Um...Yah, it can stop NOW!

This is today...

This was yesterday....

Merry CHRISTmas

We had a wonderfu Christmas. Here are some of my favorite photos. Meat, meat & more meat! My Dad was in charge of the MEAT!

My gals.

Ella the Snow Princess.

Big D & Buddy

Coal with his snow-stache

Randolph the Red Nosed Buffalo

I bought these napkins with my sister in mind.

Christmas Movie Quotes

These are some of my favorite lines out of movies that are either considered a Christmas movie or a movie that just happens to have Christmas in it!

While You Were Sleeping

"You suck!"
"I suck or the outfit sucks?"
"It's a toss up."

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

"How could it be so,
it came without ribbons,
it came without tags,
it came without packages, boxes or bags."

White Christmas

"This is cozy...boy girl, girl boy."

The Muppet Christmas Carol

"Ah well that was a fine meal."
"Yes it was wasn't it."
"Well what should we do now?"
"Let's have lunch!"
"Oh good idea!"

Little Women

"If God wants me with Him, there is none who will stop Him."

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

"Mush...Mush...MUUUSH!!! Don't you understand North Pole talk?!"

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

"I'm crowded! But I'm loved."

Frosty the Snowman

"That silly snowman. Once they come to life they don't know nothing."

Alvin & the Chipmunks

"Wait for me!! I still have baby fat!!"

The Cutting Edge

"Honey where I come from we stand for the National Anthem."

Steel Magnolias

"Clarie, you know I'd rather walk on my lips than to criticize anybody. But Janice VanMeader.."
"I know."
"I bet you money she's paid $500 for that dress and didn't even bother to wear a girdle."
"Looks like two pigs fighting under a blanket."

Christmas Vacation

"No it's the Christmas Star. That's all that matters tonight. Not bonuses or gifts or turkeys or trees. See kids, it means something different to everybody, now I know what it means to me."
"That ain't the friggin' Christmas Star! Griz, it's a light on the sewage treatment plant!"

With Honors

"Women ain't they perfect?"
"Not always."
"Yes they are, they're perfect. Don't matter if their skinny, fat, blonde or blue. If a woman is willing to give you her love Harvard, it's the greatest gift in the world. Makes you taller, makes you smarter, makes your teeth shine, boy O boy women are perfect. Perfect joy and perfect ache. Joy when you 1st see em and get to know em. Ache when you leave them Joy...Ache...Joy...Ache...joyachejoyachesjoyachejoyachejoyache..."

The Family Man

"I choose us."

SNOW BABY!

Record SNOW FALL in 24hours!

~DING DONG~

Pizza Delivery!

2:02 a.m., 10 lbs. 5 ozs.

Adam at 2:02 am this morning.

At Adam's Birthday Dinner last night.

Eatin' those clams he loves!

My Buddy turned 14 today!

Time has soared since that day I held him in my arms for the first time. It actually wasn't that magical at the moment. I was thinking "Wow, I did ALL that WORK for this?!" Don't hate me, I'd just been up for a very very long time and I was exhausted! My birthing story is very traumatic, you can ask me about it if you really want to hear all the details! But soon the physical pain and exhaustion passed and he became my Little Man. Tender, loving, giving, smiley, with plenty of naughtiness too! He hated to be held & to nurse. He loved bananas & airplanes (still does)

But labor didn't end at his birth. It only began. Some people spend months learning how to birth a child but no time learning how to raise a child for the next 18 or so years. All that information/education for a 24 hour period, but nothing for the 157,000 or so hours after that. I've spent the last 14 years giving everything I've got to grow this human being into someone who loves the Lord and serves Him with his all and is a valuable part of society. Sometimes I wish I could just *push* for a couple hours and out would pop this wonderful human, but it doesn't work like that. When people say what wonderful children I have, I take the time to let them know that is was a team effort. Both us parents and the kids working really hard together. As he has been growing, so have I. It is true that they are little mirrors, they just reflect back to you what you are all about. Very sobering and humiliating at times & refreshing and lovely at others (thank You Lord!). The hardest part for me about today is all the questions circling around in my head: Have I done enough? Did I teach him correctly? What if....? Does he know how to do....? How have I hindered him? Did I give him enough opportunities? Did I discipline him too much or not enough? Does he.....(fill in the blank)? He's 14!!! Not too many more years with me. He IS growing into the man I hoped he'd be one day. That brings me great comfort and joy. Yet I am determined to continue the HARD work & labor of raising my son to be a Godly man. A man who is a reflection of his heavenly Father and not a reflection of his earthly mother.

It's beginning.....

.....to SNOW!!!! Yipeeeeeee!

O Christmas Tree...

...O Christmas Tree, how expensive are your branches!

This year found us looking for our beloved tree in the middle of town. After last years "Snowshoe Death March" memories, Laura's morning sickness & sick kids, our big family decided to not take our annual trek up into the Colville National Forest to cut down a Christmas tree in the beginning of December. No, last Saturday, we found the nearest tree lot, forked over $50 (usually a $5 tag gets us one), tied it to the Sub, and drove home! Oh well, not quite as fun or memorable, but we still got our tree.

5479 Days!

Today is our 15th Wedding Anniversary! Whoopee!

We had a wonderful time this evening reminiscing about the years gone by. I am SO thankful to the Lord for bringing this man into my life. To be my very best friend, companion, lover, mentor & head of our home.

When you've been together as long as we have, & you write stuff down, you begin to really see the "Big Picture" and it's very cool.

In the last 15 years.....

Dave survived a major auto accident

gotten in 4 fender benders

had 4 ER visits

got braces (me)

survived unemployment with a child

had a cholecystectomy, rhinoplasty, tonsillectomy, & abdominal reconstruction followed by a vasectomy!

remodeled, on our own, 2200 square feet

bought and paid off 6 vehicles

3 speeding tickets

visited 9 countries

had 3 different gym memberships

helped save a mans life

been apart, at one time, for 50 days

made it through 12 years of my sickness

made it through a failed personal business

on our 3rd camera

payed off Gonzaga University student loans

home schooled, collectively, for 17 years

helped start a church

4 trips to Disney

helped a family member start a restaurant

had 3 kids within 23 months

had 3 kids in diapers for over a year

helped a man in Africa financially so he could take care of his parents & get married. He later named his first son David.

had no cable TV for over 10 years

mourned the loss of a beloved friend

been debt free 3 times (3rd time must be the charm!)

bought 2 diamond wedding rings

only made one 911 call

lived with a family member

lived in 6 homes

took 1 severance package

worked (Dave) approximately 7500 hrs. of OT

& it goes on & on & on........

The most BEAUTIFUL part is how I can look back over the years and see the LORDS HAND on our lives. We've gone through many difficult times but we have also been able to enjoy so many wonderful blessed times. They all add up to OUR LIVES. Our lives orchestrated by HIS loving hands.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

PS~ Dave bought me the wool sweater I am wearing in the picture on our honeymoon. I wear it every anniversary!