Kindred Spirits

The Jacksons.  These boys play together like they have never been apart.  True Kindred Spirits, I think!

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”  -Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)

Thankfulness Day 11 

A Kindred Spirit  is a person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one's own (wikipedia).  I realize that these type of people to me are the friends who I don't see very often but when I do see them, it is as if no time has passed.  The time we do get to spend together goes by way too quickly.   They are encouraging, honest, and transparent.  They make you laugh and don't bring your spirits down.  I cherish those sort of friendships.  I am very thankful for the "Kindred Spirits" in my life.  We had the opportunity to spend time with a whole family of Kindred Spirits yesterday and I was so thankful for that time with them.  I only hope we can get together more often!

Good Friends & Family

A friend helped with a quick trip to the grocery store.  She even held Owen the whole time so we didn't have to get a big cart!

When I was without a husband, I had some family and a couple friends get me through the time without my helpmate.  Again, I know five days isn't really much for me to go without my hubby, but to me, never being apart from him for more than a day,  it still seemed like a lot.  I had good friends and some family come and visit, watch the kids so I could run errands, bring me a dinner, and even accompany the kids and I to Ikea and the grocery store.  I am thankful these friends and family who think of those little things that really matter.  You know who you are!  Thanks!  :)

24 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 10

Today I am thankful for a friend, April, who, I am sad to say, I will be saying goodbye to tonight because she is moving to Michigan.  April and her family have lived near us for several years now.  She lived in the same apartment complex we did a few years back, and now she lives about a quarter of a mile down the street.  I will always remember the number of ways she selflessly served my family and I over the years.  She has brought us many meals, helped us pack when we were moving, and even has done laundry for us when I was on bed rest.  Even when she was very busy with a new baby, she found a way to help us when we most needed it.  She is the kind of friend who will pray for you when you need it.  God has used her to bless us many times, especially in the last year.  Although I haven't been able to see her as much as I wanted to socially, due to both of us having a new baby and my family being sick the first half of the year, she still found ways to bless us.  I will miss her and her family, but I am happy for them and the new journey are about to embark on.  I thank God for the several years he has given my family with April's family!

A Great Quote to Remember...

 A friend of mine, Kimm, posted this on her Facebook status.  Seriously a freeing qoute.  My efforts will still go on, however, its a great reminder that in the end, God does the work!

"When God calls our children to come to him, even if we haven't gotten it all right, even if we've trained little Pharisees or have a house full of prodigals, nothing is impossible for Him. He can break though all our flawed methods and redeem all our frail efforts." Jessica Thompson/Elyse Fitzpatrick -Give them Grace

Christmas in a Flash

Christmas seemed to come and go this season. Here is a bit of an overview!

Preparation

This was the first year that Jackson was able to take part in the preparation of Christmas. He helped decorate "his" tree with little Peanuts Nativity ornaments. Troy shared all this Peanuts Christmas decorations with Jackson and there were even some he could play with!

Jackson was also able to help with some holiday baking. We pulled a chair up to the counter and he helped me make chocolate brownies and frosting. He was really good at holding the measuring cup while I measured ingredients and helping me stir everything. His specialty, though, was the taste-testing the frosting! I did a lot of "baking" this season. For some reason, I really, really enjoyed it. I found a few recipes that turned out really well. One of my favorites was the Oreo Truffles. They were really rich, but absolutely perfect with a glass of milk! I also made some Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies that were delicious. I suspect these delicious desserts may be the cause of my lack of weight loss this holiday season!

Parties!

We had a few parties to attend this season. We hosted our 4th Annual Tacky Ski Sweater Caroling Party. That was a success, although, Troy and I were very tired after it and decided to do this tradition every-other year, perhaps. I know all you party-goers would be disappointed to hear that! For this party, everyone (or almost everyone) came to our place sporting their tackiest of tacky sweaters. We had a contest for the tackiest sweaters. Tim and Michelle were our finalist, and Michelle was voted the winner. We also went to a near-by nursing home and sang Christmas Carols. This was my favorite part of the night. I enjoy the smiles and reactions we get from the people in the nursing home.

We also attended our 12th Annual Citrus Group Party. I look forward to this party every year. This is a yearly get-together of the "Citrus Group" (a group of Troy's friends from college) and their wives. This party is always fun because all his friends have really become my friends too. Kimm always does a great job of hosting! We ate dinner, talked, laughed, cried (well only some of the kids, who will remain nameless). The kids decorated gingerbread men (Thanks, Tess!). We also had a gift exchange and the kids had a used book exchange. All together, as it is every year, it was great fun!

