My Priceless Family

Dancing With Cinderella

2011-01-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a cute video of Brandon and Annabeth dancing to "their song". Brandon plans to sing this at her wedding someday. :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had as much fun as we did! We did our family Christmas at home on Christmas eve night and then got up early on Christmas morning to have breakfast at my dad's house. After that, we made our way to Brandon's parents where we spent the rest of the evening. It was very busy, but we had a ton of fun! :) Now, onto the new year!

Opening stockings:
I think Brandon liked this light saber toy as much as Ethan! :)

Daddy and Ethan in matching pajamas made by Patti:

New razor scooters!

Making pictures with their new window crayons:

New fuzzy blankets from Grandma and Grandpa:

Matching outfits:

Annabeth (on her 3rd outfit for the day!) with her new purse from Auntie Heather:

Annabeth relaxing with Uncle Nathan and Auntie Jen:

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

2010-12-24T10:02:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe Ethan is 7! It's just not possible. He can't be that old. I can't be that old! And yet...it's true. :) Last night, at his request, we all went out to Red Lobster. We had a really nice time and Ethan was finally able to get the shrimp coctail he's been craving...he ate the entire plate himself!

My Snow Babies

2010-11-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hair Issues

2010-11-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Annabeth took scissors to her hair a few weeks ago. She said she had gum in it...so, instead of asking for help, she tried to fix the problem herself:

Thankfully we have Auntie Heather! She evened it out and now Annabeth has an adorable new haircut! :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

(Sorry there's only one picture! I didn't take that many, and in all the other ones I took Annabeth is blurry...the girl wouldn't stop moving!!:)

Pumpkin Season

2010-10-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Time for pumpkins! Honestly, it's the one thing about Halloween that I really enjoy. The other stuff is OK, but going to the pumpkin patch, carving the pumpkins, and roasting the seeds are really the best part. So...here are our pumpkin adventures! :)

We took the kids to a new pumpkin patch this year and they LOVED it!! There were a ton of activities for them to do...they already want to go back.

Duckie Races

Bubbles

Me and my handsome husband :)

The corn pit...very cool. The entire thing is filled with corn!

Jail

A fantastic petting area with pigs, a mini donkey, a mini pony, goats, and calves all within perfect reaching distance for the kids.

They also had little bikes, a hay bale maze, a pumpkin slingshot and even, yes, a pumpkin patch....BUT this is where my camera battery died. So I didn't get anymore pics. However, tonight we carved our pumpkins, so here are some shots of that:

Brandon lets the kids draw the faces on, and then he carves them. Ethan drew a face, and then drew a whole little halloween scene

Annabeth just scribbles, but she has a great time doing it :)

Ethan checking out his sister's work

Daddy getting ready to carve...

Now to dig out the guts!And after the carving, they watched Charlie Brown...

...while wearing vampire teeth. Very Halloweenish :)

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Just Because I Like Them :)

2010-09-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ethan's First Day of 1st Grade!

2010-09-09T10:33:00.001-07:00

He's getting so big!!

How To Make A Blackberry Pie

2010-09-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Pick blackberries.

Step 2: Make a huge mess

Step 3: Enjoy!

Camping at Ocean Shores

2010-08-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic time! :)

E and A's First Hike

2010-07-27T11:33:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Brandon called from work and said, "Let's go on a hike!" So we did. :) The trail we went on was perfect for the kids...beautiful, not too long, and easy enough for the kids. Even Sadie came along!

As you can see, Annabeth is in the lead. This girl RAN all the way up! When she'd get too far ahead, we'd call her back...so she'd run all the way back to us and then turn around and take off again! Where in the world does she get so much energy?!

Happy he finally found a hiking stick. :)

The waterfall at the end of the trail was so beautiful! It was fun to be able to get so close to it. The kids played in the creek for a while before we headed back home even though the water was pretty cold.

I was impressed. Sadie made it all the way up and back down the trail with no petering out. I fully expected to have to stick her in the backpack for a while, but she was a little trooper. :) Although, once we got back to the car she let her true feelings show...

Wedding Fun

2010-07-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

Heather is finally married! And as beautiful as she was (STUNNING!), I definitely thought she had the most adorable Flower Girl and Ring Bearer I've ever seen... ;)

Oh yeah...And there was this one groomsman in particular that I just couldn't keep my eyes off of. He was HOT! :)

Granny

2010-06-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from our trip to Texas for Granny's burial. I miss her so much.

The road trip:

At the farm:

The funeral:

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

2010-04-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Ethan's first two baseball games. What a little man! :)

Batting:

Out in the outfield...not paying attention!

Then he spotted me with the camera..."Hi Mom!" :)

This team has the best lookin' assistant coach I've ever laid eyes on! :)

Waiting to bat:

Each kid gets to take turns at each position...this is when Ethan got to play catcher:

Huddle!

Sitting with his sister:
Cutie Annabeth :)

Annabeth and Queenie:

Around Our House

2010-03-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

Annabeth's version of dress-up! :)

Making chocolate-covered apples (before and after shot)

Playing Wii together (Annabeth is finally getting old enough that she can play too!)

If anyone is looking for the tooth fairy...

2010-03-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

...she'll be at my house tonight! Congrats to my little boy! :)

Goodbye Training Wheels!

2010-02-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

Yum!

2010-02-19T11:25:00.001-08:00

Ethan has been asking me if we could make cookies lately, so today we finally did! Although, apparently I'm not as good at it as Grammi is...Ethan told me many times, "Grammi doesn't put that in", "Grammi doesn't do it that way", "Grammi makes them bigger". I guess now I know how she feels when he tells her all the things mommy does differently when he goes to her house! ;) Even if they weren't quite like Grammi's, the cookies turned out pretty good and I had no problems getting them to eat them!

Beating the batter (Annabeth wouldn't take a turn...she was afraid to hold it):

Licking the batter (the best part!):
Notice Ethan is pouring and Annabeth is eating :)

She finally decided we could put some of *her* chips in the cookies:

Isn't she cute in her little apron??:

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday!

2009-12-29T00:09:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! Blessing to everyone in the new year!

