Christmas Family Tradition

Our family outside getting ready for the show

Peyton and cousin Roman all bundled up

Mommy, Brayden and Frosty:)

Brayden and cousin Pedro with a drummer girl

We started a new family tradition last year that we love. My dad made a deal with my youngest sister Desi and her husband Jimmy. If they come home for Christmas (they live in California) and we can all be together, my parents will take us out to a family style meal at Maggiano's in Bellevue for dinner. Then after dinner we will catch the show on Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square. We did it tonight and it was a blast! Dinner was amazing. They serve us family style and it's all you can eat. We had stuffed mushrooms, mozzarella marinara, house salad, caesar salad, spaghetti with meatballs, gnocchi with vodka cream sauce, chicken piccatta, chicken Parmesan, bread, and of course dessert with cheesecake and an apple tart:) So yummy! Then off to the free show we went. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. It's outside and they have a whole bunch of real drummer boys who play to different Christmas music. It's so cool to hear all the drummer boys together. They also have Frosty, Rudolph, winter princess, and more drummer boys walking around giving candy to the kids. Then at the end the show it snows! The kids just loved it and we had a blast. Till next year...

Life in the snow

This table has been our snowmeter. We think it's about 10 inches!

Beautiful trees... It's like we live in the woods:)

Frosty

Well all of us in Washington are probably amazed at how much snow we have gotten the past few days. I love it! I think it's beautiful and I hope we have a white Christmas! There are of course a few negatives as well. Travis has to take my car to work (for the 4-wheel drive) and that means I'm stranded. No fun, but I'm trying to make the best of it by keeping the kids busy. Yesterday we all took a walk in the snow, did a little sledding and Travis and Brayden made a snowman. Fun times! Well hope you enjoy the pictures and have a Merry Christmas!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

We just had a fun time playing outside in the beautiful snow! Thankfully both children are feeling heaps better today, so I thought Brayden and I could go outside for a few minutes. I asked him if he wanted to build a snowman or ride around in his wagon. He said "no I want to play with my shovel." So, just like at the beach, he shoveled snow into a pail for 30 minutes and was quite content. Cute! I love the beautiful snow, but I'm feeling a little cabin fever lately. I've pretty much been in the house with sick kids for 5 days:) Thankfully they are getting better and we have a whole weekend full of Christmas festivities! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

There is nothing worse than a sick kiddo

...except two sick kiddos:( Yes, both of my kiddos have been sick since Friday and not doing well. It has progressively gotten worse over the weekend and I went into the doctors this morning. Bronchitis and ear infections for both:( We have medicine now though and I'm hoping they will progressively get better. They have so many medicines and breathing treatments I had to make myself a schedule (my inner nurse coming out). Seriously I have to medicate them 12 times during the day. Not fun! I'm hoping and praying that Travis and I don't get it. I'm not even sure how that is possible though. The kids are coughing in our faces, wiping their snotty noses, and are up all night. How is a mommy not supposed to get sick with no sleep? This is the first time they have both been sick together and wow, no fun. We're hoping everyone will feel 100% by the weekend because that is when our Christmas festivities start. We would love your prayers if you think about it. Hopefully your family will stay healthy and happy during this holiday season!

The making of a gingerbread house

I was so proud of Brayden, he did all of the candy decorations!

Here's our crazy bunch!

The finished product. Brayden keeps asking when we are going to eat it:)

Yesterday we got together with our HFG buddies and decorated gingerbread houses. It was pure chaos, but a lot of fun. The kids loved it, and they did such a good job! We bought a gingerbread house set from Costco, which I highly recommend if you aren't into making your own gingerbread. It came with the house, 5 trees to decorate, 2 different colors of frosting, a piping bag and tip, and a lot of candy. Not bad for $9.99. Thanks to Tiffany for hosting this crazy event. My only regret is that daddy wasn't here to help us. Maybe next year...

The perfect Christmas tree

Bryaden cutting down the Christmas tree

Peyton was here last year but in my tummy, weird...

On the tractor ride out to get the trees

Growing up we went Christmas tree hunting every year. It was a big deal and I have a lot of good memories from those experiences. Since then my parents and both of my sisters have gotten fake trees, and I'm sure we'll follow suit soon. Until then, we've really enjoyed passing this tradition on to our children. This year we went to Hunter's Tree farm with a whole bunch of friends. It was fun, we found our tree, visited Santa Claus, and went out to pizza for lunch. We decorated the tree the next day which was really fun, especially for Brayden. Our tree doesn't look like a department store tree, but most of the ornaments have special meaning to us. We all love our tree. Even Peyton who keeps wanting to check it out:)

Brayden putting on the star

Peyton putting on the star

He loved hanging up the unbreakable ornaments:)

The finished product

Finally some pictures

Here are some of our family pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy...

