This is just a sampling of our Christmas card!! Aren't the gorgeous! There's more pics to come with the card! Have a very Merry Christmas! Amen!

Logan's 2008 Christmas Program

Logan is the innkeeper having to tell Joseph and Mary that there is no room!!


Here's the innkeeper having fun singing!!

My little Logan is 7!!! WOW!! He's surrounded by all the wonderful gifts to help us celebrate HIM!!! My little boy is getting so big! He is such a big help with his little sister and teaching her all sorts of things! His favorite things are golf, building things, and figuring out how things work! Ryan & I are so proud of him. He's doing great in school....with the transition of homeschooling and all the moving around last year, being in a new school, not knowing anybody and getting the tip of his left middle finger almost cut off while at school he's doing better than we ever expected. His favorite books right now are the Littles series and the Magic Treehouse series. And he's earned 15/15 on his last 5 spelling tests!! A new found extracurricular activity that Logan really enjoys is AWANA. Every Wednesday evening we go to church where he hangs out with his buddies, memorizes scripture, plays games, hears a bible story and builds a bunch of relationships!! It is most definitely a highlight to his week! Our precious Logan is growing up so perfectly perfect!

Isaac teeing off!!

Logan wanted to go golfing for his b-day!

Logan's 7th B-day with his good buddy Isaac Witt!

Logan is #15!!

Off to school!!

Logan (2nd grade), Leigh (5th grade), Eric (2nd grade) and Zoe (3rd grade) (Logan's friends from church) catching the bus from church for their first day of school at Sunset Terrace!

Listen to Maddie Ann celebrate her own 2nd birthday with a little song!

Maddie Ann turns 2 with a big smile and LOTS of cupcakes!!

In Memory of Bridger Ludwig 1997 - 2008

After months of failing health, the decision was made to put our beloved friend Bridger to sleep this August. He was born in Wheatland, Wyoming and was given to Audrey by Ryan as her college graduation gift. It didn't take long before Bridger leapt his way into our hearts and was truly our first kid, just a little more furry than the rest! Over the course of eleven years he enriched our lives with his unconditional love, gentleness, sensitivity, and loyalty. From our engagement, wedding, first home, birth of both children, medical school, and even a part of residency, Bridger was faithfully there for it all. We consider ourselves deeply blessed to have shared a part of our lives with such a wonderful companion. Although it is so hard to say goodbye, we our reminded that the paw prints he left on 0ur hearts will last forever. We miss you Big Dog.

First day with his new family in 1997

Those big brown puppy eyes!

Making himself comfortable on our bed.

In our wedding in 98

Early years camping in Wyoming. He loved the mountains!

Abbey as puppy, Bridger was not too crazy about her at first!

Hanging out on "his" deck in Montana

Bridger and Logan playing at our first home in Montana

Dinner time in Okemos, Michigan

The Marquette, Michigan years

Hanging out with Maddie in Rochester, Minnestota

eating ice cream

Enjoying her ice cream!





To get the most out of her dessert Maddie Ann's going to LICK the bowl!!




She's getting ALL of it!!!





All done!!!

Boys of Summer

Logan is almost done with his baseball season with the Rochester Youth Baseball Association and he recently had his team photos taken. He and teammates have had a great season and they improved steadily with every game. It was a big learning curve for all the kids this year because the ball was pitched overhand instead of hitting off the tee. Logan is now at the point where he earns a hit nearly every time he goes to bat and recently even scored a double out on defense. Ryan has helped to coach most of the season until his schedule became too busy. Hope everyone is doing well.

Logan ready for the game!

The 2008 Ryan Windows and Siding Bulldogs!

The Next Tiger?

For the last few months our six year old Logan has really enjoyed learning to play golf. While we were in Phoenix this winter we bought him a used pair of kids clubs at a garage sale and he has been swinging away ever since. We have one hole in our backyard where he practices and we try to take him to the driving range a couple times a week. So far he has manged to put a small crack in the house siding, but we are happy to report no broken windows yet! Here are a few photos and videos from a recent family golf outing.

Logan teeing off on the first hole.

