1 Year Later

We're celebrating this week! On Tuesday Shad marked the 1st anniversary of his "can-sell" date or, as he likes to say, the day they "turned me loose on the world." *~*WAY TO GO BABE!!*~*
He has been working at Jones since October of 2006 but officially became a Financial Advisor on 2/26/07. He earned his new office in August 2007 and moved in mid-October.

Shad, obviously, spends a lot of time at his office and the rest of us are there a fair amount of time as well. We're part of the remodel team, cleaning crew, decorating consultants (and contributors as the girls provide him with a steady stream of artwork), and, at times, wrecking crew. I've been meaning since October to get a picture of Shad at his office but, for some reason, I'm never there with the camera when he is dressed for success. I actually have a lot of pictures of him in remodel garb but yesterday I made a point of getting down there WITH the camera to get official anniversary pictures of him. Here they are:

If you squint, you can even read his name on the door! (I'm still figuring out all this photo-editing stuff and am currently taking the position that just getting the pictures on the blog is the most important thing!)

"How can I help you realize your financial goals?" He looks pretty official, doesn't he?

We are currently in the process of getting some family photos for Shad's rather sparsely decorated walls. And let me tell you, it IS a process (although I'm not going into details)! ;)

Shad, I know I speak for everyone when I say that we are SO proud of you. You stepped off the edge and you are FLYING! You are making it happen every day and I am continually impressed by your strength, courage, tenacity, and optimism. I am so blessed to have you as my best-friend, husband, and partner on this amazing journey! Thank you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a quick, I-should-be-paying-bills-right-now update!


Today, Hannah and her girlfriend Emma moved-up to the "big-girls" gymnastics class. Until now they've been having fun in the 3-5 year old class, running around and getting exercise during these cold winter months. On Monday, Coach Brandon mentioned that we might want to try this class- more focused skill building, a class of six girls between the ages of almost-five and seven.

Emma's mom (Carrie) and I were impressed at how Hannah and Emma joined right in and tried a lot of new things today- it was very exciting! This picture shows (from left) Unidentified Girl, Hannah (in purple), and Emma on the big balance beam- they also swung their legs over, pulled their feet up, and squatted on the beam. I decided I'd better stop with the camera when Unidentified Girl yelled "Cheese!" :)


For Christmas, Hannah received Lily Rose, an Only Hearts Club Doll, from Grammie and they have been almost inseparable since. The dolls are cute, much more "girlish" than Barbies, with soft bodies for cuddling, freckles, and changes of clothes, of course. Our biggest challenge is finding outfits that match- exactly. Hannah is very particular about that. I had the idea the other day to cut a little polar fleece scrap into a vest for Lily Rose. While I was working on that Hannah started flitting around the house and all of a sudden came up to me wearing the exact same outfit as Lily (or as close as we could possibly come with no pre-planned purchases), right down to the aqua vest. We also styled their hair the same, at Hannah's request.


Many of you are familiar with the name Katie. For those of you who aren't let me give you a brief introduction (I would post a pic, but I haven't asked her permission- yet!). Katie is our amazing babysitter and playmate (not to mention one-who-keeps-me-sane!) who spends a few afternoons a week with the girls so I have some time to get things accomplished! I can't really say enough about Katie- Hannah ADORES her and Sarah has a lot of fun with her too. She's going to graduate in June and go away to college. -sob- Until then, though, we'll enjoy every minute we can with her and especially the great pictures she takes of the girls. Like the one above. I found this photo on the digital camera and until then I had NO IDEA that Hannah and Sarah could sit next to each other and look affectionate without screaming, biting, hitting, or hair pulling. It really warmed my heart. ;) Thanks, Katie! We love you!

*~*~THE SUN~*~*

Shad took this picture after 11:00 one night earlier this month. Both the girls had been in bed and I was working on the couch. Sarah woke first and I brought her out because her teeth were bothering her. Hannah woke-up some time later and came stomping out- they kind of jockied for position while I tried to finish up some work- good luck with that!

When I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and everyone is calling my name at the same time and at least two of the three of them are touching me somewhere Shad calls me "THE SUN." He believes that this entire operation is orbiting around me- no pressure, though! I've been trying to convince him that, if that is the case, it's not all shining and glowing, and warm being the sun, there are definitely some real nail-biting, heart-racing, over-tired, back-aching moments as well. Who knew??

And so here's a Happy Valentine's wish to all of you, but especially to all the other "SUNS" who are reading this. It's amazingly wonderful that our orbits have crossed, it could be lonely being THE SUN, but not so much when you know there are others out there as well. I couldn't make it without you! Eat all that Valentine's Chocolate (or, if you're like me, your Choco-Cherry Love Blizzard) fast- they melt quickly in the heat of THE SUN.

It's Official- She's 2! (And pretty terrific!)

Birthday morning- Sarah uses her presents as stairs to climb into the chair of honor. This would count as the beginning of party number 1, for those of you on party-watch! Party 1 continued throughout the day and ended with an excellent dinner at Matsukaze and ice cream at Baskin and Robbins!