Travis and Brayden were able to walk through Fantasy Lights. They had a blast! (Mommy wasn't feeling good:)
This is Thanksgiving at Travis' parents house. Peyton was obviously exhausted because she never falls asleep on anybody:) Grandpa didn't mind.

Peyton with Lita (my mom). She fell in love with this bear on Thanksgiving and kept laying her head on it. Since then my dad has got her her own bear and it's her lovey. She sees it and immediately puts her head down on it and rocks the bear. She will also pat it and give it kisses. So cute. She is ready for her baby doll which will be under the tree Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving Day

Brayden enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his cousin Pedro

Cute!

Time to share

It's been awhile since I've blogged thanks to our computer crashing. Hopefully Travis can fix it, but while I'm waiting to upload some pictures to blog about I thought I would share a few of my favorite things:)

1. The Buttered Biscuit- It's a fairly new restaurant in Sumner, and OH MY GOODNESS!!! If you love home cooking, this is the place to go. We have been floored by the food there. The first time I went I had the "Bacon-Bacon", which is a huge waffle with four pieces of bacon cooked in the batter!! So yummy. They have awesome breakfast food, and it looks like dinner is so good too. We've been looking around for a good breakfast place, and finally we found one! Everything is made from scratch and fresh daily. If you go, you have to try a piece of cornbread (you'll see what I mean when you have a bite:)

2. The Megablocks and Roseart Warehouse clearance sale. Travis and I checked it out last weekend thanks to Sarabeth for the heads-up. I couldn't believe some of the prices. For example, remember those Lincoln Logs we used to have growing up? They had a new version of those, with magnets in them. A huge set for $8. A Curious George Puzzle for $1 (I've seen it in the stores for $10), ect... The sale is only for a few days and is done now, but I highly recommend keeping it on your list for shopping next year.

3. Oreo Truffles. My sister Desi introduced me to these and they are so yummy. I packaged them up and gave them as gifts to friends. They are easy, cheap, yummy, and freeze well.

1 package of oreo cookies (Try different variations for different flavors. I did the mint oreos)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 teaspoon of vanilla or mint extract (optional)
Melted chocolate to dip truffles in (I used almond bark)
Sprinkles or toppings (Optional)

Crush the whole package of oreo cookies in the food processor until a fine crumb.
In a mixer mix crumbs, cream cheese, and extract until mixed well.
Form small balls from mixture and put on a pan lined with a silpat or wax paper.
Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours or until balls harden.
Dip balls into melted chocolate to cover.
Sprinkle with whatever toppings you desire. (I used crushed peppermint sprinkles).
Enjoy!

These turned out so pretty and package well. I just made some more tonight for presents for my neighbors. Let me know if you try them!

That's all for now. Hopefully we'll get our computer fixed and I'll be back with more pictures soon.

2 down, 1 to go...

Thanksgiving is what I'm talking about. We have already had 2 Thanksgiving dinners and still have one coming on the actually day:) We celebrated Thanksgiving with our HFG (Bible Study) this last week and we put together a pretty good spread! I made homemade bread and pumpkin pie for that one. On Saturday, we had Thanksgiving with Travis' family. I made bread again and pumpkin cheesecake. We've enjoyed our dinners so far and can't wait for another one. On Thanksgiving day we will be going to my mom's house and bringing pumpkin cheesecake again and some sweet potatoes. This year will be an interesting one because it's the first turkey day without my grandma. I know she's not worrying about us down here, so I should try not to worry about her up there:) She's happy and I can be thankful for that!
With Thanksgiving comes of course the Christmas holidays, which I LOVE! I love everything about Christmas (except the shopping:). The music, the cookies, the beautiful tree, the lights, the Christmas story, the snow, the food, and the decorations. This year I am behind:( Usually by now I have all my presents bought, wrapped, and waiting to go under the tree. I do have my Christmas cards ready to go and my cookies all done in the freezer, but not all my shopping is done (thanks to a car repair that cost us almost $2000). And you know what, it's OK... I'll get my shopping and wrapping done eventually and this is helping me take a step back and think about what's really important. We are so enormously well blessed and most of us don't even know it. We have a house to live in, 2 cars to drive, heat, food, clean water, healthy children, clothes to wear, ect. The list can go on. So this year I'm taking a deep breath and remembering what the holidays are all about... It's not about the presents, the decorations, or even the Christmas parties, it's about Jesus. That's it. So I encourage you to take a deep breath too. Don't get all stressed out, or be one of those crazy shoppers at the mall. It will be Ok:)

Braided Bread

Since I was a little girl, I've been watching my mom make homemade bread. That is probably my one favorite thing to eat: fresh homemade bread with butter on it. I do love to bake, but bread in my mind is in a league of it's own. It's very temperamental. My mom has always made this beautiful braided bread, and I finally thought I could tackle it. I wanted to bring it Thanksgiving with Travis' family and had to practice making it yesterday. It was time consuming, but really fun and so good! I thought I would share a picture because I'm proud of it! Although it doesn't look as good as my moms, it was a good first try:)
Since we are talking about food, how about a good crockpot recipe?

