Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Shakopee Dahlbergs wish you all the blessings of the Season. Merry Christmas!

Opening Presents from the California Crew

Since we are heading to Boise/Sun Valley for Christmas, we decided to do an early celebration at home and open the gifts sent to us from our family in California. Before opening gifts, Lauri and Ronnie delivered gifts to neighbors - then Ronnie took a bath, ate his dinner, and was ready to go!

Ronnie LOVES the Batman cave he received from Auntie Lizzy, Uncle Stevie, Lainey and Vinny. When he opened it, he said "I've always wanted this Bat Cave!"

Ronnie opening up his Ben 10 Alien guys from Nonnie and Pa. He played with them and made Lauri pack them for the trip.

Ronnie giving Daddy a present - it was a robot bank that talks and tells you how much money you've saved.

Ronnie with his Batman computer from Poppy and Grandma. This toy also had to be packed to go to Boise!

Nonnie and Pa bought the Ben 10 Alien Creation toy - which has Ronnie VERY excited. He can't wait to mix and match the alien parts to create new aliens when we get back from Boise.

Ronnie and Daddy with the bird house they made using the Handy Manny tool bench from Maama and Momo. Another "I've always wanted this" gift.

It's Christmastime at the Dahlbergs

Even though we are heading to Boise/Sun Valley for Christmas, we still decorated a little. Here's a peek at the basics.

Ronnie in front of the tree... 70% of the presents are for him - so he is pretty excited about Christmas.

What a cutie!

The reason for the season... our Nativity.

Kiki's Birthday

For Kiki's birthday this year, we took her to dinner at Granite City (yum)! Then, Lauri and Kiki went to see "The Blind Side" (a FABULOUS movie)!



Lauri (nice barrett), Kiki, Ronnie and Doug



Ronnie helping Kiki with her birthday cookie and ice cream.

Trip to California

In December, Lauri's baby brother, Steve, turned 40. His wonderful wife, Lizzy, planned a surprise party and flew Lauri and Steve's best friend Ryan (Trusty Ry) in to town as part of the surprise. Lauri arrived on Wednesday and hid out on Maama's boat for a few days. Lauri and Lizzy got together for some shopping and a mani pedi. That night, Nonnie and Pa came over for dinner. The next day, Lauri and her Mom went shopping. On Saturday, it was time to party. Lizzy had a group of Steve's close friends and family meet at a go-kart track near SFO to race. After that, we headed to the Peters' house where more friends and family surprised Steve. It was a fast, FUN trip!!!

Maama with her new wardrobe!

An emotional Steve was completely surprised! Way to go Lizzy!!!

To keep Steve from arriving early to the go-kart track (and thus, spoil the surprise), Lizzy had to fake being hungry and conned Steve in to stopping at a convenience store for some snacks. She doesn't even like Corn Nuts!

Steve beat everyone on the track - and won a kiss from the trophy girl - his wife Lizzy!

Maama, Steve, Lauri and Momo - the Peters family!

My little Lainey Lou. What a princess!

Vinny, Lainey and their duck.

My sweet little man, Vinny. I spent most of the weekend telling him "I Love You" - he would say "noooo" and I would respond with "YES I do! YES I do!" He laughed and smiled. What a sweetie!!!!

Auntie and Vinny

The Day After Thanksgiving

Lauri sweet-talked Nana in to going to Brainerd for early-morning shopping on Black Friday. We woke up at 3:00 am and were on the road by 3:15 am. We made it to Kohl's where we spent an hour (and saved hundreds of dollars). We then went to Target where we waited in line for an hour-and-a-half to check out. Nana was a savior! She stood in line while Lauri ran around the stores to shop. We treated ourselves to breakfast at Perkins - then hit Herbergers, Bath and Body Works and a Christmas store before heading home. We got back to the cabin at 1:00 pm and were EXHAUSTED! But, Lauri got most of her Christmas shopping done! Thank you Nana!!!

The fruits of our labor!

Two tired shoppers (Ronnie took the photo!)

Ronnie planted a pine tree in the middle of the beach - he was so proud!!!

Thanksgiving at Papa and Nana's Cabin

We had a great time spending Thanksgiving at Papa and Nana's cabin this year. Papa, Nana, Kiki, Doug, Lauri and Ronnie were there to eat, drink and give thanks!


Nana making gravy while Papa carves the turkey. It was DELICIOUS!


Kiki and Ronnie bowling


Papa, Doug, Nana, Kiki and Ronnie (who refused to let us take his picture).

Vampires....

Anyone who knows Lauri well knows that she has become obssessed with vampires as a result of her reading the "Twilight" book series (thank you Danny and Kiki!). The second "Twilight" movie ("New Moon") opened at midnight on November 19th. Lauri bought 4 tickets to the midnight show in October, and conned Kiki, Alyssa (Lauri's coworker), and Amber (a friend of Alyssa's) in to going. We started the evening at Alyssa's house with appetizers, beverages and the "Twilight" movie... then headed to the theater at 10:30 pm. We were there an hour-and-a-half early, and still could only find seats in the third row. We had a BLAST! And, the movie was great!


Lauri and Kiki




Alyssa, Amber, Lauri and Katie

Surgery Recovery Week

The week of recovery after Ronnie's surgery went well. He was pretty much back to normal in 2 1/2 days. The trick was trying to keep him inactive for 10 days! Here are some things we did during that week.

