Happy New Year!!!

We celebrated New Year's Eve with good friends. Tim & Sonia hosted a wonderful dinner at their home. Graham, Jen, Chelsea, Alex and his wonderful mom Margarita visiting from Mexico joined us as well. We had a great dinner together where we shared our resolutions for the upcoming year and even had Jason & Allison on the speaker phone from Tokyo to share. The girls spent their evening with Grandma, Papa and cousin Taeya. They had a great time with a movie, popcorn and lots of playing.

Some highlights from 2009...

*Running my 2nd marathon.

*Olivia turning 6 and having a great party with all her class mates.

*Being surprised on my birthday with Alli from Japan.

*Watching David finish his 4th Ironman.

*Saying goodbye to Kira (our dog). Not exactly a highlight but she is remembered fondly by our family.

*Family trip to Maui and watching the girls really enjoy the beach!

*All our camping trips in the summer.

*Starting a part time job.

*My girls trip to NYC!

*Derek & Allison's wedding in St. Louis.

*Mia's 4th birthday and watching her love for pretend play grow.

*Olivia starting 1st grade and Mia starting Pre-K.

*Celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.

*Traveling to Bali.

*David having fun at work.

*Watching Beaver football...look forward to the Beaver Mobile in 2010.

*Jill & Ian getting married.

*Good friendships & being healthy!

*Christmas with family.

It's always exciting to plan and think ahead for the new year. My list of resolutions for personal growth, for the kids and for our family is a little much to post but I have to say I'm really excited for this year.

We wish you health and happiness in 2010!

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.