Christmas Letter

Brian suggested last year we just post our letter on the blog. I really was not on board with this idea, but this year I am all for it. It just makes sense. Most of our family reads our blog, I don't have to go to Kinko's and make copies, and I don't have to buy more stamps. All in all it makes my to do list shorter. So without further ado here is our letter and recap of 2011:

As we approach Christmas and the end of 2011 we are enjoying looking back through our pictures and remembering all that has happened this past year. For Rachel it has been a year of many firsts and new experiences – learning to crawl walk and now run, first words, first teeth, first airplane ride, and the list goes on. This year has been a good one full of God’s blessings. Here are some of our highlights.

In March Brian got hired to work for Pearson Education on their program called Powerschool. For those of you who don’t know about it, it is an amazing program that school districts use to keep track of student information. So far Brian has enjoyed working there and we have all enjoyed the perks including trick or treating at Halloween and a formal Christmas party. Rebekah is also working. She went back to work for Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in September, and works three hours a week. You may recall this is the district she worked for before Rachel was born. While Rebekah is at work Rachel enjoys spending time with her Grammy Bjork. She looks forward to seeing Grammy, going to the park, and playing with Grammy’s necklaces and toy ducks.

Besides work most of our life revolves around Rachel. She is a joy to raise. It is so much fun to watch her learn and experience new things. She experienced her first big trip and plane ride in April when we traveled to Arizona for Rebekah’s sister’s wedding. Rachel did a great job traveling which was appreciated since Rebekah left a couple days before Brian. It was a beautiful and snowy wedding.

In August we braved a weekend camping with Rachel. It was not nearly as bad as Rebekah was worried it would be. Rachel loved it and stayed pretty clean. We enjoyed the time away fellowshipping with friends - both old and new.

Rachel turned one in September. To celebrate we had a ladybug themed birthday party. Planning to party was almost as much fun as the party. It was wonderful to see so many family members, even some from out of town come and shower Rachel with love.

In October we once again hit the skies and flew down to Disneyland. We enjoyed the trip with Brian’s parents and uncle. This was a much slower paced trip than our previous race through Disney in a day trips. We enjoyed taking in the park over two and a half days and seeing it through Rachel’s eyes. She loved every minute of it including all the rides and characters. The only thing she didn’t love was the food, but we brought enough baby food pouches with us to keep her from starving.

This year we again hosted Thanksgiving. We enjoy being able to host the meal and the location seems to work well for all involved. Because it was at our house we were able to let Rachel run around somewhat unsupervised while we visited with family. After attending other parties this year where we spent the whole time chasing her around we have come to appreciate how nice that is. Unlike last year the turkey got cooked;. However, Thanksgiving would be boring without some sort of excitement, so this year Rebekah created a volcano by accidentally adding baking soda instead of cornstarch to the gravy.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, the Bjorks

Enjoy some pictures from our December happenings. I had some more I was going to poast, but Picassa was giving me trouble, so you get my top three December pictures.

From Life with the Bjorks

From Life with the Bjorks

From Life with the Bjorks

15 Months Old Already

From Life with the Bjorks

Rachel turned 15 months old today. It has gone so fast, and she has already changed so much. She is filled with so much joy and determination. She is full of life and opinions. She loves to interact with those around and is always ready to play with anyone who is willing to play with her (except Santa). I love that she is uninhibited, innocent, and full of self-confidence. If I could bottle that up until later in life when she will inevitably struggle at least some with self doubt, I would. Sadly I cannot, but instead I can try to teach her that whatever her talents and passions are they are worthwhile and her worth comes from God not those around her. I want her to be the best Rachel she can be and love who she is.

Besides these wonderful character traits, Rachel continues to change and grow in other areas. She is 19 lbs and wears 9-12 month clothes. She signs more, please, all done, milk, eat, dog, and waves bye bye. She says hello, daddy, mama, night night, book, that, eye, Ila (which is her cousin's name and Rachel's current label for all pictures of babies, can we say over generalization),woof, and pants like a dog. She now has 3 teeth which all came in during the last 3 weeks. I thought her toothless grin was adorable, but the teeth just added to her cuteness. In fact, I think she is the cutest toddler around, not that I am biased or anything.

Rachel does NOT like Santa

From Life with the Bjorks

First time in Santa's lap, and Rachel just started crying. Good thing we didn't have to pay! We all enjoyed our train ride though Hagen park.