The first group photo is from the big Winston Christmas, and the second is from the Price Christmas. (PS...AMY! I forgot that you took the group picture at your house with your camera...can you email it to me?? Thanks!:)

Also, my little buddy turned SIX last week and was lucky enough to have two birthday parties (one with Queenie and Granny, and one at home). I can't believe how fast he's growing!!

Here is a cute little video of Annabeth playing Ethan's Ukulele...she's pretty cute! ;)

O Christmas Tree

2009-12-06T23:31:00.001-08:00

Here they are! Pictures of our Christmas tree adventure! We now have our first Christmas tree sitting in the living room of our first house and all is right with the world. :) Ethan and I really enjoyed ourselves. Brandon was absolutely convinced that we had chosen a puny tree...until we got it into our living room and he realized what a big, fat tree it is! And Annabeth, the girl who loves to be outside and dirty, complained the whole time, "Mom! I'm cold and I'm dirty! Let's go home!" I politely told her that she was having fun and that she was going to remember these times fondly when she gets older. ;)

"Look! A little red tree!"
Oops!

Annabeth "helped" Daddy by filling his wagon with all the log pieces she could find.

Brandon cutting down the puny tree:

Putting on the ornaments!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Belated Halloween

2009-11-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

I know that this is way late, but I realized after I posted Thanksgiving pictures that I completely forgot to post Halloween pictures! Oops. So, better late than never, here they are...Batman and Batgirl!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T00:52:00.001-08:00

Buttering the turkey...

Setting the table...

Time to eat...

Cheers!

Annabeth at the Little Gym

2009-10-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted Ethan's pics at the Little Gym, and now I finally have some of Annabeth. Here she is at her gymnastics class (with two little videos at the end). She loves it! As you can see from the pictures, she's still pretty cautious on the high balance beam (even with the teacher holding her), but she's finally getting brave on the low one! I'm really proud of her! :)

(These videos are so funny to me! Especially the second one...I love how she just waits there with her legs over her head until the teacher helps her! :D )

Soccer!

2009-09-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ethan finally started soccer and is loving it! As am I. :) Here are a few pictures from his first two practices as well as a hilarious video...it's so funny because everyone chases the ball together and all you see is the big herd of kids chasing a little ball. Obviously they haven't figured out positions and strategy yet. :)

Petting Farm Fun

2009-09-02T00:55:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to the fair today and we had a really fun time! :) I wish I had more pictures to share but I took them by myself and had to keep my hands free to hold theirs. But I did get lots of pictures at the petting farm, which was their favorite part! They loved the animals; Ethan's favorite was the little bunny and Annabeth's favorite was the chicken (which made me laugh:). There is also a short video of them trying to feed the calf. Enjoy!

Pictures Please??

2009-08-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if everyone out there could go through their pictures for me???

I've decided to frame a picture of each of the kids with Brandon and I when they were babies. I was looking through mine and I don't have as much as I thought I did. I'm pretty happy with the pics of Brandon with each of the kids, but I could find very few of me. If everyone wouldn't mind looking through their pictures, I'd like Ethan and Annabeth to be as young as possible and I'd like them to be more candid than posed. Please, PLEASE send me what you've got of either Brandon or I! I'd appreciate it very much! :)

Also.... any pictures you have of me when I was pregnant would be helpful. Especially pictures of Brandon and I together.

Here are the pictures that I will most likely be using if no one has any others:

Annabeth --

Ethan --
And just because it's sweet, and one of my favorite pictures of them, I'll also be framing this one for both of them! :)

I'm back!

2009-08-03T23:42:00.001-07:00

Yes, yes...I know I've been neglectful of this blog lately. I just haven't been taking that many pictures lately! Even so, I'll show you what I've got just so nobody thinks I've abandoned the blog :)

Ethan's first fishing experience...didn't catch a fish though :(
They caught a grasshopper!

Being silly at lunchtime:

Can I just tell you how proud I am that my kids love veggies so much?!!

We set up a maze of tents in the backyard:

The Little Gym

2009-06-17T12:33:00.001-07:00

Monday was Ethan's last day at The Little Gym. He's been in a sports class for the last 18 weeks. He has loved every minute of it. On the last day they put on a big show for the parents to show off their skills and then they receive a gold medal. Here is a video and some pics of the big show:

Road trip to Texas

2009-06-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

This past week my great-grandmother passed away. We found out Monday morning and by midnight that night we were on the road! We drove 36ish hours straight through (the kids were amazing!!) until finally we arrived in Turkey, TX. While we wish we had been there under happier circumstances, it ended up being a really great trip. Brandon got to help wrangle cattle and ride a horse, Ethan discovered a hundred new species of bugs, Annabeth bonded with Aunt Suzie, and I got to see the whole family again! It was an adventure :)

Uncle Lee and Brandon giving directions

One of the many new bugs he found

Uncle Billy had this tire swing that looked like a horse and Annabeth absolutely loved it!

These two were like peas and carrots :)

We found a little friend!

There was an electircal storm over Amarillo the night we left. I really wish I had been able to get a better picture! The lightning was amazing!

Bowling, etc...

2009-05-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

These pictures didn't turn out very well, but I'm posting them anyway because watching these two bowl was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen! :)

And the rest of these are random. The last picture of Ethan is old...it's from when we had to take him to the ER several months ago. You can see the IV in his arm where he's getting the morphine.

Happy Birthday Annabeth!

2009-04-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

My little princess turned three today! And she was the first member of the family to have a birthday party in the new house. :) All went well, and now I'm sitting here posting this instead of cleaning up the mess in the kitchen...

Oh, and here is a picture of the lovely dent I now have in my car. Brandon and Nathan were throwing the football out front and Brandon ended up doing this:

Thanks, Sweetie :P

Helping Daddy

2009-04-21T13:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated a momentous occasion...mowing the lawn for the first time in our own house! Well, I thought it was pretty momentous anyway. Brandon said he liked it better when we had people who did that for us. Of course, we all did our part to help him as you can see from these pictures: Ethan sat in the grass and told him how to get the bag off, Annabeth put grass clippings into the gas tank, and I stood on the porch taking pictures of him and yelling, "Look happy!" :)

A Trip To The Zoo!