The kids and mom on the cart.
Pointers from dad.

Logan tees off!

One of Logan's fairway drives.


Chip across the sand!

Putting!

Miss Sassy tries to putt!

Independence Day Fun/Work?

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July weekend. Nothing really exciting went on other than staining the deck and letting off a few sparklers. Hope all are well.


Trying not to burn down the neighborhood.



The boys doing some staining.




Sparkler time.

Aunt Kirsi and Uncle Rusty Visit.

As many of you may know, we had the pleasure of hosting our nephew Stig Ludwig for the last couple of weeks. His parents Rusty (Ryan's brother) and his wife Kirsi recently paid us a visit to pick up their little guy and to just hang out. It was great to be together as a family again, but we will truly miss having little Stig around!

Maddie and Aunt Kirsi!

Logan with his Aunt and Uncle.

Until next time!

Rochesterfest !

Every year Rochester, MN celebrates itself with Rochesterfest. For a whole week they shut down the the main street to bring in street vendors, food booths, and bands every night. The kids had a blast during the parade and collected bags full of candy and toys. Ryan even took the boys to watch a world championship lumberjack competition.

Logan and Stig with the Monster Trucks.

Lumberjack Competition.

Maddie and the Clown.

Dancing Queen!

Bridger's Battle with Addisons

As many of you may know, Bridger, our Golden Retriever of 11 years was diagnosed recently with Addison Disease. Since that time it has been a struggle for us to decide exactly how we wanted to manage his illness and the subsequent near death episodes due to his electrolyte imbalance. Thankfully we have found a vet that was comfortable treating his condition and through medication and diet we are happy to announce he is doing better than ever. We are so thankful to have a little more time with this faithful and loving friend by our side.

Ryan Ludwig DDS/DVM ?

Ryan Pulling Stig's Tooth


Somebody call the Tooth Fairy !


Ryan is definitely bored. He begins his family medicine residency tomorrow and we are quite honestly looking forward to him seeing some "real" patients. Tonight he played dentist and decided to pull his nephew Stig's loose tooth and yesterday he was a vet giving our dog Bridger shots of saline to correct his low sodium from Addisons Disease? Maybe medical school was not such a great idea!

No Kisses for You !

Here are a few fun videos of the kids and their cousin Stig. We are trying to have as much fun as we can before Ryan starts residency on Monday. Logan had a great game of baseball last night. He hit several balls and even scored a run !

No Kisses for You !



Giggle Pigs !



Fun on the Tramp!

Baseball and Cousins !

Logan has recently started baseball and is well, having a ball. He has been working hard in the backyard on his game and is adjusting well to having the ball pitched to him rather than hitting off a tee. He also is having a blast with his cousin Stig "Henrik" Ludwig who is visiting us in Rochester for a few weeks. The two boys just can't seem to stay out of the mud as you can see and it has been pretty much none stop around our house for the past couple of days. Hope everyone in well, God Bless!

Nickelodeon Universe ! !

We recently made a trip up north to Minneapolis (about an hour north from Rochester) to visit Mall of America and to take the kids to Nickelodeon Universe (an amusement park). The kids had a blast and Logan rode all the major rides including the adult coasters from noon to about 9:00 pm. His parents were getting a little tired but I am pretty sure Logan would have stayed until closing! He states that his favorite rides include "Sponge Bob Square Pant's Rock Bottom Plunge", and "The Fairly Odd Coaster". Maddie's favorite was the carousel where she rode the "horseys". A couple of videos of Logan enjoying some of the rides is below.

Little House on the Prairie

We are finally getting settled into our new house in Minnesota and decided to start our own blog to stay in better touch with family and friends. The kids are doing great. Logan is starting T-ball this week and has been very busy catching frogs and riding his motorcycle behind our house. Maddie, although initially reluctant, has joined Logan in his amphibian adventures and captured her first toad or "Hoppie" as she referred to it. Audrey has been busy working out and decorating our new home. Ryan recently built the kids a playset in the backyard and added a deck to the back of the house. Hope everyone is doing extremely well. We will try to update the site regularly with pictures and videos as time permits.