Happy Thanksgiving

we hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving. we stayed home this year again, and I cooked dinner again. we were invited to have dinner with my sister-in-law ashley and her family, but there were supposed to be a lot of people that we didn't know and i knew that alex and i wouldn't be comfortable with it. it turned out that there was a lot less people and it was at barbs house. wish we would have known. we did however went out for desserts with mike, ashley and brittan. it was great seeing them. alex and mike talked shop (army) the girls were coloring and giggling with each other, and ashley and i tried to talk over all of it.

we ended up hitting the big sales on friday. actually alex made out his wish list and i went to the stores. i was smart and went out at about 8am. i wasn't going to get trampled on. my theory was if the item wasn't there for me to buy then it wasn't meant to be. all in all we had a pretty good weekend. i have two and a half more weeks of school left for this quarter. it will be nice to have a break and focus on family and my church calling. we hope that everyone is well and we will talk to you all later.

I know that it has been a while since I last wrote. A lot has been going on since August. Both the girls and I started school in September. My first day of school was on my birthday. I am taking a Para educator course. I should be done with it and have my degree in about a year. I am having fun going back to school. The girls are doing great in school. Ashley is done with speech therapy and they are both doing a musical instrument. Ashley is in band playing the flute and Sam is in orchestra playing the viola. they are both having a great time with it. They also played volleyball this year. Ashley has improved so much from last year. She has been diving for the ball and you can always count on her to yell "mine" even if the ball isn't going to her. This was Sam's first year and I think she had a good time also. Next on our list is basketball which starts after Christmas break.

As you can see how cute the girls are in there Halloween costumes. Sam was a bat princess and Ashley was Sharpay from High School Musical. We had a great time going to a couple of trunk or treats until Ashley got sick in the parking lot. Memories.

There really isn't much going on with us. Alex still has a couple of more years until he can retire. He wants to make sure that I will be done with school first so I can take care of him while he goes back to school. I will try to keep things posted more often. Talk to you all later.

Point Defiance Zoo

Our last little outing was to the zoo. Sarah was really upset because it was raining. Well it was only sprinkling but to her you think it was a down pour. We went early so all of the animals were active. We got to see the monkeys, elephants, whales, seahorses and lots of other animals. The girls had a great time playing at the new animal ave. There was a spider web to climb and a lemur jungle gym. We also got to go back to school shopping. I can't wait for the girls to start school. They don't start until the 2nd of September. They aren't the only one's starting school this year. I am going back to school. I am going for a para educators degree. which means when I am done i can work in the classroom. I will be going for 18mos straight but that is OK since the government is paying for it. My first day of school is September 29. If that sounds familiar to any of you it should. That's my birthday. Yeah for me, i get to start school on my birthday.

I did get a early birthday present. Since gas is so high and we needed on anyway, Alex bought me a new car. It is a 2008 Kia Rio, black. I love it. We have had it for less than a week and Alex only got to drive it twice. The test drive and half way home. We still have the van and Alex's truck. we kept the van so we would have something comfy to drive on lone trips. well i am going to end this. I'm sure you are all tired of hearing from me. take care and we will talk to you later.

Hunting Vampires and Werewolves

If any of you have young girls or have got caught up in the whole Twilight craze you know what I am talking about. Part of Sarah's graduation gift was a trip to Forks, Wa. It was a lot of fun. If you haven't been there it is a very small town with really nothing there. There are some stores and parks and even a little hospital but nothing to brag about until a unknown Aurthur by the name of Stephenie Meyers wrote a book about a family of vampires who lives in Forks. Now the town is overflowing with tourists. Every where we looked we found twilight fans. All the stores were selling things about vampires and even werewolves. (if you curious just read the first book. I guarantee that you will be hooked) We got to see where the main characters lived and worked. Sarah was upset when we went to the Cullen's house and found out that they and Bella went to Alaska to look at colleges. We did get to see Bella's house and where Dr. Cullen works.

