Cousins!

We are so lucky!! Dan and Kim and their boys moved here about a month ago. The twins are 6 months older than Timmy and Josh is 6 and in the first grade. We also are lucky to have Heather and Vi in the neighborhood. It makes playing with cousins very easy and very nice for our kids!!


Timmy is getting more used to playing with boys in stead of always having to tag along with Joya and Vi. As a result he is being a little more physical, but I am pretty sure that was going to happen regardless! Timmy and Andrew love playing trains together and Evan and Timmy like to play basketball together. I just love that my kids get this opportunity to have time with their cousins on a regular basis!!


Joya and Vi have always played great together, they are each others best friends! Joya also likes and almost idolizes her cousin Josh. They have always played well together even with their age, gender, and interests being different! It was always fun when cousin Josh would visit, but now we get to see him more regularly! Because of Josh's interest Joya had now started playing Wii sports games, eventually she'll be up to par with her cousin!

I'll get more pictures of the cousins all together!

Disney and the Millers

We have had a fantastic 10 days! We left our house Sunday morning on the 21st, got on a plane at Portland Airport and headed across the country to Florida. We landed in Orlando at 11:30 local time and got into our hotel room 12:30ish. The kids were so excited because we stayed at the All Stars Disney Hotel and we got to be in the 101 Dalmatians buildings! Our room had a Dalmatians border and comforters on the beds. We pushed the beds together and had a huge family bed that we all slept in!

On Monday we woke up, got a Disney breakfast and headed to the Magic Kingdom! We got into the park about 11:30ish and stayed until after midnight! We did all of fantisy land and toon town and some of tomorrow land. But it was an extremely busy day and all of our lines were long. The important people we met were Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Mickey, Miney, and Goofy. Joya and Tim did Splash Mountain while Timmy and I did Pirates of the Caribbean. We all had a fantastic day!

Tuesday we all slept in, then had another Disney breakfast, then discovered all our hotel had to offer. We played at the pool, saw the mighty ducks buildings, fantasia buildings, and of course the Herby the love bug buildings. We also spent a lot of time with Lucky Pup from the Dalmatians. Timmy just loved lucky pup!! At about 1ish David and little David came to our hotel and picked us up to take us to their house in Eustis, FL. That evening we hit the Barrel for dinner and then were so tired we all slept really well!

Wednesday early morning Tim, David and Little David went deep sea fishing in the gulf with Davids friend Butch. Butch has his own boat and everyone caught a couple of fish! Tim caught a 20lb. red grouper. The kids and I stayed home with Daila, Danielle, and Darlene. We hung out at home, did a little shopping, and went to the park. We had a nice and relaxing day and Timmy got a good nap which was very important for the sanity of everyone!

Thursday was thanksgiving, the Millers had a couple of families over including kids our kids ages! All of the little girls had a great time together! After eating we went to the park and the adults played kanjam and the kids played on the play structures! We were there until 5ish and came home to have a calm evening at home with some wii. All of the little girls played wii together, which was comical because they had to learn how to even do the remote.

Friday morning Tim and David did a little shopping and then we all got in the car and left for St. Petersburg Beach! We stayed one night but had a fantastic time on the beach, in the pool and of course playing more kanjam! I forgot the camera so I will post pictures when we download the recorder and Tim's phone camera!

Saturday we played all day at the beach, Joya and Tim went down this huge blow up slide that was at our hotel. Tim, David, little David, and Danielle went Jet Skiing and had a blast until Tim and little David wrecked! They both are still pretty soar! We stayed all day and headed home around 5ish and stopped for dinner at the Waffle House. I only mention these places we ate because they are favorites of ours while we are in the south!

Sunday we got up and went to church with the Millers. It was a very nice facility and very friendly welcoming. The kids did great in their childcare and we listened to Pastor Ron preach. David will start preaching at the first of the year. He has some great plans for the church!

