Relay for Life!

When you lose someone you love the feeling of helplessness has a way of trying to consume your every pore...the 'what ifs' seem to take over...that's if you let it!! I want to invite you to remember Abbey with me, let's remember her as a little girl that left to soon, but not before leaving her mark on this world. Below is an excerpt from our team page for this year's Relay for life. Relay is an event that the American Cancer Society puts on to help raise money for Cancer Research, it also brings awareness to those that are suffering today and it helps to remember those that have lost their battle!

Team ALL IN (Abbey's Legacy wilL lIve oN) would like to be apart of this year's Relay for Life to remember a very special little girl. Abbey Mae was only on this earth for 2 years 10 months but she touched the hearts of many. She did not have cancer but her death left us wanting to bring meaning to her life. It has been though service projects that we have been able to keep her memory alive. Relay for Life is a perfect fit...in fact this years theme...celebrate, remember, fight back, says exactly what we want to do. Please join us in remembering Abbey!!

If you would like to donate to our team, over on the right hand side of the blog is our link. If you want to join our team....yeah!! You can also do that by following the link!! Relay is a very powerful experience, one that you won't soon forget!! Get involved, you won't regret it!!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you all!!

What an amazing gift Christ gave us when he died on that cross! I never truly appreciated it until Abbey experienced that gift...the gift of eternal life in Heaven!

Although holiday's can be a difficult time...I'm always amazed at the grace that God gives us to get though it and get through it well. He blesses us daily with our memories (some especially fun ones that last Easter)...and we are grateful! Easter is that awesome reminder that no good-byes are forever if you believe in Christ Jesus and what he did for YOU!!

So Abbey Mae...'Happy Easter'...see ya soon!!

Easter Day Excitement!!

Easter Morning...getting pumped for the scavenger hunt!!
The hunt is on....
Followed all the clues...and they found it!! Yumm-o!!
Egg Hunt as Guela's! The rain and wind took a 20 min break so the kids had a great time!
We are finding that with the way these kids are growing we are going to be down to 2 egg hunters here in a few years!! This was the first year Truman and Taylor thought they were too old....I'm sure Jake and Taiji will follow in a few years!! Yikes...it's going to fast!!

Guess who's comin' over???

This is the question that greets me most mornings when I go to get Kali out of bed. She says, "Guess who's comin over?" and then waits expectantly for me to say a name of one of her friends and if I don't respond quickly enough she throws a name out herself. Well this last weekend we were able to help out some new friends when they found themselves stuck without a sitter for their one month old little boy. He arrived right before Kali woke up from her nap. So when she started calling for me I walked in with a little baby in my hands and she was awestruck! She never left his side the rest of the night and affectionately called him 'Santa'. I don't know if that is her subtle way of saying she would like a baby for Christmas or what! (Not going to happen!!) It was really fun having a baby in the house again and I'll be honest she was so sweet with him that first night I thought I was creating an injustice by not allowing her to have a little sibling...however the next night when he came over the newness had worn off and her little jealous side came out and those feelings quickly faded!!
Kali and her little bro for the day...Santa!

I've been tagged...

My friend Becky has tagged me. I've known Becky since our good ole college days...but didn't really get to know her until I moved back to Lynden. She's a great friend and amazing mom! Check out her new blog Simply Enjoy if ya want to be inspired in the art of Digital Scrap booking and all around creativity!! Love ya Bec!

The rules: Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Since I have discovered the world of blogging...I find that I only take pictures of things that I think are blog worthy! (Which obviously hasn't been much lately)

2. I tend to have a very addictive personality...If I start a book I have to finish is ASAP, if I get into a project I think of little else until it is finished...

3. I'm very controlling...I know that I should have my boys doing more chores, but I find it's just easier for me to do it myself then to explain it to them and then end up doing it anyway cuz they didn't listen!

4. I can watch the Movie 'French Kiss' (Meg Ryan & Kevin Kline) anytime, starting at any point in the movie. 'Beautiful, Gorgeous wish you were here!!' (You have to see it)

5. M*A*S*H reruns pretty much put me to sleep every night!

6. I really don't enjoy dancing...at all! I know this must be surprising since I'm so coordinated...not !!

7. I would love to run the Amazing Race...any volunteer's to be by partner, since Shane and I would probably kill each other!!

Okay, I did it!!

So now I tag: Laurie, Tanya, Emily, Tasha, Lacey, Sara, Aunt Sue! Have at it girls and have some fun!

A season of change....

I did it...I took the plunge and cut my hair! I've been wanting to for a while...maybe it's the pasty white skin...or the 35 year old wrinkles...but I felt it was time for a change. After looking at magazines forever I just collaborated with Melissa (my girl) and this is what we came up with. I'm a little nervous, I haven't had bangs in years...but I think I like it and am excited to see what I can do with it! Let me know what you think...and please feel free to be honest (Sara!)...I think I can take it!! BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER

Super long 3 in 1 post!

This past weekend we packed up the whole family and headed east across the grand state of WA for the town of Yakima. Why...well the LC girls had made it to the state Tournament and with the record of 25-0 they were looking good for a State Championship. Being that we are a sports family we thought this would be a fun little vacation. Of course when your kids start getting older and a majority of their friends are on the same vacation, you find them noticeable absent...so the majority of the pictures taken were of the one kiddo that really has nowhere to go!

The Hotel
Hotel life for this family is a blast...adjoining rooms, hook-ups for the Wii, soft cushy beds and an outlet for little miss Kali's portable video screen!
Always goofin' around...me and my little monkey!
Kali did manage to make some friends...they were great girls that love little kids and had patience for this bossy little one!
Kali loves swimming...of course this stresses me out a bit, but with safety first she had a blast!

The Gym


Jake and Taiji really got into the games...they wanted to wear their basketball uniforms and blue and white socks...we got spirit yes we do we got spirit...how 'bout you!!
The blue boys!
Never far from a buddy they had a blast!
Lynden Christian Girls- WIAA Class 1A State Champs, 29-0!!
Good friends of ours had a daughter on the team. We have been following Joni's career for the past four years. She has come a long way and had an excellent tournament!



The Ride Home!



Kinda a funny story on the ride home. Friends of ours were a little bit ahead of us and called and said they were going to the Costco Home store. I immediately informed Shane that we were stopping. I had been wanting a patio set that had a fire pit in the table. When we designed the deck I had this in mind. I had been told you could find them at Costco. I had not been able to find it. But I was certain that the home store would have it. I'm not really sure what we were thinking since we were still two hours from home and had no room for anything else in our rig. But we found it and the people we were with had a truck with a canopy and thought they could fit it in there truck if I could fit all their stuff in our car. Well the picture above is our suburban after I got all their stuff in it....and the picture below in their truck with my new patio set in it!
And ta-da...my cool new fire pit patio set!!
I was so excited about it that the minute we got home I spent the next four hours putting it together. Only to find out that our propane hook-up didn't match....Thanks Duane for bring yours over!! It's pretty cool!! I can't wait for the weather to finally get a little nicer and enjoy a glass of wine on my new deck with my new fire pit...if your in the neighborhood join me!!