Sarah models one of the horse party hats from party 2. The B family hosted an AMAZING farm themed party for four honorees (pictures follow). From the "Hay Hunt" to the "Toddler Feed Trough" it was an amazingly well-planned and fun event. Even more amazing, with at least twelve close-to-two-year-olds, inside, on a COLD winter day, the energy level and toddler behaviour was to be admired.
We were fortunate to celebrate another birthday with fellow close to 2's Isabel (pictured above),
Ethan (enjoying his cupcake with his dad), and Payton, also enjoying her cupcake with her dad. I was lucky enough to meet these kiddos' moms during my pregnancy with Sarah or shortly after her birth and we celebrated 1st birthdays together last year.
Even Hannah had a pretty good time at the toddler party- here she is with some bootie from the Hay Hunt!
Party 3 found us at Si Casa for rice and beans with Isabel and her mom and dad, our wonderful friends from Corvallis who drove down to celebrate with us, and Oma and Opa. Followed by homemade carrot cupcakes (yum yum!) at our house. Only when I uploaded this picture yesterday did I wonder why I only put one candle on Sarah's cupcake. Hmmm....

And, sadly, I didn't even take the camera to Party 4. We were so lucky to gather with Grammie, Aunt Doris, and Great-Grandma for dinner and cake at Grammie's house. We were also lucky to survive a wonderful weekend FILLED practically to the brim with friends and family. We're so blessed...

Is it possible?

And we were four... celebrating at the hospital on Sarah's birthday.

Could it really be just three short days before Sarah's 2nd birthday?? What a blur the past two years have been! 'Tis true, though, the day is upon us and boy, are we going to celebrate! For some crazy reason we are looking at a calendar with four (yes, four!) birthday celebrations this weekend (that's right, four in three days, ach!). How this happend is really beyond me. Generally we excel (or at least do pretty well) at keeping the girls' lives and schedules manageable. We know all-too-well the meltdowns, flaring tempers, and dramatics associated with overscheduling. We avoid these things like we avoid bad haircuts and automobile accidents- we are on constant vigil. I kid you not, ask any of my Mama-friends, I'm infamous for cancelling, rescheduling, and postponing at the whim of the girls' moods. (Lucky for me they love me anyway!) All kidding aside, please wish us luck this weekend- wish us happy party karma, controlled chaos, sugar-highs (of the frosting variety) happily balanced by the eating of much broccoli. Send all your parenting wisdom and patience my way and pray that I need hardly any of it! :)

Bonney (foreground) and Buddy who are goat-field escape artists

contemplate taking a ride on the swing.

Baaabs (who hasn't mastered the art of escape) sneaks a peak at the girls.

And now, news of goats. For the past seven months if you asked us how many goats we had we would tell you four and you would look out into the field and count five; it has been an ongoing (and bad joke). Since last July we have been waiting for mama goat (Heidi) to go home. She came here in May with her two kids who were still nursing and our goat-dealer didn't seem to be able to get her stuff together to come and pick her up. Heidi is pretty pushy when it comes to eating, butts the baby goats around, and isn't nearly as cute or lovable as the other goats (plus she's a lot bigger, for now, and she kind of scares the girls). On Sunday we decided it had been long enough and Shad and I wrestled her into the back of the truck (Shad did most of the wrestling, and he did get into some interesting positions- I wish I had pictures although he probably could have been arrested for a lewd caprine act.) and we all hopped in the truck and took Heidi home!! YAY!! (With a trip through Dutch Bros first, of course, for good measure! Another picture I'd love to have!)

Last week we enjoyed a visit from one of Shad's childhood friends, Drew, whom we haven't seen in about three years (he and his wife relocated to Ohio). Shad and Drew spent some quality time catching up and we're excited by the prospect that their family is considering moving back out West. We'll be among the first to welcome you back when you get here guys!


I just finished the paperwork to get Sarah invovled in a Little Learners pre-preschool type program (twice a week for 1.75 hours) that is run through the same program that runs Hannah's preschool. She starts on February 6 and is pretty jazzed. Ask her what she's going to do at school and her answers are "Wash hands" and "Play, play, play." Which are both accurate- first thing they do every morning is wash hands, and then they learn through playing. Smart girl! :)


Regarding Hannah... for the past week or so Hannah has taken to saying to me (particularly when we're lying in the dark at bedtime), "I love you Mama. Soooo much. And I'll never forget you. Ever." This pure, sweet, declaration of love strikes something in the depths of me- more so than most things. My days (amazingly) are filled with hugging, kissing, holding hands, snuggling, carrying, and adoring these girls. I hate to even think that I might take this seemingly endless show of affection for granted but I probably do, on some level. But back to Miss H: Can I tell you that these four simple sentences almost bring me to my knees? That until she started saying this to me I honestly had never even really stopped to consider a time where she COULD potentially forget about me (or vice-versa)? I haven't made a big deal out of this, but each time she says it, maybe every other day or so, my poor heart shudders and, for a brief instant, the future flies by right before my eyes. I am not ready for this. Nor will I ever be.

