We have had snow, snow and more snow. I think we've had about a foot, but a lot of it has settled, so it looks more like 8 inches. It was coming down pretty hard tonight, so I sent the boys out for about 2 minutes so I could get a few pictures.

We heard about this site on the radio this morning. The kids are having so much fun playing around on it. There is a naughty/nice list. Austin and Ethan both earned a B+, and Santa told them that their halos were a little crooked, but that they still made the nice list. Kellen is on the nice list too, but he earned a C+.

You can email Santa, and get a response from him. Check it out! So much fun!

Email Santa

My Goofball kiddos!

Bo and Lexie loving the snow

Carting the snow across the yard

I have to share....Its a little silly, but...

Air Wick is doing a promo. If you buy a refill, you get a warmer unit for free (with coupon). They have been on sale for pretty cheap lately, and if you get the Sunday paper, there are manufacturer's coupons for $1.00 off of two refills, and then the coupon for the free unit. Sometimes the coupon is on the warmer unit itself. I now have 4 units, and of course we've been trying out the scents. I'm huge on making the house smell like the holidays at Christmastime. Their apple/cinnamon scent is pretty good, but up until last night, the lavender was my favorite. I tried out the vanilla passion last night, thinking that the holidays were almost over. I couldn't wait once we got home, so I opened one to test it. OHHHHH MAAAAN it smells soooo good!

Its doesn't really smell like vanilla. More like fresh baked and iced cookies....even better, if you ask me.

So laugh if you want, but seriously...humor me, and go spend the $2.50 first.

I think my boys (at least the two older ones) are hitting that age where its hard to learn that material things are fun, but its not about getting the biggest and most expensive gift. I think its a very hard lesson for even adults to learn, so I really don't expect kids to fully understand, but we still try.

Even when its not Christmastime, we try to make a habit out of doing little things for people when we can. Sometimes we like to pay for the car behind us when we go through drive thru...that's the boys' favorite. We've found that when David and I do things like this on a whim, the boys seem to follow suit at other times. For example, this past summer, we were at the park. A little boy (about 4) was riding his bike with his younger brother. They were riding a little ahead of their dad, when the boy lost his steering and fell part way off the sidewalk. Without saying anything, both Austin and Ethan saw that his dad was further away than we were, and immediately ran to help him up and to see if he was alright. It wasn't a big deal to Austin and Ethan, but you could see that it took the boy and the dad by surprise.

Since the holidays have come along, we've done a few very small things to help others.

We went through Taco Bell just after Thanksgiving, and the boys thought the man behind us looked like he was having a bad day, so we paid for his meal. Like I said the boys love doing this, and always get excited and pumped about how people react.

Then, while David and I were out Christmas shopping (the morning after the first snow storm), we stopped to get some tacos. We ended up with extra, and decided to give it to the man on the corner holding a sign, asking for bottles/cans to return. When David approached him, he was being asked by someone just passing by what he does when the weather gets bad. The man said he does the same as any other night, and sleeps outside. I wanted to do more for him, and we talked about how its too bad you can't trust people enough to offer them your garage to sleep in during the winter.

Just the other day, we were all running errands to get gift cards for David's employee Christmas party. With all of the businesses going down here, a lot of them hire people to stand on the street corners to hold signs for advertisement. It was so cold that day. When we would get out of the car, our faces would hurt from the freezing wind blowing the snow. So we decided to buy one of the sign holders a coffee. I can't imagine having to accept a job standing out in winter weather, holding a sign for 8 hours of minimum wage. I feel so blessed that our family is still able to have a warm home and food on the table. Anyway, the boys decided they wanted to hand the man the coffee. It was such a good feeling watching the boys (just Austin and Ethan) walk up and hand it to him. They told him Merry Christmas, and the boys said he thanked them 3 times. We then discussed the feeling they got from just giving a cup of coffee. They mentioned that it felt better than getting a present, and Austin said he wanted to do it all day long. We ended up getting one more coffee, and the boys delivered it to another man. The looks on their faces was enough to make David and I feel like maybe we are doing something right here. ;)

Once we got home, everyone seemed to still be floating on that feeling. Austin and Ethan asked if they could go out and plow our driveway. When then came in about 2 hours later, they told us that they had also plowed many of the neighbor's driveways, and wouldn't take money from them when it was offered. By the next day, they had come up with their master plan. They would offer to replow driveways each time it snow, still for free, but if anyone offered to pay, they would accept a donation to go toward buying coffee for people standing in the cold. So far, they've collected $5.