Sour Cream Crockpot Chicken
4 frozen chicken breast
1 package of taco seasoning
1 1/2 cups salsa (not pace picante, but real salsa)
Sour cream

Put the frozen chicken breast on the bottom of the crockpot. Add taco seasoning. Cover with salsa. Put on low and cook for 7-8 hours. That's it!!! When it's time to eat the chicken is so tender it just shreds on it's own. You can serve it on rice with sour cream on top. Or, serve it as tacos in tortillas with all the trimmings. So good and so easy! Let me know if you give it a try.

Halloween Pictures

Ok, one of these pictures is of Brayden in 2006, and one is of Peyton this year. Who's who?
Brayden was an astronaut (even though he doesn't know what that is, but hey it was free:) and Peyton was a recycled lion.
We went to go visit daddy at work...
And Papi at work (just across the street)...
We went to Lita and Papi's for dinner and some treats with the hulk (Pedro) and the chicken (Roman)...

And then to Ranierview for Nite Lite with cousin Tanner and Cooper. Brayden had a blast this year. I think he's finally understanding that he gets candy for no reason and likes that.
Peyton didn't seem to mind her lion suit. She was a little concerned it looked boyish so mommy fixed that with some bows. Cute! As we wrapped up the night at church, she fell asleep on daddy in the backpack. It was a long day for the lion. But we had a fun time with the kids:) Happy Harvest!

Fireproof

Thanks to my mother-in-law Linde, Travis and I were able to go on a date today! We heard good things about this Christian movie and decided to go check it out. Fireproof was one of the best movies we have both seen in a long time. It was great, we laughed, we cried, and we left feeling encouraged. I highly encourage you to go see it! It's not cheesy and it has a great storyline. If you know anyone who is or has had marriage problems, this is the movie for them! Take my word for it and go check it out.

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Seven Quirky Things

Ok, so I was tagged by Laura to say 7 quirky things about myself and then tag 5 more people. Here it goes:

1. I am a clean freak, but only in the areas where people can see. My closets are rarely organized and my drawers are always a mess.
2. I can't stand kids who walk around with snotty noses or even dirty ears. I am constantly checking my kids ears and noses to make sure there aren't things that shouldn't be there. It just so happens that both the kids HATE when I touch their noses...
3. I really don't like shopping that much. This is weird considering that my mom and two sisters LOVE it. I especially can't stand shopping without something in mind to buy or no money.
4. I LOVED high school so much. I'm not sure why but it was a fun, happy time in my life. I would much rather go back to high school than college.
5. One of my favorite shows is "America's Next Top Model." I'm not sure why, but maybe it's my secret desire to be a runway model someday.
6. I can't stand any creepy-crawly things. I will do anything to avoid bugs, which is why I really don't like the outdoors much. That is my biggest nigthtmare, to be covered in bugs and no way out!!!!!!!!
7. I'm a very picky eater. Don't like most fruits or vegetables, no seafood, pork, dark meat chicken, or even coffee. I really don't like church potlucks because you can't see what's in that casserole your eating and you don't know who made the food (maybe their kitchen is dirty). I'm a mess...

Ok, now I tag:
1. Tiffany Nevil, come on girl, I know you hate these things but do it for me?
2. My sister Desi, I know you won't but it's worth a try!
3. Sarah Heymann because I know you will:)
4. Travis, because I'm really curious
5. Ashley Holcombe because it's fun:)

I can't believe it's already time for....

Brayden and all his friends

Peyton always a happy little camper in her backpack

A pumpkin house

If you know much about the Chronicles of Narnia, this is the beaver's house

Here is our family's pumpkin

THE PUMPKIN PATCH! I'm still stuck in August so going to the pumpkin patch sounded strange, but I guess it is already the middle of October. We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday with our HFG. It was a last minute planned event (and yes I was able to be spontaneous!), and it was a blast. We went to Spooner Farms out in Orting. I highly recommend it. They had a lot of things going on for the kids, the pumpkin prices are reasonable, and the corn maze was amazing! I just need to point out that we actually beat the Johnson's at the corn maze:) Hahaha. It was a little pricey, but the theme was the Chronicles of Narnia and I was actually really impressed with the set-up of the maze and all decorations they had. I was more impressed that the 2 pregnant ladies, Shari and Tiffany, did the whole corn maze without any complaining. It was 2.1 miles. The kids had so much fun and Brayden keeps asking when we get to go back. We finished off the night at Trackside Pizza. They gave us the whole banquet room to ourselves. We are so thankful for all of our cool friends who are spontaneous too! Love you guys!