The next day we went to La Push Indian Reservation to hunt wolves. Sarah said that she wasn't leaving until she imprinted (second book). She didn't and we made her leave. We did hike to second beach. It was a rough hike. A steep uphill going in and then a steep down hill with stairs. Which meant a steep uphill with stairs coming out. After we got off the trail we had to climb over 100 feet of drift wood. And they weren't small logs either. After we got to the beach we kicked off our shoes and went walking on the sand. It was so relaxing just being by the water. The girls had fun getting their feet wet even though the water was freezing.

After the long hike back to the car we decided to go home. It was a great little vacation even the drive there and back wasn't so bad.

The girls first concert

I know that it has been a while since I last wrote. As some of you know we had my little sister Sarah here the last couple of weeks. It was her graduation present from us and we had a lot planed for her. At the beginning of the month we went to a concert. It was Ashley and Samantha's first concert and we got to see one of our favorites. Kirby Heyborne. He had with him Corbin Allred (the main character from saints and soldiers) who was absolutely amazing. I was able to get us front row seats which all the girls love. Ashley spent most of the concert screaming "Kirby I love you. You rock!" Sam was a little restless towards the end. I guess she's just not used to sitting for two hours.

After the concert we were able to get their autographs. We saw Corbin first and he was a total sweetheart. He wrote on the picture that Sam had "This man loves you (pointed arrow to himself) do you love him check yes or no." Ashley had him sign her purse and he wrote "save your money + love Corbin forever." Sarah was wearing her I heart Kirby Heyborne shirt and Corbin wrote on the back that she loves him more. I had won a signed concert poster during the concert and wanted them to personalize it. Corbin wrote that i have a wonderful family and the drew a mustache and bread on Kirby's picture. he was going to do a eye patch but i said no. After we took pictures with him we stood in line for what seemed for ever to see Kirby.

I couldn't believe that when we finally got to the front of the line to see Kirby that he remembered us from last year. Actually he remembered the girls and then Sarah and I. He couldn't get over how tall the girls were getting. After he was done signing things for the girls and Sarah i had him personalize my poster. Ashley had pointed out what Corbin had done so he drew an eye patch on his own picture. All in all it was a great experience for us all especially the girls. I don't think that they will ever forget. My girls can't wait until next year when they can go again.

Snow in July

Here is video of the girls playing in the snow at Mt. Rainer. As you can see they are having a great time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Well the girls are another year older. Ashley has reached the double digits and Sam is nine. I swear they each grew like six inches since their birthdays. I believe that they were spoiled this year. Harmony and Go mo (aunt) were here for the Fourth of July weekend. Of course Harmony spoiled the girls and Alex. We went to mt. Rainer and Seattle. Suk's niece from Korea with her so we had to show her around. We all had a really great time. We took them to the space needle, pike's place market and the water front. They had a great time. It was sad to see them leave go. We had a birthday party for the girls on the 4Th while Harmony was here. We spent Sam's birthday in Seattle and took Harmony and Go mo to the airport on Ashley's birthday. Later we took them to Chuck E Cheese. This last Saturday we had their party with friends. It was a hot day so we played in the water having water balloon fights and water fights. We had a pinata for the party and we also set up the moon bounce. Over all I think that they had a great birthday.

I have been having fun with my new calling. I am in charge of my first enrichment activity this Thursday. I am really excited and nervous. I hate being in charge of things. Other than that not much is going on. Sarah is coming in a few weeks and we are really excited to have her come. I hope all is well with everyone. We will talk to you later.

Hello

I know that it has been a long time since I last wrote. We have had a lot going on and I just kept forgetting to write. The girls a through with sports until fall. On their last soccer game we had all four seasons that day. Rain, sun, wind and even snow. Yes snow in April. It was crazy. They wanted to play baseball but I said no. I really wanted my Saturdays back.

School's out for the girls and for me to. I love having a job where I get summer vacation too. We did get a new addition to our family. A little kitten. His name is Max and he is Sam's cat. I think that Alex is glad to have another male in the house. He is a really good cat. Princess likes him to. They play together really well. I was surprised how gentle the dog can be with the cat.

