Love from Minnesota

Spring Break/ Meet Beau!

2009-03-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

For spring break this year we decided to follow our one-year long tradition of spending the time in Idaho. We took the good 'ol bug all the way out there...

And had to say our goodbyes to Korbee (the bug)...

Some growing up took place... Chels went to the bank and got a loan for her new baby... Chelsee wasn't too terribly sad to part with Korbee once she got the new key in her hand...

Meet Beau...

Thanks for helping us car shop, Dan!

(He found us really funny when it came to cars for some reason...)

The drive home through the mountains was beautiful! Riding in a nice car wasn't too bad either!

We did make a note to not drive in the winter through the mountains ever again though! Daylight makes everything much easier!

Why do we live in Fargo, ND again? There is NO scenery here and oh so much out there!!

Chelsee's 22nd Birthday

2009-03-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

(As you can see, I was a little late taking down the Christmas decorations!)

I suprised Chelsee at school with birthday cupcakes and this little froggy friend cookie!

Every year I make her a birthday cake in whatever shape she wants... this year she decided she wanted a train... as to why a train, I have no idea! She is totally random with her cake choices! I sort of forgot to order the pan to make actual cars so I had to just wing it... (not my best job ever but I would say that it got the job done...)

Totally a 22 year old!! :P

I think she just loves making me spend time making her cake so she can have the satisfaction of cutting into it... she always finds it oh so fun! :)

Chelsee's Tropical Christmas Vaca

2009-01-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

Every year the McLaughlan family takes a vacation over Christmas... 2008 took them to Florida and then on a cruise to the Bahamas...

This is the weather she was enjoying while it was a whole 2 degrees in Minneapolis! Lucky girl!

The McLaughlan Family

She got to spend some quality time with three very important men in her life...
MAN #1

LITTLE MAN #2

LITTLER MAN #3

And with the girls...Can't tell they're sisters at all, right?!? :P

Karoke on the cruise

There were many, many beach hours clocked...

Chelsee & Austin making footprints in the sand...

KarLee & Keagan making sandcastles...

Austin just chillin in his stroller...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

NEW YEARS EVE

2009-01-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

Chels and I headed down to the cities for New Years Eve this year to spend it with the fam. We were planning on heading downtown, but those plans kind of fell through so we ended up staying in Maple Grove. We went to my parents' favorite resturant, Bella Sera. They had a whole New Years Eve night planned with all sorts of party favors and some live music.

The Fabulous Four Girls!

SMILE!!

Before we left to the resturant, Chels and I were playing around with the camera (we don't get all dressed up very often). Not sure what I was doing when she snapped this wonderful action shot of me :P I had to take a picutre of her in her very formal jacket before we left! SO HOT! Haha!

Jackie got to hang out with the "big kids" that night (a.k.a. her family, like usual -way to be a tropper, babe!). She was getting a little bored so we asked the bartender to suprise her with something fun (and NA) to make her smile! He did a good job... it was actually pretty tastey!

Chelsee's luck on the other hand... well let's just say, any drink that shade of green, regardless of what it is, is not going to be good! I think it is safe to say, LESSON LEARNED!

The Mama and Me!

They were handing out party favors a bit later in the evening and all of us girls really wanted the hats they were giving the guys (instead of the headbands we were given)! When the bartender finally gave in, well... here's what happened... hmm...

"... hey, pretty lady! how you doin" :P HAHA!

Jackie & Chelsee

There's really no explination when these two get together... :P It's almost always interesting, to say the least! (Especially if there is a camera involved!) SILLY GIRLS!

MMM... Dinner! So Meaty...

I really wonder what others around us think when we go out in public... we're so weird sometimes! I love it!

Family Pic (minus Chels)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

2008-12-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that we've actually had a full-sized Christmas tree! I was so excited to put it up but no one would let me until after Thanksgiving (understandable, I guess). :) Chelsee knew how excited I was so we made a whole Christmas day out of it! We made a big breakfast that morning and then started on the tree. She did the actual tree construction... she knows the proper "fluffing" technique! :)

The glow of the tree lights up the whole apartment at night!

We don't have a fireplace, so our stockings just had to be hung on the wall... I'm sure Santa will still be able to find them!