2009-04-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend Brandon had the great idea of taking us all to the zoo! It was a beautiful day and all the animals seemed to be as happy to see the sun as we were...they were actually all out where we could see them! The kids had a great time and Brandon even bought them a year-long pass so we can go back whenever we want. :)

Looking at the jaguar:

The peacock with his feathers spread and shaking...you can't see them in this picture, but there are a bunch of flamingos in this area that he's trying to scare off:

Annabeth trying to get a look at "Marty" the Zebra (you know, from Madagascar?) Once she saw him she cried the rest of the time..."I want to ride Marty!":

My little turtles :)

Ethan and Daddy looking at the anaconda:

Stopping to check out the map:

She didn't get tired of walking until we'd been there for two hours! I was impressed!

Ethan and the komodo dragon:

Checking out the elephants:

At the hippo pool...notice that no one is very happy about me taking their picture :P

And I wonder why she's still tired after she naps!

2009-03-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

I went to check on Annabeth, who was supposed to be napping, and this is what I saw. She's reading a book called This Is My Hair. And not sleeping. What a funny girl. :)

Verizon Customer Service

2009-03-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

I know that this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but it makes me laugh every time I hear it! :D This is an actual call made by a customer who was overcharged by Verizon because they couldn't understand the difference between .002 dollars (what they charged him) and .002 cents (what he was quoted).

Annabeth as Tinkerbell...and Bob the Builder

2009-03-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

And just because this one is cute:

Updated House Pictures

2009-03-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the pictures of semi-finished rooms. Keep in mind that there is still furniture to be bought, walls to be painted, and picutres to be hung. But everything is in livable order right now, which is great for the time being. :)

School Corner:

Living Room (This room needs the most work!) :

Downstairs bathroom:
Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Kitchen Island:

Yes, I know this is just a pantry...but look at how much room there is!! I love it!:

Master Bedroom:

Kid's Bedrooms (And in case you're wondering...yes, of course, they are always this clean! I'm Super Mom, didn't you know??) :

Master Bathroom:

Kid's Bathroom:

My Big Little Boy!

2009-03-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been posting here a lot lately...we've been so busy! But I'm finally finished unpacking (all that means is that everything is out of a box...not necessarily in it's place, though!) so I now have a few more free moments during the day. For all who have asked, I'll be putting up pics of semi-finished rooms fairly soon. :)

My little boy is officially a Kindergartner! Can you believe it?! This morning was our first official school day. It wasn't as heartbreaking for me as it is for a lot of moms because I get to keep him here all to myself, but it was still bittersweet. I'm excited to see him growing and learning, but at the same time I can't believe how fast he's growing up! Here are a couple of pics from the morning.

(See that book? It's Hop On Pop by Dr. Seuss and he's actually READING it! I'm so proud! :)

Finally...The New House!!

2009-01-30T00:31:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are the pictures of our new house!!! The kids are loving it...though there is nothing in them right now, they love their new rooms. I got my new bed and dining room set today (I took a pic of the bed, but I forgot the dining room set...sorry!) and we get everything else out of storage on Saturday. The Lord has really blessed us and we are really grateful for our new home.Vanities in the master bath:

Our new bed and bedding (the green blanket on top is a prettier green than the picture seems to show):

Annabeth in her new rooom:

Ethan in his new room:

The kids' bathroom:

Dining room:

Downstairs bathroom:

Looking into Brandon's office:

Living room:

Looking out into the backyard:

Looking from the kitchen into the living room:

Island/Bar in the kitchen:

Annabeth hiding in the pantry:

Looking from the living room into the kitchen:

Shooting For The Stars

2009-01-10T01:40:00.000-08:00

Some little boys dream of being Astronauts.
Some little boys dream of being Firemen.
Some little boys dream of being Cowboys.
What does my little boy dream of being?

"Mommy, when I am grown up I want to work at Wal-Mart!"

You can only go up from there, right?? ;)

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a great holiday season! As usual, December was crazy but wonderful for us! :) Between birthdays, holidays, and blizzards we've managed to stay very, very busy. For Ethan's birthday he told me he wanted "pizza and cake!" So that's what we had. :) Brandon and I took him to the store and let him pick out a present and his own cake. He chose a Spiderman toy set for his gift, and a very rich chocolate cake for dessert. Then we all braved the snow and met at the pizza place for a fun little birthday party for my big 5 year old boy! Here's a few pics and a short video of his birthday:

This year Mom and Martin came and celebrated an early Christmas with us. We had a great visit with them and Ethan and Annabeth had a ton of fun opening the gifts they brought. Here they are opening their new skateboards:

Christmas morning we had our traditional Christmas breakfast with Dad and Amy. They had TONS of snow at their house...Brandon had to shovel the driveway just so we could get in! It was absolutely beautiful, though, and I loved having a white Christmas.

After that we headed out to Mom and Dad's (Patti and Jeff's) house to have Christmas with them. This first picture cracks me up...Ethan looks really mad about his gift! Actually, he's mad that we're not letting him open it yet. :) He finally got to open it after I tortured him with a few pictures and he loved what was inside (a basketball hoop!) Annabeth loved her gift as well...a big-girl bike!

Even with the several feet of snow this year, we were able to spend Christmas with all of the families. Brandon had the entire week off, so we were also able to catch a few movies and spend some time together with just the four of us. And just as I'm always very excited to see Christmas come, I'm also happy to see it go. I hope that everyone out there had a great Christmas and may God bless you all in 2009! :)

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

2008-12-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

My little boy is 5 years old today!

Snow Daze

2008-12-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

We got snow! Lots of snow! And, of course, we had to go play in it. :) These pictures were taken both yesterday and today. Yesterday there was only about 2 or 3 inches and today there was at least a foot! Here is our Mr. Snowman...unfortunately he's hard to see because he's in front of the snow covered car:
Very proud of the snowball he made:

After a face plant:

Making a snow angel:

It's up to her knees!:

Yummy! :)

Trying to make a snowball:

Annabeth playing very sweetly with her Princess Jasmine:
Ethan burying Princess Jasmine!:
And, of course, a few pictures of our third child. :) She wasn't too sure about the snow...especially today, as it was as tall as her!:

Fun In Seattle

2008-11-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

I love going to Seattle. I would never want to live there but I love to visit. Quadrant Homes sent us 4 free tickets to the Space Needle, so last weekend we took the kids into Seattle to see it. They loved riding the elevator to the top...Ethan said it looked like we were flying! :) Annabeth is still a little young to enjoy the view, but Ethan thought it was "really cool". It was cold but sunny, and we all had a really nice afternoon.

