He gives and takes away...

I just got home yesterday from a quick trip to WA by myself.  My Grandma Dorothy who was 93 years old, passed away a little over a week ago.  I know she was ready to go, she said so herself many times. Her death has left a hole in lots of peoples lives though and she will be very missed.  I have many great memories of her, especially from my childhood.  Her farm was a great place to spend time and play with all my cousins.  There were 13 of us all pretty close in age.  Her house was such a fun and comfortable place to be.

I got to see my siblings and my dad lots while I was there!  The trips there and back were long.  My flight landed on 2:00 am on Thursday morning and then I drove to my dads and got there about 4:30 am.  My flight left at 6:00 am on Sunday morning out of Seattle but I didn't get home until 25 hours later!  Weather in Kodiak always makes for an interesting trip home.  And yes that is a baby bump you see in the picture above.  We are expecting a baby at the end of July!  Very exciting. Overwhelming, but exciting.

 I've been feeling pretty yucky, but I have started to feel a little better in the last week or so.  There has been a lot of thought put into this pregnancy, it was a hard decision.  But I truly believe that God decided to bless us with this little one.  It will be fun to have another baby in the house!

4 years ago

 Today was the 4 year anniversary of Case's death. We drove out to a beach and lit 4 wish lanterns for Case.  It was such a beautiful night on the beach in the snow.

 Lane stood way out by the water, you can see him in the center of the picture.

It's really hard to believe that it's been 4 years.  Sometimes it seems like longer and other times it seems like it just happened.  The years have not lessened my memories of that day. It was so traumatic, I am sure it will always be vivid in my mind.  We were so blessed to have Case for the short time we did.  What sweet little soul he was, very calm and content.  The wish lanterns are just a little symbol of how we are loving him from here to heaven!

SEA-hawks!!!

 While we were in Washington, Reese, Lane and I went to a Seahawks game with Reese brothers and their wife/girlfriend and brother in law.  It was quite the experience.  Unfortunately they lost :(  They've only lost 3 games this season and we went to one of them.  Boo.

 For the first half of the game we were at the VERY top of the stadium.  Got my workout in for the day climbing those stairs!

 At halftime we traded seats with 4 of the people in our group and were like 11 rows up.

 The crazy people behind us picked Lane up and bounced him around for awhile when the Seahawks got a touchdown.  Lane had a great time and I am go glad he got to experience a SEAHAWKS game!

Leavenworth

We left for Washington on December 17th.  I was ready to leave our little island that we live on and go to a mall, drive on a freeway, eat at different restaurants, that sort of thing.  We spent the first two nights at my dads house and then headed to Leavenworth WA for a couple nights.  They have a light festival every year and we love the area!  Michele lives about an hour and a half from there so she met us that afternoon.  The boys enjoyed sledding on the infamous Leavenworth sledding hill.  And Estelle and Hazel were super excited to see each other!

 We went out to dinner and got some gelato and then Michele and kids left.  It was a quick visit but we knew we'd see them on Christmas!

 Saint Nicholas came to town one night and handed out golden pears to all the kids.

 The lights in Leavenworth are magical!

 Every year we've gone there we take a walk in the park behind town.  I commented to Reese that while we were living in San Diego the snow, the wildlife, and the mountains were especially cool to see on that walk but now that we live in Kodiak, that awe is not quite so "strong."  It's interesting what you become used to and how your definition of "cool" can change.  To be honest, laying on a warm beach right now sounds pretty "awe"some!

In the past week I've had two of my siblings tell me I need to update my blog :)  Oh man, I just haven't been super inspired to keep up on it.  I told my friends in Washington that "I just don't have much to say."  I'll be very honest when I say that Kodiak has not been my favorite place to live.  It's not that it's horrible it's just that there really isn't anything to do and for whatever reason I don't feel like I've been able to "bloom" here.  I am still trying, but I guess I am just in a bit of a dry phase...  But I will make it more of a goal to keep this updated this new year!