Along with setting up the tree on our Christmas-spirited day, we also built a beautiful gingerbread house!! It looks so much better than the one we tried to build two years ago when we were in Utah!

Since we don't have a real tree but we love the smell of pine, I took some branches from my parents' tree before I left and put them around the house along with pine scented candles. Now it actually smells like Christmas around here!

Senior Soccer Banquet

2008-12-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

Every year the seniors do something a little goofy for the banquet. In keeping with the formality of the event, we saw it only fit not to make a complete "shamockery" of the whole day... so we wore suits!

AND LOOKED DAMN GOOD WHILE DOING IT!

Dan talked...

We hugged...

Chelsee and I talked...

AND THEN...

Chelsee and Britt said their proper goodbyes... by karoking Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"

Yes, all while wearing cute pink pumps! What an amazing woman!

Us and Dan (soccer coach, life coach, friend :P)

The Fabulous Four

Senior Girls

Happy 50th Birthday!

2008-12-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

It's official... Dad is an old fart! His birthday was actually at the beginning of November but we didn't get to celebrate properly so Mom threw together a little suprise party for him during Thanksgiving. What more could anyone need... turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, apple pie... AND CAKE!

It only seemed appropriate to put an old soccer player on his cake. 50 years old and still playing twice a week...

Mom had black scarves for everyone to put on... some made interesting (to say the least) decisions on how to wear them...

She still has a sense of humor while sitting there in active labor! I hope you remembered to take that off before going to the hospital! Way to be a trooper, Bean!

Pullin' Out the Upset!!

2008-11-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

For the past 6 years our team has gone to our conference's playoff tournament to determine which team goes to the NCAA National Tournament. For the past couple years we have gone into the tournament with the number 1 spot. This year, the conference was, to say the least, unpredictable and we entered the tournament on Wednesday in the fourth position - meaning we had to play the #1 team who was completely undefeated this year. It was a HUGE game for us but there was never any question in our minds that we would prevail - we are, after all, the better team! We are the Concordia College COBBERS!! :)

Chelsee always has to hang her jersey on the back of our bench before the game while she warms up...

Gettin' the cleats on...

Warm ups...

Pre-game pump up speech from the coach

The National Anthem

Half time strategy...

The score was still tied 0-0

The starters all have their silly games before they go back on the field after halftime. They were singing and dancing in a circle this time :)

Apparently all the singing and dancing worked! We scored an amazing goal in overtime to win the game! We are moving on in playoffs and just created the biggest upset in our conference yet this season! GO COBBERS!!

Post-game celebrations are always the best! Everyone is so happy. BIG hugs were a MUST!

Team Pic

Our next game is Saturday... wish us luck!

Halloween

2008-11-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

I think these first pictures may need a bit of an explanation (or maybe not, it is Chelsee after all...) In Chicago we went to a Halloween store and she found a toddlers bear costume that she wanted but it clearly would not have fit her so she asked me to make her a bear outfit. When I went to go pick up a pattern I found this little monkey pattern (in a toddlers size again, of course, so I had to make some adjustments). I thought it was way too cute to pass up!

Our other roommate saw the pattern and really wanted me to make her a froggie suit also...

Chelsee loved her tail but kept losing it around campus (it was detachable so she could sit down)

When we got back from soccer on Saturday night we went to go hang out with some friends. Chelsee was too embarrassed to wear her monkey suit to the bar so she was a "bad ass boy" and I was, well everyone though Sarah Palin, although that's not what I was going for at all...

It was a really fun night!

Chelsee seemed to love her costume... she was the only one on the dance floor for a while - off in her own little world... like usual, I guess :P We joined her soon after so she wasn't so alone...

Chicago - Home Sweet Home... Someday

2008-10-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

For our mid semester break our soccer team headed to Chicago for a couple games and a lot of shopping

Jan came to watch the game and took us to Wicked. It was absolutely AMAZING! Chelsee bought the soundtrack after the show and loves to listen to it and sing along :P

THANK YOU, JAN!!

We spent two full days shopping and site-seeing around Chicago. Chels and I had to split from the group for a day to meet up with Jan in the city for the play... I am pretty sure that we're going to be lost A LOT when we live there (maybe).