Turkey Day

From Life with the Bjorks

Once again we hosted Thanksgiving. We enjoy hosting it and discovered just how nice it is to have it at our house with an active toddler. After spending almost the whole time chasing and supervising Rachel at a party we recently went to it was really nice to be able to actually visit with our family and know Rachel was safe even when she was out of sight. It seems to be becoming a tradition that something noticeable does not go according to plan. Last year it was the turkey not cooking. This year I created a baking soda volcano. While talking and attempting to make gravy I grabbed the baking soda instead of the cornstarch box. They are similar and size and located next to each other on the shelf. No one else noticed my mistake either until all the sudden the gravy bubbled over the top of the pot. Had I not been trying to get dinner on the table for 11 1/2 people it would have been very cool. Who know turkey juice and baking soda would create a volcano. Well luckily I had gotten tired of suctioning juice out of the turkey bag during my first gravy making attempt and there was enough left when combined with a little chicken broth to make plenty of gravy. Dinner was tasty and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

Raking Leaves

From Life with the Bjorks

Raking leaves seems like less of a chore when you are using them as a prop for a fall picture of your adorable child.

From Life with the Bjorks

Christmas Came Early (For One Of Us)

From Life with the Bjorks

Christmas came early for Rachel. Her grandma and grandpa bought her a slide. We opted to put it together earlier this month because who wants a giant box sitting in the living room for almost 2 months, and really Rachel is not going to sit, open, and fully appreciate all of her presents if she has to do all of them in one sitting.

From Life with the Bjorks

Putting together the slide took longer than we expected. I guess all the reviews on Amazon were correct when they said the slide was a. hard to put together, b. required power tools, and c. the pieces did not fit quite right. I kind of hoped maybe those writing the reviews were just lacking skills in the area of toy assembly unlike my fabulous husband. Wishful thinking. It took a couple hours to assemble, two adults forcing pieces together, one power screw driver (that doesn't sound like the correct name???), and an X-acto knife to shave down some of the plastic. Yes, my husband is very skilled in the area of toy assembly as well as other things, but quality control got in the way of what should have been an easy to assemble toy. Oh, and I forget to mention a toddler trying to grab everything and climb on the slide might have been a little less than helpful. When we were finally through Rachel had a blast climbing, driving, and sliding. Bedtime was pushed back a little so Rachel could enjoy her new toy.

From Life with the Bjorks

Disneyland through Rachel's Eyes

Well we're a little behind on our blog posts, so lets see if we can remedy that. Sometimes I feel like I am constantly playing catch up. I have felt this way since we left for Disneyland last month. Every weekend has been jam packed with activities.

From Life with the Bjorks

Anyway, we had a blast at Disneyland last month. It was so much fun to experience it with Rachel. It wasn't just about running from ride to ride trying to hit all our favorites at least two or three times in a single day. This trip was slower and more relaxed. We stayed at the Grand Californian and enjoyed the both Disneyland and California Adventure over two and a half days. It was such an amazing experience to watch Rachel take in everything for the first time. There was so much to take in she barely blinked or napped.

We experienced things we had never taken the time to experience before like Toon Town. Because we stayed on site we got to enter Toon Town an hour early one morning. Entering early made all the difference for Rachel being able to safely walk around and experience the character's homes. While everyone was at the town hall meeting we were able to explore the virtually empty homes of Goofy, Donald, and Chip and Dale. This was perfect for a toddling 13 month old because she had room to explore and fall without big kids running around and over her. Oh, and, did you know Disneyland has a goat petting zoo. I didn't until this trip. Big Thunder Ranch is located on the path between Fantasyland and Frontierland. Rachel enjoyed going from goat to goat petting each one. She loved that the goats just laid there while she petted them. This also wasn't that crowded.

Besides experiencing new places we also went on rides, rides, and more rides. She loved just about every ride we went on. I think her favorites were the Jungle Cruise and the teacups. That girl loves wild rides and animals. She also loved the characters. They were like life sized stuffed animal. It was precious to watch her hug them, pet them, and give them kisses. I think she could have spent hours with each one, but sadly she had to share them with other kids. Sharing can be challenging.

The trip was magical, fun, and virtually stress free. All three of us are ready to go back, maybe with the other grandparents next time?