The Mission Inn

Every year, we try to make it to the Mission Inn to look at the beautiful light display there. This year, we actually made it to the lighting of the Mission Inn! We went with Joey and Kirsty and met both of our families down there. Jackson really enjoyed the fireworks. We also had the opportunity to go down to the Mission two more times with friends. Every year it seems there are more lights up! Apparently,

there was over three and a half million lights on the Mission Inn for the 2009 Festival of Lights. Amazing! The only critique I have for the Festival of Lights is that they keep their stores in the downtown mall open later! We were trying to find a place to eat around 7pm on a weeknight and every restaurant was closed! It seems to me that they are missing out on a lot of business!

Presents

It has become somewhat of a tradition to give our families framed photos of us for Christmas. This time around, I wanted the photos to be special and creative, so I asked my brother-in-law, David to take them. They turned out well! I'm posting some of my favorites. To wrap the framed photos, I purchased a roll of plain brown paper for 25 cents, and a set of finger paints from Target. I rolled the paper out on the floor, put the paint on paper plates, put Jackson in some old clothes, and let him have a go at decorating the paper himself. I loved to see his creative side come out! He got paint all over himself, me, the kitchen floor, and, of course, the wrapping paper. It was well worth it because each recipient of a photo frame also got a little masterpiece from Jackson! I may make this a tradition as well!

Family

The holiday season is always a fun time to get together with extended family. Troy's aunt and uncle from Missouri came down for a visit the week of Christmas. We had a blast going to their favorite sandwich shop, D'elias Grinders, which, I'm going to say has wonderful sandwiches, my favorite being the Chicken BLT. Its always a treat to go there!
We also went to Logan's Candy Shop where we saw candy canes being made. This was very interesting to watch and we got fresh, warm samples at the end of the tour. I will never eat a cold candy cane again! (I hope Angie doesn't mind, I borrowed the photo from her blog!)

Dress

Madelyn's first Christmas dress...sweet!

Christmas Day

Sorry folks...Christmas Day deserves a blog post of it's own, so I will post that ASAP! :)

Matt & Tiff's Wedding...

Back in March, I was in a friend's wedding. I promised pictures, so here they are (finally!). Sorry it took so long!
It was a beautiful ceremony and it was such a wonderful blessing to see these two individuals grow together as a couple, and then be united in marriage!This was the first time Michael and I got to walk together in a wedding!
Beautiful Bride!
Most of the bridesmaids and the bride.
Tiffany and I! YEA! Congrats Matt and Tiff! :)

Drum Roll, Please...

Here is the post you have all been waiting for....okay, so maybe a select few have been waiting for....

Mike and Genevieve's wedding was a blast and here are the photos to prove it!Michael and Geneveive rented a huge Hummer limo and we rode in it to the church. It brought back memories of Prom. The upside to the limo? Free soda!Troy and Jackson...a good looking pair, if I may say so myself!The four of us: Me, Jackson, Troy, and our little baby girl...The decor!Michael and Genevieve's first dance. It was choreographed...cute!Cute Boy!He was clapping for the first dance.The Mother-Son dance.Jenni and IJackson and Tiffany hit the dance floor!Dapper Dad and Hot Mamma!Me and my love!And, last, but not least, the garter toss. Daniel caught it. Again.

Disneyland

The best thing about having a Disneyland pass is that you can go for a few hours, get on a few rides, and just hang out. Troy and I got to do just that on Friday night with Jenni, Kirsty, Joey, Michael, and Genevieve. We hadn't been to Disneyland since September, so it was nice to return to the happiest place on earth! The park was decorated for Christmas, so we got to feel like it was Christmastime, even though it really isn't yet!"Wave for the camera..."Jenni, Me, and Michael ---a rare sibling photo...w/o Timmy, though :(I love this photo of Michael and Genevieve!Me, Kirsty, and JenniSilly.Serious.

Birthday Boy (again)!

On Saturday, we threw Jackson at big birthday party. It was a Curious George theme because that is Jackson's favorite book. He are some pictures from the big event!
Curious George was an honored guest at the party.

We had some awesome, huge cupcakes!Olivia decided that Jackson needed help eating the cake. Just before this photo was taken, Jackson fed her cake. I wonder what this means for their future? :)

Jackson gets into it......and really enjoyed it.A close up of the aftermath.Jackson opens gifts.The spread. Mmmm. We also had nachos and Little Smokies. It was so good, but so bad at the same time!Juice box or water bottle...a very hard decision for a one-year-old.Jackson playing pin-the-butterfly on George....amazingly, he knew what to do right away! Smart boy!

Thank you so much to all of you who came and made this such a special day for Jackson! We were blessed to share in this celebration of Jackson first year with you!