We had to visit the Hersey store... SOOOO much chocolate!!

Chelsee and Vanessa (one of our roommates)

Chelsee was really fond of HATS when we were shopping! These are only a few of the ones she tried on and wore around the stores...

Beautiful!

Totally you, Chels!

There was a Halloween store right by our hotel... Chelsee bought a gold tooth and wore it around until it broke (about 10 minutes - really high quality!)

There was a statue man on the sidewalk causing quite the congestion. That silver paint can not be good for the skin! :P

There were a ton of weddings going on in the city. There were adorable little churches scattered throughout the city that were so fairytale-looking!

Our group meeting place was at THE BEAN sculpture in Millennium Park... yes, it's a giant shiny, kidney bean-shaped sculpture.

Oh yeah... the reason we were even in Chicago... SOCCER. We managed to fit practice in every morning before getting to the really important stuff - shopping. It was windy, but still so much warmer than Fargo!

The trip was a lot of fun and has made both of us even more excited to finish school and move on to new things. Living in Chicago would be so much fun and such a different life experience for both of us!

Seniors

2008-10-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Life has been pretty hectic lately. Soccer takes up so much time... and we LOVE it! Two weekends ago, both of our families made the venture to Fargo to visit. It was really great to get to see them both and to show off our wonderfully hectic lives to them! We really appreciate them coming to visit!

Last weekend was Senior Day and our last regular season home game. It was a happy and sad both at the same time. Hopefully we're still nowhere near the end of our season!

This weekend is mid-semester break and we're headed to Chicago. It will be nice to get away from school and have some time to just relax with all of our friends! Jan is coming to visit us again there also!

Senior Day!

All of the seniors at a BBQ

Chelsee after a rough, wet, and muddy game last weekend. We pulled out the win, so it was a great day!

SENIOR SOCCER SEASON STARTED!

2008-08-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

SOCCER! IT HAS BEGUN...

This was our first scrimmage of the season against Minnesota State University, Moorhead. We won 2-0. The team has been playing well so far. We started trying a new kind of controversial taping strategy on Chelsee's knee (that's what the blue and pink is in the picture below). It seems to be helping. She is able to go without her brace now and it seems to be getting better day by day.

She's also team captain this year. It's a role that fits her very well! The picture above is of her and a freshmen that is probably going to be starting next to her as an outside defender. Chelsee has definitely taken her under her wing and it's become pretty clear that Kelsey (the freshmen) looks up to her!

BEFORE & AFTER

After every game and practice Chelsee has to be wrapped up with at least 2, if not 3 or 4, ice bags. Her body is definitely ready for her to stop beating it up with soccer...

T.J.'s FIRST SOCCER GAME

We bought T.J. a little soccer jersey in Brazil. He's finally big enough to fit into it and it is absolutely ADORABLE! The whole team loved him in it! What a little stud!

He LOVED sitting on the sidelines playing with the soccer ball! I definitely had to multi-task that day! I am working with the team again (my 3rd year now) as their student Athletic Trainer so on top of watching T.J. that day, I still had to tape up all the girls and attend to their injuries. He was such a good little man that day though! He loved being around so many girls!

I just LOVE this picture! Baby's first soccer game!

Haha! His head and the ball are just about the same shape! :P

Summer 2008 Catch-Up

2008-08-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

MOM'S BIRTHDAY

August 4th

Chelsee and I decided we were going to try to make Mom's birthday really fun and special this year so we got up at 3 a.m. and were at the house by 7 a.m. to suprise her when she woke up. Apparently it worked because she started crying when she answered the door! First we went to a movie and lunch... then we dropped Jackie off at soccer try-outs and Jeffrey met us at Santarini's restaurant for drinks and appitizers. (Chelsee and I got hit on by some creepy old greek men... eww!) Then we picked Jack up from soccer and headed to P.F. Changs for a birthday dinner celebration! Earlier that day Chelsee and I, without Mom knowing it, dropped off a Happy Birthday martini center piece for the table that I made the night before, so it was sitting at our table when we got there... she was yet again pretty suprised and happy!

