Our Silent Night

So here it is...

Our Christmas card front...

It took forever-

1st time- camera battery dies 2 shots in

2nd time around- card dies, won't write to the card

{go to Costco for new 4GB}

3rd time- camera says card needs to be formatted

finally break down and use Jordan's Canon-

At least it's done, and if I do say so myself, it still is pretty cute:)

The bottom reads ~
May Your Night Be As Silent As Ours...2007

{note- for the final card it was cropped closer, the background is almost pitch black and all red eye was edited, then printed on matte paper with a white border}

Christmas Wish List

so i was wondering 'what's on your christmas list'?

it's that time of year, and when i was a kid we made wish lists, and then somewhere between then and now i quit. so for the first time in a while i made a true christmas list and e-mailed it to family, and wrote one out for john.{ don't worry- i asked them for their lists too!} so i thought it would be fun to see what's on your list...post & share away!

• meet the fockers dvd
• oprahs new book
• crop- a- dial
• nick & nora pj's
• steve madden slippers
• newest book by dr.oz

i seem pretty easy to shop for i think,

no expensive camera equipment or concert tickets to ask for as in years past

although i would really love to have a baby if i could ~ that would be a GREAT christmas gift!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS !

Robbery

Holy cow!
I just got back from safeway on 175th and 15th. still shaking! i'm done grocery shopping i come out to the car and a flood of people come running out after me! i am shocked! safeway is being robbed! i was just in there! i haven't even gotten in my car yet, just returned the cart, checking my receipt, yelling screaming all coming from the people who are running for their lives out of the store.
it's being robbed! right now, as i get in my car, the people who were in line right behind me didn't come out... what was happening? i was instantly shaking and dialing 911. there was an old couple who were hiding behind the cart i had just returned. people were getting in their cars and speeding away. i looked behind me to see a group of boys and girls all running into the 15th side of safeway. 16-20 years old. i still can't believe it! 5 guys stand outside arms folded guarding the door, people run in with guns held above their heads, tall black girl dances outside the store like this was no big deal! smiling and waving her arms! What! What in the world! i take off out the 175th side exit, turn right, wait on hold, back up back into the parking lot, head towards the light at 15th and 175th, what will i say to the 911 guy, what did i just see? i can't process what to say. i tell the operator that something was happening in the store and i wasn't sure just what. i told him people came running out terrified and if he could send someone out to see. he told me to wait, then confirmed what i thought i had seen, safeway was being robbed.... and i was just in there, talking to the young guy who was ringing me up, last thing i said was have a good night, and he said you too! what would have happened had i stayed to look at my receipt like i was going to, when i decided to get in the car because it was cold. i even checked beside my car, as i was taught as a child growing up in l.a.
the choices we make- strange how things turn out. i was going to park by the 15th st entrance when i thought it was getting late they might be closing that side soon, and i don't want to have to walk across the dark parking lot, by myself so i parked at the other entrance. i will never forget the terror on the old couples face as they huddled together behind the carts and a small bush.
was it really worth it? how much could they possibly get? $300 or so? was it worth scaring all of these people? why? Why? why would you even think this is a good idea! the operator told me to get away from the store so i drove slowly by where the robbers were to see if i could tell them anything else, but i couldn't, nothing more.
was the car next to me that a man came running out to and sped away part of this crime? was the next car the pulled away at the same time part of it? was i in the store with the robbers, casually doing my shopping, were they watching the place?
was the cashier that i was talking to o.k? how about the old couple? the look on their faces will not leave my mind. as they hold their little table top christmas tree, innocently spending some time together. just as john and i might have, we could have asked mom and dad to watch the kids and gone together and been trapped inside with the gang members fit of rage. i don't know what kind of place we live in where you can't run to the store in a small suburb and be safe.... just makes me sad. i guess i wouldn't have been so surprised if i had been there in the middle of the night, but it was 7:45pm on a mon. night.
it's all so sad to me.
and to think that lately i have been kind of short with my family because i have taken on too much- i could have left my family with that feeling this night, and never gotten to tell them that i was sorry for being impatient for my own short comings. i have learned a lesson tonight. more than one lesson.
john is always so strong. i came flying in the door after finally getting my shaking key into the door, and was shaking and just scared to death, and he was strong and comforting as usual when life throws me against a wall. thank you john, for that. and i thank my heavenly father for watching over me again, and again.
i am sorry for my rambling, it might not make sense, but it's out. and maybe i will feel better, knowing that you too can pray for the people in that store, the old couple buying a christmas tree, the mother & daughter buying baking items for cookies they were laughing about making together, the young guy who rang me up, the other young checker who waved goodnight when i wished them a good night. the store manager who helped me look for almond bark, tonight i pray for them. for their safety and their peace of mind.

catch up

I have a few things I wanted to share.



