Christmas

We had a great Christmas, very relaxed. Christmas Eve was nice, we tied a quilt?! Watched Santa Clause read the Nativity and watched Joy to the world. The girls were so excited to leave cookies out for Santa. Then we opened our Christmas Eve present which is pajama's from Jim's parents. Me and the girls were very happy with ours. Jim's pj's left alot to be desired, but provided tons of hysterical laughter. Even from his own mom! I won't post the picture, I'll save that for when I truly want Jim to leave me.


We told the girls not to get up before 7 am the next morning, they all slept in the same room, and they did wake up at 7, by fighting over who slept where. That was just great to wake up to, but Jim and I just took a deep breath and tried not to get too mad. That moment didn't last too long, and we had a great time opening gifts. We spent most the day watching old home movies of Jim and family when he was little. That was so fun! After that, we headed to Dave and Amy's to invade their house, that is always fun!
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday, so I thought I'd write a few things about her in honor of her day! WARNING, a very rare sappy moment from me.. If you're not in the mood for it, I wouldn't continue reading.
I am so lucky to have my mom... Sometimes I don't feel as lucky as a mother myself because I don't feel like I could ever be as good of a mom as her... seriously.
My mom is everything I want to be, she is patient, she is kind, she never speaks an unkind word about anyone, (I always tease her and say she could find good in a serial killer.) She is hopeful, she is graceful, she is full of sympathy and understanding, she always makes me feel O.K. You could be going through something so hard, and she makes you feel completely normal, even if you're not. She tells you you're tough and you're doing fine. She is an amazing grandma, she can do all kinds of things with the kids and never lose patience. Like cooking, and any sort of art project. That is a skill I don't have. She is unselfish, she always wants you to be happy, she is always grateful for anything that comes her way. She is full of faith, I constantly ask for advice and her opinion on all things spiritual and in decision making.
She is amazing, and I am so lucky to have her as my mom. Now there are things we can tease her about, (mountain bars?!, bike pick ups,) I shouldn't say a few things, but many and she is such fun. Noone loves to give her a hard time more than all of us, Jim wishes she would yell at him and tell him to shut up. She is working on it.
Oh yah, she's never had a fat phase, I know this seems impossible, but she is an inspiration on living healthy, she inspires me to keep going, even though I've had or am having a fat phase.. On the other hand, if I were to say, I need candy and ice cream, she'll say "LETS GO!" Noone is better to pig out with.
Jim leaned over to me in church yesterday, and said "you look just like your mom." I took it as a compliment, she is a beauty inside and out.

My mom has overcome so much in her life with injuries and other hard times, she is such an inspiration to just keep going, just keep trying, when she had every reason not to!

So happy birthday mom! We all love you!

hmmmmm...

I found this on someones blog, thought it was very interesting!!

"The next time you hear a politician use the
word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the 'politicians' spending
YOUR tax money.


A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in
one of it's releases.


A.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.

D.

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.

A billion dollars ago was only

8 hours and 20 minutes,

at the rate our government

is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...

let's take a look at New Orleans ...

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.


Louisiana Senator,

Mary Landrieu (D)

is presently asking Congress for

250 BILLION DOLLARS

to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number...

what does it mean?

A.

Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans

(every man, woman, and child)


you each get $516,528.

B.

Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in

New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C.

Or... if you are a family of four...


your family gets $2,066,012.


Washington, D. C



Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax

Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Fed eral, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sal es Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?


Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.


We had absolutely no national debt...

We had the largest middle class in the world...

and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.


WHAT HAPPENED?



Can you spell 'politicians'!



Sorry for getting so political lately, I know you only visit the blog for pictures of the kids, but I just can't help myself lately!!

yoga breathing please...

So this is what a stroke feels like.. Congress just gave themselves a raise.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/with-economy-in-shambles-congress-gets-a-raise-2008-12-17.html

