Wonderful of the Day

Last week I was at the ESD for several days of Mentor Training, as I am part of a team of teachers who mentor brand new teachers in the district. The training was great, but I basically sat and listened all day. On day I got home early and went for a walk. On my way home I took this picture of the property we own behind the house. This picture made the all day sitting and listening worth it!

Today

Ryan, my brother, is a Child and Family Studies major at PSU. Part of a class this term required a 30 hour practicum in a classroom. The schools in the heart of Portland that the university is connected with were filled with Education majors doing their practicums, so his professor suggested he do it in my room. It is a really special time for Jason and I to have Ryan with us at our jobs. We sure love and appreciate him!
My kids love it when Aubrey comes weekly with Cheryl. They treat her so kind and lovingly. Aubrey just jumps into whatever we are doing and fits in well with the kids. Today we played a new PE game. Aubrey wasn't as excited with the game as she was with the parachute last week. Today she was entertained by arranging and rearranging the cones.

Projecting II

Over the break we did some painting inside. We swapped the guest bedroom with the office. Instead of making the office again we painted the nursery. Even though there isn't a baby yet, we wanted to slowly start getting thinks ready. Below is a before and after of the guest bedroom.I love how the nursery turned out (more before and afters)! For some reason it just felt good getting this room ready. Someday soon I know in my heart of hearts that it will be filled with a little one. It is a soft warm yellow color. My parents helped us paint =0)

My mom and I painted and ragged color and glaze onto the other bathroom walls. It was really hard to pick up the colors in a picture, but we ragged on a beige and subtle grey color along with a pearl. It turned out really beautiful and gives the feeling of faux texture.
Here is all of our stuff from the three rooms that was out in the living room while we painted.....we also did some spring cleaning! I took this picture after we spend 2 days going through stuff.

Time with Friends

Last night we went to Danny and Jessica's for dinner and games. On the way home Jason commented that we hadn't had as much fun or laughed as much in a really long time. Sometimes I am amazed when the Lord puts the right people in your life at the right time. We really had a wonderful time!

I made a blackberry pie with my homemade pie filling and it was really yummy. Jacob had a few pieces and it was so cute!

Christmas 2008

This Christmas Jason and I received wonderful gifts. However, we were truly more blessed to give than receive. My parents have a beautiful Chalet home and they are always "doing" for others. It is actually hard to give to them, because they are so giving of their time, finances, care, etc. to others. Last Christmas my dad was bragging that in their 35 years of marriage they never had to purchase a new TV. Their current TV is HORRIBLE. It is an old Curtis Mathis in an ugly old wooden console. This was the same TV they had when Ryan and I were growing up. So, we shopped around, looked at Consumer News and Reports and in June we (Ryan, Jason and I) bought them a brand new 46" flat panel TV and stand. I was so excited to give this to them the night before Christmas that I could barley sleep!

Here is the old clunker!

Ryan and Jason hauling the new TV upstairs

And here it is all ready to go! They LOVE the TV and can't get over the quality of the picture! (I posted 2 today, so keep scrolling down)

White Christmas

These were the views we woke up to Christmas Morning! It was beautiful. We went to open gifts at my parents and the farther south we traveled the less snow there was.A view down the road of North Summerwood

Jason walking in the house after shoveling the driveway.

A picture of our house taken from across the street.

Great News!

Today Jason and I went in to find out the genetic testing results that were done on our baby. The baby had Trisomy (sp?), which was good news. People have 46 chromosomes. Our baby had 69. In other words instead of having one chromosome in each of the 46 chromosomal areas, the baby had three. Our Dr. said this was just a glitch. Pregnancies with that many chromosomes can't continue. She said either 2 sperm got caught in one egg, or the egg didn't split completely. So, nothing is wrong with our genetic material, this was a fluke of nature, and she was confident we would get pregnant soon again! All is well!!