Maddie's 2nd Birthday

We had Maddie's 2nd Birthday party yesterday. And I can't believe my little girl is already two years old. It's hard to imagine that she's two, and that Josh will be five!!! Time sure does fly. We had just a few people over - Brad's parents and his sister, my sister, and Brad's cousin and her little boy came over. We just did cake and ice cream and then opened presents. She definitely didn't like it when people were singing Happy Birthday to her, but she loved eating the cake. We had a princess themed birthday party - so that was fun. Maddie was a hoot to watch when it came time to open presents. She got a lot of good stuff and was a mad woman tearing through the wrapping paper. She got some pots and pans for her kitchen, more dolls, some Hello Kitty stuffed animals, and the cutest pink Piggy Bank with a tiara and tutu on. So cute and fit for a princess :)

Maddie and her new Piggy Bank.

Opening more presents.

She got scared when everyone was singing to her.

But she LOVED the cake!

Christmas

Maddie getting some more clothes.

Brad trying to guess what was in the box.

Josh and his tool set.

Maddie's new kitchen.

Josh and "RC" from Toy Story.

Maddie loves the tool set too.

Well I have much to write about Christmas, and no motivation to do so. So, I might be just posting pictures instead. But the short version is - we did have a great Christmas. Brad had to work on Christmas Eve day - so that was kind of a bummer, but he did have Christmas day off. So we had our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and then did a big Christmas breakfast after the kids opened up their gifts. And of course, they were spoiled and got way too many gifts, but oh well.

Josh was really into Santa this year. We left some milk and cookies out for Santa - and Josh was amazed that Santa a.k.a. Brad, drank all of the milk and ate some of the cookies. He just couldn't believe it - I wished I had gotten that on camera! And on Christmas Eve he said to me, "Mommy I don't think Santa is going to be able to get down our fireplace because there is glass on it and he won't be able to get out". So I had to say that Santa has magic powers and would still be able to get presents to them. Smart boy! And of course he didn't think ANY presents were from Mommy and Daddy - only Santa!

After we did our thing, we headed down to Tri-Cities to open presents and have another Christmas dinner with Brad's parents. The kids got more toys - and our big present was a Garmin! Wow, it's really nice and I can't wait to use it! We are completely blessed in many ways, and have had a great Christmas again this year.

Christmas at my Mom's

Well we headed down to Tri-Cities on the 19th to have Christmas with my mom since she will be gone from the 22nd to the 29th. She is going back east to Maine to visit with her family for Christmas this year. The kids got to open presents and we had a Christmas dinner. My sister, her boyfriend, and our neice were able to make it as well - so it was good to see them. The cousins had a good time playing with each other and it was actually a good day!

Josh was like this in almost every picture :)

Josh hugging his cousin Sidnei

The Men - Brad and my sister's boyfriend, Branden

Maddie got her favorite present - a baby doll - go figure

Sidnei opening up the Tinkerbell present we got her

"Look mom it's another box"

My sister, Alisha and Maddie

My Grandpa Bond

My dad and my Aunt Debbie

My dad receiving a flag for my grandfather's service in the Navy.

The granddaughters - Alisha (my sister), me, Nicky (oldest cousin), and Jenica (youngest cousin)

Ok, so I know that I have been REALLY bad about posting lately - I've just been so busy, so most of these next posts will be for this month.

On December 3rd my grandfather passed away. He was 84 years old and died in his sleep (or that is what I was told). He was my last remaining grandparent and it was very difficult (and still is) to hear the news. Long story short - his funeral was on the 10th and I left for California on the 8th. I was able to see my dad (who I haven't seen in almost 2 years) my aunt and my cousins. My sister was able to go as well, so it was good to have everyone together again, albeit under crappy circumstances. I just cried the moment I saw my dad at the airport, but I'm really glad that I went. And I'm really glad that Brad's parents were available to watch the kids so that I could mourn.

On Wednesday my dad and his new wife [and I say this because it's a entirely different story that I will have to talk about later] and I went to visit my great Aunt Marion's grave - which was good. And then later that afternoon was the viewing - which was extremely difficult. I've never really understood why anyone would want to have a viewing - but I'm actually glad that there was one so that I didn't completely loose it at the funeral service. They had a viewing specifically for the family for about an hour - and I was able to let out the feelings that I had held in for almost a week. It was really hard to see him look the way he looked. He didn't look like the grandpa that I knew.

On Thursday was the funeral service, which I pretty much cried through the entire thing. The pastor did a good job through the service, and read a little paragraph that we (the granddaughters) had written about grandpa. They also played the song that I had downloaded onto my iPod that my grandfather had sung to all of us granddaughters - "A - you're Adorable" by Perry Como. My grandfather and I also danced to that song at me and Brad's wedding - so it was very dear to my heart. After the service we headed over to the cemetery where my grandpa would be buried with my grandma. It's nice to know that they are together again after 10 years.