Shilo calls Eggnog Eggmilk, I think it's funny...



Chastin told Shilo that on Christmas Eve 'virgins of sugar plum fairies will dance in our heads'
that too I thought was pretty funny!


my new favorite drink is something my grandpa use to drink on cold winter mornings-
i mix decaf instant coffee granuels with dry non fat milk and add boiling water. i love all things flavored coffee, coffee ice cream from b&r, coffee flavored nipps, and so on. i figure that it must come from my grandpas love for the flavor, because he use to give me the nipps and coffee flavored italian sodas. but my all time favorite coffee flavored treat is tirimisu.
i know, i know, i can hear a few of my friends telling me about the caffine in some of the treats, but really it's not any different than a diet coke or a pepsi or even a dr. pepper or mountain dew. so there you have it, my not so secret treat.






My new favorite shoot-













this was the easiest family to shoot!
their personalities shine through each photo! it was such a pleasure to go with them to Kerry park and spend some time capturing them in some candid moments. i am not going to post any that they might use for their christmas card, but i will post some of the girls in the family soon. paige did such a great job picking the colors for them all to wear, i wish i had thought of pink and grey myself!
thanks for the invite paige- i had a ton of fun & am glad that the weather was so nice and that eric had the perfect park in mind! it fit right in with the seattle backdrop idea you wanted.
{if only sarah and bretts shoot turned out this good}.

Checking off my list

So as many of my readers know, I have had one very busy weekend. I really enjoyed all of the different events the weekend held, but I'm glad it's over. I am actually sad at the same time that the weekend went by so quickly. I don't feel like I actually ever took the time to soak in all that it had to offer. I am sure that we have all had weekends that left us feeling blurry headed and exhausted. My exhaustion stems more from an emotional standpoint than a physical one.
Right now I feel as though I hurried through each event to keep on schedule, and now I regret it. So to fill you in- the weekend went a little like this...

Thursday

• Rush to get Chastin & Shilo's hair cut and mine colored
• Tell Chastin I ordered him a cake because I don't have time to make the cake he picked out after all. Upset 8 year old- upset mom= failure
• Thursday night wait in dumping rain for Great Grandma to arrive on the train, run into Burlington Coat factory to see if they have suits in Chastin's size. Which they did, and I never made it back to buy him one to wear after the baptism. Another failure.

Friday

• Start work at 8:30, take Shilo to dance, get yelled at by a dance dad for using my cell phone in the hall to make a schedule with a daycare mom, walk/run on treadmill during nap time for 70 min.
• Friday night get to have dinner with good friends and enjoy some girl time!

Saturday

• Go to work for Ballard Camera from 8:45-1:30
• Drop Chastin and Shilo off at church for primary service project
• Miss Jordan's last soccer game where of course she wins for the second time in the season. And to top it off- against an undefeated team. Defeat for mom
• Rush home- set up for Chastin and Shilo's Birthday party
• Take Shilo to Urgent Care in downtown Seattle from 7-midnight,to find she has a fever of 104 and a UTI. Another point lost for mom. I have let my 4 year old daughter get an infection.Uhhh. I don't know how much more I can handle by this point. Shilo sleeps in the car on the way there and on the way home and stays awake in her bed talking to her new lions she got for her birthday till the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday

• Another day of going to bed last and getting up first.
• Late to Sacrament Meeting, Shilo stays home with John and Great Grandma.
• Run home during Sunday School to retrieve plates for Baptism and pick up Great Grandma.
• Panic about being prepared for Chastin's Baptism- and due to lots of help from my wonderful husband and great friends all ran smoothly. Big thanks to them! Score for mom!
• The most important piece of the whole weekend went the best!
• Come home, unwind for once in two weeks, finally get some sleep.

