Thanksgiving 2011

This year we headed up to Coeur d'Alene for Thanksgiving. We didn't know if this would be the last time we would see Carla and wanted to spend as much time with her as we could. Jeremy's brother James was also able to make it for the holiday.

With all the boys there, I decided I was going to try my hand at making the full meal deal. I have always just helped my mom or someone else with cooking, I've never had it all on my shoulders.

I bought everything at the store and brought it with us. I had everything planned out and had asked my mom for any advice she could give. I planned on getting up in the morning and slowly getting things ready with a finish time in sight. Jeremy and James would be available to watch Aaron so I could be working in the kitchen.

However, we didn't plan on Carla being in the hospital. She hadn't felt very good after chemo and was pretty dehydrated. We stopped by the hospital on the way into town to say hello and check in on her. She was able to be released Thanksgiving morning and Jeremy, James and Jerry went to go pick her up. Thank goodness Aaron took a nap for a few hours so I was able to work in the kitchen.

Overall I did pretty good with dinner only being an hour late. I got several compliments and we had lots of leftovers to eat on.

We were able to visit with Carla the next day for a little bit. She came out and sat on the couch watching tv. She loved on Aaron a little bit and ate some leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.

Halloween

I was so excited to dress Aaron up this year. Jenny found the perfect little dinosaur costume at Costco and Aaron looked so awesome in it.

I already had decided to head to Tri-cities to show Aaron off so I didn't have to be home for all the trick or treaters.

My mom and I went to see Grandma Doris and we took great pictures with Aaron sitting on her lap.

Jeremy even drove to Tri-cities to escape the trick or treaters.

4th of July

I was excited this year for the holiday because I could go to the parade I had missed the past few years and Jeremy and Aaron could come with me.

We set our chairs up in the same place with our same friends. I had brought Aaron's frog chair for him to sit in but the majority of the time he was passed around. I made sure to watch for when a loud noise was coming and to cover his ears.

I was curious to see how Aaron would react with so much going on. He did great and even fell asleep for the last part of it!

The afternoon was laid back while we got ready for the bbq. Before heading to the river I opened up some sparklers I bought. I wanted to see what Aaron would do and he was pretty much in awe! I was a little worried about taking Aaron to the river to watch the fireworks but he ended up falling asleep and not making a peep.

It was a great holiday spending it with family.

Aaron's dedication and first Mother's Day

We found out that they were having baby dedications on Mother's Day. How perfect was that!

Jenny was going to be home that weekend and so we invited mom and dad and Jenny to go to church with us. Jeremy and I stood up front with a sleeping Aaron and three other couples to have Pastor Dave let the congregation know we were dedicating our children and vowing to raise them in Christ. We also received a certificate we can show Aaron later.

Aaron did great throughout the rest of the service and afterwards we stood around and visited with Ron and Lori and their kids. Then as a treat we went to La Palma for lunch and it was delicous.

After lunch we came back to our house and had a very relaxing afternoon. We opened cards and gifts and Jeremy opened some gifts early for his birthday.

It was a wonderful first Mother's Day!

Aaron's first Easter

We knew this Easter wouldn't be as fun as the next years to come because we couldn't do an Easter egg hunt for Aaron.

We didn't get our act together in time to make it to church. So we took our time getting ready and dressed Aaron in a new outfit to go spend the day at my parents.

My mom made a wonderful meal and we had cousins John and Larry over. After we had dinner and took the twins home, we headed to visit with G-ma Doris. She held Aaron and we got some great pictures.

We are already looking forward to next year when Aaron will be walking and we can hide Easter eggs for him to find. We will probably have to help him but it will be so much fun!

Christmas 2010

This year was different for Christmas. I had to work on Christmas Eve and was on call until midnight that night.

Since I had to work on Christmas Eve, my parents and my sister drove to Hermiston and made our traditional clam chowder and a new tortalini soup at our house. Then my mom and sister brought soup to the hospital for me to eat. We were able to sit and visit for an hour and a half before I was needed again for an x-ray.

Jeremy and I got up Christmas morning, quickly packed and made our way to my parents. Breakfast was already made when we got there and we dug right in. Then we started in on our stockings and gifts. We had a great time taking our time and enjoying the morning. I even filled in for Santa a little bit. However, I was sitting on the floor and had to have help getting up and my legs were numb.

Funny thing is I believe our baby Aaron James who is still in my belly got more Christmas gifts than everyone else!

We had a wonderful meal with steaks that Jeremy cooked and shared it with my mom's cousins. Later we headed over to visit with my g-ma and wish her a Merry Christmas. She was in a great mood, we took great pictures and had a wonderful time.

It was great spending time with family and relaxing. Next year will be so different with the baby and so exciting!