As you can all see in the pictures I cut my hair. I cut at least 10in off. It felt so weird having short hair again. I didn't tell anyone that I was cutting it so I shocked a lot of people at work and at church. The bad thing about it is now i have to do my hair I just can't pull it up anymore.

I have some other good news. I received a new calling a couple of weeks ago. I am the 2nd counseler in the Relief Society at church. That means that I am in charge of Enrichment nights. I am really excited about it. It was funny because i had a dream that I was getting a new calling but didn't know what it was. Then I was talking to the old relief society president about it and i joking said that if I could choose a calling I would want to do enrichment. The bishop asked to talk to me a week later and said that i was called to be in the relief society presidency over the enrichment program. Who says dreams don't come true.

Well everyone here is doing well. We have some visitors coming this summer so we are excited about that. I hope that everyone is doing well and we will talk to you all later.

Hey there everyone. Sorry that I haven't updated lately. The girls and I went to Mom and Dad's for spring break a couple of weeks ago and I got really sick again. Luckily I didn't have to go to the er again. Well everything here is going good. Like I said the girls and I were in Idaho for a week. It was a lot of fun. The girls got to see grandma, grandpa and aunt Sarah and I got to see Abbie and William. Oh ya, Melanie was there also. ;) We had a very event full week. The girls got to have a Easter egg hunt at Aunt Melanie's house with some of their cousins. Uncle Josh had a great time shooting me with his new Nerf gun. We also got to go horseback riding with aunt Sarah, went swimming at the YMCA with grandma, and saw all the animals at the zoo. We spent pretty much everyday with Melanie and her kids. I think that Abbie overdosed on cousins. That girl is worse than the energizer bunny. She never wants to stop. The girls also had a great time digging in the dirt with their other cousin Eva Jean. I was glad to see the trip over. I really needed a rest before I had to go back to work. I forgot how busy little ones are and how much you have to watch them so they don't get into everything.

Alex and I are doing well. We are just working away. I think that he enjoyed his week away from the girls. He even had a week off from taking care of the dog since I took her with me. Princess really need to be able to play out side with the other dogs.

The girls are just about done with soccer. They have their last game on Saturday. YEAH! I really like to watch them play sports but I will be so glad to have my Saturdays back. Well that is about it for now from us. I know we live a very dull life. What can I say. Take care and I will talk with you all later.

HAPPY EASTER/ANNIVERSARY

Greetings everyone. Yes Happy Anniversary to Alex and I. Today makes it twelve years that we have been together. It is hard to believe that we have been together that long. It has been so nice to have him home for an anniversary. We really didn't do much since today is Sunday and also Easter. We went out to dinner last night with the kids. We just had a quiet night tonight with the kids watching movies.

Yesterday the girls had another soccer game. They have been improving so well. The field was really messy and muddy. They were all over the field trying to keep the ball away from the other team. Ashley was able to be the goalie again. She is really good. She was all over that ball. Her favorite thing to do was jump in the mud after the ball. She was a total mess after the game.

Our team lost but we did score a couple of goals.

After the game we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. All of the neighborhood kids were there. We had a lot of eggs to find. It was a lot of fun for the kids and some of us decided to make it a BBQ next year.

Alex has been doing well after his surgery. He wasn't able to watch TV or play on the computer. He slept most of the time and the rest of the time he was bugging me. It was really nice having him there to talk to and not have to compete with a game or movie. He still has a hard time seeing clearly but it will get better for him.

Well we hope that all is well with you and your families. We will talk to you all later. Take care.

Greetings

Well hello everyone. Can you believe it. I didn't wait months to update this. We seem to have a pretty good week. Ashley lost three teeth this last week. Two on the bottom and one on top. The tooth fairy around here kept for getting to take her teeth and leave money. Ashley was talking about charging the tooth fairy $20 for being late all the time. Alex finally cleaned out the garage these last two weekends. He even said that he enjoyed being out in the garage working. I was a little shocked about that. Sam is being her normal self. She wanted to put Ashley's last tooth under her pillow since the tooth fairy forgot to take it and also because her sister already got $2 for the last two teeth. I told her that the tooth fairy doesn't like to be tricked.

