Christmas Eve

Here you see Abigail and Norah preparing to spread the reindeer food on the lawn. Then you see the girls decorating cookies for Santa. Also Abigail and her cousin Haley have a little wrestle/hug?! Such a fun day!

Trip to the Mission Mill in Salem

Grandpa and Grandma invited us to go visit the Mission Mill in Salem with them this year. It was great fun! Everything was lit up, rooms to visit, crafts for the kids, and period demonstrations. We didn't time things right to hear the music and watch the dancing, something to look forward to for next year! The girls learned how to turn wool into yard, made silhouette's, lavender sachets, snow men of wool, and food for the reindeer! It was a fun filled evening!

STORYBOOK LAND

We took our anual trip to Storybook Land, at the fair grounds here in Albany. It's a delightful display and the kids get to sit on Santa's lap at the end of the walk through. We went on the second to last day this year and it was CROWDED! But we still had a great time. Meshaila, one of the girls favorite babysitters, joined us this year. We saw displays of all the princesses, other Disney characters, and familiar nursery rhymes. Norah wouldn't go near Santa once we got there....maybe next year?!

Halloween 2009

This was a fun year with costumes - Norah was thrilled to finally be Jasmine, her FAVORITE princess and Abigail helped make her costume as she wanted to be Anne of Green Gables. Anne is her newest favorite character, for weeks she practiced using her imagination so she would be good at being Anne. We (I have read aloud) both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea....I am amazed at how much Abigail understands! (Anne is a hard read for me....I need to look up some of the words she uses!!!) We are preparing to read Anne of the Island. This desire to learn more about Anne began when Granpa and Grandma visited Prince Edward Island and brought the girls back an Anne doll. I am thoroughly enjoying this walk down memory lane as I can share with Abigail a series that I remember my mom reading to me.....such good literature!!

Disney on Ice

In October we drove up to the Rose Garden to watch Disney on Ice. This was our second time going and we LOVED it! We went with Grandma and Grandma Ginna and cousins, Haley and Lee Iver. It was a girls trip as Brett had conferences at school that evening. We enjoyed seeind Cars, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King in the first half. The second half was all Tinker Bell, which thrilled the girls. It was a late night, but SO fun!

Christmas 2009

We just celebrated a wonderful Christmas with Brett's family. On Christmas Eve we went to the children's service at Grandpa and Grandma's church - such fun for the girls! Then we drove around and saw the lights of Keizer - so neat. We ended the evening at Uncle Troy and Aunt Wendi's with their extended family. Delicious food, kids decorating cookies, and LOTS of noise.....a great night! When we returned to Grandpa and Grandma's the girls put out cookies and hot cocoa for Santa. Earlier they sprinkled "reindeer food" on the lawn......helps the reindeer to find you! =)

Christmas morning the girls found their stockings filled and a couple of exciting toys. We enjoyed Christmas Day service, where Brett sang two solo's, such a treat for us all! Then we took blankets, candy canes and cheese sticks to down town Salem to hand out to the homeless people. It was a great experience and helped to refocus the important of CHRISTmas. We remember the greatest gift ever given on Christmas Day - the birth of baby Jesus! His gift to us - HIS PRESENCE. So we felt this was a great way to share HIS presence with those who truly need Him. (By coincidence we eneded up on the news that evening.....they were doing a special on people giving to others!) The rest of the day was spent with Brett's family, even great-grandma Townsend made it up for dinner and gifts. We played many games and truly enjoyed eachother's company! I'll add pictures once they are down loaded!

Norah's First Day of Pre-School!

Norah was thrilled to start "school" like sister! She picked out her own clothes, decided she NEEDED to bring a back pack and was ready for me to leave as soon as we walked in the door. She loves ALL of her teachers! Teacher Deanna greets her every morning, but many high school students are in and out during the day to play with the kids. She has already brought home MANY paintings and loves playing outside. "I am practicing my monkey bars so I can do them at the park by our house mommy!" She also knows a song about an apple trees you shake and the apples taste yummy - I almost caught her singing it tonight - but she won't perform it for us! She only has one other little girl in her class and LOTS of boys....after one week she told me..... "I did play with Lilyblue today." (Yes that really is her name!) Anyway, she loves it and thinks it neat that it's right by daddy classroom!

Abigail's First Day of First Grade!

She started the day at 5:15 with unbelieveable enthusiasm. She proceeded to talk NON-STOP the rest of the morning......driving me crazy!!!!! I couldn't help but laugh at her, I do remember being very excited for my first day of school, it's just more exhausting being on the parent side of things.

She had a wonderful day in Mrs. McElroy's class, she told me all about her: S.H.A.R.K. folder "that has all the important things in it", how getting a RED card is bad and "You have to go to the focus room for like 5 minutes and DO NOTHING!", how she got 4 recesses but no PE "When do we start PE mom?" But my favorite of all was when I asked, "Did you make any new friends today Abigail." She responds, "Well not technically." So I asked, "Did you learn any new names of kids in your class?" She responds, "Well not technically." (I'm trying not to laugh in the front seat) Then she asks, "Mom, what does not technically mean?" That' s Abigail for you! Reading Anne of Green Gables is already explanding her vocabulary.....watch out!!

Quick Update!

August 21st - Brett and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. Grandpa and Grandma kept the girls over night! We enjoyed a delicious brunch at a winery outside of Salem, outlet mall shopping, Bingo with our good friends Bryan and Kelli and a GOOD night sleep! What an amazing 10 years - filled with joys and challenges - and we are very grateful for the MANY blessing we have received from God!