Ronnie received a lollipop boquet from the Fitzgerald's (Lauri's boss). The lollipops were shaped like dinosaurs - and Ronnie LOVED them!

Maama and Ronnie playing with the packing peanuts. The Roomba is still finding those things under the couch!


Lauri hosted a Lia Sophia jewelry party - and Doug modeled some of the products. I think he might have a future as a Lia Sophia consultant.

Maama let Ronnie check out the Christmas presents she bought him... he can't wait to open them!

The Day After....

Ronnie's first night after surgery went well. He woke up every few hours crying/moaning - but all it took was Mommy rubbing his back or playing with his hair and telling him everything was okay to get him to go back to sleep. He slept from 9:30 pm to 8:00 am (in Mommy and Daddy's bed). The first hour was a little rough. He refused the pain medication - so we switched to grape Tylenol (eventually he took it). He also refused to drink any juice until Maama coaxed him gently to drink it and helped him to momentarily get over his fear of drinking. He asked for eggs "because my tummy is hungry" - and ate 1 egg and some mashed up strawberries. He still refused to drink - and after a LONG battle, we gave in and resorted to giving him popsicles. As of noon today, he's had 3 popsicles! That is better than nothing! For a little while, he was active and talking - he even played a game with Maama. But running on a low tank has him pooped out again - so he is resting quietly on the couch watching "Spiderman". Again, all-in-all, not a bad day!


Ronnie with his buddies - George (on the right) and Cheeky (the new monkey he received at the hospital).


Maama coaxing Ronnie to drink juice and take the Tylenol.


Ah - the Breakfast of Champions - popsicles!


One popsicle down!

Maama and Ronnie playing a game - with the glass of juice looming in the foreground... He actually sipped on it throughout the game (sipped on it like it was a glass of Cognac).

Bye-Bye Tonsils & Adenoids!

On November 9th, Ronnie went to Fairview Ridges Hospital to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, and tubes put back in his ears. Ronnie was in a good mood - right up to the time they came out to the waiting room to say "Ronald, it's time..." Then, he shifted in to scared-mode. We spent about 45 minutes in a pre-op room, watching cartoons. We tried to get him to take the medication that would dry up the saliva in his mouth, but he spit it out (and it was STICKY!). He also did not enjoy having his i.d. bracelet on, and took that off. It was a struggle! When the anesthesiologist came in to get him, we walked across the hall and put him on the gurney... he cried quite a bit - which made him breathe in the anesthesia stronger - and he was out like a light within 10 seconds. It all went VERY fast, which was a relief. We went out to the waiting room to wait with Maama. 45 minutes later, it was over and we spoke with Dr. Ayre who said the surgery went perfectly. He removed the tonsils (which were "fairly large") and cotterized the adenoids (which shrinks and kills them) and put the tubes in. 30 minutes later, Mommy, Daddy and Maama joined Ronnie in his recovery room - where he was NOT happy. We stayed in that room for 4 1/2 hours - just holding Ronnie and trying to get him to eat a popsicle or drink some juice. He refused. Dr. Ayre finally came in and told us to just take him home - because he felt Ronnie would recover better in his familiar surroundings. The second we got him in the car, he stopped crying and being upset and relaxed. We spent the afternoon and evening laying on the couch watching movies. All-in-all, it went very well.


Ronnie and Mommy - pre-op!


Ronnie and Mommy post-op (with George).


Ronnie and Daddy post-op (with snuggly).


At home - having a carpet picnic with Daddy, Maama and Kiki. Ronnie asked for mac-and-cheese and ate 2 bites of it. He refused to drink any water or juice - but did eat 1 popsicle.


Ronnie with his mac-and-cheese.

wii Action

Doug spent some time teaching Ronnie how to play with the wii... he is now kicking our tails at wii Bowling. Here he is bowling with his Poppy. Ronnie's score was 175 - Poppy's was 107.


Perfect wii Bowling form...


Poppy wii Bowling for the first time.

Ronnie with his Poppy and Grandma

Lauri's Dad and stepmom came for a visit this past week. They arrived on Thursday, just in time for Ronnie to get sick. While we didn't have the vacation we had planned on, we still had a good time just hanging out, relaxing, watching (LOTS) of movies and eating (LOTS) of popcorn.



Poppy, Ronnie (holding George), and Grandma outside of Dangerfield's after Sunday brunch.

Sunday School

Ronnie attends Sunday School at St. John's Lutheran Church whenever we are in town. It is usually an ordeal to get him to go - but last Sunday, he not only went willingly, but also sang during choir time.


Ronnie sitting in the green chair in his Sunday School class.


Ronnie playing the traditional Sunday School game of "duck, duck, grey duck" (don't ask me... I wasn't aware that was a Sunday School game - or that they called it anything other than "duck, duck, goose"!

Halloween 2009!

This year, Ronnie chose to be Ironman for Halloween! His costume fit him perfectly! Of course, Lauri chose to dress in theme as well and went as Bat Girl. Because Ronnie was not feeling well, we weren't able to go to his school party or other festivities - but did go trick-or-treating with Kiki, Poppy and Grandma. We not only went to the houses on Columbine Lane, we crossed the street and went to several houses across the way. Ronnie made a haul!!!


Ironman in an action pose!

Ironman and Bat Girl

Our first trick-or-treat spot is always Lori and Brad's house across the street.

Ronnie getting candy from the another neigbor across the street.