Ethan liked to hop up on the rail and look down:

Coming in from the cold and having some hot chocolate:

Hanging out in the courtyard:

The Framing Walk-Through

2008-11-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

This week Brandon went to the first walk-through of our new house. All of the framing and the exterior is finished!! It's going up so fast!!

From the living room looking into the dining room/kitchen:

The island in the kitchen:

From the kitchen looking into the living room:

My cozy fireplace!:)

Our little backyard...but I'm so grateful to have one at all!:

This is the view from one of the kid's bedrooms...it's a beautiful view of Mt.Ranier!:

A Few New Pictures

2008-11-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

Annabeth and her new princess dress:

Awww...Uncle Randall was reading Annabeth a story before naptime:

Laying on the floor coloring together:

Ethan is giving me "the look" in this picture...but he looks so handsome! :) I love those blue eyes!

New House Pictures

2008-11-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Our house finally looks like a house! Pretty exciting, huh?

May The Force Be With You

2008-10-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes! I'm pretty sure they're the most adorable Darth Vader and Yoda you'll ever see. :) Brandon even bought them the correct colored light sabers...

Annabeth is pretty funny...she walks around saying, "I'm a Yoda!" And Ethan LOVES his costume -- he asks me every day if he can wear it.I love this one because it looks like she's performing a Jedi mind trick:You will give me candy for dinner.

My house...

2008-10-26T00:29:00.000-07:00

...has walls!!!

Fall Fun

2008-10-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to the corn maze and it was a lot of fun! :) The four of us and Grandma (Amy) trekked through the maze for a good hour or so. Ethan liked being the leader and picking which direction we would go at each fork in the road, while Annabeth's favorite part seemed to be opening every corn cob she could find (she was only allowed to open the ones that were on the ground). This was Ethan and Annabeth's first trip to the corn maze -- I think that this will end up being a fun fall tradition for all of us! :)

Mmmm...Hot Chocolate!:

Grandma helping Annabeth open the corn:

Corn Sabers! (Like father, like son!):

I love these two just because they were both walking along the same way, with their hands in their pockets:

This evening we finally managed to get our pumpkins carved. The kids LOVED pulling the guts out! It was a lot of fun to watch them. :) Brandon carved the faces while Ethan preferred to draw his faces on. And, of course, we had to roast the seeds...Yum!

HAPPY FALL AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

The Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

This evening Brandon and I took Ethan and Annabeth to the pumpkin patch and they loved it! We didn't have time to go through the corn maze, so we're planning on going back to the farm on Sunday. We're also going to carve our pumpkins that day, so I'll definitely post some pictures of that! :)

Here is Annabeth...not too happy with Daddy!:
Walking through the pumpkin patch:

Picking up the pumpkins! Or trying at least...:

"Mommy! I'm riding!":

They each got to pick out their own pumpkin:
Hauling the pumpkins to the car:
OK, so this is absolutely hilarious! After we picked out our pumpkins, we started walking back to the car. As usual, Ethan runs ahead and Annabeth lags behind, and I'm in the middle trying to keep an eye on both of them. After a minute of watching Ethan I turn around to check on Annabeth...when I turned around, this is what I saw:

Apparently she slipped and face-planted in the mud! What was even funnier was that she didn't cry or get upset or anything...instead, she kept walking until she caught up with me, then looked up at me and very calmly and sweetly said, "Mommy? Clean me up." She was even patient while I laughed (I couldn't help myself!) and took her picture! :D

And finally, here they are with their pumpkins after we got them home...can you tell they had a good time?:

The ball is now rolling...

2008-10-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

Isn't it beautiful?? OK, so right now it's just a hole in the ground. But in a few months, this hole in the ground will be a big, beautiful new home!! Can you see it?

Our Humble Abode

2008-10-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to upload pictures onto Brandon's laptop! I haven't had much of a chance to take pictures lately, but I did manage to take a few shots of our bedroom/laundry room. You can't see it in the picture but the washer and dryer is directly to the left, about a foot from our air mattress. Brandon has referred to us as a "big family burrito"...I think you can see why. :)

Here are a couple of pictures and a video from Brandon and the kids' last night in our condo; they had a campout in the living room, which the kids loved! They ate take-out on the floor and slept in sleeping bags. (I didn't get to be there for the fun because I had to work.)

And, here are a few shots of the only other thing I've managed to get pics of since we've moved. Ethan and Annabeth using their new sidewalk chalk:

(Ethan's turning into quite the little artist, just like his daddy:)

Life Updates

2008-10-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Wow...is it really October already?! Lately time is running so fast I can't seem to keep up with it! Sorry there will be no pictures for this post; I know it's been a while since I've posted any, but we do not have our computer set up yet.

As most of you already know, Brandon and I finally sold our condo!!! We officially closed on it last week and are now settled in and living with my grandmother. It's somewhat humorous, actually, and I will definitely post pictures when I get the chance: we are all living in her laundry room! Brandon and I are sleeping on an air mattress on the floor and each of the kids has a twin bed (technically, Annabeth has half a bed. It's a trundle bed and I turned it so that half of it is under Ethan's bed. Their beds form an "L" and it gives us more room for our air mattress.) We have two dressers and a clothing rack set up in the garage as a closet. As much as we all love each other and enjoy one another's company, I have a feeling this will be a long three months! It really is working out well so far and I thank the Lord for the roof over our heads, no matter how cramped we may feel at times. And it's been really nice getting to spend some time with my brother, as he is living here too (although, thankfully not in the laundry room). He's quite helpful with the chores and he helps me entertain the kids.

