Worst Blogger EVER!

In usual "Kayser" fashion I am late in posting updates to our family blog! The reason probably has to do with the fact that most everyone is on facebook and keeps up with us that way.  But I do like to keep this blog somewhat updated mainly for personal reasons to look back at when I'm old and do not remember anything...and hoping the boys might like to look as well.

So...in the last five months this is what has went down with the "M & J Program!!":

July 2011: In July I continued to be pregnant! hahaha Madek & I took a wonderful trip back to the UP to visit all of our amazing friends there!! We celebrated the fourth with Mark's sister Kat & her husband Nels....and back home to watch the fireworks with our new friends here the Halvorson family!!(Yes....we've made a few friends ;o) Oh I almost forgot...we walked a 5k as a family and I wanted so badly to run...I jogged more than I should have and then I was pretty sore for a few days...darn pregnancy!

August 2011: My Mother came to visit for the first time since we moved to Minnesota!! We went to the Mall of America and shopped til we dropped...finished off with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...yummmmmmmy! We took Madek to the Zoo & Aquarium...which he loved. My brother Jason &  his gf Carol came to visit since moving back from Alaska! It was good to see them and nice that they were here when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor...no biggy..everything was fine in the end!Towards the end of Aug my sweetest dear cousin Lindsay Ree came out for her first visit! It is always such a great time when Lindsay visits....1 week wasn't enough ;o(  The day before she left we celebrated my 27th bday with an awesome dinner in Canal Park! Oh and in August I continued to be very pregnant & very hot!!

September 2011: Mark &  I had one last weekend get away before the arrival of baby number two.  Mark's parents offered to take Madek so we could enjoy a mini vacation.  Of course I picked Door County Wisconsin!!! We had a great time with our favorite "adopted" family as we refer to them!! Dee & Eric are always the best hosts, they entertained & fed us well :o) Always leaving ready to return again!! Lets see.....what else happened in Sept.....not sure of much else...I was still pregnant....very very pregnant!

October 2011: Baby #2 has finally arrived!! Kroix Walter on 10-4-11 8lbs 11oz & 21.5 inches long.  A happy &  healthy baby boy :o) His delivery was simply amazing & I couldn't have had a better hospital, doctors or nurses.  Thankful for Grandma Becky who came to the house to stay with Madek while we were at hospital.  We knew right away he was just the best baby ever so sweet & cuddly!!

November 2011: Well lets see...November we spent getting into the swing of having 2 kids and let me tell you that was a stiff learning curve! WOw....I never imagined 2 would be SOOO different than just one.  Slowly....very slowly things started to get easier. My dear friend Becky came from Esky with her 3 kids! We had a fun day out to the Aquarium & Texas Roadhouse for lunch!! Then for Thanksgiving we managed to go back to Michigan and we had a great trip!  We also go to stop in Esky and stay with our friends the Martin family :o)  Thanks to them for hosting us!!

December 2011: Madek wrapped up all of his fall classes which included gymnastics, gym & swim, swimming lessons, jump & jive & preschool.  He is already telling me he wants to go back to school so that is awesome.  He will also continue gym & swim one day a week and hopefully start wrestling come Feb.!!  Christmas came &went &was wonderful.  Thank you to our awesome Johnson cousins for inviting us to their celebration. We had a great time & even more amazing FOOD!

Present:  We are preparing for Madek's 4th bday with a get together with friends & a stay at a waterpark hotel!!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family & friends.  Lets hope I can keep this thing updated more often than every 5 months!!(sorry for lack of photos..I just don't have the time right now)

Love,

Summer Update

Once again I am falling behind in updating our blog :o( So here is a list of our summer highlights so far:

1. Drove to Memphis to see Mark's sister Katherine graduate from The Southern College of Optometry. Also visited some dear friends south of Nashville...I fell in love with TN :o)

2. Only a short stay back home & we were on the road again heading back to my home town for my cousin Kyle's graduation open house.  It was nice to be home & see everyone but it was a quick & busy visit for sure.
3. After MI we drove to Chicago & stayed with Mark's Aunt & Uncle before heading up to WI for Mark's Mom's retirement party.  Whew.....that's a lot of driving!!!!!!!!!!
4. Then we were back home in MN to finish up moving into our rental that we will be renting for the next year or possibly 2.  G&G Kayser came over to help us with the "big" stuff & it was much appreciated!!!
5. So after driving 5,000 miles in 4 weeks & moving......we were DEAD!!!
6.  We spent most of the 4th of July weekend in the cities with Auntie Kat & Uncle Nels (Mark's sister & husband).  Then we headed back home to enjoy walking a 5k as a family, the parade, & fireworks with our new friends the Havlorson family!!!
7.  Lets see here....I'm trying to remember what's next......oh yeah...I'm still pregnant...growing like crazy! It really has been going by very fast but these last few hot weeks have been a lil slow.....11 more weeks to go...wooohooo!
8. Madek & I took a wonderful trip back to Esky to visit all of our amazing friends!! We had a great time staying with my friend Kristen & her family.  But I think the highlight was the girls dinner we had at our favorite restaurant & the girls surprised me with a super yummy cake...Boy or Girl??? Oh.....how I miss them so....:o) Guess we will have to visit again soon! Oh & we go to meet baby Alayna......sweetest baby girl ever...couldn't get enough of her sweet self ;o)

