Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!

Luke 2:9-14 New King James Version (NKJV)

⁹ And behold,^[a] an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
¹⁴“ Glory to God in the highest,  And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”^[b]

From our family to yours.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a year filled with love and peace.

Love, Bird, Yaya and Frizzy

Thursday Thanks

It's been so long since I last shared I honestly don't know where to begin. I guess I'll give you a quick recap of our holiday activities.  We drove out to see Bird's side of the family for Thanksgiving on the 17th and returned home on the 27th.  It was a perfect family vacation spent playing games, visiting, eating and eating and eating.  Did I mention we did a lot of eating?  It's hard not to with a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law who are such fantastic cooks.  The holidays have officially arrived.   The pictures I'm sharing below are just a few of our highlights.

Playing games and reading with cousins on Grandma Bo's Nook.

Painting with watercolors with Bo and I.

I got to see and capture some amazing shots of our nation's bird, the bald eagle.  I am completely in love with this amazing creature and it's sheer strength and power.

Show time at aunt Allison's house was a giggle a minute.  By the way, my niece, Kendall beat me at every game we played.  She's a smart one that girl!  I'm going to have to practice up on my game playing skills before we see them next.

Family photo opportunity on Thanksgiving day.  We have so much to be thankful for!

I'm especially thankful for this cute shot of Yaya and I together.

Gobbled Up By Halloween Activities

What a weekend!  We had so much fun. 

Friday afternoon, a friend of ours planned a Halloween play date at the park.  All the kids dressed up in their costumes and had a blast together.  Sorry, I didn't take any pictures.  I had to save my memory chip space for the rest of the weekend's activities.

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed Disney on Ice.  We arrived early in hopes of catching a character running around but didn't have any luck there.  However our seats were perfect and I was able to capture some great action shots.  Yaya was totally captivated by the show.  I don't think she took her eyes off the ice once.  The funny thing was she didn't really think they were ice skating because the ice looked so smooth at the beginning.

The photo below was towards the end of the show when all the princesses and their "prince charmings" skated onto the ice together.  Yaya LOVED this part!  Is it just me or does Princess Tiana look like First Lady Obama?

Sunday, we attended our church's Fall carnival which was HUGE!  They expected around 10,000 people and I think they may have hit their mark.  There were people ALL OVER THE PLACE!  I had fun baking a few different cupcakes for their cupcake walk.

Yaya loves the Pinkalicious book series and had a blast going as Pink herself.  She loved having me turn her pink with my blush.  In case you don't know the story Pinkalicious loves everything pink.  She and her mommy baked pink cupcakes and she ate so many of them she turned pink too.  "Just one more!" is Pinkalicious's cry during the book.  So this is the pose we took.   

Monday, Bird took the day off and planned a fun afternoon for us.  I tossed some chicken fajitas in the crock pot and we made a mess in the kitchen creating this cake together.  We got the idea from a magazine I bought last year. 

The same magazine gave us this "Horrifying" punch recipe.  It had gummy worms, gummy circles (as eye sockets) and raisins (as ticks).  Talk about a sugar high! UGH! Pappy and Nana came over for dinner and trick or treating with us too.  Having them close enough to share in these memories is priceless.  I only regret not taking a photo of the whole gang together.   

Happy Independence Day America!

I LOVE the 4th of July! 

I love the family and neighborhood gatherings.  I love the mouthwatering smells that float across the yard on a summer's breeze from the grill.  I love the sounds of children and adults playing together and having fun.   I love gazing up at the sky wondering what lights will flash across it next.  Each time a firework is shot into the air I say things like;

"Oooooh!  So pretty!  Look at that heart!  That's my favorite!"

"Twinkling lights?!   Sighhhhh!  LOVE THEM TOO."  By chance do you think this shot resembles Squidward from Spongebob in any way?  I do.

Set them to some patriotic music and it's all over for me. 

I'M A SOBBING WET MESS!

More than the gatherings, the fireworks or the parades, I LOVE MY COUNTRY and all it stands for. 

FREEDOM!  HOPE!  LIBERTY!  OPPORTUNITY!  HAPPINESS!  

Happy Independence Day!

Off To The Races

I think I've told you before how much Yaya loves her little snail friends.  My girl is nuts about them.  Each time we go outside she looks for them.  Once she finds them she carries them around and talks to them as if they actually understand her and are her pets.  "Come here Snaily! Come on!  Come on!  You can do it!"  Here she's attempting to line them up for a race. 

This kid has more patience than I ever did.  She tried to line them up over and over again but before she could get to the last one they were all headed in different directions again.   

Daddy to the rescue!

NEED I SAY MORE about what a WONDERFUL father he is?!

Happy Father's Day Bird! 

I can't believe how blessed Yaya and I are to have you in our life.

Thank you for everything you do!  We love you Daddy Smoochie!

Easter Memories with Family and Friends

Sunday, my mom made several bowls of food coloring and the creativity flew around her table. 

I'm always shocked by how much time Yaya puts into each of her art projects.  She can focus on a single detail forever. 

I think adding the glitter and sequins was her favorite part. 

Tuesday, we had some friends over and the girls decorated some candy rings I had stashed away.  They were so funny as they colored and drew their designs.  Each girl had her own style and speed.  Yaya was the last to finish because she concentrated so hard on each and every detail of her ring. 

Each ring turned out so special and unique just like the girls.  They all agreed the best part was eating them when they were done. 