It DOES matter

Dear Politicians,
You know what? It does matter. It does matter that he used cocaine and pot. It does matter that Bush did too. It does matter what you do in your youth. Yes, you can change your ways. No, I wasn't perfect in my teens and so on, but I would also never dream of running for president. Yes, you do have to be held to a higher standard for the office. You can find PLENTY of people to run for office who have never used illegal drugs!!! We are not slaves to our humanity, it's called self-discipline/ self-mastery, you spend a whole lifetime trying to achieve it. But at least you are in charge!!
Everyone talks about the children...Fix the economy for the kids, don't let our grandkids suffer for our mistakes... Okay then, let US suffer for our mistakes, let US take the lumps now, and fix it before our children our grown. We are all adults here, we can take it. Let the auto industry fail, let wall street fail, let them all fail, and let them fix it. We are self-reliant, we are not afraid of work, we will take whatever comes, just don't save it for later, if you REALLY CARE about our children. And for heaven's sake DO NOT bail out all those fools who lost billions of dollars with that thief in NY. All those people have billions hidden in off shore accounts. Bail out the single mom working 3 jobs to feed her children... Bail her out!!!
Get a spine, get a moral compass, listen to the people you work for.
Sincerely,
Inger and a few others I'm sure





p.s. sorry everyone, I'm a little fired up today

Need help

I need some help... I am so sick of never finding jeans that are long enough. Does anybody have a good brand of jeans for too tall girls like me? I am so tired of seeing my socks when I sit down, I look like a loser. Thanks, any advice would be appreciated.

Why I should read the newspaper

So yesterday I went to the dr. to check up on my truly weird sickness incident. (bile duct stones do happen actually) As they called me back, the office manager comes whispers for me to come talk privately. She then informs me that my insurance has dropped my doctor. I've never heard of that before, so I asked why, where etc. She said 5 other insurances dropped him also. Truly confused, I asked why. Because of an "unfortunate incident" she says. Hmmm. Ok, so I just went home. Today I was talking to David's speech therapist about it, and she said, oh yah, I know your dr. and his kids, he was involved in a nationwide steroid ring. WHAT?! Google it..she says. So I do. Not only was he involved in a steroid ring, that was part of the huge Barry Bonds steroid ring bust, but the ringleader was a guy in our WARD! How scandalous! Now I'll get a paper subscription for sure!! Thank goodness for google.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I really enjoyed the day. All the food was great, I had awesome helpers who were really into cooking this year. I really enjoyed teaching the girls how to make a few things. Kimrie helped with the pumpkin pies, Abbey helped with the chocolate ones Mallory helped with the green bean casserole. I love cooking for turkey day, so it was so fun to have my girls cooking with me. After dinner, we went to a movie, Madagascar 2 which we really liked and headed home. Then I got really sick! I was just happy to have most of the day to enjoy with the family. But I'm hoping next year I'll be able to eat Thanksgiving food without remembering being sick after this year!. (And by sick, I mean passing a gallstone! even though I've already had gallbladder surgery) It was awful. Anyway, here is an attempt to use our tripod to take our picture, Results...not so great, you can't see the girls!

Conquering fears..

Jim surprised me today by buying lots of Christmas lights and having big plans to make our house icicle heaven. (If you remember last year, my Christmas lights were less than desirable)I was so excited because I haven't even mentioned it to Jim yet! Of coarse hilarity ensued and I must share, even at Jim's expense and mine as well. Let me first back up, Jim is(with good reason) terrified of being on the roof. A few years back, he fell off the roof putting lights up. Now, the fall was only about 5 or 6 feet, but nevertheless a harrowing experience for him. Fast forward a bit to this summer. In an effort to rid our roof of evil pigeons, my dad and Jim bought a new heavy duty, super tall ladder to get up to the roof and get rid of the nest. Only my dad was brave enough to go up there. I was too chicken as well. I didn't like the idea of my dad all the way up there either, but he said he'd lived a good life and had plenty of life insurance. Ok then. So today I go outside and I see that Jim already has the ladder up ready to go. (We do have a super high roof). He is convinced that he's extended the ladder wrong and it will collapse under his immense weight. (His words). He made it about half way up and he was so scared and shaking so bad that the ladder was wobbling all over the place. I decide to show Jim that the ladder will be ok, and I scamper all the way up to the roof. Like all the descriptive words? Once I get up there, I realize that the ladder climb was in fact, the least scary part. I was pretty scared as Jim made me walk up and down the roof to make sure he could do it. I did not enjoy pretending to clip the lights to the edge of the roof so Jim could see the process. Then, it was time to get down, I really did see myself falling to my death.

Smug Inger



Terrified Inger



Of coarse, if Mallory has the camera, bad things happen... This is when I was calculating my life insurance policy. This picture is to prove to Jim that I am not out to humiliate only him. Mallory, I heard you laughing maniacally down there, now I know why! I will get even!!