Christmas is in the air

Well the Christmas events are in full swing around here!  It's been a busy one! A few weeks ago we went to a bell choir concert.  It was beautiful!  The Russian Orthodox Church has a real presence here and they had a choir at the concert too.  The most wonderful piece was "O Holy Night" sung by one of the churches friars.  It was so beautiful and really reminded me of the REAL reason we celebrate this season.   Reese's small command here puts together a kids Christmas party and an adult Christmas party.  Last weekend we had the kids one and tonight is the adult party.  Me and a couple others ladies are in charge of planning these parties, it's fun but time consuming!  We got mini gingerbread houses for all the kids to decorate, they were a hit!

 Estelly and Emmy.  Emmy always calls her Estelly so many of us now call her that :)

 We've had our decorations up at home since before Thanksgiving.  We are leaving town so I wanted to get things up a little early.  Our tree is huge.  I was a little annoyed when Reese brought it home, but it's grown on me.

I always have so much fun with this little table.  I love to decorate it for every season.  That was a garage sale find in Sumas, WA, when Lane was just a little guy.

I tried something new this year with these stockings and snowflakes.  Last January we were in the process of moving and while I was in WA I hit up all the Christmas clearance items.  I got lots of fun stuff!

I got the little vintage santa handkerchief at a thrift store.  

And of course we decorated the gingerbread house a few days ago.  I've started a little tradition of bringing a gingerbread house and all the fixin's to a couple friends every Christmas.  The gingerbread recipe I have makes 3 gingerbread houses so I just assemble two more and give them away.  It's been fun!  Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas season as well!!

Estelle's 3rd Birthday!

 Estelle turned 3 last week!  This year she was so excited about all the attention, presents, friends and cake!  On her birthday we had a little party with just us and I made some little mermaid cupcakes.

 Estelle's new bike!  There really is no place to ride it except in our garage.  I could also haul it to a park.  We still got it for her because the poor kid needs to learn to ride a bike!!

 On Saturday we had a little party with four of her friends.  A Little Mermaid party to be exact!  She even dressed up like a mermaid!  I kept it pretty simple, snacks, cake and a couple crafts.

Living away from family my kids get to have lots of present come in the mail around birthday time!  I took this picture of Estelle after she opened her present from Grandma Alma.  Hair clips, jewelry, and play dough are a hit with this girl!  She is all kinds of girly!

I totally copied my friend Leah and asked Estelle a bunch of questions on her 3rd birthday.  Here are her answers :)

What is your??

Favorite color: Pink

Favorite food: Sprinkles (haha)

Favorite dinner: Chicken

Favorite lunch: Mac O Cheese (that's what she calls it)

Favorite breakfast: Sugar toast (Cinnamon Sugar toast)

Favorite snack: cheese

Favorite drink: milk

Favorite animal: bear (funny since we've moved here she's been scared of bears!)

Best Friend: Emmy

Favorite thing to do: Go to the doctor (seriously, she loves it!)

Favorite song: Ariel (Part of your World, she sings it daily)

Favorite toy: Princess castle

Favorite book: Princess book

Favorite game:  Ariel game (we don't have one, but I am sure she'd like one!)

What do you want to be when you grow up:  "A princess like you" (her words not mine!)

Another funny Estelle moment.  We all went to get our flu shots the other day.  I was a little nervous about Estelle.  She tends to be super dramatic and doesn't ever remember getting shots.  So I had her go last because I thought then we could quickly make an exit if she's freaking out.  She sits on my lap, the nurse pokes her and nothing.  Not even a flinch!  Go Estelle!  

Thrifty Thursday!

 Had a great day at the thrift store today. I love a good bargain! Jeans for Lane, a Christmas dress for Estelle, a Norman Rockwell Christmas puzzle, vintage candle holder, stocking, cookie cutter and a few other odds and ends. All for $9!

Among my purchases this is my favorite. A Williams Sonoma gingerbread cookie cutter set. The picture below shows what it cuts out. I love making gingerbread houses and this will make the experience even better!  Thriftin' isn't always great here in Kodiak so when it is I get a little excited!