I feel like every time I achieve something, the first thought that goes through my mind is "something off my list" and I have decided to not live that way anymore. When someone says " can I help you?" I vow to say "Yes" I am choosing to let go of some of my control. I know it will be hard, and that some of my grand ideas will have to wait for another chance to be put into action. But I am willing to give it my best, for a better quality of life. I want - I deserve to enjoy each moment that I am given; to experience the lesson, the joy the moment has to offer. Maybe I need to give myself some credit and treat myself as I would someone else. With kindness and love and patience. I don't have to do it all, and I don't have to plan so many things that I have to have a list to check off.

So there... Another thing off my list- {update blog:)}

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT!

November 1st 1999
The most wonderful event to ever happen to me {up to that point} Chastin Zaine Barnes entered this world.
Via C- section @ 4:00am on the button!
Due- October 10th! Way over due!
He lived in intensive care for a week then came home to our place in Edmonds.
We couldn't have been happier or more tired!
He stayed in our bed and hardly ever cried or slept.
Now it is eight years later and we still couldn't be happier!What a wonderful boy!

Shilo and I brought Costco pizza and juice boxes to Chastins class to celebrate his birthday! It was a total hit!
John always brings home a special gift for Chastin and Shilo on their birthday. Something he picked out just for that child, and doesn't tell me so I can be just as surprised, I always know to have the camera ready when dad gets home with a gift in his jacket.

Here we are out to dinner at Rubys Diner with our good friends the Blasers. We had a wonderful time celebrating Chastins special day!

We were so glad that Chastin was able to have a wonderful day filled with friends, family and lots of FUN!

say cheese

• kaylene and kaeden

• beautiful mom and beautiful girl

i have been watching kaden since she was tiny! she is one of the most enjoyable babies i have ever watched! her newest thing is getting into everything! she makes me smile....

mommy kaylene works at habitude in ballard, one of my favorite places! she is always happy, bright and cheery! i really enjoy our pedicures together, and our fun conversations!

i'm flattered that she liked her christmas picture i took last year enough to ask me again.

thanks for the shoot kaylene, it was a nice way to spend a beautiful sunday afternoon!

p.s this image is not photo shopped yet- just a raw image

Audreys gown

• 
  sweet sweet Audrey

Audrey is being baptized into the Catholic church in two weeks
I wanted to capture this moment
She is so beautiful, and was so good!

• 


• I love her cute toothy smile

girls diggs

12-18 months rock'n cute plaid pants from old navy
carters fleece pjs with feet 12 months

Onsies -size large

the gerbers large is

larger than the caters large

i think there are about 10 of them,

white and the three tones of pink,

• if you don't want all of them,

just let me know which ones you want. p.s- i have four more bins of clothes to go through, so keep watching !

and i am driving all of this to D.I on mon. morning,

oh one more thing- if you don't want them but know someone who would like them, come & get 'em!!!!

more up for grabs!

i can't get this thing to let me do what i want so i'm going to just have to post a few times.

read on...

this is it for girls 2T

old navy velour black pants

old navy Halloween long sleeve t shirt

old navy velour pants in mint green

tks red t shirt with embellishment around neckline- looks like a necklace

old navy jeans with pink fluffy edges on the bottom{i love these}

harley davidson overalls with a long sleeve matching mock turtle neck

Up for Grabs!

I hope you all don't think i'm taking advantage of the whole blogger thing, but i've decided to clean out all the baby clothes i've been holding on to and thought i would offer them up to you all first!

First up: the only boy clothes i have left.

left to right- 2T carters jeans

polo 2T jeans, toughskins jeans

cream colored vest w/zipper pockets, fleece lined

none have holes, all have been worn and well loved!

They say it's your birthday

Your 4!

You bring sunshine into our lives, we love you so very much!!!! Happy, Happy Birthday!

A little bit about our girl:

favorite colors are : pink and purple
favorite song is : life is a highway from the movie cars
favorite foods: salad and candy
favorite animals: lions, deer, horses
favorite movies: lion king and bambi
favorite books: all berenstain bear books!

She and I went to krispy kream for breakfast and the nice lady gave her a box all her own!
And a nice man gave her one of the hats. What a great way to start the day!
Gymboree gave her a big birthday sticker and wished her a good one!
So far- a lovely day!
We are off to see a movie!

Noticing

Did you ever wonder when your husband really started to know you?
The other day this was made so very clear to me.
It went a little something like this...

