An unexpectedly great New Year Celebration

Grammy and I decided to take the girls and head up

to Minneapolis during Christmas break.

We needed our "baby Sophie" fix, so we packed up

car for a short trip.

On the agenda, quick afternoon at Mall of America

and then quality time with the family.

Lucky for us, the weather had other plans for us!

Our quick trip turned into 4 wonderful days!

First stop: dinner out in St. Paul

Great times~

Avery at the American Girl Store, "oh mom!"

Claire treated Chrissa to this trip

Ella, always hamming it up for the camera!

Time allowed for a whole day of fun at MOA, lucky us!

Claire and Grammy had so much fun!

We all enjoyed a trip to the Aquarium ~

New Year's Day - a little bowling!

And of course, no Wangerin gathering w/out games!

Thanks to my brother Dean, sis-in-law Rachel,

and cousin Sophie for so graciously, and comfortably

hosting us! You have a wonderful, warm and

loving home! We can't wait to visit again, and we'll

bring extra clothes next time!

Rouse Family Christmas Letter 2010

Happy Holidays from the Rouse House! December, 2010

Christmas is here and it’s time to stop and look around at what the year has brought!
It’s been a full and happy year here at the Rousehouse. We are blessed with good health, happy kids and rested parents!

Claire is in 3rd grade and excelling as usual! She is truly a dream-child. Smart, happy, kind, talented, caring, helpful, and just the right mix of sass to keep us on our toes! She continues to swim for the Walnut Creek Dolphins Swim Team. She also picked up piano this year and is progressing amazingly well. She is taking lessons from my childhood teacher, which makes me feel both proud and old! Claire has developed some very good, solid friendships this last year and is a great big sister.

Ella is conquering 1st grade with great enthusiasm and flair! She is so smart and has really found her talent as a writer! She is definitely a free loving spirit and is still one of the kindest and most caring people I know. She is following in her sister’s finprints, mastering the breast stroke and having a great time on the swim team. Ella is a great friend and sister and is so much fun to be around!

Avery, oh that Avery! What a kid! She is getting so big. I absolutely love spending time with her, laughing and being completely entertained by her personality and behavior. She is so funny and crazy smart! I can’t believe some of the things she comes up with! Avery is non-stop entertainment and always good for a hug and snuggle! She is doing great at preschool and loves playing with her friends and teachers. She is also Jack’s (our dog) best friend. She loves him and plays with him often.

David and I are so happy and content. After 10 years of marriage, 3 homes, 3 kids and many great life experiences we are very happy to be in the moment, every day, with our family. We love family nights, talking and laughing with the kids. We love to read, or be read to, bedtime stories. We love our Friday Night Date Night. We stay busy working (still at Hummel’s and DMACC) and volunteering (church and PTO) and playing (cards and Cranium are our favorites!) Dave and I know how blessed we are and we thank God everyday for those blessings!

This year our hearts have gone out to those we love battling cancer and other health problems. Our eyes have been opened to the treasure of friendship, the love of family and the fragility of life. We pray that we never take for granted the blessings we’ve been given. We praise God for his healing, his love and his grace.

We wish you all a blessed holiday season, filled with love and laughter!

Love,
David and Janelle
Claire, Ella, Avery and Puppy Jack
www.rousehouse5.blogspot.com

Over the river and through the woods....

to the Grandparent's houses we go....

I say this all the time, and it is true,

my kids are SO lucky to have such awesome

grandparents living so close!

I may be biased, but I think that my parents

are the best sets of grandparents around!

(and I know that my kiddos agree!)

Christmas weekend we were able to spend

some great time with both sets of grandparents

and Aunt Jamie and Uncle Kyle.

Let the spoiling begin ~

First stop: Grammy and Boppa's house

Fine looking family, I must say (Dave is the photographer)

Nothing like Christmas joy on a child!
Avery is never shy with her feelings.

This doll went right back in the box!

Dora and friends, however, she loved!

Happy again!

Ella showing Julie her new desk.

The girls' dolls got matching school desks.

Ella's big thank you to Claire,

for handing down her ipod!

Barbie mania!

Next stop: Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's house!


Beautiful Avery (I still miss that front tooth!)

"Whoa! That's a lot of presents!"

Claire's already thinking about her next itunes purchase!