The Birthday Girl with her birthday martini

Mom and me

Here's a little explaination for the next few pictures... some how, I have no idea why, the E Harmony website came up and we were all joking about what our e harmoney photo would be to catch the most eligible singles... these are what we came up with apparently...

Sometimes you have to wonder what other people around us think when we do weird things like this!

Mom and Jackie (and Jeffrey creepin in the background)

On the way home from the restaurant Jeffrey and Chelsee began taking the tinsel out of the center piece and holding it out the window while driving - they said it looked like a minature firework in their hand... hmm...

A RANDOM SUMMER EVENING

August 10th-ish

We still don't have a dining room table so one day Chelsee decided to take out the sewing board, put it where the table would be and start a ridicuously HARD puzzle! As of today, the puzzle still looks about the same as it did in the pictures! :P It's a good project for her though... keeps her busy when she gets bored!

CHELSEE & T.J.

August 15th-ish

T.J. is the little guy Chelsee and I nanny for. He's growing up so fast! We started watching him when he was just weeks old and now he's already 7 months! These pictures were from one random day that we were watching him and took him to our apartment after we went on a nice long walk. Chels and I had the hideabed pulled out of the couch from the night before when we were lounging around and watching movies so we just continued our lounge time with the little man. We brought lots of his toys with us but he, of course, like the spoons we gave him the best!

A DAY AT THE POOL

August 16th

Chelsee and I decided to take T.J. on his first expedition to the pool. He hated the water for the first 10 minutes but once he got used to it (and I held him very close to me) he was okay with it. He even released his death-grip he had on my swimsuit once or twice to splash his hand in the water. Unfortunately soon after he got used to the water, the pool closed for the day due to unsafe pool conditions (a.k.a.- a little kid pooped and the pool had to be cleaned...) We packed everything up and headed to another pool but by that time T.J. had about had enough of the water torture.

He was much happier just hanging out on the side of the pool with his bottle!

Fun in the Sun at the Cabin

2008-08-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

These little figures are hanging in the bathroom and after 7 years of looking at them and contemplating the strangeness of the whole situation, I decided to take a picture :P

Katie & Jackie

Jackie & Chelsee

Chelsee & Haley

Katie & Haley

Haley, Jackie & Chelsee

The parents finally let us take the boat out ourselves...

Jackie learned to slalom ski...

Chelsee learned to ski on 2 skis (she learned to slalom first)...

Chelsee wakeboarded a lot...

Jeffrey wakeboarded a lot...

and wiped out a lot trying to perfect his jumps...

We had our traditional campfires almost every night... late nights and lots of laughs!

Jeffrey & Mitch at the fire...

Chelsee & Jeffrey being Bad Asses... (or something like that...)

Jackie trying to be as bad a** as Chelsee... I think she has some work to go...

It was rainy and sort of cold on Thursday so us girls (minus Chelsee - I found out she's terrible at crafts! She opted to observe instead) decided to tye dye sports bras and t-shirts... my hands were definitely stained yellow for the next 4 days!

Chels and I had to leave on Friday for work that night so we got up and took the boat out one last time that morning. When we got back Mom & Dad decided they wanted to take family pictures right away. None of us were looking our best - that's for sure!

The Fourth of July

2008-07-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey's 21st birthday was on the 3rd of July so we (Chels, Mom, Dad, and I) all went out for his birthday. Chelsee and I decorated the house with balloons and streamers early in the morning and then woke him up with candles lit donuts and an obnoxious Happy Birthday song. The whole family went to a movie and then headed out to eat at Chino Latino...then to the bar. Chelsee and I found out that people-watching in Uptown is comparable to people watching on Copa Cabana (only with more clothes)!

We were up fairly early the next day to start the 4th of July festivities. It was nice and warm outside so we set up the hammock and the bean bag toss game, got out the frisbees and bocce balls and began our day of fun in the sun. Jackie eventually even dug out the Crazy Daisy water sprinkler from the far depths of the shed... I think she shall forever remain a 10 year old at heart :P

Mom, Chelsee, and I played a game of bocce ball after dinner until the mosquitos got too bad. I WON (I just had to throw out there because I never win!)

Chelsee was having fun with the color features on the camera!

