Gratitude

I just wanted to send a huge *THANK YOU* out to all those who have made our Christmas so special. It has been a rough six months (as Jeremiah continues to seek permanent employment) and we have been richly blessed by family, friends and secret santas. We have had a very wonderful holiday indeed. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers on our behalf. We are very aware of them!

Christmas 2008

First Day of Preschool & First Bus Ride

Yesterday was Peyton's first day of preschool. This has been something we have been working toward. She was finally accepted into a Head Start/ECEAP program where she will also receive speech therapy--she has a little trouble with the correct sounds that letters make. We found out last week that they had a spot for her and counted down the "sleeps". She was so excited and knew the exact count without me reminding her.

Today she rode the school bus for the very first time. She said to me this morning, "I'm going to school, just like Annalyce!" It was a lot of fun waiting with her for the bus. She had the biggest smile as the bus drove away. I can't wait for her to come home and see what she thought of the ride.

Baptism Day

Today was Annalyce's baptism. It was a most enjoyable event. We had many family members and friends come to show their support for her and she thoroughly enjoyed the attention. I am so grateful for the gospel and the immense joy I feel in my life because of it. What a beautiful family we have!

8th Birthday Picture

Annalyce and I went last night to get her annual birthday picture. We have a place that offers a free 8x10 on your child's birthday. We take advantage of that each year and this is the one we came home with last night. I wasn't thrilled with the gift box, but it was the picture she loved. We had difficulty getting her to smile. She just wouldn't cooperate and smile for real . . . kids!

She will be baptized this Saturday and we are all REALLY excited! Aunt Alicia purchased this new dress for her to wear. It looks beautiful on her!

When It Rains, It Pours

Although we have been blessed beyond measure these last few months . . . sometimes it's hard not to feel like when it rains, it pours.

My check engine light went on a couple of weeks ago after my Accord shifted really hard. After taking it to the dealership this morning for a diagnostic test, we learned that we need a new transmission. It is a 2002 and only has 102,000 miles on it. Here I thought I bought a Honda because they last and I need a new transmission?! Argh . . .

So, they offered us a deal. Apparently the Accord from 1999-2001 had transmission problems and they aren't willing to rule out the chance that a few of those problems carried over to the 2002 model. And, since it really shouldn't need a new transmission, they are willing to cut us this great deal. Only $1400. "Really, I said. Only $1400? That shouldn't be a problem because we are just rollin' in the dough these days!" Right! Okay, so it really is a good deal. According to the other place I called, the dealership is giving us $1000 off. So what else is there to do? This is our family vehicle.

You ever wonder when? When will we get ahead? When will we be able to breath easy? When will we have $1400 and not think twice about spending it? Yeah right, I don't think I will EVER be there. Oh well, at least my car will be like new for a couple thousand more miles and then I will need to replace the timing belt, that's just an $800 job.

Finally Home

After almost four weeks, my husband is finally home from San Diego! It has been so nice to have him back. The girls are thrilled too.

Johnner, his bro-in-law, invited him down in October to complete a bathroom remodel. We really appreciated the offer of work and although hesitant to leave, Jeremiah and I decided it was the right thing to do for our family. So he packed up the truck and the dog (I insisted he have company for the 20 hour drive) and drove down.

He spent almost 200 hours remodeling a jack-and-jill bathroom into two separate bathrooms. One full bath and a 3/4 bath. These are just a few simple pictures taken with his blackberry phone. I'm sure they don't do it justice. It was his first time ever doing a remodel job. The tiling was a bit challenging, but from what I see it looks great! He has done framing, drywall (patchwork), some finishing work, miscellaneous plumbing, but none of it all together until now.

We are so grateful for the work and the generosity of friends and family in this challenging time. Jeremiah is still seeking full-time employment and we have continued faith that all will work out. We have been blessed beyond measure.

Happy 8th Birthday Annalyce!

Halloween Fun 2008

Caramel Apples for FHE

Friday night around 10:15 p.m. the doorbell rang. It frightened me a little since I was alone. I was on the phone with my sister who said "Don't open the door" when noone responded to my timid "hello, who's there." But when I peeked out the window I found a fun surprise and decided it was safe.

We were "boo'd". There on the porch was a trick-or-treat back filled with goodies for making caramel apples from an unknown family in our ward -- one who does really fun things for FHE by the way! Tonight the girls and I made caramel apples. It was too bad daddy couldn't be here. The results aren't very pretty, but they sure were fun and yummy! Never thought I would like marshmallows on caramel apples.

I asked the girls what they wanted to say to the family that shared on the blog. This is their reply . . .

"Dear Them, Whoever gave them to us, thank you and goodbye." Peyton

"We appreciated the caramel apples you gave us. We liked how we got to decorate them. Me and my sister thought they were DELICIOUS!" Annalyce

Thank you, whoever you are for bringing simple pleasure to our little family. We appreciated your thoughtfulness and generosity. And sure had a lot of fun! We love you!

Sisters

I spent time with my my mother and sisters this weekend. It was fun, emotional and uplifting. We attended a Time Out for Women seminar in Portland OR. We enjoyed the music of several LDS artists (Kenneth Cope, Cherie Call and Jason Deere's Nashville band) and listened to inspired speakers talk about finding more joy in life. I am so grateful for the time we get to spend together to create these lasting memories. I absolutely love my family and am so blessed with sisters who are my best friends. They are all wonderful, talented women!

My sister, Erika, has been fighting cancer for almost two years now. She is unbelievable! I cannot even begin to explain how strong she is - I don't think I could do her justice. She has unfailing optimism and courage! There are many ups and downs with cancer and the latest news scares us, but we are trying our hardest to stay positive. I don't know what will happen or how much more time we have with her. But I do know this, we are an eternal family and through the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will be together again.