So, then Jim was ready. He wrapped the lights around his neck and put the extras in a backpack. He began his ascent. He almost started crying about 2 feet from the top. But he pressed on and made it! So he makes it up, sits down and realizes that the lights around his neck are completely twisted and mangled. Here is where the neighborhood was treated to a very lovely word!




And finally hanging the lights, while having a panic attack!



All in all, we only have about 1/8th of the lights up that Jim had planned. But I am very happy with what he did, and I admit that I wouldn't want to hang lights 10,000 feet in the air! Not exaggerating either! Here is the lovely result.


I just love Jim, our lives are never boring!!

New Nephew!

Arn and Leisha had their baby boy yesterday, he was born 10 weeks early. He weighs 3 lbs 12 oz. He is breathing on his own and Leisha is doing well. I am so happy that they are doing well. Now all the brothers have a girl then boy, it's so fun for them! We're still waiting on a name though, I am voting for Toven. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him to keep doing well!

Advertising for other blog

Just a note to let you all know, I am still looking for embarrassing moments to add to my other blog, www.humblepienoshame.blogspot.com. aka humble pie on my links. All you have to do is add a story to comments and I'll publish it, or let me know and I'll add you as an author. This blog is intended to make your day by laughing at other people. Always a valuable pastime!

My review of High School Musical 3

This weekend I have had tons of fun with the girls. Friday night, we went ice skating with some friends and had a ball. By the end of the night, both Abbey and Mallory were skating on their own. Kimrie was skating all over the place. So last night we went to see High School Musical 3. I was mentally blogging the whole time, so I will share with you my review. First, I'll tell you what I liked, then I'll add what I didn't like. I suspect the lists might be a bit lopsided.

First of all, I really liked it. I thought it was really good, and puts Grease to shame. I never liked that movie. The opening scene was great, a big huge number. The whole story was very entertaining, and fun. Mallory and Abbey especially giggled and squealed the whole time. They absolutely loved it. Kimrie liked it in a very patronizing way. Not much emotion there. She's lucky, she'll be so aloof to boys in high school.
Now what I didn't like... by character:
Gabriella: I actually like her character, smart and innocent. As a mom of girls, that's a good combo for my kids to see. But she has a terrible singing voice. I'm no singer but she sounds like she is being strangled. It is truly cringeworthy. They should have just had her lip synch. Not too bad of a review for Gabriella/
Troy- Good heavens the drama with him. All my swim mom friends were gushing about how hot he was in this movie. I promtly called them all perverts and went on my way. My opinion, has not changed, he is a pipsqueak! And tell me why in every movie he has to have a mental breakdown, scream and dance and then pull out his hair?! If you ask me, he's mentally unstable and I wouldn't want my daughter dating that mess. And let me just say, when I'm on the verge of a breakdown at 2 am, I do NOT drive to the nearest high school to dance and scream around the empty building. Creeptastic.
Chad- Troy's friend, not much to say, all I can see is that curly mop. Seems like a good kid
Ryan- (Sharpay's brother) I'm so happy he got a good ending to the movie. The poor kid is so hideous and never catches a break.
Sharpay- Where to begin? You'd think they could afford a good color on her, since she's supposed to be the fashion queen. Her roots were dark brown, then we had a brassy orange, and her horribly obvious extensions were platinum blonde. Her terrible hair was the only thing I could see the whole movie.
All the other characters were too boring to post anything mean about.
All in all, a good movie, although I do get so embarrased for them when they break into song, it's just so awkward! Especially when Gabriella sings.
Oh Yah!! I forgot the most annoying thing... Gabriella calling Troy "wildcat" Gross!! Maybe I should start calling Jim "falcon"!
Actually after my scathing review, I would recommend it, it's fun and if you go in with a really negative attitude like me, it could be even more fun!

Sad News

Sad News.

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection
and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Jim found this online, is this hilarious or what? Who comes up with this stuff, and what sort of influence were they under?

Halloween

So I'll start with the pumpkin patch. We took all the kids last Saturday to the pumpkin patch, there was a childrens charity who let us bring our kids plus the foster babies for free. So we jumped at that chance and we had a great time. Except the corn maze that Jim took the kids on, (I hate mazes so I stayed out with the babies). I could hear Abbey screaming hysterically the entire time because she couldn't get out. I guess next year, she'll be out with me!