And, finally, looking SO forward for the M family to journey south for our annual celebration of Sarah's birthday. Think of us Saturday night, we'll be eating rice and beans and, eventually, wrestling four small children to bed so that we can enjoy some adult conversation... Can't wait!

And we'll be leaving you with "Baby Blast-Off" apparently this Hannah, Sarah, and Katie's (our amazing babysitter) official name for one of their outdoor passtimes. I hope the video below works and that you don't feel as sick as I do when you watch it. :) In case you miss it, the VERY end is Sarah saying "baby blast-off-" she LOVES it!

Updates & Comments

My goal will be to update this blog at least once per month so check back for new eye-candy. Also, feel free to leave comments, we'd love to hear from you!

Happy New Year!

So, it seems as though EVERYONE has a blog and, to be honest, I didn't really want to blog, but I see some definite benefits here as far as posting pictures of the girls and goats to satisfy any and all of your urges to see them!

December was not the time for me to try and compose an "everything-we've-done-this-year" letter to include with our cards and last year (Christmas of 2006, that is) I didn't do one either. I just assumed that when you got our Christmas card with two children, rather than just one, you would assume that we had another child and that the little pink jacket would identify said child (Sarah, by name) as a girl!

I've decided to include some "everything-we-did-in-2007" reading here, in honor of introducing our blog. So, please read at your leisure, enjoy some new pictures, and know that we'd love to hear from you!

Here is what the holiday card would have said (and "Yay me!" for not wasting so much paper!):

Christmas Day 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And what a busy year it has been!

In late 2006 Shad left his job as Quality Manager with ESAM to become a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones Investments. He started studying for his licensing tests in late October, passed his tests with flying colors in mid-December and spent the first week of 2007 at training in Phoenix, Arizona. He's been back to Arizona for trainings at least twice since then (I may be losing count, though!) and we were able to attend the Summer Regional meeting as a family in San Francisco in late June! Shad moved into his own office in October (three months ahead of schedule!) and is really enjoying his new role. Highlights for him include a positive work environment and helping his customers recognize and realize their goals through sound financial planning.

Shad's first official day of "door-knocking." Anyone want to buy a snowman?? :)

Jessica returned to work, in a very part-time capacity, as a Grant Writer for Dogs for the Deaf. If you're not familiar with them, visit their website: http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org/ DFD was Jess's first job when we relocated from K Falls and she is excited to be back "in the pack" and working for an organization whose mission she supports. It has definitely been a learning process, though, not just learning about grant writing, but also balancing home and work. All-in-all, it has been a positive change, Jessica loves seeing other adults on a regularly scheduled basis, and appreciates the mental aerobics. Two of the four grants that she has applied for have been funded- wahoo! And the girls are almost used to the idea of mom going back to work (it's only been a year, after all!).

Girls cutting trees! Grrrr! December 2007

Hannah is in her second year of preschool at Gilbert Creek and turned four in March. She started the year with a little dancing (ballet and tap) and ended it in gymnastics which she plans to continue into the new year. Hannah is an amazing person- very sensitive, intelligent, and mild-mannered (at the best of times) and also very dramatic! If she could narrow it down she would list her hobbies as playing with dolls, playing with dolls, and, um, playing with dolls. Oh, throw a little tv watching in there for good measure (much to mom's chagrin!). And I suppose I've left out all the fun summer activities like swinging in the backyard, riding bikes and scooters, but summer is so far from my mind right now!

Hannah's first day of school. September 2007 (And our fruitful grape vines!)

Sarah celebrated her 1st birthday in January (she'll be two in two weeks!) and we've just spent the time since her birth wondering what happend to the time?? Sarah is a busy girl- of course, she has Hannah to keep up with and that is a full-time job in itself! She started walking last January and now is running, dancing, twirling, swinging, hopping, jumping, dumping, pouring, just about anything that ends with -ing is fair game for the girl. Her favorite activities right now would include painting (full-body painting, that is), getting in her sister's space, and changing her clothes (several times per day) which she manages to do on her own. "Sarah-do!" is heard about eight times per day on average in this house.

Sarah's 1st Birthday Cake, January 2007.

Highlights and additions:

-Jessica, Hannah, and Sarah spent a week at the coast with Jessica's mom, sister, and brother-in-law

-we welcomed a new kitten (Star) and five goats (one mama and four babies: Heidi, Billy, Buddy, Bonney, and Babs or Baaaabs) in early summer and the girls are official farm girls- they both have their own rubber boots (as do mom and dad) and love to spend time in the field with the goaties

-Jessica, Hannah, Sarah, and Jessica's Grandma took a car trip to visit Jess's Dad in early November. While they were there they got to see Disney Princesses on Ice- it was a huge hit with the girls

-Jessica's Grandma relocated to her aunt's house about 25 miles away in the late-summer and Jessica and the girls have enjoyed getting to visit her every other week or so

-Elwood will be 15 years old this year and Opal is seven now!

We are so blessed to be starting this new year with our lives so full and surrounded by our family and friends and we hope that 2008 is bright for you as well.

Happy Holidays,

Shad, Jessica, Hannah, Sarah and animals

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