Merry Christmas!!!

We had a great Christmas. At the bright and early time of 6:20 am we had Olivia peaking her head in our room saying "are you guys awake, ready to go downstairs?". The girls walked in to the family room to find their presents. Olivia was thrilled with her new big girl bike! Mia was so excited with her new doll and that she wears glasses just like her.



In the afternoon Nana, Papa, Alex, Aunt Jill, Uncle Ian, Taeya, Grandma and Papa all came over. It was a very fun afternoon, evening. The kids were hilarious. Taeya was so excited she got a dora and boots bouncing ball and was even more excited when Uncle David pumped it up for her.



Olivia and Mia were outfitted with new skates and all the gear that goes with it. Here's Olivia getting all her gear on with Nana's help.



David showing Olivia how to spin.



Mia was THRILLED with her new Polly Pocket Roller Coaster! She wouldn't even open another present because she had to load all her girls up to ride it. Here's Mia in her Polly Pocket heaven...



It was a fun Christmas and the girls said the best ever! We hope you had a Merry Christmas too.

Jill & Ian get married!!!

We were so excited to get the news that Jill & Ian had decided to get married on December 11th. It was a sunny, cold day in Portland. My parents, Ian's parents & grandparents, Ian's brother, David, Olivia, Mia and a few of their close friends showed up at the courthouse to witness their nuptials. It was great! We then all headed to lunch and then had a party that evening to celebrate.
Here's some photos...

The flower girls...Mia, Olivia and Taeya



Olivia being a great helper and leading Taeya.



Jill and Ian before getting married.



Taeya being silly!



Giving Taeya a little something before the ceremony.



Papa trying to show some pictures to Mia and Taeya.





Just Married!!!



Deb & Jill






Abby, Jill & Ian

Decorating...

The girls were SO excited to decorate the house. I've been a little unmotivated to decorate, do my Christmas cards, buy presents basically getting in to the Christmas spirit. However, as soon as all the boxes were pulled out and watching the kids get excited it was very hard to not feel festive.

Mia pointing out her section that she decorated. She put the ornaments all in one area...perfect!


Olivia pointing out her favorite ornament.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with David's family. It was a nice, low key day enjoying each other and of course eating way too much.



Alex & Liv


Mia playing with Diego.

Mia's class celebrates Thanksgiving!

Mia's class hosted a Thanksgiving feast. They have been learning about Native Americans and sang a few songs to the parents. Then we had a lunch celebrating Thanksgiving.



Olivia was able to join in as her school was closed this day.

Some more on Bali...

We had a wonderful time. It is so hard to choose between all the pictures and express what an amazing place Bali is. I wish it was closer because I'd take my girls there in a second to experience the culture and people of Bali. It helped so much that our girls were happy at home with their grandparents. I heard so many good things from the teachers at their schools and how well they adapted to being with the grandparents and how secure they felt in their relationships with them. I think the best word to describe Bali is peaceful.

We stayed at Villa Puri Bawana. It was a bit worrisome while driving to the villa from the airport and wondering if our driver was aware of where he was going and looking at the villa from the street...it didn't quite match the photos. Of course David immediately starts chanting "perception meets reality"...as funny as that was it was a little disheartening because we had already paid to stay here. However, we drove about 100 yards down the street and through gates and the entire staff opened up the doors to the grounds...it was amazing and gave us a great phrase to throw back at David the rest of the vacation. Here's a short video of us being greeted. I apologize for my very unsteady hand.



We didn't realize the villa came fully staffed. It wasn't ever explained to us that they would do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry and plan any other events we may need. They were an amazing group. We enjoyed learning from them about Bali and we hope they enjoyed us just as much.

I'll be adding pictures...I've been getting some remarks that I haven't updated our blog in awhile.

Bali

Between jetlag and getting back in to the swing of being in the real world I haven't had a chance to blog about our amazing trip. I'm hoping to do so this weekend. I did have to create a link to Allison's blog. She made an amazing video to music and to be honest my blog or pictures will certainly not be as cool so check hers out...Bali Hai.

Checking in...

Hello, we've had a busy first month of school. The girls both like their classes. Mia has her moments at drop off of tears every once in awhile but sticking to the routine has helped her adjust. She does loves Gizmo the class pet hamster. I'm sure we'll have pictures of him soon as he'll come home with us one weekend. Olivia loves school, her class, friends, and even homework. I haven't adjusted to the homework yet and find that it's busy doing homework EVERY night after school.

Olivia is playing soccer and LOVES it. We think she loves it more this year because she is on a all girls team. Both kids have started swimming again and Mia has really blossomed. I was so surprised watching her jump in and float to the top and flip to her back all by herself. We just want them to be safe near a pool and I see that confidence growing in Mia which is very exciting.