As we were looking for our pumpkins, we quickly realized that every single one was almost rotten! Regardless, we each grabbed one and brought them home. When it was time to carve them, the thought of carving almost rotten pumpkins really grossed me out, so I decided to let the kids paint them instead. They are always asking me to paint, so it worked out well, and actually I prefer painting anyway. It was much more fun!

here are the babies wishing they could come outside and paint. I love this picture!

On to Halloween... I loved the girls' costumes this year! Kimrie was Hermione, and my mom made her cape. I thought it was so great! I think she looks just like her!

Mallory was Gabriella from High School Musical on graduation day. Very creative I must say

Abbey was princess Alexa from the Barbie Diamond Castle movie. I made her dress, it was quite a project, but I enjoyed it. I am particularly impressed with the sleeves I made out of womens tights.
Usually it is absolutely freezing in Colorado for Halloween, but this year during the day it was 75 degrees, and at night it was in the 60's. After all that effort for warm costumes....
You'll be happy to know that Jim was able to yell at 2 different sets of teenage boys. Some of you know that he hates Halloween, especially when old kids come trick or treating. The first time he yelled at kids I was "lucky" enough to be at the neighbors house with the girls, I just acted like I had no idea who that crusty old man was yelling at kids. If I recall correctly, he said something like "Get outa here! You're too old for this, you don't even have a costume on! The next episode made me laugh so hard, at 9:30, some idiot boys rang the doorbell 5 times. Jim throws open the door and yells "Are you kidding me?! It's 9:30 get outa here, don't ever come here again, you are too old for this, get outta here!!" (I know I spelled "out of" wrong, but my way makes him sound like he's in the mafia.)
Now, I don't want you to think that Jim went rogue on his hatred for teenage boys out trick or treating. I wanted to beat up a few myself.





That aside, we had a great time, and I hope it is that warm again next year!!

zzzzzzzzz

Ok, even I am getting bored with my Seattle trip posts. So, now that I have Halloween to add, I will finish up with our Seattle trip. On our last day, we were able to go to a beach to get family pictures. My sister in law Marylyn took some really great pictures of us as a family. That is where poor Jim comes into the story. Not one of the pictures of Jim was good, he even hated them all. Unfortunately we all found that hilarious when looking at the pictures later. I must say though that I had my share of hideous pictures, especially the one where my dad said I looked like Gilbert Gottfried! I will include that one of me even though it's embarrasing. All weekend I had been hoping for a picture at the Puget Sound, I even bought shirts to wear. It was rainy most of the time, except for that last afternoon when it was so beautiful. Even though Jim hates himself in the pictures, I think they are beautiful, and Marylyn did an awesome job as the photographer! Thanks Min!

Wow, to that good lookin couple!(with heavy sarcasm) This is the one where my dad said I looked like Gilbert Gottfried. Google him, you'll see!(sign me up for some botox!)

Of coarse all the girls are photogenic

creepy!

Check this out! it's called make me a baby or something, you take pictures of you and spouse, or celebrity or friend, and it'll make a baby. It's fun, and just changing pictures of Jim or I changed our "babies" alot. Actually two of them kinda look like alien versions of the girls. The dark one is how I imagined my kids to look. I never thought I'd have light haired kids!
http://makemebabies.com/viewbaby.php?bid=6749480
http://makemebabies.com/viewbaby.php?bid=6749689

Travel log day 2

Here we are to day 2 of our Seattle trip. Our second day began with Jim going out to breakfast with all the brothers, dad and grandpa Frank. They ate a sinfully huge meal that included complimentary bananna bread. While they were out, I took the girls with my mom and grandma Vonda on a ride to see the old neighborhood. That was so fun, I showed them where we used to "walk"the dog, and by walk the dog I mean get in the truck and make the dog chase the car down the windy road to jump in the sound. Repeat 2 times. That dog would try to beat the truck up the hill even if it was the third time up. It was so fun to show the girls where we used to live.
Then, we went back to grandma's and I cut my mom and grama Vonda's hair. (You'll see a pattern here...) Once finished, we went over to Andy's and I did more hair!

Here I am doing Marylyn's hair, so in all I did 6 haircuts and 4 highlights/colors. It was alot of work, but I am very protective of my families' hair.


While I was playing with hair, everyone else was getting ready for the big family party and Peter's blessing. We had all 5 of my siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles over, and it was great!