Austin said, "We're offering to help people, so we can help more people".

I think they're getting it....

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The sad part is, I can see this happening in our family...except our grandma is MUCH more aware of what those dolls are for...LOL I found it on our local Craigslist R&R.Enjoy!

This is an article submitted to a 1999 Louisville Sentinel > contest to find out who had the wildest Christmas dinners. It won first prize.

As a joke, my brother Jay used to hang a pair of panty hose over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted was for Santa to fill them.

What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be true because every Christmas morning, although Jay's kids' stockings overflowed, his poor pantyhose hung sadly empty.

One year I decided to make his dream come true. I put on sunglasses and went in search of an inflatable love doll. They don't sell those things at Wal-Mart. I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown.

If you've never been in an X-rated store, don't go. you'll only confuse yourself. I was there an hour saying things like, 'What does this do?' 'You're kidding me!' 'Who would buy that?' Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section.

I wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll that could also substitute as a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool lane during rush hour.

Finding what I wanted was difficult. 'Love Dolls' come in many different models. The top of the line, according to the side of the box, could do things I'd only seen in a book on animal husbandry. I settled for 'Lovable Louise.' She was at the bottom of the price scale.

To call Louise a 'doll' took a huge leap of imagination.

On Christmas Eve and with the help of an old bicycle pump, Louise came to life.

My sister-in-law was in on the plan and let me in during the wee morning hours. Long after Santa had come and gone, I filled the dangling pantyhose with Louise's pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a nearby tray. I went home, and giggled for a couple of hours.

The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had been to his house and left a present that had made him VERY happy, but had left the dog confused. She would bark, start to walk away, then come back and bark some more.

We all agreed that Louise should remain in her pantyhose so the rest of the family could admire her when they came over for the traditional Christmas dinner.

My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in the door. 'What the hell is that?' she asked.

My brother quickly explained, 'It's a doll.'

'Who would play with something like that?' Granny snapped.

I kept my mouth shut.

'Where are her clothes?' Granny continued.

'Boy, that turkey sure smells nice, Gran,' Jay said, to steer her into the dining room.

But Granny was relentless. 'Why doesn't she have any teeth?'

Again, I could have answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance saying, 'Hang on Granny, hang on!'

My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight, sidled up to me and said, ' Hey, who's the naked gal by the fireplace?'

I told him she was Jay's friend.

A few minutes later I noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking to Louise. Not just talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we realized this might be Grandpa's last Christmas at home.

The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk about who had died, who was dying, and who should be killed, when suddenly Louise made a noise like my father in the bathroom in the morning. Then she lurched from the mantel, flew around the room twice, and fell in a heap in front of the sofa. The cat screamed. I passed cranberry sauce through my nose, and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

My brother fell back over his chair and wet his pants.

Granny threw down her napkin, stomped out of the room, and sat in the car.

It was indeed a Christmas to treasure and remember.

Later in my brother's garage, we conducted a thorough examination to decide the cause of Louise's collapse. We discovered that Louise had suffered from a hot ember to the back of her right thigh.

Fortunately, thanks to a wonder drug called duct tape, we restored her to perfect health.

I can't wait until next Christmas.

Grandma has pulled herself back up again this time. The hospice nurse who had come last Tuesday after her fall and said she was nearing the end, walked in on Friday, shook Grandma's hand, and congratulated her for making it through. I guess she wasn't ready to go yet. That's completely ok with all of us.

The original plan was to drive down just for Thanksgiving day, and come home the same night. With the dogs, its difficult to leave overnight. Now that the van needs new tires, we can't really just take them with us. Once we found out that Grandma wasn't doing well, we knew we had to figure something out....so we somehow managed to fit all 5 of us, and the dogs (Bo is 100lbs and Lexie is about 60) in David's Impala. It wasn't exactly a roomy drive. And yes, we were all safely and legally buckled.

Before we headed over the mountain, I went into the dr feeling like I was getting strep throat. They did the ever so fun throat culture, and we got the positive results before we had even packed our things to leave, so we picked up antibiotics on the way out. I felt pretty good overall, and was excited to see everyone.

