Mandy's family comes to town

Grandma Donna and Uncle Paul came into town for Brooklyn's first birthday. Having them here for the festivities and the weekend was a blessing.

In addition to Brooklyn's birthday celebration, we had some special time with Grandma's family in St. James and some local establishments.

Happy FIRST birthday, Brooklyn!

Where has the year gone? It seems impossible that we celebrated Brooklyn's first birthday on her birthday, September 11. Brooklyn gracefully enjoyed her cake and has been busy playing with her gifts.

A special thank you to all of our family and friends who joined us in the big celebration. We are so very lucky to have each and every one of you in our lives. We look forward to many more years of making memories.

One year

Brooklyn had her scheduled one year appointment and we continue to be blessed with a healthy, growing girl. She is so quick on her hands and knees that we are afraid to see what will happen when she's up walking. She's been testing her feet out and makes progress every day. Her teeth keep coming -- to us at an unbelievable rate -- and she has now added all four molars to her collection. Much to our amazement, she is currently getting her two top eye teeth.


12 month stats:

• Weight: 20 lbs; 33%


• Height: 29.25; 56%


• Head: 18.5; 93%


• Weight-to-height: 33%


• Teeth: 12

Richie's invade Nisswa, MN

We had a bast in northern Minnesota on our inaugural family vacation. We hung out on the beach, relaxed -- as much as you can with a then 10 month old -- fished, and had bonfires. Brooklyn enjoyed fishing in the boat, playing at the beach and shopping in Nisswa.

Ortonville with the Voegtli's

We felt so blessed to be included in the Voegtli family trip to Ortonville, Minn. Throughout the week we enjoyed great friends, fun times and wonderful memories.

Great Minnesota get together

We took Brooklyn to the MN State Fair today with Aaron and Kristin Voegtli. While we had a great time, we left a little earlier than planned to get to Urgent Care to have Brooklyn's eye looked at. We're glad we took her in, she has pink eye. Let's just hope no one else gets it!

11 months

The last month we have seen so many changes in Brooklyn but none more obvious than how quickly she gets into everything! She's a crawling machine and has pulled herself to her feet. Diaper changes have turned into the race against Brooklyn and who can move quicker. We are busy and are loving every minute of our time with her.