August 26th - Margo decided not to walk the Portland Marathon in October. Instead deciding to walking the Seattle 1/2 Marathon in November. I will set a time goal in the next few weeks once I adjust to working on speed not distance!

August 31st - Brett and I headed back to work. This week was filled with meetings, frustration and a little excitement for the upcoming school year. I will now be working five days a week! (Monday/Wednesday/Friday for only 4 hours in the morning and Tuesday Thursday for 6 hours.) Should be an interesting schedule!! Brett is starting the year with a student teacher, which is great but requires a lot for more work for him! Needless to say we were VERY tired last night and are relaxing at home today!

What's coming?? THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Watch for pictures and details about Abigail starting 1st grade (she got a letter from her teacher today!) and Norah starting pre-school! It will be so exciting!!

Cousins Weekend

This has become an annual tradition with Brett's cousins. It started the summer after Brett and I were married and has grown from 10 adults to about 20 adults and 8 kids! Above the older cousins are posing with fun sun glasses they made at the most recent cousins weekend. The kids are stair steps with the oldest being 8 and the youngest 1 (the three youngest are not in this picture). Our locations have varied and we try to alternate between Washington and Oregon, depending on where weddings are =)! This year we met at the beach house on Tulalip Shores. This is a perfect location, right on the water, lots of outdoor space for the kids and enough yard for Kubb.....a family favorite! We always enjoy our time spent together and it is great for the kids to play together! Looks like we'll be back in Washington next year for a wedding =)!!!! Yahoo!

Camping with the Folks!

We met with my side of the family at Nehalem Bay State Park. On the way up we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for some delicious ice cream.....yummy!! The park was across the street from our camp site and there was a "fort" in the trees by the bathroom that entertained the girls for hours. We also went to the bay side of the camp ground to go in my brother's kayak and the girls played in the driftwood treehouse! (Abigail is posing onto of the house.) We also rode our bikes into Manzanita for a delicious pizza lunch. Brett and I did some browsing with my Aunt Annie at the VERY expensive stores, such fun to just hang out!! It was great to see everyone and sit around the camp fire and visit! The girls came home spoiled and over tired.....looking forward to life getting back to "normal" around here!

Swimming Lessons!!!

So this year has been an interesting year for swim lessons. We started off great! Both jumped in the pool happy as could be and started with good attitudes. Week one was pretty good - we had to dangle a few rewards out there and we practiced one day at the Cool Pool, but all in all it was a good week. Week two started off TERRIBLE!! Abigail refused to try, lost ALL toys for the day and threw MANY fits! Today she did great......kick boarding across the pool, supergirl glides, big arms over 1/2 way across the pool, jumping off the diving board with only minor threats - it was AWESOME! Hopefully she will end the week strong. Norah has been delightful the entire time - trying almost everything - doing bobs, glides, kicking, back floating, jumping in......she's pretty entertaining! Their teachers have been awesome and I appreciate Brianna's patience especially!

Abigail's Loosing her Teeth!

Abigail has now lost 3 teeth! She had one tooth pulled in May because an infection had developed above the top missing tooth. She then lost her first tooth naturally in June (the new tooth is almost fully grown in!) Then last weekend, while at the church camp-out, she wiggled the other bottom one free. As you can see the adult tooth was already growing in behind it! My little girls growing up TOO fast!!!

Camping in Lincoln City!

We enjoyed a fun filled weekend in Lincoln City at Devil's Lake State Park! We camped with Brett's side of the family. It was a lot of fun! The boys went fishing and took the kids out on boat for a ride. We walked to the beach, where is was mostly foggy, but that didn't stop the kids from playing! I took a nice hilly walk to an amazing park that the kids LOVED playing at. We enjoyed good food, great company and even a few moments of relaxation! We also made a quick stop at the outlet mall before heading home to the valley heat.....good times!

Here we go.....

Alright, here's my attempt at blogging....we'll see how it goes! I've loaded a few pics from the summer, but many more will follow.....enjoy!

Independence Day!

We started the day in Harrisburg, to watch the parade! It was great to visit with friends and the girls collected a LOT of candy! Then we came home to rest for a bit and get out of the sun. That evening we had friends over, The Clark's and The Hill's, for a BBQ and yard games. It was a lot of fun! Once it was dark we went over to The Clark's house where the girls played with sparklers, the boy set off many fireworks and we saw the professional show in the distance. What a great day! Thank you Lord for our freedom.....we have been blessed to be a blessing....who am I blessing???

Ballet Recital

Aunt Ellie and Uncle Sean came to watch!













Abigail was a labybug and Norah was a flower in the ballet recital. They both did a wonderful job, even though Norah was very scared and didn't even participate in the dress rehearsal!

Getting to know Norah Annastina

Norah recenly turned 4 years old. She is a fun and entertaining child. Norah loves to play with others and by herself for hours on end. She is very silly and always keeps us laughing. She will be starting preschool in September and is VERY excited to go school like her sister! She's practicing writing letters and wants to read like her sister. She has completed one year of ballet and LOVES to sing and dance. She is a strong willed child and challenges her parents daily to make up for being a perfect angel during her first three years of life!!!

Getting to know Abigail Marie

Abigail just turned 6 years old. She is a VERY entertaining child! Abigail loves to sing and dance. She has a very active imagination and loves to play in "fantasy land." She is also a bright little girl. She loves reading short stories, creating pictures, writing her own stories, and arts and crafts of any kind! She has recently lost two teeth and number three will be coming out any day now. She has taken ballet lessons for two years and is considering learning the violin with her daddy when school starts! She has a beautiful singing voice and she uses ALL the time! I hope to share her art work, photographs and the many funny things she tells us on this blog! She's a very sweet girl, but she keeps mom and dad on their toes!