My sister and I left early Friday morning, wishing that we had just one more day to visit and be with our family. But as it was, we had to leave. I loved my Grandpa Red, but it makes me feel good that he is in a better place now. I love you Grandpa, always and forever.

Christmas Tree Adventure

This year we decided to go up to the woods and cut down our very own Christmas Tree. Brad had done this as a child, but I've never had the experience of it all. So we headed up White Pass and started on our adventure of finding a tree. There was some snow up there, but it wasn't consistent. There was no snow in places, a little snow in other places, and plenty of snow where we were. We left the house at about 9:30, and it was a perfectly sunny day to find a Christmas Tree.

So we get up there, drive around for a little bit and then decide to get out and walk around to see what we could find. Maddie was fearless in the snow on the hills and Josh couldn't stop smiling that we were actually walking around in the snow. Oh, to be a kid again. It was pretty cold, but the kids had boots, hats, and their winter coats. We walked around for quite a while, which wasn't how I thought it was going to be. Maybe in my head I had been imagining that it was going to be like "Christmas Vacation" where there was that "awwwwww" moment with the heavens shining down a light onto our Christmas Tree. But no...it wasn't like that at all, darn it!

At one point, I was carrying Maddie because we were going down a hill in the snow over a tree that had fallen over. It had been there a while because some of the branches had snapped off, so there were only the sharp, broken down to the tree trunk branches left. As I was trying to maneuver over this tree, I slipped and fell right on top of 2 of the broken limbs. And since I was holding Maddie, I could not break my fall. I was in so much pain and Maddie did a face plant onto the tree itself (I'm shuddering just thinking about it, we definitely had a guardian angel watching over us, because it could have been a lot worse, A LOT worse). She cried for a little while, but no bruises, cuts, or scrapes even. But I did escape unwounded. When we got home, I went to look in the mirror and what did I find a huge, black and purple bruise on my upper thigh, with another smaller (and not so ugly looking) bruise further down my thigh. It was so bad that I still haven't been able to sleep on my right side yet. But walking around is much easier now, although driving still hurts a little. Let's just say it was a nice souvenir.

But, I digress, we did find a Christmas tree. It started out at 13 feet, Brad had to cut 2 feet off of it so that we could get it on top of the Tahoe. Which was quite comical at the time. We got home around 2:30, with everyone cold and exhausted. Brad ended up having to cut 2 more feet off of the tree so that it would fit where we had planned. So now it's still a whopping 9 feet tall, and it might not be the best looking tree - but it was a great experience (except for that slight mishap).

We will definitely be doing this again next year and we will make sure to have a better plan! Needed: more snacks for the kids, hot cocoa, lunch, boots for me, and then we can make a day of it. Enjoy the pictures.

This is what it looks like now.

This was the day that it happened.

Thanksgiving

Well we had Thanksgiving at our house this year. I invited my mom and sister, Brad's parents and his sister as well. My mom, Brad's parents, and his sister and her daughter came up so we had a full household. My sister wasn't able to make it because she already had plans to celebrate it with her boyfriend's family. So we had 6 adults and 3 kids, a 9-lb turkey breast, and plenty of pies and wine to go around. It was a pretty gloomy day outside, but it was really nice to have family over for a Thanksgiving dinner.

The food was great, everyone had a good time - what more could you ask for? We definitely have a lot to be thankful for. We have a roof over our heads, Brad has a good paying job, our children are healthy, Brad and I are healthy, we have working vehicles, and I get to stay home to raise our kids (even though sometimes I wish that I could work). It's been a very eventful year for us, as usual - but a good one nonetheless.

November Update

Well not too much has happened in the month of November, except for Thanksgiving that is. The 2 major things that happened were - my sister hosted a Scentsy party, which turned out pretty well. I also had a person sign up to be on my team for Scentsy at the beginning of the month, and then another just yesterday - so that's good too. And then Brad and I went to Bellingham to visit my friend Ashlee and her fiance Jeff. We had a pretty good weekend, but on the way home on the pass chains were required. Wishing that we had taken the Tahoe, Brad had to get out to put chains on the Honda - so $90 later. But oh well, I was glad to have them, even though it wasn't really necessary (the roads weren't THAT bad). It was nice to get away from the kiddos for a weekend. Especially since Brad had been working a TON of overtime due to a landslide that occurred up Chinook Pass. He was working 14 hour days, 7 days a week for 11 days total.

But we made it through that, and now that I'm thinking about it - some good did come out of that. We got another debt paid off - with all of that overtime money, we got my student loan paid off. So now the only other bill that we need to pay off (besides the house and the cars, of course) is our couch! Yes - so that's $9500 worth of debt paid off in 3 months!! And only $1500 more to go. That's awesome! It feels really good to have that student loan paid off. So now Brad is just that much closer to getting his truck!