As if we weren't busy enough, Brandon and I have been in and out of town the last couple of weeks. After our trip to Leavenworth, I went with a group of women from my church on my first ever silent retreat. I've been on women's retreats before, but never a silent retreat. There was no talking allowed except at meal times when we discussed a certain passage of scripture. It was wonderful! We stayed in a beautiful 7 bedroom house that overlooked the water and was surrounded by woods. An entire weekend spend in silence, prayer, and meditation with God provided some much needed spiritual refreshment. Then, the day after I returned from my retreat, Brandon left on a business trip. He went to New Jersey on Monday and worked there for a day and a half, and this evening he flew into Ohio to work there until he comes home Friday night. I talked to him tonight and he sounds tired, but he says things are going well and he feels like he's getting a lot accomplished. I really miss him!

That's about all that's new with us. We will be living with Granny for the next three months until our house is built...we are hoping to get to move in sometime around the first of the year. I'll keep you updated on that and post pictures as soon as I can. I hope all is well with everyone out there!

Happy Anniversary To Us!

2008-09-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brandon and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary!

In honor of the occasion, here is a list of six things that I love about my husband:

1. His love for the Lord. He always tries to serve God first in his life.

2. His genuinely kind and compassionate heart. He never, ever turns away someone in need.

3. His integrity. He has always strived to be transparent before man and God and he lives it well.

4. His unbelievable patience and understanding with me...I seriously need it!!

5. His selflessness. Absolutely everything he does is for me and the kids. He works so hard to meet every one of our needs and he NEVER complains about it.

6. He is truly a wonderful daddy. The kids are so blessed to have him.

And the list goes on... :) I know it's cheesy, but it's absolutely true when I say that I am more in love today than I was six years ago on our wedding day!

For our anniversary, Brandon arranged babysitters for the kids and took me to our traditional getaway place...Leavenworth! We played mini golf, ate bratwurst and gelato, walked, talked, and shopped. Brandon wasn't feeling well when we first arrived, but he was soon feeling better and we had a wonderful time!

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

2008-09-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been so wonderful! I've finally been able to enjoy some much needed family time and we've actually been able to relax a little bit! September is shaping up to be a very busy month for us -- besides having every weekend booked for something or other, we've now got to be out of our condo by the 15th!!! Yep, we're finally moving! We'll be living with my grandmother in Monroe for the next three months while our house is being built. Praise the Lord for that and for the many daily blessings He gives! I'm so grateful for these last few days as we prepare to head into a busy, busy fall. Here is a glimpse at the little blessings I've been given over these last couple of days:

Finally being able to spend some time with Brandon, an amazing husband and loving daddy:

A family portrait drawn by my sweet little boy (Annabeth and I have the long hair and Ethan and Daddy have the short hair):

A stack of books from Half Price Books...only $2.00 each!:

My petered out puppy (and the handsome man she's sitting with!:) :

Hot tea and dark chocolate. Mmmmm....:

Watching movies that made me laugh :D

Recieving an updated picture of our sponsor child, Lich, who lives in Vietnam, and a new letter from his mother:

And going back to the Quadrant showroom to put the finishing touches on our new house!! I changed the countertops, added a few appliances, and put french doors in the den. I'm so excited to see the finished product!

Thank you, Lord, for all of these blessings and more.

More Random Happenings

2008-08-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some more random pictures of our daily activities. Enjoy! :)

Ethan making cookies for Grammi's birthday:

Watching movies:

Climbing trees:

Here's a question for you: Why is it that when I put clean water in this pool and put the kids in their swim clothes, they are entertained for about 20 minutes....however, if I let them play in the dirty water in their regular clothes, they're entertained for hours?!

Annabeth and her new doll, "Baby":

And here is a rare treat for you: I was finally able to catch Annabeth singing by herself today! She loves to sing with Ethan, but it's really cute when you can listen to her singing by herself...she doesn't quite have a handle on all of the words and it's pretty adorable! :)
"Itsy Bitsy Spider"

"ABC's"

Here I am. Again.

2008-08-19T23:35:00.001-07:00

Days Go By

2008-08-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post some pictures from our recent activities and outings. It occured to me as I was going through my pictures just how good kids have it...I mean, can you imagine spending every day with someone whose entire life is centered around finding new ways to entertain you?! Sign me up for that! :)

Going to the lake:

Searching for bugs:

Picking huckleberries:

Going to the Drive-In:

Playgroup at Cherri's house:

Playing at the sprinkler park:

And this one just because it makes me laugh...I told Annabeth to get her shoes on and this is what she came up with:

Conversations With My Sweet Boy

2008-08-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

Now that Ethan can have "real" conversations it's quite interesting to listen to him talk and hear how he interprets the world around him. This afternoon we were going to meet up with Sheri to talk about an offer that was made on our condo (YAY!! We counter-offered...I'll let you know how it goes...) and I told Ethan we needed to get ready to go and why we were meeting her. He all of a sudden became obsessed with finding his new Spiderman socks. I was in a rushing around in a hurry trying to get us all out the door and he kept asking me if he could bring these socks. I kept saying, "No, they're dirty. They need to be washed. Just leave them here!" He kept searching and searching for the socks, continued asking me where they were and if he could bring them, and I kept saying NO. (On a side note: You may ask, "What's the big deal? Why not just let him bring the socks?" Well, my children have a habit of rounding up everything they can get their hands on to take with us on every trip we go on. One quick trip to the store and it looks like we've packed for a cross country road trip! So please forgive me if I finally had to draw the line at dirty socks...) Anyways, I keep telling him they need to be washed and he is getting more and more frantic as we get closer to leaving. Finally, as we're walking out the door, he says, "But Mommy! They'll have laundry at the new house!" It dawned on me that he was thinking we were moving right then! How sweet is that?? The only things he wanted to make sure we brought with us to our new house were Sadie and his Spiderman socks. Shouldn't we all live so simply?

Later on he randomly asked me, "Mommy? Can we kill the police officers that put Daddy in jail?" Ummm....what?? Where did that come from?? He's been obsessed with death lately, so the "kill" thing was disturbing, but not completely out of the blue. But where he got this whole idea of daddy being in jail, I'm at a loss. I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate his Disney movie collection...

That's my daughter!

