, "you guys are all so blessed to have this time to spend with each other"!!!! WOW!!! It was such a simple statement, yet those words have been on my mind since. I've spent endless hours thinking about how blessed Isabel and I truly are.

We are surrounded by incredible people everyday. The mom's I've met have become some the closest women in my life. Their children are Isabel's best friends. These woman help make being a stay-at-home mom so much more enjoyable. These are moms who I can call and say"i'm having a bad morning, meet me at McDonalds" and they're there. Our circle of friends is always growing and full of moms who have the same desires as I do as a mom. These are all beautiful women inside and out, who have become role models to my daughter.


Whether we're at McDonalds having lunch, or enjoying a matinee, at the zoo, park, storytime at the library, or at dance class, we are always surrounded by great friends. And beyond friends, Isabel also has awesome cousins, aunts, and grandparents that mean the world to her. Every night our prayers are filled with thanks for all our friends and family.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! This New Years Eve found us at home with just the 3 of us. We had made plans to celebrate with the Troemner family...some late night apps, followed by a kid friendly Happy New Year celebration. But due to a demanding work schedule, Jason was out of town until 8pm on New Years Eve. So we cancelled our party plans and decided we would have our own very low key, but very kid friendly party.

Like Christmas, I was very excited for this New Years Eve party because it was going to be soo much fun for Isabel. From the beginning, I was planning a kid friendly party. I had a grand vision of Isabel and her cousins jumping up and down blowing horns as they screamed "Happy New Year"!! So even though we had to cancel our plans, I was determined to still have my grand vision. Earlier during the week, Isabel and I went shopping to buy supplies for our party. Crowns for mom and Isabel and a groovy hat for dad. We also got all kinds of noise makers, leis, and silly string.

I was able to get Isabel down at 6pm for a VERY late nap. By the time dad got home, Isabel was up and ready to rock and roll. Poor Jason was exhausted from a 13+ hour work day, so while dad took a nap Isabel and I watched our new favorite movie Anastasia. The movie end with only 15 minutes until the new year. So Isabel and I quickly woke up dad and I got out all the party supplies. Finally the big moment.....we watch the countdown on TV, Jason and I joined in at 5, 4, 3....while Isabel was confused and counted 5, 6, 7, and then HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Isabel jumped up and down and blow her horn. She was so excited, even though she really didn't know what we were celebrating. She kept saying "it's 2009" (because we told her that), but she also kept asking for the cake (Isabel completely associates cakes with parties). There was no cake, but we had silly string. Jason and I had a good laugh spraying Isabel with silly string. Unfortunately Isabel was not as thrilled with the silly string. She was actually quite scared of it!!!

By 12:10am, our party was over. We quickly cleaned up while Isabel entertained us and herself by singing and dancing and of course posing for the camera....she's a chip off the old block (haha). Finally by 1am were all in bed...together. Our little New Years party was small and short, but we sure had fun:-)

That night I layed in bed going over the last year. What a great year 2008 was. I became an aunt, I gained a brother in law, Jason was back in school, Isabel moved to the preschool dance class, I saw life-long friends get married, Isabel became a fan of politics (well actually a fan of Hillary Clinton), and most importantly we spent the last year surrounded by great friends and family.

As I thought about what 2009 will bring....I was filled with excitement. Jason will be graduating from UND in May. I will be going back to school (UND) and Isabel will be starting preschool and Jason and I will celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary!! And those are only some of the huge milestones we'll face in 2009. I'm so excited. I'm not one to make new year resolutions, but if I had to, here's what they would be. I would make a commitment for Jason, Isabel, and I to participate in a charity event or volunteer somewhere as a family. And I would also committ to Jason and I continuing our efforts to be loving and accepting of everyone in our lives and everyone we meet. So with that....Happy New Year!!!!