Koehn/Ortloff X-Mas Party 2008

On Saturday we went to Papa and Grandma's house for the Koehn/Ortloff Christmas Party. It was fun to see everyone again and to see all the little kids! There was a total of 7 little ones this year! We drove down there early so Jon, Nick, Marisa and Ashley could open their gifts from us and Uncle Doug & Auntie Christine. Than around 2pm everyone else arrived. We had a lot of great food this year! There was Turkey & Ham! Green Bean Casserole, Mashed potatoes, chicken salad, lots of desserts and of course cookies! I forgot to take pictures of the families (I will try to remember to do that next year) but was able to get some pictures of the kiddies. Enjoy the pics!


Ashley opening one of her presents. Marisa wanted to help her!


Marisa waiting for her present.


Jon's turn! He got a Bagukan Battle Set from Uncle Doug & Auntie Christine.

Nick's turn! He was SO excited! He got a race car set.

Papa and his beautiful Grand Daughters Marisa (7 months) and Ashley (3 years).

Christine, Doug & Ashley.

Grandma & Papa

Our family! Everyone is smiling!

The boys showed Tommy (4 years) their Nintendo DS game.

Grandpa Charlie and his Grand Daughter Andie.

Isn't she a cutie?!?!?

Grandma Kathy and Eli (Tommy's little sister)

Look at that adorable face!

Baking Cookies

This past Friday all the cousins came over to bake cookies. Lola treated all of us to dinner so we ordered Tinucci's. Lolo loves their ribs! After dinner the kids played and the Mommies got ready to bake cookies. While Mom, Auntie Missy, & Auntie Tesa got the batches of cookies prepared, Auntie Marie had brought a Ginger Bread House for the kids to decorate so they all got to sit at the table and do that while we prepared the cookie dough. We only ended up baking three different kind of cookies this year. Chocolate Chip, Ginger Snaps, Sugar Cookies, and than we did the Pretzel squares with melted kisses and M & M's on them. It was a fun night for everyone! Enjoy the pics!


Bella, Anthony and Jon decorating the Ginger Bread House


Nicholas and Maria helped me make the cookie dough


Bella, Maria, Auntie Tesa, and Nicholas rolled the Ginger Snap dough in sugar

The older boys played with Uncle Mike's i Phone and TJ's new cell phone

The finished Ginger Bread House

Lola and Marisa

Gen separating the green and red M & M's for the Pretzel Treat

Tesa and her girls getting the Pretzel Treat ready for the oven

The 3 sister putting the M & M's on the Pretzel Treat. This was suppose to be a picture of the 4 sisters but TJ totally cut off Tesa!

Sneak Peak

During Thanksgiving Break we went to have our family pictures taken by my cousin Olivia. She has been doing professional photography for a few years now and has her own studio in her home town of New Prague. I haven't seen any of the pictures yet and she had just posted this picture on my Facebook. Look at my little girl! She was a little crabby this day (didn't take a very long morning nap) but had a few moments of being all smiles! I love this picture! I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Olivia had ordered this skirt for her clients and Marisa was the first one to wear it! It was so cute, Marisa didn't know what to think of it at first. She kept on reaching out to touch the skirt but than she wouldn't. I think she was too scared to touch it at first. It was fun doing the photo shoot! Thanks Olivia and I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Paskong Filipino 2008

We went to the Fil-Minnesotan's Paskong Filipino again this year! The boys were a Shepards along with their cousins, Evie, Eddie, & Gen. Maria and Bella were the only two Angles this year. I didn't get that great of pictures but was able to take a few. Enjoy!


Jon and Nicholas in their Shepards costume


My smiley girl Marisa!


Maria in her Angel costume


Bella - She was such a good Angel!


Maria and Bella in their position


Eddie was right in the front! I was able to get this picture when all the Shepards were sleeping right before the Angel woke them up to tell them that Jesus was born.


Gen as a Shepard


Eddie and Gen together

Jon getting his 1st present from Santa

Nicholas' turn!

Even Marisa got a present. The boys ended up getting 3 presents each from Santa! Marisa received 2. They were all so excited to play with their new toys when we got home.

Rear Ended

So this Saturday was Paskong Filipino 2008. We are got into the van, that would be me, Lolo, Lola, Marisa, Jon, Gen, and Nicholas. I had a full carload! We took Hwy 62 because someone had told Lola that 94 was closed at Snelling. I didn't believe it but I followed Lola because she was told to go a different way. Well....We ended up getting into a car accident! We were at the point where 35 W and 62 split and I got rear ended by a Dodge Ram. The man was actually really good. It was his first car accident he said. I called 911 and they were sending out a State Trooper so we could file a police report. Jon and Melina saw us pulled over and ended up taking Lola and Marisa with them to Paskong because we didn't know how long it would take for the State Trooper to show up. Right as they were leaving she pulled up behind us. She got there pretty fast! I was surprised! She took our information and gave us some forms to fill out. No one was hurt, thank goodness. I of course was all shaky afterwards but calmed down after I knew everyone was OK. So I thought I would share pictures of the van. I took pictures after we arrived at St. Louis Park Junior High where the Paskong was at. Now I have to go through his insurance to get the car fixed!


Back view...Right side of the car is where he hit me


Close up

Another close up

Jon Making Marisa Laugh Again

Here is another video of Jon making Marisa laugh....

Last night during dinner. Jon was making her laugh by biting into a chip. Every time he did she would just crack up! Notice how Nicholas wants to get in but than get Bonked in the chin! LOL!

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house for the Koehn Family. I have never cooked a Turkey so we cheated. We order a whole Thanksgiving Dinner from Tinucci's for $120. The whole meal fed 12 - 15 people! Let me just tell you! If we have Thanksgiving at our house again, I am going to do the same thing! It was absolutely delicious! No dry Turkey! Awesome stuffing and real mashed potatoes! Sweet Potatoes! Yummy Gravy! Real Green Bean Casserole, not the beans that come in a jar! Cranberries! And Coleslaw! They even gave us a bottle of white wine! Too bad Mike and I don't drink wine. Maybe we will have some when he gets back from his trip to celebrate his homecoming. It was just awesome! We had to cut the Turkey ourselves, and we could have ordered pie from them, but Bev was planning on bringing dessert and so was my sister Marie. It was a great lunch and dinner! So the whole Koehn family came over and so did Great Grandma Gladys. She looked great! She even played Wii bowling with the boys! The only people that came over from my side was the Cardenas'. Everyone else was going to their spouses side of the family. It was a nice and relaxing day. I wanted to take pictures of Marisa and Great Grandma and take a generations picture with Great Grandma, Grandma and Marisa too. They turned out great! I can't wait to scrapbook them! I also took a picture of the three kids with Great Grandma. Enjoy the pics!


This is the picture I took for Bev so she could use it for her Christmas Card this year. All the Grand Kids: Marisa, Nicholas, Jon and Ashley


Great Grandma Gladys and Marisa. She was all smiles!



Great Grandma and the kids

Three generations of Ortloff/Koehn's