Pinkalicious Valentines

Last weekend, Yaya spent the night at my parent's house.  While she was there they made these yummy strawberry cupcakes.  What little girl wouldn't love decorating with pink frosting and Valentine's sprinkles?  Yaya loved it and said their cupcakes were PINKALICIOUS!  They were too because they were all devoured in moments.  Luckily, I was able to snag a picture of them just in time.  The part Yaya liked best (other than eating them) was making them into cards for her classmates. 

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Cherished Christmas Memories

Yaya's preschool Christmas program.

   

Our 2nd Annual Gingerbread Party.

 Bird has wanted to take us to Multnomah Falls, Oregon for years.  What a breathtaking place to visit!

A cozy day with Evy and her family.

Game nights with Bird's family. 

Silent Night during Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

Boppy, Bo, Kendall, Yaya and McKenna

Yaya's Christmas gift from Bo and Boppy.

Christmas morning.  Learning they're going to Disney in March.

Aunt Allison, Kendall and McKenna

40th Annual Christmas morning brunch hosted by the Grubbs.

  

Hunting for shells along the water's edge near Bo and Boppy's.  

2 of 7 Heavenly rainbows we gazed upon over Christmas vacation.  Can you see the second one just to the right?

 

Heading home we avoided some nasty weather by stopping at a hotel over night.

Enjoying the aftermath of the snow storm at Mt. Shasta.

Stretch break at the Sundial bridge in Northern CA.

New Year's Eve at Nana and Pappy's.

I wonder what wonderful blessings lay ahead of us in 2011?

Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

I wanted to be sure to stop and wish my friends here in blog land a very Merry Christmas!  We're spending the holidays with Bird's family.  We kicked our time together off at a Michael W Smith concert and shared the following day with Evy and her family.  They made us feel like we were part of the family.  If you would like to read about our day together click HERE. It was especially fun to walk into the house and find our family Christmas photo on the fridge next to my sweet friend, Karin's.  Talk about two worlds colliding.  Way COOL! 

Since then, we've been keeping busy playing games, sharing food, love and laughter with Bird's family, childhood teachers and friends from Panama.  Last night, we worshipped together in a candlelight service that was beautiful and as always Silent Night sung acapella moved me to tears.  I'll post photos with stories and memorable moments soon.

I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Thank you all for stopping by our tiny corner of the world.  I've really enjoyed getting to know you, my readers.  I hope to get to know  a few more of you in the New Year.

An Evening of Twinkling Lights

Last Saturday evening my mom called and asked if we wanted to go watch the parade of lights on the river.  At the last minute we all scrambled into the car and made it happen.  We didn't care that it was raining and cold we wanted to get out of the house and have some fun. 

When we arrived downtown we found a crowd gathered around some buildings.  People were singing Christmas carols in the crowd and it immediately brought tears to my eyes.  A few moments later, The Night Before Christmas was read by "Samuel Clemens" as it was performed from two of the old buildings.  It was wonderful watching the show, hearing the laughter and excited shouts from the adults and kids alike as Santa appeared on stage. 

Behind us an old steam engine blew it's haunting whistle as it slowly chugged into the station. As each car passed passengers wearing red santa's hats could be seen gathering their belongings. Christmas was in the air.     

The giant tree near the train station and square.

At 6:30 sharp we walked to the dock along the river's edge and waited for the parade of lights to begin.  The lights from the boats grew brighter as they slowly drifted towards us and passed under the bridge.  Each one had a different theme and I loved how even in the rain their twinkling lights could be seen reflecting in the water.  If you listened closely you could here the passengers on board singing carols or shouting "Merry Christmas!" We joyfully yelled "Merry Christmas!" in return.  Yaya and my mom were so sweet as they shouted compliments to the people on each boat.  "Your lights are beautiful!  Great JOB!  OOOOH LALA!"  All the celebrating made Bird hungry and he decided to make a quick escape to order some yummy Hush Puppies for us all.  They were hot and steamy and they hit the spot. 

Did you notice the raindrops falling against the night sky in this picture?

Two things could have made the evening better falling snow instead of rain and a thermos full of hot cocoa to sip while the boats drifted by. 

Note to self:  Next year make and bring hot chocolate!

Giving Thanks

Last Friday, Yaya's preschool invited the parents to attend their Thanksgiving program and feast.  The classes have been competing to see who could bring the most non-perishable food items to donate to one of our local shelters.  Over 1600 boxes and/or cans of food were donated.  We're told it took more than 3 truck loads to transport it all to the shelter.  GOD IS GOOD!  If that weren't enough to celebrate, the kids worked so hard making their own costumes and memorizing songs for their program.  Yaya loved  being an indian princess and learning about all the wonderful things the Native American Indians did to help the pilgrims.

  

Yaya's class sang two songs during the program.  

"I'm an Indian hunter hunter.

Big Chief Indian hunter hunter. 

On my back a quiver quiver.

Full of many arrows arrows.

I will hunt the running deer running deer.

(Yaya sings, "Runny deer Runny deer.")

 Softly Quickly he won't hear he won't hear.

I'm an Indian Big hunter hunter.

Big Chief Indian hunter hunter."

Have I mentioned how crazy it makes me that my camera doesn't take good low light pictures?!

The second song was about the indian princesses,

"I'm an indian princess princess

pretty indian princess princess.

On my feet are moccasins moccasins.

On my head a basket basket

full of many acorns acorns.

I will walk the silent path silent path.

Quickly quickly no one sees no one sees.

I'm an Indian princess princess

pretty indian princess princess."

I wish I could share the video we took of the program.  The teachers were so creative in finding different ways all 5 classes could take part.

Yaya with her proud daddy sharing in the feast everyone brought.