Merry Christmas!

The Christmas letter, in case you didn't get it another way... soon to come, complete 2nd year photo album!

Vogels- 2015 synopsis

After much time with two babies and two full time jobs, Laura and Andrew felt it would behoove the family to check around for jobs near grandparents and other family. Doesn’t solve everything, but is certainly helpful. This meant looking for jobs in Minnesota (Laura’s family, parents eventually to move there) and Philadelphia (Andrew’s family). This fall, Laura applied for the position of Adult Education Manager at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and got the job just before Thanksgiving. It’s a fantastic opportunity- it would take a fantastic opportunity to uproot this family and move seventeen hours up north in the dead of winter:-). The Vogels are moving to Minnesota at the end of January, 2016! Andrew continues as consultant at True Tandem and will take his job with him up north. He’s not shedding many tears over the loss of time with clients, but will fly back a few times a year to meet with his team. Micah and Phineas turned one this spring, and have been growing by leaps and bounds. Micah is independent, adventurous, and talkative. Phineas is still a cuddler, very thoughtful about his actions, but likes to be goofy too. They have both been walking since spring, and we’re working on vocabulary- mamam, dada, gat (cat) are solid, but we’ve been working on tons of words in the last month or so… they are getting very observant and clever about copying what we say. Susanne Bergen sadly went back to Germany in early August to begin University, and we were joined by Sarah Jonas, also from Germany. She will be moving with us to Minnesota, and does a great job with the boys- lots of crafts and outdoor playtime. Merry Christmas and a happy new year from the Vogel household- Andrew, Laura, Sarah, Micah, Phineas, and the cats!

Can we keep him?

GQ

Oldies: on the way to cottage, renaissance faire

Relaxing

Driving in my car

Captain Adorable

Playground

Working on posture

Trying on Sarah's Headband

Playtime

Apple Picnic

Linvilla with Grammy, Uncle Gary and Sarah

Minnesota Bound

Hi all,

Raising twins is hard. Raising twins with two full time jobs is harder. Raising twins with two full time jobs and no family in the immediate vicinity is hardest. This summer, Andrew and I had a conversation about where we needed to be for the next 18 years for the boys and our own sanity, and decided to start looking for jobs around Philadelphia and the Twin Cities (do you capitalize this? I guess I'll find out soon enough). Really it was just me looking for jobs- Andrew is awesome enough and IT universal enough that he can find great jobs pretty much anywhere. My kind of job- managing adult programming at botanical gardens- comes up once in a blue moon. So when the position of adult education program manager came up at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in the late summer/early fall, I applied as fast as I could after I got over my initial shock. This was literally the only job I could have imagined applying for in Minnesota, whereas Philly has dozens of gardens. We figured I wouldn't get the job, and we could close the Minnesota option and focus on Philly. But they brought me in for an interview, and I was hooked. What. an. awesome. place! The education team there is fantastic, and they have some really ambitious goals for their adult programming- I love my current job, but I could tell I would love this one at least as much. And I could tell they felt I was a good fit. Equivalent of winning the lottery, at least in my world.

But who knew this would happen so quickly? We figured it would take years to get closer to family again, but here we go in just a few months. My dad is from Minnesota, and his siblings as well as some of my cousins live in the area. My brother and sister in law are there, and my sister and brother in law are just a few hours away. My parents want to retire/move there very soon as well. We hate to leave behind friends and family in Philly and Maryland, but it's just what we have to do for family and sanity. We'll definitely be visiting the east coast, and I think I can make Minnesota sound exciting enough for any of you to visit us as well:-). So that's why I've been a bit distracted from the blog of late.

Lunch out

Organization.

Just your average Sunday night, organizing your children into color-coordinated boxes.

Bathtime Hairstyles

Look at that hair.

Cookie making!

Sarah made sugar cookies with the boys this week- looks like they had fun!

Words

I create posts on the basis of when pictures have been taken... you can tell when we're lapsing by the dearth of posts. I need to have a picture taking meeting with Andrew and Sarah.

So... this week. Pretty typical. Can I think of anything interesting that has happened? The boys are continuing to talk and gesture more, which is fun. My favorite is their garbled conversations with each other and their toys. They're also pretty deft at copying words and phrases we say. Some of this might be a repeat, but here's what they've been saying lately:

Micah:

• Doot Doot (what does a truck say) 
• Ah Oooo (uh oh or no no)
• DahdII (daddy) Mamam (mom)
• Kak (quack) and EEP (cheep/what a bird says)
• Oooouuu (meow)
• Gitgat (kitty cat)
• Eeeeeeee (singing)

Phineas:

• Lerdle lerdle lerdle (no idea)
• Dah (dad) and Mamam (mom)
• Hallow (hello)
• Gat (cat)
• Mouuu (meow)
• Bit and Donk (bitte and danke)
• Chee yeg (cheesy eggs)

Granny's armchair

This has become the latest living room game...

Fall evening

Saucy.

Micah has really taken to ketchup lately. Actually let me say catsup just to bother you. We were out somewhere a week or so ago and dipped a fry in catsup for him... he sucked it off the fry and gave it back to us. If we give him a small puddle of catsup, bbq sauce, or really anything of a catsup-consistency, he dips EVERYTHING in it. Including a plain fork, or just his fingers when he's really frenzied. Phin is slowly catching on... he was dipping potatoes in his applesauce the other day. Yeesh.

Waiting for grandma and grandpa...

Roasting beets by lava light (Hadrosaur and beets)

Leek leap (Pleiosaur and leeks)

Playground 2

Playground 1

Dinner time

"Carrot on the run" Tyrannosaurus rex with carrot (not to scale)