So, before the blessing, we were able to take zillions of pictures as a family,




I can't help but notice that everyone else has beautiful hair, and I look like I just took a hat off. Oh well, at least my face looks greasy too. After the wonderful blessing, we had a great Texas bbq meal, mixed with Kjeld's sushi which was amazing, and I ate 6. I've been craving that sushi ever since. Speaking of Kjeld, his wife Jessica is a photographer, and she took the most fantastic pictures that night, here are a few... THANK YOU JESSICA!!!
(her blog is epiclifephotography.blogspot.com)






So, this is day two just a really nice day spent with family. Not too much craziness. But watch out for day 3 there is plenty of hilarity, unfortunately it is all at Jim's expense, so I may have to be censored!

Please use the restroom before viewing

I haven't laughed this hard at SNL in years.. We watch this at least 4 times a day when we need a pick me up

Maybe it's just me, but do you ever feel like the Judy of your family?!!

p.s I am not advertising for W the movie....

Seattle trip 1st day

I've been wanting to post on our trip to Seattle for a week now, but it's going to take forever. So... I'm going to post by day. I know the anticipation of each day will be almost unbearable for you, so I'll try to hurry.
First of all, we're thinking of you Aunt Kathy! Feel better!
Personally, I was so excited to have my girls with me in my hometown. I couldn't wait to show them all around, and be tourists with them. I always get a little nostalgic when in Washington, but I know that can't be helped because it is so gorgeous there. Anyway, you must always start a trip there with food from Ivar's, so luckily our awesome friends the Gunnells were willing to meet us in Seattle and eat lunch. Unbeknownst to them, all the Bjorn's were game,even Nekell with her 2 week old baby Peter! So we all went downtown. Here we are at the wharf eating Ivar's. Could this be any better? Thanks Chris and Tanya for coming!!

While Jim and I were talking with Chris and Tanya, my mom and dad had the girls out feeding those mangy seagulls. It was actually quite funny. Those stupid birds are so overfed, and so over fighting over food, you practically have to force food down their gullets just to entertain the kids. I'm sure this bird was thinking "D@*&%, it's my turn again! I just had to go, where's Vinny, it's his turn! Shoot, I need a smoke break!"

After the great food, (I ate a huge bowl of clam chowder, and a full basket of fish and fries.) It was just slightly too much! It set me off on an epic eating episode the whole weekend. But hey, that's what vacations are for! Anyway, we walked up the wharf looking at the fun shops, of coarse showing the girls the mermaid and chocolate slugs. After that, we walked up to Pikes Place market, which Jim kept calling Pike's Peak market. I only mention that because it really got on my nerves. That was so fun, of coarse we saw the flying fish and all the gorgeous flowers that were dirt cheap. I'd forgotten what it's like living somewhere with color. The only colors we have here in CO is beige. (it seems) The colors were so vibrant, of everything you saw! So here are the girls holding these amazing flowers for $4!


We wandered around Pikes Place market for awhile, here I am trying a chocolate covered twinkie. It would have been awesome if it hadn't been made 2 months ago.

Here is my brother Andy and I with Gavin (this pic is revenge for my 70's man hair picture at the reunion)

So anyway, after wandering in Seattle for a few hours, we headed to Ikea for a record breaking quick browse, then home to Andy's for dinner. On the way home, Nekell, Marylyn and I stopped for pizza, and while there we accidentally picked a fight with a brace face 15 year old who wouldn't break $100. When she so rudely said she couldn't take anything over a $20, we demanded to know where it says they couldn't take it. She, (with a seriously bad attitude,)pointed out at least 3 signs stating the store couldn't take bills larger than $20. After all this, she had the nerve to fight with us about the chicken wings. Some people's kids are so freakin rude. So after going home, eating, and realizing we needed more, Marylyn and I sent Andy and Jim to get more because we were sure we wouldn't be welcome back there.
And that's the first day, combined with playing with Annika, Analiese, Gavin, Peter and Aniva. Whew!