Ashley had her basketball party tonight. They had it with the older girls too. It was really nice. Ashley got another trophy. Her team tied for 3rd place. I don't know with how many other schools. She also received her team pictures so I guess I have to add that to her scrapbook.

Well it looks like the rest of the month is going to be filled with new adventures. The girls are going to be starting soccer this week. They should be having their first game this Saturday. Next Monday Alex will be having out patient surgery on his eyes so he won't need his glasses anymore. That means I get to have him home for a week while he recovers. At least he won't be on the computer the whole time. The girls and I are planning a trip to mom and dad's for spring break at the end of the month. I can't wait. I just want to see Melanie's kids.

Well we hope that all is well with you. I will try to keep this updated as best as i can. Take care and we love you all.

Greetings

Well I hope that everyone has had a good week. We had a fun week here. The girls and I got to enjoy a four day weekend while Alex only had a three day weekend. On Monday we went to the movies with a family from church. We all went and saw Spiderwick. It was really good. The girls really loved it even though they said it was a little scary. The girls got to hang out at our neighbors house Tuesday morning while I had to go to a meeting for work. Luckily it didn't last all day. The rest of the week went by really quick. We had the new neighbors three boys over for pizza, movie and games. They are some active boys. I almost had to hog tie one up because he was getting into everything and would not sit still. I told Alex that having them over almost makes me not want anymore kids. Alex suggested that we have them over more often.

Ashley had her last basketball game on Saturday. It was a great game. First we would be ahead then the other team would take the lead. By the end of the game we were tied 13 to 13. They played one minuet of overtime with our team making the only point. The team, coach and parents went wild. The coach's wife said that if they lost she wasn't going to go home with her husband since he will be extremely grouchy and she couldn't go home with him if the won either since he will be bouncing off the walls. Poor lady. Afterwards we went to the px to do a little tax return shopping. The girls and I made out. The girls each got a MP3 player and I got a new camera. I am having so much fun with my new toy. As you can see in the video the girls really love their new toys too.

Well we hope that you all have a great week. I will try to write again later. Take care and we love you all.

FINALLY.......

I know that it has been months since I last wrote. Almost three months to be exact. Well so much has been happening since the last time I wrote. First we had christmas. The girls had a great Holiday. They got pretty much what they wanted. We got the girls a basketball hoop. They really love it. We all had a great holiday. We did have one great suprise last month. It snowed and it didn't melt away. The girls had their very first snow day this year. They had so much fun sledding down the driveway and on the hill in our front yard. All of the neighborhood kids were over playing. It didn't last to long but to me it was perfect. We haven't had a lot of snow here. It seems when it did snow it melted as it hit the ground.


Well we are still doing sports. Sam had completed basketball in December. She had fun but she says that she doesn't want to play agian. Ashley is playing basketball now. I am really impressed on how well she is doing. She is really an agressive player. She hasn't made a basket in a game yet but she really knows how to be a team player. Next month we are going to be starting soccer and then we are done with sports for the rest of the school year. I can't wait to have my saturday's back. The girls are doing well in school. Sam is helping kids in her class with their math. Its good for her since it keeps her busy.

Alex is still not liking his job. I feel really bad for him. He is always coming home so stressed out. I think that he is really looking forward to a deployment. I know that sounds bad but he says that he needs a vacation. I am still working at the high school. I really am liking being a lunch lady. Other than that not much is going on with us. I was really sick last week. We got to spend six hours in the ER last sunday. I was very dehydrated and had to be buffed up. It completely wiped me out. I am very grateful to Alex for taking care of me and the kids even if his bed side manner is less than perfect. Well we hope all of you are doing well. I promise that I won't wait another three months to write.