Finally Meeting our new Cousin!

Baby Brady James was born on Dec. 4th 2008, but due to some sickness the kids had to wait 3 weeks to meet their new cousin. The were very happy to hold him and see how cute he is. We love our new baby Brady.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful relaxing Christmas morning at our house. Papa and Grandma Dee and Grandma Charlotte came over at 7:30 a.m. to watch the kids open their presents. Grandma Charlotte brought over a really yummy Blueberry coffee cake so we used that as Baby Jesus' birthday cake. Then they left for awhile and then came back for dinner at 2 p.m. Along with Auntie Shirley, Uncle Glenn and my cousin Justin. We made tacos, our new Christmas dinner favorite. It was really nice to not have to go any where all day, as the kids just wanted to stay home and play.

Christmas Eve!

We did our usual Christmas eve with our familys. We had a 6pm Christmas Eve service at Church which was really good. Charlotte played in the bell choir and did an excellent job. And then we headed to Charlottes for our annual crab and steak dinner. After the kids go to bed we play bingo for silly little prizes. This year the Havelcheks joined us as they got snowed out from their trip to Spokane. My Aunt Shirley, Uncle Glenn, and cousin Justin came, Pat Von came, and the Brogans got to join us this year too. We had a super fun night of laughter, fun and good family time. We really missed having Trent, Jill and kids there. And we also missed Nathan and Tina and their new baby Brady as they still have to stay home with thier new baby to protect him from germs and more infection. My kids are really
anxious to meet him soon.

Feeding the Raindeer at 10:45pm in the pooring down rain.


Brett didn't want to get his feet wet while feeding the raindeer.

Christmas Lights in Style

My parents (Papa and Grandma) got to surprise our kids with a limo ride to dinner and to see all the Christmas lights around Redding. The kids were speechless when my mom knocked on the door to go on our Surprise Family Fun night and there was a limo waiting for them in the driveway.

We got a dropped off right in front of our towns downtown light display to walk around there.

Thank you Papa and Grandma for treating us to such a fun night of Pizza, Hot chocolate and seeing the Christmas lights in style.

Hot Chocolate for everyone!

Troy even had hot chocolate with Butterscotch flavoring! Yum!
and it was on the house, so we had to drink it!


Courtney loved the hot chocolate and the 7-up in a Champagne glass.

Grandma Charlotte even got to come along with us!

Pink Blessings!

We were blessed with a great box of girl clothes sent in the mail from my friend

Leah, and her daughter Emma, today! Oh how fun to get new clothes! Emma ~ Courtney and Kaylee love your clothes. Thank you Gomes family!

Troy Golfing Spy Glass

Troy and Chad golfing on this beautiful Pebble Beach golf course last weekend. "Spyglass" overlooking the ocean. Thanks Chad for trading your teetime for Troy!

Weekend away together!

Troy and I got to get away last weekend for 3 nights with no kids! We started our trip on Thursday morning after we dropped the kids off at school and then headed up to Mercy Hospital to see Nathan and Tina and their new baby boy Brady James Jones. He is very cute! Sorry no photos yet. Then we headed to Monterey to Kel. and Chads house. We hit a little Christmas shopping on the way down at the Gilroy outlets. Amazing Troy wanted to shop! We arrived right at dinner time and the Butlers were cooking up a gourmet meal that was amazing, they spoil us. The next day they took us to their secret golf ball searching spot, and we hunted golf balls right below the Pebble Beach Golf course. We found about 30 FREE golf balls. Just saving money! hee hee Chad and Troy headed from there to thier tee time at Spyglass golf course and golfed for free. Amazing! Kel and I shopped at the Del Monte Shopping Center, but first we had lunch at Cold Stone Ice Cream (kel's favorite). Then that night we met the guys at PF Changs for dinner. YUM! The next day we shopped for Christmas at REI, Best Buy and Costco. Headed from there to the movies, and saw "4 Christmases". Then to a really cool second hand store called plutos closet that we had so much fun finding designer jeans for cheap! Then since kel and I didn't make it to the salon to get manicures we decided to buy the stuff and do our own french Manicures. They turned out really well for a couple of high on acetone "not so girly" girly girls, and we saved money! :) The next day was Sunday and we got to go to Kel and Chads church for the 8 am service before we headed home. We really enjoyed the service and it was perfect as they set out doughnuts and coffee by the mountains for everyone so it was breakfast too. It was a super fun long weekend away! I didn't have my camera with me so sorry no photos. Chad has some photos of the guys golfing, so when I get some of those I will post them.

Jumping in the pool after dinner

Wet suits are awesome! My kids really wanted to jump in the pool after dinner on Thanksgiving day! So they did! CRAZY! That water was really cold and would take your breath away even with the wet suit!

Thanksgiving Day!

Okay So I am REALLY behind! Sorry JILL and LEAH!

Thanksgiving day was also my moms birthday so it was an extra special day! We celebrated Thanksgiving at Charlottes house and the day was beautiful. Tina is 9 months pregnant in this photo. Isn't she so cute!

Badmittin Party

The Lindseys, the Goldens and the Jones' had a badmittin competiion! The Lindseys had home court advantage and won the whole tourney! It was a super fun Saturday afternoon! Thanks Linseys for hosting! We are going to practice up so we can take you guys on again!

Thankfulness Parties!