We get in the truck- just the two of us, he says "oh here, I found this for you the other day" my face in puzzlement. When did he notice that I like 'wishing rocks' you know the ones, the rocks with all those continuous lines all around them...
That was not the end of his observations- next came a comment I never would have thought he knew about me.
" I just came back from Fred Meyer and all of their Sketchers are on sale- 25% off, thought you might want to know" as I stopped in my tracks, amazed that he would not only notice this sale, but remember to tell me when he got home, I once again wondered- when had he started to notice that fact about me?
I guess these things happen when you have been with a person for almost a decade.
When we fist met I wore Sketcher boots to work in the salon all day. So maybe he noticed then, maybe it was when Famous Footwear had their buy one get one half off and I came home with two new pairs of Sketchers.
Maybe in all the beach combing on the coast we have done together has made him take notice that I am always looking for that perfect 'wishing rock' to wish all my life dreams on, to rub in my hands and think of all the dreams I made on wishing rocks when I was a kid.
Maybe,...
Maybe he is just listening to me, really listening.

I Got Tagged!

4 jobs i've had:
1. Secretary at a Chiropractic clinic
2. Teachers assistant at a School for deaf children
3. Outside sales associate for Beauty Supplies & hair dresser
4. Nanny for the last 7 years

4 movies i could watch over & over:
1. Pride and Prejudice {A&E version} thanks Kelly
2. Nothing to lose- I saw this on a double date with my mom in '97-it has me busting up!
3. How to lose a guy in 10 days- wish i looked like Kate Hudson
4. Failure to launch- there is a Matthew McConaughey theme here- soooo cute!

4 places i have lived:
1. Culver City Ca.
2. Los Angeles Ca.
3. Edmonds Wa.
4. Shoreline Wa.

favorite TV shows:
1. A&E's First 48- This is part of my "TV night" when I watch this and HGTVs house hunters
2. Oprah- LOVE her! I don't miss a show, sometimes i'm days late, but i still watch it
3. Lock up & Lock Down cool prison shows we watch together, makes me want to be a Warden
4. John & Kate plus 8- one set of twins-one set of sextuplets, they are such a cool couple!

favorite foods:
1. Diet coke- I'm with Marie on this one, it's a food group...
2. Gratzii resturants Risotto-Yummo!!!
3. Ben & Jerry's light fish food-it's my favorite
4. Topallinos pepperoni pizza -out in Bellevue

websites i frequent:
1. http://www.kiva.org/ if you want to make a difference in the world-amazing idea!
2. http://www.heifer.org/ if the animal route is more your nature
3. http://www.erainimages.com/ really cool images
4. http://www.ballardcamera.com/ to order all my digital prints

4 places i'd rather be:
1. The Bahamas - love everything about it!
2. Disneyland - we used to live semi close, so I've been 20 something times
3. Hawaii- ahhh ...love the sun!
4. Montana- camping with my family, with no one else for miles...peace with nature-just grand!

3 people to tag next:
1. Rebbecca
2. Emily
3. Monica- you gotta start back at it Mon-love ya!

Salsa

MMM, the word brings to mind yummy food, sweating brow and a really good recipe!

My girlfriend Yvette taught me how to make this many years ago;

The great part is that she is right next door, so when it isn't 'just right' I call her over for some good ol' fashion mexican cooking lessons! {next on the menu- how to make homemade refried beans..}

Anyway, as I was having an after school snack of baked tortilla chips and homemade salsa with the kids, I thought of how grateful I am to have Yvette's recipe to share with my family, and then I thought- maybe one of my friends would want to make salsa some time.

Once you've made your own, you'll never go back to store bought! I guarantee it doesn't taste as good as your own!

As a side note: pick jalapenos that look like they have little brown cracks on them, they are the spicy ones!

Also I use the Tupperware salsa maker, but if you don't have one you could just chop everything really fine, or use a chopper.

Salsa

1/4 an onion

1 jalapeno

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 lime

about 1 tbs salt

Roma tomatoes

chop first three first, then add the rest and spin with the salsa maker or chop all together.

Enjoy!

Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Disneyland 2007

As we entered the park we snapped our first Disney photo, we were so excited to all go together for the first time! John and I took Chastin when he was four, and Al and Jordan had been before, so this made it Shilos first time and our whole families first time together. I had wanted to go all of us for a while, but I wanted to wait till Shilo could go on rides. She was tall enough for the Matterhorn- and she LOVED it!!! We went on it again and again! It was so much fun!
Proof that mom was there too... I'm always behind the camera;) Glad they were all smiling for this picture! That's no easy task when you have four kids!
Shilo wore this fanny pack the whole trip! John and I got this for her in Vegas, little did we know that she was going to love it this much! She kept her money that great grandma sent her in there, and wanted to pay for everything for all of us. She is so sweet! We just love her, she lights up every moment of our lives!
All tuckered out! We arrived first thing in the morning and rode all the rides we could fit in, and saw all the shows we could, met all the characters we could, then left around midnight. All four were really worn out. We were glad to have a hotel close by to retreat to. till the next day!{actually, we went on Wednesday then again on Friday}

• Shilo was in love with everything Disney-rides-and princesses!
• Chastin loves fast rides! He enjoyed the whole two days! Overall California Scream'n was his all time favorite!
• Alex is happy to ride anything that you get wet on or you go really fast!
• Jordan is happy to go on anything with anyone!
• John is happy that Disneyland serves coffee so he could stay awake and happy while at the "happiest place on earth".
• And I was happy to watch Chastin and Shilo have a blast! I get joy from seeing my kids have fun, and I love taking pictures of them, so all was well for me!

School days

MY SECOND GRADER

how did he grow up so fast?!

i always do this thing with my kids head, where i push on them and tell them

"your not allowed to grow anymore"

it doesn't seem to be working though...

he is such a sweet boy.

i am truly blessed,

i couldn't have asked for a better son.

life

While I see everyone else as happy, and having a nice three day weekend with their families, I have to stay home, in bed and let my meds take over. I am having a miscarriage. Once again I feel defeated. I feel alone, even though I know I'm not. I thought after the last babies death, there is no way this could happen to me again. The doctors did say that this was a possibility, so I was a little more cautious. I have to say that this time it is different. I was closely monitored, weekly ultrasounds, two times a week blood tests, and a doctors appointment every week. Yet all things to no avail. I am yet again left with the empty feeling of what was to be.The good news is that this time we found out eight weeks into the pregnancy, not 22 weeks. I didn't tell Chastin or Shilo so I could hopefully save them some hurt. They just know that I wasn't feeling well and that the doctors are making my stomach and fever feel better. It is easier this way I have to say, still not any fun, but easier to handle. I got to come home after the doctors, change into pj's (my favorite things on earth) take my pills to help with the process, and go to sleep (another one of my favorite things).

This is not a sympathy post. So I hope it doesn't come across that way.

A whopping thirty percent of pregnancy's and in miscarriage. That's a ton.

I wish people didn't have to go through this. I feel bad, like this is what our bodies are meant to do, so why does it sometimes not work. Why can some never have children, why can some have children and then not be able to have any more? How is it that some just think of getting pregnant and do, how do some just float through pregnancy time after time. Like my friend Evian, seven kids- no problemo.My house cleaner too- seven, no problem.

The pharmacist who gave me my prescriptions was so understanding, she knew what the medications were for and started to cry. She could feel my pain. It was if I didn't even need to say anything she just understood.

She told me she had had a similar experience, two miscarriages, then the birth of her two kids. And she had the most amazingly soothing voice, she touched my heart. There are perfect strangers out there who really do care. She told me about what to expect from the drugs because she had gone through this herself. I was truly thankful for her courage.

She could have kept to herself; I'm glad she didn't.

I am sorry to Paige that I can't come meet Sommer yet,
Sorry to Lauren for having a stranger call you about teaching 30 min. meals,
Sorry to the people I work for, for canceling on them on Friday after we had been to the doctors office and got our news,
Sorry to all you who aren't going to get through when you call- all ringers are off.
Sorry to my two sisters in law, I hope that I didn't ruin your weekends, I know you had fun things planned to do with your families, and I didn't want you to worry about us all weekend.
I am thankful to Emily for taking my kids on short notice even though it was her birthday.
Thank you to my mom in law for feeding us, keeping the kids whenever we needed and telling me her story of miscarriage.
Thank you to Sarah, my specialist, who prepared me for the news two weeks in advance, then shared her story with me on Friday.
Thank you to my husband- words can't describe how thankful I am to have your support and love through this again.I know it's hard on you too, and you tend to be forgotten during times like this.