Over the next few days, we stayed at Grandma's house. David helped care for Grandma (and me) through the weekend. I helped where I could, but progressively became pretty worthless. Grandma got pretty confused at times, but also had her times of sarcasm, fiesty-ness (is that a word?), and some completely normal moments. At one point, I was so tired of only eating a liquid diet, that I told grandma all I wanted was a "big, fat cheeseburger". Of course, this was one of her more alert times, but she was also a little confused. So she agreed that it sounded good, pulled out $20 and sent David about 10 miles to Dairy Queen to get everyone cheeseburgers. Normally, I would give her a hard time and tell her she's just trying to torchure me by eating one in front of me, but I didn't say anything. That night, she also managed to eat a king size reese's, and a whole Hershey's bar. She's not a huge junk food eater, normally. I stuck to my chicken noodle and cream of mushroom.

Come Saturday afternoon, I still was not improving, so off to Urgent Care, we went. After looking at my throat, they spared me another culture, and offered me different antibiotics and some pain pills. My poor throat was full of nothing but nastiness. There were a few nights that I woke up having a hard time breathing because my throat was swelling from the ibuprofen wearing off.

I started FINALLY feeling better yesterday, and today, I went for that Cheeseburger I been wanting. Oh maaaan, was that good!

I think we are all getting a cold now, but I'm sure its nothing we can't handle...as long as its not strep.

Now that I'm feeling better, and Grandma is getting back to her stubborn self, we are going to attempt to get ready for Christmas by the weekend. I still need to do our Thanksgiving dinner here at home. I missed out on the turkey last week....that was rough, but I'm looking forward to baking our bird.

There's the update on us! We are all happy we were able to spend so much time in the valley, and that strep is gone.

Its kind of a selfish feeling.
I want more time with her.
I want to be able to call and hear her voice.
To have a full conversation.
For her to give me sarcasm, expecting me to return it.
We know that our loved ones are only on loan to us...borrowed.
We've all known its coming for years.
The day I found out I was pregnant with Kellen, she was in the hospital.
We thought she may never meet him.
She's been in and out of the hospital since then,
And has surprised each one of us by how she's kept pushing on.
She's ornery, stubborn, hard headed, and likes to do things her way.
I think she's ready.
Tired of fighting and hurting.
I know its ok to let go, but I don't want to.
I feel like she's been on borrowed time for awhile now.
It doesn't matter.
I want more time.
I'm trying to accept it
I thought we may get one more Christmas with her.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.
I really am so thankful.
Thankful that when I found David, I also found his Grandma.
Thankful that she accepted me with open arms.
Thankful that she never wanted me to call her anything but "Grandma".
I was her Granddaughter.
I'm thankful for her humor.
Her stubbornness
And most of all, her unconditional love.
It doesn't matter if you have met her at the grocery store, a restaurant, a family get together, the doctor's office, through a friend, or if you are blessed enough to be related.
Everyone has a special place in their heart, made just for her.
She understands people, and knows that everyone just wants a connection.
I am thankful for everything that I have learned from my relationship with her.
Grandma, its ok to let go....
We all know you love us and that your life is complete.
Thank you for being you.
Love you Grandma!

Last week we had sun and temps still close to and in the 70's. It was still feeling like the beginning of fall. We LOVED it...

All of a sudden, one day, we went from warm to freezing, over night! Something about cold weather makes it *feel* like the holidays. I didn't even feel sad to see the warm temps disappear. In fact, I was almost happy to see it change. It seems like as soon as the cold weather hit, I started finding myself counting down the days until Thanksgiving, and noticing the Christmas music playing everywhere. I'm looking forward to getting a Christmas tree, decorating, and watching David all bundled up on the roof, hanging lights on the house.

We are so used to rain and clouds at this time of year. Here in Bend, they average over 330 days of sun. Looking outside, this temp change is pretty deceiving. The first day of cold, was such a beautiful day. Austin and Ethan tried to run outside to play without a coat, and Austin was trying to convince me he could wear shorts. I talked them into pants and a light jacket, and sent them out. Within about 10 minutes, they were both back in looking for their heavy coats. Austin even asked if he could double up on his pants! It was only in the high 30's that day! They are REALLY going to be surprised to see 4 below!

On clear days, we can see the Sisters mountains from our front porch. Its amazing to watch them getting covered with more and more snow each day. I tried to get a picture this morning to post here, but they are covered with clouds, probably getting more snow. I'll try another day...