Thanksgiving

This holiday was different this year since I had to work a 12 hour shift. I knew my time was coming since I hadn't worked any holidays the last year.

Jeremy had the day off and had invited his brother to come but he wasn't able to make it due to weather. So my parents drove up from Tri-Cities and came with Jeremy to the hospital to have lunch with me.

The cafeteria had made Prime Rib and so my dad and Jeremy were excited! Guests were able to get quite the meal for only $7.

It was great to spend time with my family even though I had to work. Then I got to go home and spend time with Jeremy and eat leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and all the fixings that my mom had left for us.

Halloween pregnant belly

4th of July 2010

4th of July highlights:

- my favorite holiday

- seeing my family and sister

- driving to Tri-Cities

- eating good food at a bbq

- visiting with friends and telling them I was pregnant

- walking across to neighbors bbq to visit

- surprising family with Jeremy driving up

- walking down to the river for the fireworks

- watching one of the best firework shows in awhile

- watching a fire start right after someone set off illegal fireworks

- spending time with my husband and family

Mother's Day with Mom, Jenny and I

Jenny had a chance to be in town the week before Mother's Day and so we decided to celebrate a week early. Mom picked Olive Garden for lunch and we had a wonderful time! We gave her the facial certificate and she loved it!

After lunch we went to see G-ma Doris and got some great pictures with her. It was nice for us three girls to hang out and spend time together. Those times seem few and far between.

I'm glad we could honor mom and thank her for everything she does for us.

Easter

This year we went untraditional and had breakfast for dinner. Yum! My parents came over to share the holiday with us this year.

-Belgium waffles
-strawberries and real whipped cream for topping waffles
-hashbrowns
-omelettes with turkey sausage, green pepper, broccoli and cheese
-orange juice

Mom and I added mini chocolate chips to our waffle batter. Made us feel like we were at Ihop!!

Another great holiday!

Green Beer

St. Patty's Day events 2010:

• wear green


• work 12 hours


• head to Midway with Jeremy for green beer


• go to Bowling Alley


• back to Midway to meet up with friends


• long night of some more green beer, talking and laughing


• home at 2:30am!

Valentine's Day

This year Valentine's Day sure came with a bang!


Mom and dad decided to come down for the afternoon to hang out and work on some things around the house. At one point mom and I had to go to Walmart for something last minute. We brought back coffee drinks for all of us to have.


Event #1:

Dad had poured his drink into another glass with a straw. He had been sipping on the drink carrying it with him from room to room. All of a sudden...the cup slipped out of his fingers and he watched it fall in slow motion to the floor. It landed with a thud, spilling most of its contents on the floor and spraying it on the wall as well. He was horrified and just stood there not knowing what to do until all of a sudden he realized he needed to pick up the cup. I grabbed towels and carpet cleaner right away and started scrubbing. I wasn't worried about it and knew it would come out. There I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet when Jeremy came home from work.

Event #2:

Since Jeremy and I were getting a new dining room table, mom was helping arrange the dining room so the new table would fit. First her and I moved G-ma's china hutch to one side of the room and then decided to move it to the other side instead. It was slow going since I hadn't taken anything out and it was heavy. Jeremy finished helping mom move it into a corner and right at the end, mom's knee slipped and hit the glass. Oops! Right away I was worried she was cut but she said she was fine. The hutch didn't fair so well. The bottom part of the panel of glass had broken, yet nothing broke inside. Phew!

It was a very exciting holiday just for different reasons! Mom and dad ordered new glass for the hutch and we did allow them back to the house, even after all that!

New Year's

This year we made plans to travel to Coeur d'Alene to spend the holiday with Jeremy's mom Carla and Jerry. I already had New Year's Day off and also took New Year's Eve so we could spend a couple of days visiting.

On our way we passed through Tri-Cities and had breakfast with my parents. Once we got there we spent time being lazy and visiting. We had brought our Christmas gift for Jerry and Carla and they had waited to open their gifts until we got there. We had a great time passing gifts around and who wouldn't want to have a second Christmas! One of the greatest gifts we got from Jerry were a pair of lamps for our guest bedroom. They had real wood bases with birch bark shades. They fit in great with Jeremy's wood bed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting, watching tv and playing with Lily their dog until we got ready to head to dinner. Carla had gotten us reservations at a steak place outside of Coeur d'Alene. I had heard Jeremy go on and on about this place and was excited to finally try it out. The food was amazing! I hope we are able to go back soon. After we stuffed ourselves, we headed to a casino where we spent a couple of hours losing money! We made it back to Jerry and Carla's right before midnight. We turned on the tv and watched the ball drop in New York City.

The next morning we headed down to the lake to watch the Polar Bear Plunge. I happened to see an ad on tv for it and thought it would be fun. Carla and I were really excited! We had more fun people watching and were amazed with what people were wearing to jump in the lake. We were freezing all bundled up, I can only imagine how the plungers were feeling.