Update . . . nothing new

There isn't a whole lot to report. We just wanted to thank all of our friends and family for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Jeremiah is still seeking employment. He had two interviews last week and we are really excited about one -- a commercial company that is working on projects here at Fort Lewis. It would be SO great to have the opportunity and to be so close to home.

Duh!

I guess I really didn't need the look-alike meter to tell me that my girls look more like me. Of course they do, but it was fun and I couldn't help seeing what it said.

Annalyce

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Peyton

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free family tree chart - Free genealogy

Corn-e

After Mark, my bro-in-law, harvested a truck load of corn Alicia and I spent all day Saturday preparing it for the freezer. I'm telling you, it was a lot of corn (almost 500 ear). And it seemed like a never ending task. I wish I had taken a couple pics of the truck before we started. We had to haul it around the house in boxes, dump it on the deck, and shuck it there. Then we moved it to the dining room table. We cleaned it, blanched it, cooled it in an ice water bath, dried it, cut it from the cob and stored it in gallon freezer bags. When all was done we had 22 bags with five cobs each and 20 bags of cut corn (12 cobs each). We ended around 2 a.m. after giving up on the last 175. We chose to share the wealth at church as we were too exhausted to finish. Needless to say, we were SICK of corn by the end of the night and the corn/shuck jokes we had been coming up with all day. It was a good day spent with Alicia (always is) and we felt a great sense of accomplishment looking at all we did, but will NEVER do it again! It occurred to us around 1:30 a.m. that it is well worth the $4.50 for a bag of frozen organic corn at Costco.

Puyallup Fair 2008

One of the perks of living in Washington is the Puyallup Fair! We got to go three times this year, thanks to free tickets! We saw the flowers, horses, pigs, cows, art, collections, hypnotist, cars and tractors, watched Mutton Bustin', the human cannonball and wandered the booths. We shared an Earthquake burger, fries, krusty pups, elephant ears, macho nachos, bbq, cow chip cookies, cotton candy, and sampled chocolate milk! A true smorgasbord . . .

On Jessica Snyder's 11th birthday (September 10th) the girls got Dizzy passes and thoroughly enjoyed riding all the rides with their cousin. They rode the carousel twice. Peyton was naming the horses . . . "This horse is Spirit and that's Spirits girlfriend and that one is Spirit's mom" it was adorable! That girls just LOVES horses! You should have seen her with the 4-H horses. One of them neighed and she said to me, "mommy that one says he wants me to pet him." She wanted so badly to touch them, but it wasn't allowed.

Happy , Happy Birthday

Today is Jeremiah's 32nd birthday! I had to dig for a picture of him as a baby and all I could find was his passport photo (they moved to Okinawa soon after he was born). There aren't too many photos of him as a child, not surprising as the youngest of eight children. I am so grateful to have the few that I do. Isn't he just adorable!

Have a wonderful day, my love! Thank you for being such a great husband and father. I love you!

An e-mail to Jeremiah's family

I love September, and not because I become one more year wiser. It is because the familiar smells September brings. Since I live here in Puyallup, the smell of the fair pierces the air, and the smell of funnel cake and smoked turkey legs cloud the air for miles. The afternoons are perfect with the tempature around the mid 70's, perfect for the afternoon run, or an early evening walk to pick blackberries. There is a distinct smell that lingers as the evenings get colder and knowing that autumn is right around the corner. September is the month where someone in the neighborhood starts the first fire in the fireplace, and it makes you want to bring out that old flannel that your wife says,"when you are not looking, I am going to burn that thing in the fire." Well, she may have burt it already, but the memories of wearing that flannel brings a smile to your face, and you can almost still smell the camp fire that stains the fabric of that old camping veteran. Well last of all, what I love about September is the beginning of the football season.

Well the year has begun, and I have been in shock to find that my football family is behind the times. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard from several of you guys that you did not know that the Dallas Cowboys were playing on national TV last Sunday. Well since I do not want to feel let down again, I will help my fellow football brothers out and let you all know that the Cowboys are playing this Monday. Now Unfortunately, Monday night football in no longer on the network stations, but it is on ESPN. So dust off your old cowboys stuff and put it on because the Cowboys are going to the Super bowl. If they don't I say we all go down to Dallas and lynch Tony Romo. Love you all, and LETS PLAY SOME FOOTBALL!!

Also for those following the college games, Oregon, which most of us have either been there, watched a game or two, or have even played on the same field, should know that have started the season off very strong. For those who want to know that poor John and his University of Washington team has not been as fortunate, but who knows the season has only begun. Good luck John. And last of all BYU has also started out very strong. Good luck to what ever team you are cheering on, and I hope that September will always have a special place in your heart since it is the best month of the year.... as far as sports go.

Love to all
JJ

When Annalyce is away . . .

. . . Peyton will play her Nintendo. Isn't she just adorable?

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of second grade and Annalyce was so excited!

As part of my PTA responsibilities, I went to school this morning to help the kids find their classrooms. Within a few minutes of being there, Annalyce's bus driver came up to me with a little girl named Destinee. Today was her first day at Naches Trail. Since Annalyce was standing there with me I asked if she wanted to help. We said goodbye and she was off and gone (just like her first day of Kindergarten), never looking back! Needless to say, she came home talking about the new friend she made today. Apparently the two of them sat together at lunch and played with each other at recess. It made for a very fun first day of school for her.

Labor Day Fun!

Last year we spent Labor Day at Fort Worden State Park with the Snyders. We had so much fun that we decided to continue the tradition. We spent today in the Olympic National Forest at Lake Cushman. We hiked Staircase and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We skipped rocks, ate yummy food, laughed and took lots of photos. It was a beautiful day!