So its time for Christmas shopping, planning, and family memories. I hope you all have a great finish to 2008...

Happy Holidays!

Today is the 12th anniversary of the passing of my "meme", my grandma on my dad's side. I usually remember her birthday every year, but I don't think I've really had too many years where I've remembered her passing date on the actual day.

This year is particularly hard. My dad pretty much wrote me off last week in a voice mail. He's a very bitter person, and I have tried to keep a decent relationship with him, even after others have cut off contact with him. The worst part, is that he did it in such a hurtful way. He seems to think that I don't have a "career" because of David, he's convinced that David and his whole family are liars, and thinks I'm over controlled. In the voice mail, he insulted/attacked everyone that means the most to me, except for my sisters. He even went so far as to say hurtful things about my kids, his own grandkids.

I've never really expected him to change, but mostly just tried to realize that he sees things differently than I do, and to just accept him and our relationship for what it was. I've realized that I've learned everything that I needed to learn from this relationship, and have decided to let it go. Its hard, and I have had struggles everyday this past week. I know I'll never understand where he is coming from or where his reasoning stems from. I'm ok with that. He will have to learn his lessons in his own time. I just hope he doesn't wait too long. He's missing out on wonderful grandkids, and the maturing of his children. After becoming a mom, I really can't imagine anything coming between the bond I have with my kids. It makes me so sad to think that he is ok with the way things are panning out.

Anyway, his mom was the sweetest, caring person. She died of Alzheimer's at 64. I know if she was still here she would be enjoying all of her great grandkids with everything in her, even if there were thousands of miles between them. David met her, but it was toward the end, when she didn't even recognize any family members, so he never really got to know her.

I remember how painful it was the first time we went to Idaho to visit her in the nursing home. She looked at me like she knew me, but she was confused and we could tell she couldn't place me. My Aunt handed her a picture of me on my 2nd birthday, pointed to the picture and then pointed to me. You could see that she connected and realized who I was. She hugged the picture, hugged me, and we all cried. I think that was the last time she had the connection of knowing I was her granddaughter.

There is a little irony for me now that all these years later David is running an Alzheimer's/Dementia care community. I love going in and visiting. All of them oooh and aaah over the boys, and it helps me feel lik I'm a little more closer to her. Actually, the last time I went into the building that he ran in Salem, a resident came in to David's office where I was sitting. I didn't remember seeing her before, and immediately thought she looked like Meme. She was crying. She looked at me, and said I was beautiful, and reached across his desk to touch my face. She mumbled a few things about being a good girl, dried her tears and walked away. Of course, I was the one starting to cry now...It probably wouldn't have affected me the way it did if I hadn't seen the resemblence.

We walked in the memory walk for the first time this year. Its an amazing feeling to be standing/walking in the same place with others who you know have been affected by the same disease. It was a very emotional day, and I'm looking forward to being more involved next year.

Well, I had planned on writing a short blog in her memory, but I guess I got a little carried away.

We miss you and love you with all our hearts, Juanita Mae Burns

Ethan was doing a Social Studies lesson with David while I was putting Kellen to sleep for a nap. He was learning about the Indians & White people and how they fought over land. One of his questions at the end of the lesson was to give a few examples of how they could have handled the situation differently instead of fighting over it. One of his responses was to talk it out. Then he said, "They could've just done Rock, Paper, Scissors"!

Maybe you had be there, but I couldn't help but laugh, picturing the whites and indians doing rock, paper, scissors to split up land.....

Heeeeeellllllllloooooo out there! I've finally decided to join all of you in the blog world. I've been doing a blog on Myspace, but I think I'm going to move it here.

Its Saturday afternoon, and I've promised to take the boys to the library, so I won't get into any major topic this time, but I will do my best to keep my blog up to date so we are easier to keep in contact with.

We are all doing great! Our move to Bend in August was our toughest move yet. We are so happy to be here, but emotionally we had a hard time adjusting and getting back to our normal selves. The boys are still doing the online charter school (connectionsacademy.com). Its the TOUGHEST job I've ever done, and we are still trying to find our school groove, along with trying to get that balance with social activities.

We are really enjoying our new area because of its lack of rain, and the beautiful view of the mountains. It gets hotter during the summer, and colder during the winter, compared to the valley, but I think we can handle it. The boys are so excited to see some real snow this year!

I can't believe is already time for the holidays! I'm soooooo excited!