We left right after they jumped in and headed back to the house. Carla and I got started on making snacks to eat and we turned on the tv to get ready for the Oregon Duck's football game! What a sight we must have looked like when all of us, even Lily the dog had on Oregon gear!

We stayed until the game was over and then took off for home. All in all a great visit just not long enough.

Merry Christmas!!!

I was so excited for Christmas to come this year! I couldn't wait to start new memories with Jeremy and let him experience how my family spends the holiday. Jeremy wanted my family to come and celebrate at our new house this year. So my sister decided to brave the weather and the pass from Seattle and got quite a few days off. Our plan was to have her drive to my parents and then the three of them drive to our house in Hermiston. They would spend the night at our house and we would all wake up together Christmas morning and spend the day together.

My work schedule worked out great with me having both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off. My sister got into town Christmas Eve morning to my parents and a couple of hours later the three of them packed up and drove down to Hermiston. For our family tradition we always make G-ma Kitty's clam chowder for Christmas Eve dinner. We had to make a minor adjustment because Jeremy doesn't like seafood and so we made the chowder and also stromboli. Us girls started prepping right away for dinner so it could be simmering while we went to Christmas Eve service. The service was great, I always love singing Christmas songs and having candlelight service.

Not long after we got home, our friends Bob and Becky and Bob's brother Don came over to spend the evening with us. Normally we just had our chowder in bowls but my mom surprised us and had bought bread bowls which were a big hit. Everyone got their food together and found a place to sit and enjoy. Afterwards everyone congregated into the living room where Jeremy started up the Wii.

The next few hours were spent sitting around laughing and watching several of us play numerous games. Some of the games we played were bowling, tennis and carnival games. I played tennis and really had to pay attention and focus so I swung the right way to hit the ball. While everyone was sitting around, I passed around slices of my chocolate cake. I had made the "Chocolate Lasagna" cake from Olive Garden. It was a big hit! After our company left we only stayed up a few more hours. We prepped breakfast for the morning and finished any last minute things before heading to bed.

Immediately after waking up, I got my stocking stuff done first and then went to get my sister and mom so they could do theirs. During this time no one is allowed in the living room to spy. Dad came down to get his coffee and was shooed away so Jeremy tried to get the coffee ready and he too was sent to his room. Apparently I hadn't explained well enough to Jeremy all that Christmas morning entailed. I just laughed hysterically hearing my sister yell at him to get to his room and he tried to push it but it didn't work. Finally it was time to start the fun! We emptied our stockings while sipping on coffee. Then we decided to fix breakfast so we could enjoy it before we got too late. Mom had planned quite the spread and everything was wonderful. The gifts came next and of course I was santa. I passed them out until they were gone. Now it was time to relax, get ready for the day and spend time with each other. We looked into seeing a movie at the theater and found a time that worked. Since holidays always seem to be a day of eating, we already were thinking about lunch. We decided to go non traditional and have french dip. After eating everyone passed the time visiting and just being together. Later that night we went to the movie, "Did you hear about the Morgans." It was very funny and a great way to end the day. Soon after my parents and sister gathered up their things and packed them in the car. After they left the house felt so empty. Jeremy had received the movie, "The Hangover" and we popped that in and ended our holiday laughing!

Thanksgiving 2009

The holidays came quick right after all the hype of the wedding was over with. My mom has always told my sister and I that once we were married, we didn't need to feel obligated to spend all the holidays with them. She knew we would need to spend time with the in-laws and might even want to be by ourselves. That made it nice so we didn't have to stress about where we would spend the holidays.

This year for Thanksgiving Jeremy and I headed over to my parents in Tri-Cities for a quiet, relaxing holiday. My sister decided to stay in Seattle and spend the holiday with family there.

Once we got to my parents I helped my mom finish with last minute dinner preparations. Everything came together really smoothly and in no time we were ready to eat. We also had my mom's twin cousins, John and Larry join us. We all sat around talking and sharing stories and laughing. Then I helped my mom put food away and get leftovers together. Some were given to John and Larry to take home and others were packed up for Jeremy and I to take home later on.

Soon after, John and Larry decided to head home and we decided to go see a movie. My parents and Jeremy and I ended up seeing "Old Dogs" and laughed hysterically. What a great way to end the holiday!

We went home at a decent time because I had to work early the next morning. Even though the holiday wasn't crazy busy with all the family, I liked how nice and laid back it was.