Aunt Jamie and Ella taking a break ~

Avery kept Uncle Kyle very busy ~

The best gift of all: Grandparents!

Merry Christmas!

Santa came, Santa came!!

It was a very Merry Christmas here at the Rousehouse.

We are blessed with 3 beautiful, active girls.

All of them are at a great age to celebrate the holiday.

They're old enough to appreciate their gifts and

the real reason for the holiday, and they're still

young enough to really enjoy the ... presents!!

Santa brought Jack a great Christmas shirt.

"Thanks a lot Santa!"

Waukee Warrior bags with Walnut Creek towels in them!

Sisterly love~Ella gave Claire a personalized ornament

Claire had to start organizing her loot right away~

Ella was thrilled with the toys and the clothes!

Claire's excitement upon seeing her new itouch!

Ella's excitement upon seeing her new AG Doll, Julie!

Happy little lady~ makes for 1 happy mom too!

Avery with her collection of pillow pets!

It was a great Christmas this year. Yes, the stuff was great.

Lots of presents, lots of wrapping, lots of wishes granted.

But it was also great in another way. Lots of gratitude.

Everyone was happy and appreciative with each other.

There were no cries of "not fair" or "I didn't get that" or

"that's not what I wanted!"

Everyone enjoyed each other.

It was fun to watch the girls, so excited to hand out their presents.

They took such pride in thinking of others this year.

Once the wrapping was cleared and boxes thrown out,

I can say it was a very merry Christmas indeed!

Praise God on this most wonderful day and Thank God

for another great year!

Holiday 2010 Traditions

Two great new traditions were started this year at the Rousehouse

First: Holiday Treat baking with Grammy and the girls~

It all started with a sad and lonely grammy and

traditions of the past.....

As you know, I have 3 sisters and 1 brother in California

and 1 brother in Minnesota. Every year, at least some

fraction of them come home for the holidays, always.

Well, not this year. For the first time ever, I am the

only "Wangerin" child home for Christmas.

This means 3 things: 1. very sad grammy and boppa

2. lots of pressure on me to "entertain" the folks! : )

3. grammy goes a little "coocoo"

Well, by coocoo, I mean she decided to bake. Not just a

batch here or a pan there. I mean, she spent 3 straight days

baking and shaping and rolling and sprinkling.

All with the goal of mailing some "homemade goodness and love"

to the missing siblings.

So, the girls and I headed over there on day 2 to start

a new family tradition, "baking with Grammy!"

Avery spend most of her time with Boppy or the TV

Claire is quite the baker, no surprise


Roll, roll, roll that dough...


Ella even got in on the fun

I had a pretty good time as well, although

my favorite part was the eating...

'Reindeer cookies' were the favorites!

When the cookies cooled and the mess was cleaned,

we vowed to do it again next year no matter

who was in town to enjoy!

Next: my girls and I started our own Rouse tradition.

Pottery painting!

I have always wanted to take the girls to the

local pottery painting store to make unique gifts

for our loved ones, but, you know... Avery.

Well, this year I decided to brave the paint and

breakables and it was great!

The big girls each picked 2 pieces to decorate for

anyone of their choice. They also each painted

an ornament for their school teachers.

Avery painted 3 ornaments (I thought small and flat

would be best for her!)

Besides a few drips here and a "mommy meltdown" there,

we had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year!

If you don't receive one of our one-of-a-kind

creations this year, don't worry, you'll be on the list

for next year!

Avery took it very seriously, at first....

Ella was definitely in her element!

Claire paints like she does everything,

thoughtful, meticulous and lovely~

Happy Holidays to you all!

Enjoy your family traditions this year!

Just a little sample...

This is some video I took of Ave's on Christmas Eve morning.

I love it because it shows so many of the great sides of Avery ~

"grumpy Avery" - with the scowl

"funny Avery" - laugh, funny talk

"annoyed Avery" - "forget it!, I'm leaving!"

"crazy Avery" - "Pillow Pet" in scary voice

"teenage Avery" - "oh mother..." (at the very end)

She really is quite the character, and I love every one of them!

White Christmas!

God blessed us with every child's dream

A White Christmas!

We took advantage of the beautiful snow

and warmer temps on Christmas Eve Day

to go out and play in the snow!

Avery's snow angel ~

Ella's awesome snow man ~

Poor Dad, less play and more work!