2008-08-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

Before the kids at church are dismissed to children's church they are all called up to the front to sing. The last two weeks we have asked Annabeth if she wants to go sing. She says yes, gets up, walks herself up to the front, gets on the stage, and does this:

It's kind of hard to see, but she is scowling. Her eyebrows are as furrowed as they can get and her lips are pursed. It's absolutely hilarious!! She gets this awful scowl on her face and stands there looking mad as can be. I can't figure out why she does this! I think maybe she just doesn't know what to do when she gets up there. Just after these pictures were taken she threw her hands up onto her hips and really got everyone laughing. It cracks everyone up! Although, I may have to stop letting her go up there...she causes quite a spectacle!

American Idols in the making...

2008-08-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

I took a couple video clips of the kids singing this morning. Ethan made a microphone out of a block and a ball and sang all kinds of songs for me. Annabeth, of course, had to join in :)

"A New Anointing" and "Sweet Pea" (notice that in the middle of the song Ethan gets down on one knee...I wonder who he's singing to??)

"You Are My Sunshine"

"Awesome God"

Cardboard Testimonies

2008-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a very powerful video that was shown at church today. I cried through the whole thing. It's amazing what God can do with our broken lives!

Summer Buzz

2008-07-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided it was time for the traditional summer buzz cut. Ethan's hair was getting pretty shabby so I pulled out the clippers!

Before:

The first cut:

Doesn't he look thrilled??:

After:

But I wasn't all "mean mommy" today...before the haircut I let them finger paint with shaving cream on the table (thanks to Cherri for the idea!). Don't tell daddy...

Annabeth didn't quite understand the meaning of "Keep it on the table"...
Drawing a happy face:

Writing his name:

C.S. Lewis Quote

2008-07-20T20:47:00.001-07:00

"You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." -C.S. Lewis

A Hug For You

2008-07-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

World's Greatest Invention: The Cherry Pitter

2008-07-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration...but only a bit. I ran across this handy-dandy little gadget in That Kitchen Shop a few months ago and, while I was quite skeptical about whether it would work (I assumed it would squish the cherries and make a huge mess) I bought it anyway hoping for the best. Cherries are my favorite fruit but I tire of ripping out the pits, one after the other, so that I can share them with the kids. They eat them quicker than I can tear them apart! So, the other day I bought a big bag of cherries and pulled out my little cherry pitter to give it a whirl. Um, can we say amazing?? This thing pushes those little pits out with no problems! It worked beautifully. I did an entire bowl full in about a minute and a half...my favorite summertime treat has now become poppable! Genius. :)

Bubble Babies

2008-07-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

Today it was all about bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! With Brandon being out of town on business, Patti came to stay with me last night and she bought the kids some bubbles to play with. They, of course, LOVE bubbles, so that's how we occupied ourselves for the entire afternoon! :)

(This is the only clear shot I got of Grammi blowing bubbles with them! For some reason the rest of them were all blurry):

I sat outside and read my bible in the sunshine while the kids blew bubble after bubble and played with our little neighbor girl. It was a nice, relaxing day. In fact, the week has gone surpisingly smooth...but we're all ready for Brandon to get home tomorrow!! I can't wait to see his handsome face! :)

Summer Fun

2008-06-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

Playing catch with Daddy!:

She wanted to play too...

I love these next three pictures:

Playing in the water:

More flowers from Ethan:

Update...

2008-06-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Annabeth has a sinus infection. The doctor gave her some antibiotics and said she should be feeling/looking much better by this weekend. Also, Ethan has to take a second round of antibiotics; I had her peek in his ears while we were there and his ear infection has not yet cleared up.

A Few Summer Pics

2008-06-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

Poor Annabeth is still sick. It's been about two weeks now and she's still not feeling any better; she's still having fevers and terrible coughing fits. I think I'm going to take her in to see the doctor tomorrow. I haven't taken her in yet because in the morning she always seems to be feeling a lot better, but as the day gets closer to evening she starts feeling and looking terrible all over again. I'm really not sure what's going on with her -- we've all been sick, but she doesn't seem to be able to get rid of it. I'll update you when I know more!

Because we've all been sick, and with Annabeth still being sick, we haven't been out of the house too much lately. But here are a few pictures from this up-and-down beginning of the summer.

Ethan is always picking flowers for me! :)

Both kids in their sunglasses:

Ethan playing in the tree:

Sadie longing to go outside and play (she seriously needs a haircut!):

My happy, handsome husband:

Annabeth very dirty and very proud of the worm she found:

Being silly in the bathtub:

Need I say more?

2008-06-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

"God healed my heart!"

2008-06-22T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ethan: "I'm sad"
Mommy: "Why are you sad?"
Ethan: "I don't know. I'm sad."
Mommy: "I'm sorry you're sad. Would you like to pray about it?"
Ethan: "No."
Mommy: "OK. How about if I pray about it for you? Dear God, I pray that you be with Ethan right now. He's sad and we ask that you help him to feel better."
Ethan: "And tell him about my rocks."
Mommy: "And thank you, Lord, for Ethan's rocks because he enjoys playing with them."
Ethan: "And tell him that I have yucky stuff coming out of my nose."
Mommy: "And Lord, I ask that you help Ethan feel better. He still has a cold and he has yucky stuff coming out of his nose. Amen."

**Fast forward to two or three hours later...**

Ethan: "I'm not sad anymore. I had a broken heart, but God fixed it. God healed my heart!"

Sweet are the simple faith and prayers of a four year old!

Little Buddies

2008-06-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

While the four of us are still recovering from being sick all week, Ethan and Annabeth seem to be feeling somewhat better...so this afternoon I sent them outside for some much needed sunshine! This picture doesn't even show you how cute it was when I peeked out the window to see them sitting together out in the open grass enjoying each other's company. I love these moments :)

Wedding Weekend

2008-06-08T01:35:00.000-07:00

Nathan and Jen were finally married this weekend. The had a beautiful wedding; we had a lot of fun. Especially the kids! They danced the night away -- Ethan even pulled out some break dancing moves that surprised all of us! As flower girl and ring bearer they looked absolutely adorable in their dress and tux. Even so, I must admit that my favorite look of the night was Brandon in his tux...WOW!! :) The man still gives me butterflies.

Here are a couple of pictures of our family at the wedding. Nathan and Jen, along with the rest of the family, were understandably busy, so I didn't get too many pictures of anybody else!