BRAZIL

2008-07-08T03:06:00.000-07:00

From June 17 - July 1, Chelsee and I traveled around Brazil and played soccer with the Concorida Women's Soccer Team. The trip was amazing! Despite the Brazilian schedule (time is purely a guideline) we managed to pack in plenty of time on the field and left some for sightseeing around the country.

The trip started off on a bit of a rocky note - our flight to Brazil was unexpectedly canceled and we were stuck in Miami for a night. The hotel we were sent to was not ready for a group of 30, so we were actually only in the rooms for about an hour before heading back to the airport at 4 a.m.

We trained in Salesopolis, a suburb of Sao Paulo, at the BFUT institute for the first week of the trip. The campus was beautiful! Our playing field was set apart from everything else and surrounded by, what we referred to as, "the jungle." Our trainer, Thedeau, was extremely intense but the team seemed to learn a lot from him - it may have been out of fear, however, as he did threaten to kill us regularly if our basic knowledge of soccer slipped our minds at any time.

We trained twice a day almost every day and in between sessions we had some things set up for us to do - one of which was planting trees. Thedeau went with us and insisted that we plant a tree with love: dig a whole, gently cover the tree with dirt, NAME your tree, KISS your tree, and give it some water. Hmmm... Meet our tree, Baby Austin. (creative Chelsee...)

Brazil's winter is during our summer so the weather wasn't the best while in Sao Paulo. They don't get snow but they do get A LOT of rain! This picture was taken across the street from a restaurant we ate at in the city on our way
to Santos to play our toughest game of the trip.

Concordia College vs. Santos Soccer Club

Hmm...
1.) It was down pouring the entire game
2.) 6 of their players were preparing to head to China for the OLYMPICS!
3.) 10 of the players are currently on the U-18 NATIONAL Team!
4.) ...we learned a lot... or something...

RIO DE JANEIRO

The waves on Copa Cabana were breaking hard all day. We had to keep going further down the beach so we wouldn't get in trouble by the lifeguards. We assumed that they were telling us to get out of the water. The only work we really picked up on was 'loco'... hmm... Crazy Americans!

We took a gondola to the top of Sugar Loaf just in time for sunset. The view was breathtaking!

It's hard to see, but the Christ statue is off in the distance of this picture.

We had some time on the beach at night and decided to try some coca water. It didn't really taste like a whole lot but apparently it's a nasty laxative so it was more of a personal prop in the tropical paradise for the night!

Chelsee also decided that night to try her luck with the tide that night... needless to say, SHE LOST! She actually ended up with water up past her knees. Apparently the ocean wasn't listening when she yelled at it to not get her wet. Riiight...

Cristo Redentor - "Christ the Redeemer"

125 ft. statue of Jesus

This was on the way back down the mountain. Chelsee got sick that day, so the faster we could get back to resting, the better. The was a quickly taken (and unappreciated) photo!

I think I may have overdosed her on cough meds that day... oops!

At the Maracana entrance (one of the MOST famous soccer stadiums in the world!)

The 2014 World Cup is to be held in Brazil so many changes have been made to the stadium since the last time I was there.

Our wonderful coaches took time away from their busy schedules to pose on the Maracana stadium pitch for a picture... nice faces huh?!?

Chelsee especially enjoyed Brazil's obsession with 80's music! She was constantly singing in the restaurants! She and a Britt karaoked "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Huston one night and the locals LOVED them! (We were a little more hesitant to encourage some of the notes they were hitting!)

ILLA GRANDE

The last two days of the trip we spend just relaxing on the beautiful island of Illa Grande. The resort we stayed at was so amazing! We took a 5 hour bus ride from Rio to the port and then a 45 minute boat ride to get to the island.

We got up early and headed out to go scuba diving. Chels and I didn't go - neither of us were feeling very well. The weather was beautifully HOT and the water was fairly warm. Chelsee decided to lower herself in off the back of the boat and swim around with the rest of the girls... no cannonballs for her that day!

We really were in a tropical paradise!

Our scuba instructor grilled for us that evening. It was the best food we ate the entire time we were there! He slow grilled different meats that he first rolled in rock salt. He also made fish that was very tasty!