December

I love how pretty Christmas lights are. So beautiful. We were able to visit the Nativity Festival again this year. They are so amazing! 

A lot to be thankful for!

Traveling to Wenatchee is never a fast thing but so well worth it! We had a blast playing in the snow, visiting with family and relaxing! Josiah drove over to see us and we loved every minute of it. :) Josiah, Jace and Erin love eachother so much and it's wonderful to see them together and enjoying the time they are able to spend with one another. 

Disney on Ice

I recently took Erin to a girl's night in Portland to see Disney on Ice. What was funny was that Erin at the last minute didn't seem very excited to go. She said that she thought it would be for babies and boring. I asked her to trust me that she would have a fun time and try to have a better, more thankful attitude. We arrived at the Rose Garden and as soon as she saw the ice and the magical surroundings, she was enraptured! :) I loved seeing it all through her eyes because I loved all of the magical ice shows my mom took me to as a child. We had front row seats and enjoyed every minute! Erin leaned over and whispered to me that she had no idea how much fun this was going to be! All of the planning and the trip into Portland was well worth it to have such a fun experience together. 

Braces

Erin has been visiting the orthodontist a few times this month in preparation for her braces. She's actually excited to get them and is lucky enough to have her Daddy already have experienced having them so she can get advice and help taking care of them once they're on. My little girl is growing up!

Vegas!

I did something this October that I've never done before! I took 4 days off and got on an airplane BY MYSELF and went to Vegas! :) Thank goodness my good friend Richelle lives there and kept me out of trouble! Boy did we have a blast together. We always do! I can hardly wait to see her again and explore more of Las Vegas. I loved it there!

It was amazing to see the difference that it made to have it be dark and all of the thousands of lights on. It turned downtown Las Vegas into a "Disneyland" of sorts to me! Haha. We walked and walked until we couldn't walk anymore, explored everything possible and even took a Gondola ride at The Venetian lol. Richelle's hubby was somewhat put off that she went with me and not him, but let me just say there was nothing romantic about it whatsoever! We could hardly contain our giggles. :)

Beautiful 5th grader :)

My sweet little Erin is now a 5th grader. It boggles my mind that she's 10 and thinks boys are cute. This year, she is all about cute girly clothes, Justin Bieber and her good pals. :) Her teacher this year seems to be handpicked, sweet as can be and soft spoken. She has been blessed her whole elementary school experience with amazing teachers. It makes a huge difference.  She will be in middle school soon. Ugh.

Josiah's graduation

I'm a lucky girl to have such wonderful and beautiful children. It's hard to believe that all 3 of them are so grown-up now. Josiah has grown into such a fun, respectful and good man. I'm very thankful for his good example to Jace and Erin. They adore him and think he's the best. :)

Justin Bieber!

Ok, so maybe I'm a little nutso but I got concert tickets to take Erin to see Justin Bieber this summer for her birthday. When the time arrived to drive into Portland, Erin was bursting with excitement at being able to experience her first concert. Boy was the Rose Garden packed! We had front row reserved seats so she didn't have to sit behind some big haired lady and didn't miss a single minute. :) Sean Kingston played for about 2 hours and then Justin Bieber's portion was another 2 hours. It was worth every penny and we enjoyed all of it! I was very impressed with the clean language and  modest clothing. The music was great and Erin said, "That was the best night of my life!" Enough said!

Jace

My sweet little boy is now a Sophomore in High School as of this Wednesday.   :( It's hard to believe that the little guy in this picture is taller than both of his parents already at age 14. He's always been so special to me. I've cherished every single minute with Jace. I'm so glad to have some common interests like Basketball with him. We have so much fun going to as many NBA Blazer games in Portland as we can afford to go to. We decided after going to 6 games, that it's worth every penny to be in the 100 level section to watch the games. So much fun! The energy at the Rose Garden is insane! One more month until the season starts. Gotta love that Mom and Son time together. :) I'm very lucky to be Jace's Mom. He's very good to me.