Fun With Photoshop

2008-06-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with photoshop today and thought I'd share a few of my creations. :)

Annabeth in her shades:

Ethan handing me the flowers he picked for me:

A picture from when Annabeth was just a baby:

Oh Yes I Did!

2008-06-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

...I just bought tickets to see NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!! I am super excited. :) I never got to see them in concert back when I was madly in love them (especially Jordan!) at the tender age of seven or so, but now they're BACK! There are few things in life that allow you to re-live your childhood. This, my friends, will be a once in a lifetime experience. Am I over-exaggerating? I think not.

Recycled Overalls

2008-05-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

When Ethan was a baby, I saved everything he grew out of. I knew that Brandon and I would have another baby soon and I wanted to keep all his cute little outfits for use again. When I found out I was having a girl, I gave away almost everything I had saved up. I'm sure one day Annabeth will greatly appreciate that she is not a candidate for Ethan's hand-me-downs :) However there were two things that I was able to save for her.

One was a pair of little white shoes:

(Ethan, 3 months old)
(Annabeth, 6 months old)

The other was Ethan's pair of Oshkosh overalls. They were my favorite clothing item of his (he lived in them for months!). I think little ones in overalls are the cutest thing in the world. Annabeth has finally grown into them, so now I am enjoying them all over again! :)

Here is Ethan wearing them when he was two:

And now Annabeth:

It's little things like this that remind me how short and precious these stages are, and how they go as quickly as they come!

Thank you, Lord, for recycled overalls and for the babies that wear them!

Sadie gets a haircut!

2008-05-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Just when we didn't think she could look any more runt-ish, we were proven wrong!! So cute, right?! :)

A Home of Our Own

2008-05-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

We did it, folks. We bought a house!! And though it hasn't been built yet, I'm super excited to finally see a house in my not-too-distant future! The Lord has blessed us beyond what I even expected!

We bought a Quadrant Home in what is technically considered Kent, but is actually the Maple Valley area. The neighborhood is nice and big and there will be FIVE parks when it is all finished! The house will be just over 2400 sq. feet...which means we won't be growing out of it any time soon. :) The backyard is small, but big enough for a play area of some sort -- definitely enough room for the kids and dog to get out and run around in. There will be 4 bedrooms plus a den, and a big dining room...lots of room for guests and holiday gatherings, I'm hoping (if I can get everyone out to Maple Valley, that is;). The most exciting part is that Brandon and I get to pick out everything before it's built. The layout, optional extra rooms, carpet, paint color, faucet handles, light fixtures, counter tops, and even the shape of the toilet bowls. EVERYTHING! It's kinda nice to have a say in what everything looks like.

Here is the link to the floor plan if you're interested:

http://www.quadranthomes.com/pdf/floorplans/lifestyle/2401-COL-F.pdf

All of this is subject to change, so I'll keep you updated as things proceed. Our loan and offer are contingent on us selling our condo -- so please keep that in your prayers. If it falls through, I'm okay with that. I figure the Lord has a plan for us and I'm just excited to sit back and watch it unfold. :)

Peter Pan is a girl...

2008-05-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

Or so my daughter thinks. Her new favorite movie is Peter Pan and the other day while she was watching it I thought, "I should let her dress up in her Tinkerbell outfit!" I tried putting the dress on her..."NO!! NO!!" was her grateful reply. Ethan was more than happy to get into his Peter Pan outfit...he LOVES to wear his costume. But Annabeth would have nothing of it. "Oh, well," I thought. I gave up and went to check my e-mail while I had a few minutes of movie entertainment going. When I went back into the living room, this is what I saw:

So much for Tinkerbell! She had stolen Ethan's hat and sword! What was even funnier was that she kept poking me with the sword making gun noises and saying, "Shoot! Shoot!" Haha. Don't worry, though...Ethan was able to find another weapon (now there's something I never thought I'd say in my entire maternal career). Apparently, Peter Pan is not only a girl...he's also a Jedi:

These two never run out of ways to make me laugh! :D

Happy Birthday to Annabeth!

2008-04-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Annabeth turned two yesterday! Can you believe it?! My babies aren't babies anymore, are they? I can't believe that the baby phase of my life is over already...it went by so quickly! Now that Annabeth is two, everything will change. No more counting ages in months or free admissions to movies and museums. If we fly anywhere, we have to pay for FOUR plane tickets. Buffets will charge us for both kids. Soon we'll see the end of cribs, diapers and sippy cups. Life as we know it will get easier and harder all at the same time! :) I've learned this to be true with each new stage my children enter; each one is harder in some ways, and easier in others. I'm always sad to see one stage end...but I've also found that each age is more fun than the one before!

Queenie (my mom) flew in from California to be here for the birthday party. We had a good time; we had a small family party at Spaghetti Factory. While it was perfectly nice to celebrate at a restaurant and eat store-bought cake, I am looking forward to next year for both kids -- we will finally have a house of our own and I can start throwing my kids real birthday parties!! :)

Here are Ethan and Annabeth playing at the mall before the party:

All four of us waiting to be seated:

Annabeth and Grammi:

Queenie and Uncle Randall:

Annabeth and the Elmo balloon from Grammi and Papa:

Stealing frosting from the cake:

Mesmerized by the candle:

Annabeth helping herself to birthday cake while Uncle Nathan serves it up:
The very cool new sunglasses from Auntie Heather:

Ethan helping Annabeth open her gifts:

For Mom

2008-04-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Per my mom's request, here are some more pictures of the kids. It seems that blogging about anything other than the kids is unacceptable...I should know this by now, shouldn't I?! :) That's okay...they're my favorite subject, too.

Ethan playing with Sadie in front of the mirror:

Both making silly faces:
Annabeth in a VERY rare moment of chill:

And in a not-so-rare moment of eating dirt:

And just being cute:

And, last but not least, Brandon with our "foo-foo dog" (as he likes to call her). He laughs because he says he feels wierd taking his foo-foo dog in for her hair appointments...but she's even more foo-foo when she comes back from them:

That bow never lasts long...but it's cute while it's there:) NEVER did I think I would be making hair appointments for a DOG!! But...one of the benefits of a Shih Tzu is that they don't shed. The downside of that is that you have to trim their hair regularly. Who knew?