The strangest thing about this whole deal is that I wasn't even trying to get pregnant, but isn't it funny how once you are, you really want it. So my father in law, who is by far one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing always knows how to make me smile. He says to me about a week or so ago, "well you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. So you better plan on going back to get the baby around mid April" I still just smile thinking about that. Maybe what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas!

So I am off to go back to bed. My heating pad and I have a date with season six of Everybody loves Raymond!
Take care.

THE SEQUOIAS

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK
I have always been one to enjoy nature, and I am glad to have this beautiful world to share with my children. As a child I spent my summers here in Washington with my grandparents and they took me to all sorts of beautiful national monuments, deserts, and parks up and down Washington, Oregon and California. This was a park I had yet to see, so I was glad John and I got to experience it together.
I grew to have a great appreciation for the beauty that man cannot make. I hope to teach my kids the importance of taking care of this world and taking pride in what has been created for us to enjoy.
If you ever get a chance to see the Sequoia's for yourself, I would strongly suggest to spend the day in their beauty. And if you have already seen them, you know the feeling you get when you stand in their presents.


My kiddos on a fallen SEQUOIA, these trees are amazing!











A giant pine cone we found at the park. I think it is just beautiful, where else are you going to see such a wonderful piece of nature...


The view from the forest floor, the trees remind me that I am just a small being in this world.

The Mohlman Clan

Well today after church I had the privilege of heading down to the Edmonds Marina and sharing an afternoon of fun with the Mohlman Family. I grew up with the Mohlman's kids, and in a weird twist of fate my husband went to school with Shawn and Teri, the two oldest of Marian & Dave's five. Anyway, it was a total hoot! I left feeling like they had the coolest family ever! Just like I felt when I was a kid!

What I remember about Lane- who spent a lot of time with Denae and me, playing really what ever we wanted to, he would play school with us and be the teacher, or help us build a fort out of free doors from North City lumber,{ I wonder what my grandpa ever did with all those doors we brought home?} he would even play dress up with us in my grandparents old clothes.
I remember when Shawn and his wife met and were married, I remember thinking how neat it was that his wife's name is Shawna. Now they are Shawn & Shawna..

I can remember when Teri met her husband in Australia, and he courted her even after she came home, with the sending of many long stem red roses.

Denae and I spent long lazy summers together as kids, I remember buying bathing suits for a few cents at Saint Vincent De Pauls, where my grandmother worked, so we wouldn't have to wait for our used ones to dry before we could run through the sprinkler again, and I remember us making mini pizzas out of english muffins and serving them to each other like we worked in a restaurant.

I can recall JoLynn going out to eat on a Friday night with her girlfriends at Red Robbin, and eating her leftovers in the morning at he breakfast table. I remember thinking how cool of a restaurant she was telling Denae and me about, and that "no, we couldn't eat her fries" haha.

I remember, Marian & Dave dancing in the living room to slow songs when he would come home from work, and oh I wanted to be like that one day, and them taking weekend getaways- just the two of them. {smart people they are}. I was grateful for the always warm welcome I received as a little girl in their homes and their lives. It was my pleasure to take their family photos for them, and I hope they are pleased with the outcome. Thank you Mohlmans for showing me a great example of family and love to live by, when I was a little girl to again today.

The Camping Mom

Every year for our kids Birthdays they get to choose an experience. In years past it has been a new zoo, or riding the ducks in downtown, going to Champs racing or seeing an Imax. It just has to be something we haven't done before that we can all enjoy to some extent. Of course we don't always dig some of the things that the other ones choose, but then again, it's not our Birthday! This year Jordan wanted to go camping with her friends, so long story short, it was going to be me and the girls in a K.O.A kamping kabin. Well I couldn't find one that would sleep 6 so we went with plan B- the woods. Which meant that now John was roped into going with us, because somebody had to set up the tent, cook and tear down camp; and it wasn't going to be ME! O.K it wasn't nearly as bad as drop camping, because it was a State park, but it wasn't comfy camping, where you have a pool and showers and you can stay up latter and be noisy. The park rangers came by to tell us that our whispers were carrying through the woods and we needed to let the animals sleep. Now you can just imagine telling this little 'sleepy animals' story to a bunch of 12 year olds, so when they mentioned that most forest animals don't sleep at night and that there weren't any other campers staying near us, the ranger didn't really have a leg to stand on.
So our adventure was a lesson in patience, and that if I was ever to have twin girls my life would NEVER be quite again. The girls sang, danced, called boys to yell at them about how stupid they are, ran around on the ferry like crazy people, and did a whole lot of giggling!
Something I was really excited about was using "The Malocm Van" as it's referred among our friends. It seats 15, so the girls sat in the WAY back and I could hardly hear them squealing. I was so glad that they had a good time! She wants to do this again next year, (but in a K.O.A) and we look forward to spending time with her and her friends and watching them all grow up and form life long bonds.