Up to posting again

So I finally feel up to posting about our trip to Seattle. The reason it took so long is I've been thinking so much about our neice Hannah, and Mara. It's been one year since Hannah's passing, and almost 2 weeks since Mara passed away. It's just been weighing on my mind, and the thoughts are too many to post. So, here is a picture of Jim and I with Mara and her dad Brian. This was taken less than 24 hours before she died. I hate that I have a cheesy grin on my face under the circumstances, but it truly was such a pleasure and honor to be with them. They are such a beautiful, wonderful family! I'll never forget as we were leaving, Mara lifted two fingers to wave goodbye to us. It was such hard work for her to do that, she is so precious! It's such a small world that we even met the Adam's family. The week after Hannah died, my brother called and told us that their good friends' daughter Mara had the same form of extremely rare cancer as Hannah. There are only 200 cases in the U.S each year. We just feel blessed to have known these little girls, and have learned so much from them.

In Memory of Mara Adams

Today at 8:12 am little Mara Adams passed away from the same cancer our niece Hannah had. Jim and I were able to visit her in Seattle on Saturday, and what a blessing that was. She could only mover her fingers to wave goodbye when we left. Both of these little girls were so strong in their fight against this cancer. I am truly inspired by their courage and strength, and their families strength as well.
Please remember the Adams' in your prayers as they go through this terribly painful time. They are the most amazing family and truly an inspiration. Their website is www.maraadams.com

Happy Birthday Miss Hannah

Happy Birthday miss Hannah, we miss you and love you so much!

all kinds of updates

I actually have the time and brain power to update the good ol blog... Tomorrow we head to Seattle for a weekend trip, we are all so excited, all 5 of my siblings will be there, and we'll get to see brand new baby Peter, Annika, Analiese, Aniva, and Gavin. how nice of all my brothers to pick practically the same name. But how fun to have kids the same age! Not mine of coarse, my girls will be the ones babysitting, and doing all the dishes for the entire extended family! Poor girls,It's just not fair! They are just kids too.... Sorry, I just had a flashback of my cousin Amy and I. :)
Now onto my cooking adventure, things are going really well with my cooking goals. I haven't found an apron yet, because I'd rather make one out of a towel. I think that would be cute. Anyway, I have planned out the entire month, and so far, so good. I did cook most of the meat after shopping, so that it would be easier to throw the recipe together. That helps immensly! I saved some chicken and steaks to cook fresh. But, we've tried alot of new dishes, and it's been fun. I think I'll definitely keep going.
Speaking of towel things, I made the girls each a pair of pajama pants out of towels, why you say? Because they are all on swim team and over the winter they'll have their toasty warm pants to wear to the car.. I am quite impressed with myself, I even put an iron on patch of their initial on the bum. The more I sew, the more I see that I'm going to have to buy a serger. No question about it.
My parents and Jim's brother Mike's family all survived hurricaine Ike. My dad said it sounded like a train going by right outside the window, all night long. He said it was awful, but he didnjoy using his chainsaw right away. Mike's family did well also which was a huge relief! Strangely enough, just last month my dad connected the generator to a light switch in the house so all he'd have to do is flip the switch and the entire house had electicity. Great timing!
The girls are enjoying school, swim team, and piano lessons. I am certainly at my limit for activities. And believe it or not, this is a breeze compared to the summer. Now we just need to figure out how to get them to pick up after themselves.
We have 3 foster babies right now, and the girls love it! We have David who is 2, Makayla 1, and Dradin 6 mo. It sounds insane, but we enjoy it, and this is how I imagined I'd feel doing foster care. They are all adorable, and some days it's hard but I enjoy it.
So for now, that's the update, I'll post plenty of pictures from Seattle.

Trip to Utah

This past weekend we went to Utah for Courtney's big weekend. It was so much fun! Courtney Jane Binns is now by the judges stamp, a Binns. But she already was anyway, although it sure is nice to have all that paperwork out of the way. Courtney was sealed to her parents in a beautiful ceremony and then it was party time. We did all kinds of fun things including going to the state capitol. We enjoyed seeing Binns cousins and even playing hide and go seek. It is quite fun when all the adults play too. And the party would not be complete without a cartwheel from David. I had to do a cartwheel too, uh... that was painful. I also got to see my dear friend Kacie who I've known since I was 14. We talked and giggled the whole time just like we'd seen each other yesterday when actually it had been 9 years! It definitely won't be 9 years again. She is family & it is really beautiful to have an "old" bff. You know what I mean! All in all, it was a great weekend.

New nephew!

We have a new nephew! Peter Erikssen Bjorn, son of Erik and Nekell Bjorn. Weighing in at 8lbs 13 oz. So happy!!