Courtney and Kaylee got to have big Thanksgiving parties in their classes on Friday before our whole week Thanksgiving vacation! Whoever came up with the week off at Thanksgiving is Awesome! Anyway Kaylees class got to pray and recite Psalms 100 for all the parents before they ate their fiest. And Courtneys class got to share stone soup in which everyone brought something to share to go in it, bread rolls and homemade butter that they made that day, and of course pumpkin pie. Very fun day for everyone. Since Troy is down to working 4 days a week he got to join me in attending the class parties which was a new one for him. Then after school we went to Target and bought candy and headed to the movies (Bretts favorite thing in life) and saw Madagascar 2.

Hula Hoop Hips!

We got to have a fun filled family day in Oroville yesterday. We left at 7:30 a.m. went and got donuts then picked up Grandma Charlotte from the Redding Airport, and then headed to Oroville where Kelly's husbands family lives. We had an early thanksgiving with them since Kel and Chad have weird work schedules for the holidays we won't see them until Jan 2nd. The kids had a blast playing with Kel and Chads other neices and nephew they did Hula hoops, scooters, bikes, wii , and went to the park . My kids came home wiped out. The guys got to go play 9 holes of golf , and the day was beautiful so we enjoyed being outside as much as we could. We had our Thanksgiving meal around 3pm and headed home around 6pm. Thank you Ken and Lorna for hosting such a great family day!

Tina's Baby Shower

Tina's Baby shower ended up turning out really nice, and was a lot of fun. We did a fun project where we stamped on Onsie baby shirts and decorated them for the new Jones baby. Tina received lots of nice gifts and the food was good. Charlotte read a cute book, that made as all get choked up "I'll love you forever", and shared a few thoughts. Thank you to everyone who pitched in to make the shower all come together. Thank you mom for letting us use your house once again for an event, your huge counter tops were perfect for 27 people to stamp. We can't wait to see what God gives Nathan and Tina. Nathan thinks a baby boy, and Tina thinks a baby girl. It is so fun not knowing!

Sibling Bonding Time

Well since my bro and sis were in town we got to spend some good quality time together. The day after my dads party we got to go hike Whiskeytown Falls, did 12 laps at Need 2 Speed, played kickball in the park, had a pizza party for dinner, and then went to our favorite place: the movies! What a great day!

Nov. 4th Dad turns 60 ~ Surprise Party

My very young dad, turned 60 on November 4th and Kelly, Eric and I planned a surprise birthday party for him at his house a week earlier. And believe it or not he really was surprised to find a house full of his good friends and family, and everything was Green Bay packer colors. We had a great evening of food, laughter, silly games (including around the world pin pong and pin the football on Aaron Rogers), and we sent him on a scavenger hunt to find his present from our family. He found a new bike on the roof of his house.

Happy Birthday DAD!! We love you!

I've been tagged 2 times!

I have been tagged by Megan and Breanna so I guess I better tell you 6 interesting facts about myself. You two are such great writers, this is going to be silly compared to your lists!

1. One of my favorite things in my life are my friends! God has blessed me with many, and I am so thankful for friendships new and old. I look forward to coffee together, walks, phone calls, workouts, scrapbooking together, emails, praying together and celebrating with one another lifes joys.

2. Sugar!!! I love to bake and eat goodies especially with Chocolate chips. Unfortunatly I am not going to be able to fit through the door if I don't slow down. ha ha So this week Troy and I have started to challenge each other. I have a goal, so if you see me stuffing my face, remind me to stay on it!

3. Dates with Troy! My husband is the coolest ever and I feel so blessed to have a husband that Loves the Lord! Troy you make me laugh, you are so encouraging, and helpful and I love that you are so consistant. You are my better half and I love you! When is our next date?

4. Okay now that I am all choked up, I love coffee! I better clarify cuz my mom and Charlotte think it is not coffee, because I really like the foo foo coffees. Sugar Free Coconut Cream latte, or Iced toffee nut latte at my favorites at the moment, HOWEVER, my morning latte has turned into a morning protein shake with espresso in it, but at least I still get my coffee fix.

5. I love to scrapbook, and create things with beads. These are two fun hobbies that I enjoy but don't find nearly enough time to do what I would like, mostly because I am too tired after my kids are finally in bed, all I want to do is crash on the couch for a bit. I do enjoy the all day scrabooking days, and a weekend away just to scrapbook with girlfriends.

6. I have so much fun when I get to spend one on one time with my kids. I doesn't happen very often, but I really enjoy when we get to go on dates together because they are so different when they are not competing for one anothers attention. Brett always chooses a date to the movie with me, Courtney always chooses All fired up to paint something, and Kaylee always chooses lunch or ice cream. Thier little personalities are so funny! I am pretty sure my love language is quality time what do you think?

Okay Megan and Breanna, are you happy? I tag Leah Gomes, and Jill Jones, Amber Finley and Mary Schneider.

Halloween '08

Well it was a rainy night so not much trick or treatin was done but Kaylee and Brett hit the streets with mom and Grandma Dee. Courtney and I stayed at home because she was not feeling very good. Brett dressed up like a pirate and Kaylee was a princess. Courtney was going to be a Candy Corn. It was fun and they got a good amount of candy. Even some of the neighbors gave extra because Kaylee told them that her sister was sick and could not come out tonight with them.