jordan, kenedee, hanna & chelsey on the ferry

hanna & chelsea roll to get the air out of the mattress

I'm glad Jordan enjoys spending time with me, I feel like we are more friends than mother daughter sometimes. And for that I am grateful.

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas Rocked!

• We stayed up till 4am!
• Went to the M&M store, it is huge!
• Saw everything we could!
• The coca cola store was awesome too! They have everything coca cola you can think of!
• Walked 10 miles on the first day - then we discovered the Deuce - a.k.a tourist transportation.
• The temp. was 110-112! I love HOT!!!

Our first day we saw the dolphins at the Mirage hotel, they were so cute & so close to us!

Us at one of many hotels! This bench is made of pad locks and bottle tops! Weird! Ate at the Buffets, ate at the Buffets, then ate at some more Buffets!!! Yummmo! Treasure Island had the best buffet, we thought. We had to try all of the desserts. Here we have mini pecan pie, pink cherry cupcake, lemon meringue pie, chocolate gellato, triple choc. cupcake, mini cherry pie, carrot cupcake & angel food cake with fresh berries. We were so full from dinner that we just had a few bites of each, which was really hard because they were SO good!!!
We had thought of getting married again- by Elvis this time, but we decided to just have our picture taken under the little white wedding chapel arch. It was fun to just be the two of us for a while. In all the time John & I have been ' John & Torrie' {close to 10 years} we have been alone for 8 days in Hawaii in 2001, 8 days in the Bahamas in 2005, and now 3 days in Vegas. I was so thrilled to have this time with my hubby to reconnect, talk to each other {without kids interrupting} and just catch up on life. I was glad to see that we still have the same dreams, goals and aspirations for our life together. We really needed this time together to catch our breath and enjoy a new experience.

• Saw the treasure island pirate show
• Watched the Bilagio fountain, music and lights show! It was very romantic.
• Went to the Fremont light show, we just saw the tail end of it though.
• John won big at black jack! Congrats to him!

My sweet sweet husband surprised me with a spontaneous trip to Sin city with less than 48 hours of notice!

And he wasn't going to even give me that much!

I was booking a scrap class for Jordan when he said " you have to stop signing the kids up for things!"

I asked why, which Idon't think I'll do next time, any way, he says "you'll be in Vegas! we leave on Tuesday! I took care of everything."

Well he did! All my nanny families were taken care of, our kids were taken care of, I was taken care of!

What a great Husband!

SPONTANEOUS WEEKEND

Friday Night Comes Around.

5:30 wife started to think up a plan

"Why don't we get out of town tonight?" wife says to husband over the phone

' What has she got cooked up?' he must think...{ yet knows better than to argue with wife}

"I know! Silverwood in Idaho!"

"I'll call and get a hotel, pack the stuff and we'll keep it a secret!" wife says with enthusiasm

"It's a plan! I'll head home now and we can leave when you get off work at 6:30" husband rushes home

Wife sends kids to grandma and grandpas house across the street, to secretly put bags in the car.

PLAN WORKS!

Kids have no idea, they think mom wants to go for a drive and are overjoyed at the fact that they get to watch a movie for the ride.

12:30 comes around, family pulls into hotel in Spokane , two kids are asleep in the back

8:30am Saturday morning rolls around- kids want to swim at hotel, mom wants to keep driving, kids pout

10:30 family passes by small water slide park, kids want to stop and play- mom says no, she wants to keep driving, kids cry, they think they are in Chelan

Kids get over it and continue to watch the movie

Family drives up to Silverwood parking lot

Mom takes pictures of excited kids!

Kids have a Great Time!