4th of July

Since 4th of July is my favorite holiday, I decided to take the day off of work since it was on a Saturday. Another reason to take the day off was that my sister was visiting that weekend. That week ended up being great because we also got Friday off in observance of the holiday so I only worked two days that week!
I left early that morning and got to my parents in time to leave for the parade. We sat with the same people as usual and had a great time. After we got home, we all relaxed and sat around visiting. Jenny and I were able to get a lot done for the wedding. At one time, both of us were sitting in the living room with each of us on our own computer. Quite the comical picture! As it got later in the afternoon, we finished up getting ready for the bbq.

We had a small amount of people come over for the bbq. We had great food and we all just sat around and talked and relaxed. Halfway through the evening, I went over to the neighbors bbq to visit. I wanted to spend some more time with Robyn, who was heading back with her family to Alaska the next day. When it was time to head down to the river to watch the fireworks, I walked down with my mom and sister. We spread our blanket out and plopped ourselves down. When our neighbors got there, they ended up sitting with us too. The fireworks were great as usual! All in all it was a great holiday.

Easter

Family Picture

Lately, the last couple of years have been out of the norm for Easter plans. Last year I had to work on Easter and mom and dad and Jen came down to Hermiston. They brought dinner with them and we just sat around and visited. This year, I was hoping Jeremy could spend the holiday with my family. However he had to work but was at least able to get away to go to church. So I ended up going to church with him that morning and then heading up to Tri-Cities for the rest of the day. My sister was in town and I wanted to be able to be with her and my parents. Our family actually got invited to dinner which was nice that my mom didn't have to cook and we didn't have to clean up! It was a very relaxing time. Then my sister headed home back to Seattle and I headed back to Hermiston because I had bowling league.

Mom and Dad

Jenny and Me

One of the best things that happened that day was when I got to league that night. I let Jeremy know when I got home but he was at Walmart and decided to just meet me at the bowling alley. When I got there, I noticed something on the chair next to him. He had bought me a stuffed Easter bunny and around its neck was a beautiful necklace!!! It was a circle with the word Faith etched into it and a cross hanging in the middle. It is absolutely beautiful and I love it!! I showed it off to everyone I could!!!

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good holiday!

New Year's Eve

I was excited this year for New Years Eve. My friend Rachelle and I had decided to go to the bowling alley for their Monte Carlo night. We didn't feel like going out with all the crowds and we know we always have fun bowling. Dinner was included and they made some excellent prime rib. We were put into groups and then they started explaining what we would be doing. I had never done Monte Carlo before and to tell you the truth was lost most of the night! They had a paper that described the ways you could win, but it was hard to figure out. They had colored pins and you could win money if knocked down certain pins or left certain ones standing up. They had an MC who walked around teasing with people and helped let you know if you had a chance at winning money on your lane. It wasn't what I had expected, but Rachelle and I made the best of it. I did end up winning $10 though! Of course, they made a big deal about it turning midnight and passed out noisemakers. We had thought we would go out after bowling, but both of us were really tired and just wanted to sleep!

Right before midnight

We did make the holiday more exciting before the evening even started. We had been talking about this for a couple of weeks and just spontaneously decided to go through with it and not tell anyone until afterwards. After Rachelle got off work at 4:30, we drove down to Tri-Cities and had our noses pierced!!! I watched Rachelle get hers done first and still went through with mine. There was only a little sting and my eye watered up briefly, but other then that it was fine. The next couple of days my nose was pretty sore. I still love it everytime I see it and when it sparkles throughout the day. I told my sister about it and sent her a picture. She loved it and couldn't wait to see it in person. I decided not to tell my parents and waited for them to notice it. They were pretty cool with it, so I was glad about that. Most people didn't notice it and we were so bummed. People thought we already had one since a lot of people have them nowadays. Now I'm so used to it that someone will mention it to me and I will almost forget that I have one! When my dad noticed it, he asked why I did it and I said I wanted to. It was as simple as that, just because! Isn't it so cute!!!

Christmas

Christmas was a little different this year for me. I didn't have to physically go into work, but I was on call. Starting at 7am that morning until 3:30pm, I was on backup for the tech who was working. When they got off I was on call the rest of the day until 7am the next morning. Needless to say, I couldn't go anywhere for the holiday. It actually worked out just fine because the weather had been awful and tons of snow had been dumped making traveling anywhere iffy.

My parents and I talked about it and came up with a plan. They came down Christmas Eve and we made the tradional Clam Chowder. They spent the night and we fixed breakfast in the morning. We took some to Andrea, who had to work that day. We opened gifts, spent time relaxing and then they left about 1pm to head back home.

Christmas Eve Clam Chowder dinner

Random pic of mom and I

My dad and I in our black hats

I only got called in about 3 times which wasn't too bad. When Andrea got home from work, we were able to eat our snack foods we had bought. Then we took our time opening our gifts to each other and didn't get interrupted by me having to go to the hospital. Even though I rather would have traveled somewhere and had all the family together, the holiday wasn't too bad.Sparkling cider

New Jewelry

New earrings