Eli and Tavan's Baptism

Today we baptized Eli and Tavan! The baptism was at Atonement Lutheran Church in Fargo, and both Pastor Dale Wolf and grandfather Merlin Schlichting performed the ceremony. Sponsors were David and Jamie Swenson and auntie Kylene Ames (above)

Eli and the cake

After the baptism, everyone came back to our house for dinner and more pictures... The twins wore little baptismal 'suits', custome made by Oma (grandma) Schlichting. They were very adorable, and Miranda was able to get a lot of pictures with them. Here are just a few:

Tavan (left) and Eli (right) in their baptismal suits

Mommy and Eli share a smile

The 'Ames' side:

Toby Johnson, Kylene Ames, Jacob, Ken Ames (with Tavan), Ryan, Beck Ames (with Eli), Danika, Miranda, Kurt

Uncle Tim Schlichting holds Eli and Tavan

You can also see our new paint-job in the living room in these photos! Compare to our Thanksgiving pictures below to see the difference...

Merry Christmas!

We had a very busy day and a half! On Monday (Christmas Eve), we drove to Sheyenne ND to spend time with Miranda's family. Tavan (left) and Eli (right) were both smartly dressed for church! After church, we had supper at the Karlsbraaten's, and opened gifts. Danika had a great time, but we found out that she still doesn't trust dogs or Santa Claus. Miranda's cousin Tracy and her husband Jason brought their dog along with them from Colorado, and even though he's not very big, Danika would not go near him! It was actually a little comical... Jason also donned a Santa Claus outfit and 'delivered' presents to everyone, and posed for photos. Danika treated him about the same as she did the dog, and was not even remotely intersted in sitting on his lap!!


After a late night, we finally got everyone to bed and we managed a few hours of sleep before the Ames family arrived at Ken and Becky's house on Christmas for the anual "Farm Christmas". This includes Christmas supper, and a gift exchange which is usually pretty entertaining. This year, I walked away with a 40oz bottle of Hurricane malt liquor, some honey roasted peanuts and a pack of beef sausage snacks. I noticed later that the Hurricane born on date said Nov 2003!!! What a jip... oh well It looks like I've got my gift for next year already. :)


We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday too! We'll head back home on Wednesday and attempt to prepare our house for my parents and brother, who will visit through the new year.