Marty's 40th birthday

Well, it finally arrived....Marty's 40th birthday. Needless to say, he's not too thrilled about it; however, he seemed to have a good day. His family came up to visit/celebrate for the weekend. We had a good time with them...went to Tom Brown Park, had a turkey dinner one night (made by Marty's mom), played mexican train dominoes and yahtzee, went to church together, and even went to Chuckee Cheese (and made it out alive/sane). Here are some pictures of the weekend.......

Christmas Day

We had a fun day hanging out with my family. The kids got up at 5:15 AM to see if Santa had been here yet, and he had! So needless to say, they ran into our room to wake us up. We opened presents, then Amber and Nate came over to do their gift exchange around 10:30. Afterwards, we went to Village Inn for our Christmas lunch (sad, huh???...but fun, and I didn't have to do any cooking!!) We then decided to go see a movie (Marley & Me). Cute movie, but VERY sad (had to sit and hug on Hunter after it was over because he was upset/crying). :( We used it for the good though, and made a lesson out of it. :) Amber took some family pics of us....thought I'd share some with you.

Christmas with the Parvu family

My sister, Angela, and her family (Randy, Autumn, Addison, & Randon...oh yah, and Lady, their dog) all came up from Umatilla for the weekend to have our family Christmas. We had a fun weekend...nail salon, cookout, Yahtzee games, fun on the swing set (SCARY), and last but not least, ear washing (don't ask)!!! :). Wish they could have stayed longer. Love you guys!

A morning of pampering

My sisters and mom decided to take the 3 girls (Grace and her 2 cousins, Addy and Autumn) to get their finger and toe nails painted at a nail salon. It was so much fun....they LOVED it! They were overwhelmed by the amount of colors they could choose from. It was cute. Of course, us 3 sisters had to get something done while we were there too! Maybe we'll make this Christmas-time tradition! Since the boys weren't "into" getting a manicure/pedicure for themselves, they went out to waffle house while we went to the nail salon. :)

Elf Night!

We took the kids to "Elf Night" at Dorothy B Oven park last night. Even though is was a bit crazy (lots of people there), we had a fun time. We met up with some friends there, and walked around with them looking at all the neat lights. They even had snow blowing out on us!!! How cool is that! :)

My little reindeer

Grace was excited to wear her reindeer antlers and red nose today to school (today was "reindeer day" in her class). It's neat seeing her grow and mature...neat, but sad at the same time. She is growing up so fast. It's hard to believe my baby will be 7 in March. I was reminded via a friend's e-mail that we need to treasure every day....that December 16, 2008 only comes once, and then it's gone forever...no turning back. Every day is a treasure.

I am blessed!

As many of you know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this past September. It was very hard hearing the news, but we went through the steps...surgery, radiation therapy, misc dr appts, and now....we are hopefully done! Mom's last radiation treatment was this past Wednesday! She had to go 5 days a week for 6 1/2 weeks. She's quite a trooper. She always kept a positive outlook, and even encouraged us to trust in the Lord through it all. She was known at the TMH radiation place as "the counselor". The employees said they always knew mom would be out there in the lobby encouraging others in their "cancer journey", and will miss her there. Mom, thanks for all you have done for me, Ang and Amber!!! Thanks for all your encouraging words over the years. We love you very much!

Recently, as mom and I were driving in the car, she reminded me just how blessed I really am. I have a husband who loves me and our kids very much, goes to work every day in order to provide for us, and strives to serve the Lord daily. I have a house with a roof on it, friends and family who love/support me, 2 overall healthy kids, and a job doing what I love. I have a God who loves me unconditionally, shows me grace and mercy daily, and continues to provide people in my life who encourage me when I need some "pick-me-up" words. :) WOW....I really am blessed. Thanks mom for reminding me of this. :)

Christmas time is here....

We put up our tree today. Grace helped out this year with the decorating...Hunter, not so much. :) It was fun watching Grace dance around the living room to the Christmas music. We also did the "Elfyourself" video...too funny. :) I'm going to try to post the link on here so you can see it for yourself!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/u3UPJQ6MAaGGgcBA5ZQt

Thanksgiving weekend

OK, I must admit...I was a bit stressed about cooking for 19 people on Thanksgiving (a 24-pound turkey), but everything went pretty smooth (thanks to Amber for bringing 2 sides). We had a fun day...meeting Nate and Amber and his family at Tom Brown Park during the day, and then eating our turkey dinner that night. And of course...playing Mexican Dominoes that night was a blast, but the best part of the day was listening to my nephew, Steven talk about Nate's dad (he thought he was a robot...sitting on the back porch with his laptop on his lap!!!). Too funny! :) Thanks, Steven for the laughs. :)

Fun Family Moments

Okay, I just had to blog about this.....mom burning her hair by getting too close to her gas fireplace the other night! Too funny. Mom, we love ya...thanks for letting us pick on you!! :) See the pictures of the burnt hair and then Grace trying to pick out the burned pieces for her!

Also...some pictures of Hunter, who just lost his 2 front top teeth. I asked him to sing the "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" while I video taped him, but he wouldn't. :( I wonder why???? :) Oh well....

A busy, but fun weekend

This was a very busy weekend. It started with company arriving in town for Amber and Nate's wedding on Tuesday night. Friday was Halloween and Amber and Nate's wedding rehearsal. Then on Saturday was the big day---Amber and Nate's wedding. So, to say the least....it was a very busy weekend....but fun. :) We enjoyed all of our company staying at our house with us (Grandpa, Aunt Thelma, Aunt Barbee, "Aunt" Linda, "Aunt" Becky, Darcy -- Amber's friend from Ohio, and the Parvu family). Thanks guys for coming and helping soooo much with the wedding!!! Here are some pictures of our weekend.

A night out...Amber's bachelorette party!!!

It's hard to believe my baby sis, Amber, is getting married in just 5 days. A group of us took her out for dinner and dancing last weekend (her bachelorette party). We had a fun time...laughing, dancing crazy, singing, and eating..of course. :) Enjoy the pictures....