Christmas in Algona

We had a Christmas get together in Algona and took this picture of Grandma Jan, Grandpa Walter and all of the grandkids except Natalee, who was home sick with a bad cold.


Love,
Ben and Cameron

Hayden Visits for Christmas

Hayden, Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jayson came to visit Maple Grove for the Bierstedt family Christmas and they stopped to visit us. Here is a cute picture of the three of us.


After a few pictures with different cameras, we were all doing an odd head tilt.


Love,
Ben and Cameron

More Christmas 2007 Coverage

I also got a big set of Lincoln Logs from Mom and Dad. Dad built me the whole village, including this lookout tower and bank combo.


Ben and I were too busy playing Ben's new DS games with Grandma to play with the village though.



Love,
Cameron

Christmas 2007, Cameron Style

Christmas this year was lots of fun. Santa brought me a light saber.


Auntie Jen sent me a rocket, which I now call Pat Pat the Rocket.


Some other people got me some other stuff, and Ben got some stuff too, but nothing was quite as fun as the light saber or the rocket.

Love,
Cameron

Christmas Eve 2007

Here are some pictures of us in front of our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.



Here is a funny one of Ben making a funny face.


Here's one with Mom and Dad too.


And Grandma and Grandpa are visiting, so they got in on the photo action as well.



Love,
Ben and Cameron

Ringin' the Bell

Today, we rang the bell for the Salvation Army at our local Byerly's. We helped raise money for local kids who don't have any toys for Christmas. Here's a picture of us with our bell and our apron.


And, because we can't stand still, here's an action shot of us.



We did so good, they had to come and replace our kettle because we filled it.

Thanks to the Salvation Army for letting us ring, Byerly's for letting the Salvation Army put the kettle out front, the lady at the Caribou for bringing us coffee and hot chocolate(!), our friends who came to visit and to everyone who donated!

Love,
Ben and Cameron

PS: It's getting late this year, but next year, please go to here to sign up to ring in the Twin Cities or here to donate online.

Winter Snow Fall!

Last night, we had a beautiful snow fall. Here is a picture of how nice it looked in our backyard.


Love,
Ben and Cameron

Kwanzaa

Today in school, during our study of different countries and traditions, we learned about Kwanzaa. Here is a picture of the kinara I colored. It holds the candles that people light each night during Kwanzaa.


Love,
Ben

Poinsettias

We learned about poinsettias in class today. Did you know that they were named after Dr. Joel Poinsett, who was the US ambassador to Mexico? He introduced them to the US in 1825. Here is a picture of the poinsettia I made (and my brother).



Love,
Ben

Writing My Name

I have been very busy signing Christmas cards lately, and as you can see, I am getting very good at writing my name. Maybe this card is yours?!?!


Love,
Cameron

Joyful Noise Christmas Program 07

Today was my Christmas program at Joyful Noise. We did a lot of fun songs. We also wore reindeer antlers.


After the program, we had cookies and punch.



Love,
Cameron

My First Tooth Fell Out!

Today in school, I lost my first baby tooth. Here is a silly picture of me with my missing tooth (bottom, center).


The tooth fairy came and left me $2!

Love,
Ben

My Gingerbread House

In school, we made gingerbread houses with our "buddies." My buddy is named Alan and he is a sixth grader. He is a wizard with licorice.







Love,
Ben

Learning About Other Lands

We've been learning about other places in school lately and yesterday, we learned about The Netherlands.



In case you don't know too much about The Netherlands, here's what we learned:
- They grow a lot of tulips there.
- They have a lot of canals there.
- There are a lot of windmills there.
- Most importantly, St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6) is celebrated by getting candy in your shoes.


PS: My Daddy told me that Amsterdam is in The Netherlands too.

Love,
Ben

Bedtime Stories with Santa 07

Last night, we went to our local Borders and had bedtime stories with Santa. I asked for a videogame and Cameron asked for Star Wars stuff.

6 Years With Peanut

Here is my picture at 6 years (and a week!) with Peanut.



Love,
Ben

The Birthday After Hayden's

The birthday after Hayden's was mine! On my actual birthday, we had a nice dinner at Biaggi's and then we went home and opened some presents. It was lots of fun.

But the real fun came the Sunday after my birthday. We had a friend birthday party at our local bowling alley. We all started by bowling.



Cameron probably had the most of fun of everyone bowling. He even bowled a strike.





After bowling, we had some lunch and some cake.



Then, we opened presents. I got some really nice gifts.





After presents, we headed to the arcade and played some games.


After my party, we headed over to my friend Aaron's party. His was supposed to be the day before mine, but the snowstorm caused him to move it to after mine. We still had a great time, even though everyone was very tired!

Love,
Ben

Hayden's Birthday

After Thanksgiving, we went down to Iowa for our cousin Hayden's first birthday party. It was lots of fun.

Here are pictures of Hayden looking cute.




And here is a picture of our cousin Natalee looking cute.



Eventually, it was time for Hayden to blow out her candle and have some cake.




I think her favorite present was the anywhere chair we got her.



She even let me feed her in it.


And then she found the box that the chair came in and we had the best time playing in it.




Love,
Cameron