David and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on the 25th. It was a low key night with dinner out but obviously a lot to celebrate & be proud of as a couple. We are very excited to be headed on Monday to Bali. I have a bit more anxiety about leaving the kids for 2 whole weeks but thank goodness we have wonderful parents that will be with our girls & giving us this time to enjoy each other. We both took a refresher dive course this past week and while I was very anxious about it (since I haven't dove in over 6 years) it all came back like riding a bike. I'm now looking forward to the experience and hoping there will be a lot to see out in the Indian Ocean! More pictures to follow soon:)

First day of school...

The girls were so excited to start school. I hope that enthusiasm only continues to grow because it makes the transition from our summer schedule to school schedule an easy one.

Olivia is starting first grade in Mrs. Frost's class. She was excited to meet her teacher as well as new & old friends. This morning I got a cute picture of her at home but she was bound and determined to walk in to school by herself. Luckily we had visited the class the night before so she knew where she was going.


BIG SURPRISE...Olivia loved everything about school but her favorite was that she has her own desk. It's the little things in life!

Mia was starting Pre-K in Teacher Madeline's class. She was happy to start but definitely not sure about what to expect. She's so close with her Preschool teacher (she babysits for us often) that I think she'd be perfectly fine continuing in her class.

This morning Mia needed a little more encouragement to leave the house. I think David promised her a treat this evening in hopes for no tears.



This picture was taken in her class room and she is having fun. However, I then told her I was going to go and she was a mess. At pick up it was a different kid. She really enjoyed everything and had to say goodbye to all her friends on the playground. Now, if I can only get her to add a new sweatshirt to her clothing staples. This sweatshirt is her favorite and she insists on wearing it with everything!

Beaver Football begins...

It started with a very rainy Saturday however, it's usually safe to think the first few home games will be sunny. I hope that doesn't mean we'll be huddling under our Beaver tent for the WHOLE season. Thank goodness our seats are undercover!

The kids came to this game and even though it rained for most of the morning they seemed to enjoy it. Olivia liked watching the game & chatting with Evie but Mia was more interested in the snacks. The game started early so at the end of the game it was pretty nice out so the kids ran around while we waited for traffic to die down.

Bright & early heading down to the game.


Evie, Anders, Mia and Olivia


Tim gathering the kids for a little huddle before they play some football.


I love Anders with his helmet on. I think football is in his future.

Sunriver

We headed to Sunriver to visit with the Bergler Family & Rosario Family who were visiting from Japan. Luckily it also landed right after Mia's birthday so we were able to do a little birthday celebration with Mia's friends too. It was so fun to see all the kids together. They have all grown up in the past year but it was like they hadn't missed a beat. Here are some cute photos from the trip.

Anders & Mia


Evie, Isa & Olivia letting us know what we were going to be doing this day.


Opening presents...


Mia taking a swing.


Lined up for their turn at the Pinata.


Allison, Sonia and me...


The gang!

Mia turns 4!!!

It is so hard to believe that our little Mia Belle is 4 years old. She is growing up so fast and is now a little girl and no longer a toddler.

Here she is with her new jogging stroller from Grandma & Papa.


Nana & Papa had got Mia a stroller too. She's in heaven with two strollers!


I love this video of Mia. Please ignore the woman singing in the background.



Ian & Cousin Taeya enjoying some cake.

Wedding in St. Louis

David's younger brother, Derek got married the 1st weekend in August. It was a beautiful wedding & we are so excited to welcome Alison to the family. I was too busy enjoying all the festivities to take time for pictures.

Girls Weekend in NYC!

All my girls from college headed to surprise Shannon (in Conneticut) for her birthday. Shan knew that Stacey & Linds were coming to visit her but she didn't know that Tara, Jaim and myself were joining too. Needless to say she was shocked when she arrived back from the airport with the other two and we were all sitting in her living room. There were tears and excitement to find out that her husband had taken time off work and she was heading with us to NYC.

It was a great weekend. Not a lot of sleep involved because we talk WAY too much but so nice to see my favorite ladies.

Arriving at our cute little apartment we rented for the weekend.


Walking through Central Park. Surprisingly the weather was cooler this weekend than in Portland so it was a nice break.


Hanging on our patio...


Shan posted some cute pictures of the surprise...Birthday Surprise and Girls Weekend.

Linds also posted the hilarious story of three of us trying to hit the club scene...Girls Weekend.

Rafting

David and I planned a rafting trip on the Deschutes river with some of our friends. We camped Friday night and then headed out on to the river on Saturday. It was HOT and the rapids were great. Here we are heading in to Boxcar. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.



Yikes here we go...




Whew we made it!


Heading in to Oak Springs. I like how Regan and I are jumping in to the boat, forget about paddling we were more worried about falling out.



Look at Izaak in the front he's having fun.