Summer is flying by & that is just fine by me.  I'm so excited for baby to arrive & enjoy fall with a newborn!!! Before you know it Halloween will be here!! Take care my friends & keep in touch!!!

And I have been horrible with the camera this summer.....sorry for lack of pictures! I'm sure there will be picture overload once baby is here ;o)
xoxoxox Jana

A new job, another move, & baby #2!!!

Sorry I'm a little behind in updating the blog!!!! As soon as we got back from vacation in late January life has been a tad crazy!!!

The day before we departed for Dominican Mark had a job interview in Cloquet, Minnesota right outside Duluth.  While on vacation Mark got an offer and well....here we are living in MINNESOTA!! Kind of surreal for us to believe we are actually living here outside of Duluth so soon.  Just ONE DAY before he got the phone call to see if he was interested in interviewing for the position we had discussed our future plans and decided we wanted to be in the Duluth area by the time Madek started school which will be fall of 2013.  We knew the right job would have to come along first and then the dreaded job of trying to sell our house would be the real issue.  It just so worked out that we were driving to Minnesota to fly out for our vacation and we squeezed Mark's formal interview in.  I'm pretty sure it was out of our hands from the beginning and somebody else wanted us to  be in Duluth as well.  Mark accepted the job offer and we were prepared to sit on our house for a year due to the market. Then out of nowhere we had a couple interested......our house was rushed to market just so we could formally accept an offer and the house was sold as soon as it was put on the market! We were beyond thankful not only for the new job offer but to sell our house so soon. I actually get tears in my eyes reading this of how blessed we really are.  My heart goes out to all other families in the US struggling to sell a house! Oh yeah.....why Duluth?? Well Duluth is an area Mark and I have liked ever since we met.  Mark grew up until he was 7 just 2 hours north of Duluth.  It is a beautiful town of close to 90,000 residents that sits right on Lake Superior.  It is the perfect mix between city & wilderness.  I've always wanted to live close to a big city and Mark likes to be close to the woods...so this was always our first pick! 

Ok....so...that is the first "big part" of our lives right now.  A new job, selling our home, & moving to Minnesota.  If that wasn't enough we thought well what the hell lets have another baby now too!! HAHAHA not exactly like that but you get the point.  The baby was actually the only thing that WAS planned.  The job came out of nowhere and completely blindsided us!! So yes we are pregnant with baby Kayser #2 due October 6th!  We are also not finding out the sex of the baby this time so you will have have to wait along with us.

As always we hope you all are happy & healthy and ready for summer as much as we are!!! I will try to do a better job of keeping this more up to date!!!!

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday & Bon Voyage!

As you can see from the title of this post we have had all sorts of events going on over the past few months!!!  Christmas came & went with family visiting & lots and lots of new toys!!! Madek sure was a lucky lil boy this year.......I guess despite what he may have said he was on the "good" list this year!  

As soon as Christmas was over it was time to prepare for Madek's 3rd Birthday! I always want to make it very clear that Christmas & his birthday are two very distinct holidays that do not collide into one.  His New Years Eve birthday will always be separate from Christmas festivities!!!!  He had a wonderful day filled with balloons, a snowmobile cake, & chips ;o) Not to mention hours & hours of playing with his new toys!!!

So...now all that is left....OUR VACATION!!!! I could go on & on and give you all the wonderful details  but I would be here all day! Lets just say it was, "AMAZING!!!!"  Brittany & Reed's wedding was a total blast & we couldn't have been more happy to share their special day with them!! The weather was perfect then entire week providing Mark & I with a beautiful golden tan!!  Madek had a wonderful time with my parents downstate but we are all excited to be back home together.

Winter is in full swing up here in the north country!! We haven't had a ton of snow but enough for Mark to get out for one good ride before we left on vacation.  I know he is just itching to get back out there....maybe he will this weekend!! I of course am enjoying the winter weather as well.....there is just something about warm sweaters and snuggling up inside on a cold day that warms my heart!

We hope you are all enjoying your winter 1/2 as much as we are! Just remember...it is going to be what it is and no matter how much you complain about the cold & snow there is simply NOTHING you can do about it!!! So.......just smile and enjoy it now because we all know it will warm up sooner or later!

Much love from us!!!!