Reign in me

2008-04-06T02:19:00.000-07:00

This week Brandon introduced me to a band called Starfield. I'm really enjoying listening to their album. There was one song in particular that spoke to me. I love the lyrics:

You thought of us before the world began to breathe
You knew our names before we came to be
You saw the very day we fall away from You
And how desperately we need to be redeemed

Lord Jesus come lead us
We're desperate for Your touch
Oh great and mighty One
With one desire we come
That You would reign in us
We're offering up our lives a living sacrifice
That You would reign in us

Spirit of the living God fall fresh again
Come search our hearts and puify our lives
We need Your perfect love
We need Your discipline
We're lost unless You guide us with Your light

Lord Jesus come lead us
We're desperate for Your touch
Oh great and mighty One
With one desire we come
That You would reign in us
We're offering up our lives a living sacrifice
That You would reign in us

We cry out for Your life to revive us
Cry out for Your love to define us
Cry out for Your mercy to keep us blameless until You return

Oh great and mighty One
With one desire we come
That You would reign in us
We're offering up our lives a living sacrifice
That You would reign in us

So reign
Please reign in us
Come purify our hearts
We need Your touch
Come cleanse us like a flood
And set us out so the world may know You reign
You reign in us

Snow Day

2008-03-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it?! It's the end of March and it SNOWED! Not just a few flakes, either...the kids went out in full winter get-up and made snowballs and everything! Though Ethan and Annabeth loved it, Brandon and I weren't thrilled to see it. Where are the beautiful flowers? Singing birds? Twitterpated forrest animals? Even April showers??? It's supposed to be spring for crying out loud!

And then today, the sun came out so Brandon took Ethan out in the backyard to play some catch. After a little while they had to come in because it was HAILING! Go figure...beautiful sunshine and hail. What's next?

I'm outnumbered...

2008-03-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

First the kids:

And now the dog!!

Brandon has converted almost the entire family to his love of computers! Except me, of course ;) But he's still trying..

Easter

2008-03-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

Here is our Easter picture. Not the greatest picture we've ever taken, but the fact that we were able to get BOTH kids to be looking in the general direction of the camera makes it a success. Unfortunately, as you can see, Brandon was missing...he was busy painting our place so we can put it up for sale. We missed him. The kids had a good time hunting eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's house, though...they brought home LOTS of candy and goodies. :)

How was your Easter?

Angels and Pancakes

2008-03-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Luke 16:22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side..."

Do you ever wonder when this actually occurs? I mean, in today's world when people can be kept alive for years with machines and medications, when do the angels actually show up? When the brain dies? When the plug is pulled? Can the soul leave the body if the body still lives? Can the body live without the soul?

Last night at work I peformed CPR on a woman who went into sudden cardiac arrest and, as odd as it sounds, these were some of the questions I was wondering as I was pumping on her chest. I found myself thinking, "Is she still in there? Are there angels in the room right now taking her spirit even though I'm keeping her heart pumping?" Somewhere between 10 and 15 people hoovered around this woman for about 35 minutes trying to save her life and she didn't make it after all of our efforts. I wonder...was she dead when we began the code or when the doctor pronounced her dead? Her case may seem simple...maybe her soul was gone before we even started trying to save her. But what about the guy three doors down who is brain dead, but stable on full life support? In today's age of technology, we've made life a technicality and death a defeat...at least in the medical field.

I hope that this doesn't sound morbid or depressing to any of you! I personally find these questions fascinating. I'm surrounded by death and people who are dying every time I go to work so, as interesting as it is to see how it all works on this side of the veil, I'm more curious about what's going on on the other side. It makes me wonder when I'm in the presence of angels! :)

For those of you who don't like talking about death, here is the "pancakes" portion of my post: I took Ethan and Annabeth out on a date this morning since I've been working a lot over the last two weeks and haven't seen much of them. We went to Ihop for breakfast (they were having a promotion for the new Dr. Seuss movie that's about to come out) and the kids were excited to order what was essentially pancakes and candy:

Then, after I loaded them up with sugar, we went to hang out at the mall and play off some of their energy at the train:

(Ethan signing "I Love You")

We had a really good day! As much as I like being back at work, I have to say that there is nothing better than being home with these two. The hospital will always be my second job.

Decisions, decisions

2008-02-22T12:29:00.001-08:00

Well, Brandon and I were approved for our home loan this week. While it's VERY exciting that we're finally on our way to buying a new house, we've come to the realization that we have no idea where we want to live! Right now we've pretty much narrowed it down to Snohomish or Federal Way, or possibly Carnation. The only reason we are even considering staying in Federal Way is because of our church family. We have both come to love the church and the people here and can't imagine leaving. However, every other reason points to Snohomish. Family, job locations, overall convenience...everything else would be easier if we moved back north. I guess we'll just have to keep praying about it and see what happens; I know that God has a plan for us, so maybe we should just wait until he lets us in on it. :)

On a different note, I took the kids outside to play this morning and was taking some video clips of them kicking the ball to each other. I managed to capture a classic ball-in-the-face moment:

Don't worry, though. Annabeth forgave him and they managed to have nice lunch together afterwards ;)

And, just because I think their sweet faces turned out so cute in these, here are a couple more:

A boy and his pup

2008-02-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

We took Sadie outside for the first time today; up until now she has been too small to go out in the chilly weather. However, it's gorgeous outside today and the temperature has warmed a little so we thought we'd take her out. The kids had a lot of fun with her -- especially Ethan. He absolutely loves this little dog! Normally he is afraid of dogs, which was one of the reasons behind getting one of our own, but he adores Sadie! He's constantly telling me, "She's so cute, huh?" :) It's a lot of fun watching him hold and play with her, and his fear of dogs has gotten much better. I'm really happy that he loves her so much!

While we were outside all three of them went straight for the big dirt mound that, thanks to the rain, has been turned into the big wet dirt mound. Sadie loved the great outdoors and the kids loved the wet dirt...

And, after all of that everyone got a bath...including Sadie (which she hates!):

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

2008-01-30T22:56:00.000-08:00

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?!

2008-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this picture!

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

Meet Sadie

2008-01-20T20:31:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-13T23:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

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.