Parents have a Great time!

Everyone is Happy!

Everyone is tuckered out...

What a GREAT weekend!

happy 12th birthday jordan

I made these cup cake ice cream cones

and brought them into her class on

Monday to celebrate!

We figured this was as close to having her birthday

in school as we were going to get.

I made mint flavored cake to bake in the cones,

then frosted them with dark chocolate frosting,

and topped them with green mint chips!

YummO!

She was the star of the show passing these babies out!

All of her classmates thought we brought in ice cream cones,

till she handed them a cone full of cake!

What fun we had!

I'm glad that she invited me to make this special

treat for her class and share in her day!

Thanks Bug!

I love You!

~Mudda~

My crazy kids

~All four of our kids have such different personalities~

If you look, you can see just how different they are.

~Alex~ our oldest, 13 - he likes to be different than others, yet wants to be sure he isn't too different. He had his face painted as Shrek. He still enjoys acting like a young kid, ie- watch Saturday morning cartoons, Disney movies and playing games. But he feels like he needs to be 'older' and do 'grown up things', such as watch real people movies, order off the 'grown up' menu and have soda with dinner. Little does he know that we would trade being a 'real grown up' just about any time with him. So any how, him getting his face painted as Shrek was of no surprise to me, as I was glad to see a little piece of our little boy emerge, even if it was just for a few hours. I'm glad that he is sure enough of himself to get his face made up, and choose something that makes him happy.

~Shilo~ She is our 'baby' for now at 3, I love that she chose to have her face painted as one of her favorite animals- a kitty. I thought that she really did look like a cat! She LOVES all sorts of cats- tigers, cheetahs, leopards but her most favorite of all is a lion! She would love to have her face painted every day as a cat of some sort if I was talented in any way at face painting. She will prance around for hours in different lion and kitty costumes we have around the house, and then stay in the outfits and pretend she is the mommy lion to all her toy animals. I love that she has such a great imagination!

~Chastin~is our 7 year old little angel. It was a little surprising to me that he wanted to have his face painted, because he tends to be a little shy and not want to draw attention to himself. He loves Star Wars! He can often be found on our trampoline in the back playing light saber fights with Shilo or dressing up as Darth Vader. So for him to get made up as something kind of unrealistic and sort of scary, was right on the money! When Chastin entered Kindergarten he learned how to group things into tens, so one day he comes home from school and goes right to his room to start grouping his Star Wars guys into tens; a little while later, he emerges with the count at 163 guys! Well I thought that couldn't possibly be right! How could he have that many? ( I wondered if they even made that many- they do.) So any how, he too loves when he gets his face painted and is always reluctant to have it washed off before bed.

~Jordan~our almost 12 year old, two days left of being eleven. Her choice of face decoration describes her perfectly! Nothing really consistent, just a bunch of random pictures to show her creative side. The girl is talented, anything she really tries comes out well. She is a beautiful writer, can draw pretty well, and always has some creative project in mind to do. She likes things a little different than the other girls her age, which would be why she chose the spider web, she is an animal lover at heart, which would be the reason for the penguin. The only thing about Jordan's choice of pictures that surprised me was that there are no bright colors, she always has some new idea of how we should paint her room. Sometimes these ideas include glow in the dark paint or random stripes all over the walls and sometimes she wants some type of nature mural on the walls. Her new favorite word is random, so guess everything on her face was a sign of that...She was the only child that kept going back for more little 'random touches', as she called them.

That's all, I just wanted to share a little about my kids, because I just think they're great!

Shlio is my little dancer

She had her first dance performance

Mrs. Lorna said that Shilo should be in the

4/5 age group now! How cool is that!

I think she is beautiful!!

We are so proud of her and how

far she has come in this dance class.

She has learned to do all sorts of

positions, take direction, and bow

the ballerina way, so graceful...

Shilo and I got to go on Chastin's 1st grade field trip last Friday, we had tons of fun!

My group of boys on chstins field trip- all other groups had girls and 2 parents. I guess the teacher knew I could handle the boys!

It was lowest tide of the year

We had a really great time!

I'm glad I was able to go with my son and enjoy his smile.Thank you Chastin for the wonderful memory!

Things we saw:

Jelly fish

Star fish

Sea slug

Crabs

Eel

Lobster tummy

Sea squirts

Muscles

Clams