Kids' Christmas Program at Church

Tonight was Jay's first ever church concert performance. His age group was the first up in tonight's program since they were the youngest participants (and of course, they stole the show with all their funny antics).

This first video clip is kinda boring, but kinda humorous, too. That is why I've decided to include it here on the blog. Towards the end you hear David in the background yelling, "Mama." But he isn't calling me. He is actually calling out to Jay. Totally confusing, right? I've just recently discovered that when David calls "Mama" while putting his hand over his mouth, he is really calling out to his brother Jay.

"Joy to the World"

"This Little Light of Mine"

And we received this encore performance of the Alphabet Song on the way home (sung twice through).

It was so fun to have Aunt Traci, Uncle Keith, and cousins Samantha and Sydney there to support Jay's first concert debut, too. The evening was capped off with a Christmas cookie potluck. Fun! It was a memorable and successful evening. We just love our church and it was such a joy to gather together seeing our kids singing about the real meaning of Christmas.

Catch-Up - Matt's 40th Birthday

Thanks to Matt's sister, Shawn, I have pictures from the surprise 40th birthday party I planned for Matt on Sunday, October 23rd (he turned 40 on the 24th of October). When asked if he had figured it out before it was revealed, in his words he said he was "clueless." HOORAY!!

I only took three photos that day (just was too busy setting up and organizing the food/party). Since Shawn took all these terrific pictures, I'll just post a link to her blog post.

After the party and after Jay and David took their afternoon naps we joined Matt's sisters and families for a little more time and dinner together.

It was a wonderful, fun day - I'd like more of those kind of days, please!

Thanks for indulging me, letting me celebrate your presence in our lives, Matt. You are such a special blessing to me and it was a joy to honor you with friends and family. Love you!!

3 month hiatus

Hi Friends and Family!

Sorry for the long, long, long absence from blogging. I am planning to do some catch-up work this month to show you some of the fun things we did between 7/31 (my last blog post) to today.

While you wait for those blog posts here are some pictures from this past weekend. Saturday morning we enjoyed some fun at a pumpkin patch farm. Today I took the boys to Matt's office for some "reverse" trick or treating (we hand out candy to all of Matt's co-workers). We had a great time!

Family Photo in front of the John Deere tractor (of course!)

David enjoying the chickens at the farm

Jay having a blast in the hay maze

Another Family Photo on Saturday, October 29

Jay - our little UPS delivery man

Daddy with UPS delivery man Jay (3) and our little lion, David (1)

David's "Spaces"

Above photos taken in August 2011.
Below photo taken in October 2011.

Cama Beach 2011

Sunday, July 31 through Wednesday, August 3 we spent at Cama Beach on Camano Island with a bunch of good church friends (and their families). We had such a great time! David was one of seven one-year-olds and Jay was one of nine three-year-olds so suffice it to say, there were lots of terrific playmates for our boys!

Thanks to my friend Dana I have this following (favorite) photo of Jay:



Playing in and near the water in the afternoons was a favorite activity.

A Canadian hovercraft came cruising through Saratoga Passage (we think for the Seattle Seafair festivities). It was such fun to see it cruise in and then back up to Canada later that same day.

It is hard to tell from this picture, but the Victoria Clipper was also seen going to and from Canada from Seattle through Saratoga Passage.

There were approximately 16 families, so the vetran gal who organized the trip split us into two separate "teams" for dinners. Each team had two families assigned to cook dinner on a given night serving 8 families (about 30 people - about half kids, half adults). Prior to the trip we strategized with the other family what to cook, what food to bring, how to split costs, how to cook, etc. Since we had access to some electricity in our cabins we decided to use crockpots and served taco soup with chips, salsa, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream with fruit and cookies for dessert. It was nice to just "sit back and relax" on the other nights and enjoy the great food that was served.

Each evening after dinner a campfire was started and we enjoyed nightly smores together. M-m-m!

Tuesday, August 2 most of the men left very early to make a 7:00 a.m. tee time for their "golf tournament." That left us ladies to "hold the fort down" with the kiddos. I ventured out of our cabin around 7:30 a.m. to take the boys to the beach. I captured these following photos of Jay and David exploring.

Later that morning some of the kids gathered around this table to enjoy some hands-on activities - building with Legos and coloring in coloring books.

Sarah and Jay - these two are such good friends and had so much fun playing together! (Sarah is just two weeks older than Jay.) Here are the two munchkins having fun sitting together in our camping chair on our back row cabin porch.

After dinner Tuesday night the guys commenced with the award ceremony for the morning golf tournament. Matt was fortunate enough to win the trophy for the lowest/best golf score for this 1st annual golf tournament.

We had a great time enjoying terrific fellowship and making so many good memories. We're looking forward to a return trip with some of these same families in August 2012!!