Peyton holding her pumpkin

Mobile Baby

Peyton crawling to mommy

Look mommy I did it!

Ok, how cute is that?

Beautiful brother Brayden

Messy baby!

Peyton started crawling a few days ago! It's so cute because I'll call her and she gets so excited that she can actually come. This is one of the milestones that I look at and know that my life will never be the same:) It sounds silly, but no more just putting the baby on the ground and her staying there. She will soon be into cabinets and trying to climb up the stairs. All the mommies know what I mean!! As she gets older, it's cute to see her and Brayden interact together. They definitely love playing together, I just have to work on Brayden being "the boss." Here's a few pictures. Enjoy!
P.S. On another note, Renovo started last week and we had over 200 people in attendance there. It was awesome! The energy was amazing and there were a lot of people who are thinking about coming back. We of course still have some kinks to work out, but overall it was a huge success. Thanks for the prayers and please continue to pray if you can. Thanks!

Renovites

October 5th is the launch date for Renovo, a church plant in Puyallup. Travis and I are on the launch team and are excited, nervous, and in awe of what God will do through Renovo. It started for us last winter. Travis had heard about Scottie Christensen's vision to plant a church in Puyallup and was very interested. For some reason he was excited about it and started praying about it immediately. He met Scottie for lunch and got even more excited and couldn't wait to share the ideas with me. I on the other hand was very skeptical for very many reasons. The main one being that we were attending Rainierview Christian Church and we were happy there. We were finally feeling connected with the friends we had made there and were really growing spiritually. Travis agreed, but asked me to pray about Renovo and if we had a place there. The idea continued to settle with Travis as he spent more time praying about it. I was starting to get very nervous. I didn't want to leave my comfort zone, but I prayed. He promised me that the only way he would help with Renovo is if I was on board with him and we both felt God calling us there. As time went on and we did more research about it, God made it very obvious that this is where He wants us right now. So, here we are helping and being stretched in ways we didn't know were possible. When we agreed to help, I said to Travis, "I'll help as long as I don't have to do anything with the children's ministry" (it's not that I don't like kids, but it's just not my favorite ministry to help out with). Guess what I'm doing... I'm in charge of the infant/toddler class and even wrote the curriculum for it:) God has a sense of humor. One of the goals of Renovo is to bring a church that is a mix of Church of Christ and the Christian Church together in one hopefully leaving the legalism out of it. There is nothing like that in Puyallup. Another goal is to do a lot of outreach and share Jesus that way to the community. There are already a few non-Christians coming to Renovo because of the outreach projects that have happened. God is ultimately in charge of Renovo because we have given it over to Him. He can and will do amazing things in Puyallup, hopefully some of them through us as a church.
This is bitter-sweet for us because we are sad to leave Rainierview. Travis pointed out that we don't know how long we are called to hep with Renovo. It could be one year or just a few months. We may be back at Rainierview or may not. We do know that we cherish the friends we have made there and plan to keep in touch. I have heard a few negative comments from people who are very skeptical about Renovo. People are always skeptical when they hear about a church plant, and maybe rightly so. I can say that Travis and I have dug deep and asked hundreds of questions. We've talked to the church plant organization who we are working with, we've even visited our sponsoring church. God is moving in ways that we don't understand, but we want to get on board!
So, if you pray, please pray for Renovo and the launch team this Sunday. Pray that God will be exalted and that our hearts will be prepared to do His work. And to all my Rainierview buddies, I love you guys and thanks for your support! To Tiffany and Jeremy, we are so excited to be doing this with you guys. It makes it that much more exciting!
www.RenovoPuyallup.com

A little Emeril

Brayden ready to help me in the kitchen

Brayden loves to help in the kitchen. I try to let him help me when possible even though it might slow things down for me. I want him to know his way around the kitchen as he grows up and I know letting him help me is the only way to achieve that. Plus, it's fun! He's actually very patient in the kitchen, so maybe I can learn a few things from him as well:) Today we made cupcakes for the MOPS carnival tomorrow. It was something fun to do together. I've been having a hard time with his energy level lately. It seems like as soon as he turned 3, he turned into crazy man:) I'm finding out that if spend a little one-on-one time with him throughout the day, he doesn't need as much attention. So, this was a great project to do while Peyton was taking her morning nap.

Yummy!

He put all of those sprinkles on one by one:)