Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go...

So, it looks like I'll be returning to work next week! Overlake Hosptial finally called me back today and officially offered me a job. I'll be working 12 hour night shifts (7pm to 7am) every Friday and Saturday night. I'll be in the ICU just like I used to be, doing exactly what I used to do (Nurse Assistant). I'm not sure how I'm feeling about it; while I am excited, I'm also feeling fairly nervous. I've done this job before so I at least feel good about knowing what I'm getting into...but I haven't worked in over 4 years!! It's a little scary to go back out into the real world when for so long I've had the privelidge of focusing on nothing but my two beautiful babies! I think I'm most nervous about doing night shift again; last time I worked nights I was younger, single, and invincible -- now, I'm pretty sure I'm none of the above. However, I'm confident that the Lord not only blessed me with this job but will also bless me with the ability to stay awake to do it. :)

For those of you who have been left hanging about what Brandon decided to do in his job dilemma, he has decided to stick with SanMar. And for those of you who don't know what the dilemma even was, here's the quick version: Brandon was approached by a friend about a job opening in his company and he encouraged him to apply for it. Brandon applied, interviewed, and was made an offer. When he went back to his boss about this offer, his boss said he would match it if he would stay. Both companies REALLY wanted him and in the end he decided to stick with his current company. So not only has he been given a great confidence boost, knowing that he was valuable enough for two companies to be vying for his employment, but the significant pay increase that came as a result of all of this has been such a huge blessing. The Lord is good! Now we can move into a house (or larger condo)...SOON!!

That's about it for new news from us! And of course, here are the mandatory pics of the kids and a cute video of our bouncy little pup...she's pure entertainment. :) I hope everyone out there is doing well!

Ethan playing in the back yard...
Annabeth wearing the hat that my grandmother made me when I was little :)

Apparently, Annabeth thinks I'm hilarious...

Sadie

How cute is this?!

I just had to post this picture!

As you can see, Brandon and Sadie have bonded. :)

Meet Sadie

This weekend, a friend and I drove over to Colville (about an hour north of Spokane) to throw another friend of ours a baby shower. We had a lot of fun being together again; I only see these girls a couple times a year, but whenever we're together we have a really good time. They got around 8 or 9 inches of show while we were there...it was beautiful!It also happened that my friend's mom's shih tzu had just had a litter of puppies. I made the mistake of holding the runt of the litter...and then I took her home! Meet the newest member of our family, Sadie:

Christmas Pictures

I finally have some pictures from Christmas (thank you Dave and Amy!) and thought I'd share a few since we did not get to see many of you for the holidays! I hope the new year is off to a great start for everyone. :)
(P.S...for those of you who have not met him, the guy holding Ethan in the first picture is my brother.)

Bubble Bobble

Does anyone remember Bubble Bobble? My sweet husband, who enjoys catering to my love for classic nintendo, bought this game for me on our Wii and I'm ashamed to admit that I'm as addicted to it now as I was in elementary school! Mario will always hold the #1 spot in my heart for old school video games, but I have to admit that Bubble Bobble is what's keeping me busy these days :)

Getting Started

Well, it is officially 2008 and I have decided that this is the year for me to take the plunge into the blogosphere. I've been thinking about this for a while now...after all, it does seem to be the cool thing to do these days...but I found myself a bit intimidated by the idea of putting my life out into cyberspace for the whole world to see. I started off slowly by first getting into myspace and facebook, both of which have the advantage of being able to control who does and doesn't get to view my page. However, the bad part about this is that I've often found myself trying to share pictures, videos, and updates with people who do not posess myspace or facebook accounts (or those who do posess them but don't know how to use them! :) And so the idea of something more universally friendly that can be shared with ALL of our friends and family has become appealing enough that I've decided it would be beneficial to post in a place where anyone who wants to see what we've been up to is able to do so. Also, I thought it might be fun to have a place to share my thoughts and the happenings in my life where people can intereact with me and share their own updates. Please leave a comment if you stop by so I know that you've visited (you do not need to have an account to leave comments)!

Now, on to the updates...

Ethan just turned 4 years old! I can't believe it. I can't believe how quickly he's grown...nor can I believe that I'm the mother of a 4 year old! He's definitely not a baby anymore -- I've got myself a real little boy now. :) Here is a picture from his birthday party at Red Robin:

His new favorite activity is playing "Lego Star Wars" on the Wii that we got from my mom for Christmas. He becomes very serious when he's playing his game:

Annabeth is now 20 months old and is as busy as ever. Here's her first picture of the new year:

And I had to add this picture just because it makes me laugh :D We went outside to play and she insisted on wearing this bright green hat ("HAT!! HAT!!"). She put it on herself...and I can't help but think she looks a like a cute little elf:
Brandon is doing well. He has been back at work for a few days now and his shoulder is holding up great. He's still a little sore when he first wakes up in the morning, but he says that once it warms up a bit it's just fine. He will continue to wear his sling until January 22nd, and after that he will start physical therapy.

And that's about it for my sweet little family! Everyone is doing great and I am very excited to see what the Lord has in store for this new year. I may be returning to work, we may be selling our condo and buying a house, and we may even have another baby! (JUST KIDDING. Not going to happen. Ever. I was just seeing if you were paying attention! ;)

I hope everyone out there is doing well and I hope that you will check back often. I will try to use this as my main form of communication as far as pictures and family updates.