Hello Lovely Ladies,
Can you believe the holidays are basically here? It has been a really quick year for me, so I'm starting to soak in the Christmas feel before that is gone too! My brother and his son Blake are coming up this way for Thanksgiving next week. We'll spend the holiday with my entire, but small family, except for Marissa who is too pregnant to travel. :) We're excited for them to come, and McKenna is excited to see her cousin again.
Now for the news I bet you have all been dying to hear. . . . we are going to be having a boy! We are pretty excited, and I'm ALL ABOUT BLUE this time around! As much as I love the greens, reds, yellows, I want a blue room! It took the concept of a boy a few days to settle in when we first found out. . . . what are you supposed to do with a boy? Tyler's big question was, can you call a boy cute? :) Everything is "cute" with the girls. Oh-well, he's going to be involved in lots of girly stuff throughout his life, he may as well start young! :)
I completed a CERT course last saturday (Community Emergency Response Teams). While it did require sitting through classes, I loved it anyway. I think I'm most excited about the fact that I finally did and accomplished something for me! I've been wanting to get certified for a while now. The concept of the program is to increase safety during different types of disasters. We're not talking safety while you're in the middle of an earthquake, but safety afterwards for all those people who are volunteer rescuers. Many of the deaths and injuries in disasters are from those people who run into a building to "save" someone else. The CERT program taught us to organize search and rescue efforts, assessing scene and safety at all times, how to organize triage, and basic first aid in an event like this. The Portland area sits on a fault line where a major earthquake happens every 400 years. The last one was 500 years ago, and this earthquake is predicted to be at a minimum of 7.8 on the scale. Just another sign of the times for me.
McKenna was a doctor for Halloween this year. Once she saw the costume in the Party City magazine she new that's what she wanted, and after 2 1/2 weeks of not deviating from that decision we bought her the costume. She's been taking "singing and movement" classes for the past few weeks. She enjoys the classes, but it is actually a struggle to get her there. Maybe we'll try something else next time, something that incorporates more running and jumping! Her and I are also involved in a preschool. There are a few moms in the ward who take turns teaching and hosting preschool for that week (only held once a week). We hosted last friday and I taught them all about the letter E. It was fun, but I was so exhausted afterwards. I only taught a 45 minute lesson, and had a craft, plus there were 4 moms there to help. But I was still exhausted when it was all over. (I'm sure the pregnancy has a lot to do with that.)
Kate was our little fairy this year for Halloween. She looked so incredibly adorable I could have just eaten her up. I took tons of pictures, but our camera is doing something funky and I didn't get any of the good ones. She hit a huge milestone 2 sundays ago, she's old enough for nursery now! I haven't been to sunday school in months! McKenna is in there with her until the end of the year, which is great; and I know she has cried a few times, but she can be easily disctracted which is a huge plus. She is learning to communicate and talk more, which we love! Our favorite is when she responds with an "ok!" after we ask her a question. She also loves the letter A right now, I'm not sure how she learned it but it's great that she's learning!
Tyler is busy with the usual. I guess the only thing new in his life right now is being involved in tithing settlement! :) Tyler is such a wonderful husband. I still can't believe how lucky I am. We are currently in the market for a van. We've got three options we're looking at right now, but we're going to wait until the end of the month to make decision and strike with our offer. We know the market is slow right now, there are some great deals for vans, but they aren't moving anywhere. We would love to buy a new van, but feel it is very important to come out of this transaction and still have money in savings! So, we'll buy used, and we're happy with that decision.
Well girls, I love you. Thanks for keeping in contact, and I'm sooooo excited for our reunion next year. I'll tell you though, I'm a little nervous what I'll look like just coming off a pregnancy, my body doesn't bounce back anywhere near as well as Tera's! Holy cow girl, count you blessings!!! :) Oh-well, the price we pay.
Love to all,
Jamie
Holly in the Grotto...