Monday we got up early and headed back to Disney! We had a fantastic time. There was a third of the people there than the previous Monday, which made waiting in line a whole lot better and just moving around a whole lot easier! We walked in and met Pluto, Pinocchio, Daisey Duck, Ariel, Jasmine and Aladdin. We did all of Adventure land, Frontier land, and Tomorrow land. The highlights were the mines on Tom Sawyers Island, Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Tree house, and the Tiki Room. Because there were not a lot of people there we hit the stuff from last Monday that was our favorites! Tim also got to go on Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain! Joya loved the Goofy;s Wild Ride! Timmy loved the Carousel and cried when we took him off the horse! Maybe he will be a rancher like Tim's family! Last Monday during the fireworks show Joya made a wish to be a real princess, Tim cuddled her and told her she was a princess to him. Then we went again on Monday and we were standing in line to try and pull the sward from the stone. While waiting in line Tim told Joya that this was her chance to be a real princess. When it was her turn she got up there and pulled with all her might, and the sword started coming out! We had no clue that it moved, we later learned that 1 in 1,000 pulls the sword moves and it just happened for Joya. So now she is princess Joya! She even mentioned it this morning, that she is a real princess now! It was a great ending to an awesome vacation! We stopped at the shops on the way out and left the park at 8:30ish. Both kids fell asleep on the way home, so when we got home we had time to chat with Darlene, Danielle and Daila. We were all so tired that everything was funny, especially Danielle saying she would take her shirt off for 10 dollars!haha

Today is Tuesday and we head home this afternoon! We had a fantastic vacation!! Just two flights home, hopefully the kids will do just as well on the way home as they did on the way here!

Banana Bread

Here are the girls cooking banana bread with Nana, so cute!

A Busy Few Weeks

Last Thursday we, I mean myself, Joya, TJ, mom, dad, Heather, and Violet, headed down to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa NeeNee. They live in Redding CA, my dad, the kids and I traveled together in dads truck while pulling the 5th wheel. We made it in 6 hours and only stopped twice. The kids did wonderful on the way down! We stayed down there until Sunday. We had a great time, Grandma took the kids to an awesome park called Kids Kingdom, the next day we toured Simpson University. There are a lot of new buildings since Heather graduated from there! We mainly hung around the house to have some good quality time with Grandpa! He is pretty thin and his energy is limited, but he was in great spirits. Timmy just loved him and went right to him! The kids got to hear some of his Stinky the Bear stories and GG (great Grandma) did her story apron with the girls. We took the kids bikes since GG and Great Grandpa NeeNee have an awesome backyard with a paved path all the way around their house. They also had a trampoline, which was a big hit with the kids.

Then we came home and went to the Pumpkin Patch with HOME group. HOME stand for Helping Our Moms Excel. Its like MOPs and we love it. So we picked out pumpkins, had fresh donuts and apple cider and then went and played in a hay maze and hay pyramid

Today I finally finished Joya's Halloween costume. Timmy is wearing the Elmo one I made a couple of years ago for Joya and Joya is Cinderella!

Some Milestones!

Here are some pictures of Joya at her ballet class. She is so cute and I will post so video when I take some, but its hard because I have to entertain Timmy during Joya's class. For now enjoy Joya's ballet costumes and her poses!

Here is the family at the first home beaver game, it was during Timmy's nap time so he fell asleep for a while but enjoyed himself yelling "OOOO" with a random "dutchdown". Joya loved it too, we taught her the OSU chant and anytime it happed during the game she joined in but was always a letter or two behind the rest of the crowd. It was very cute!

And here is Timmy doing all of his animal noises! Just for your enjoyment!

Timmy had tubes put into his ears yesterday. He did fantastic until he came out of anesthesia. He screamed and flailed for a half an hour. The doctor said he would be cranky...I do not call that cranky, I call it mad! Here are some pictures of him before the surgery while we were waiting there and a video of him after the procedure. He was so cute in his little yellow scrubs!

Timmy also got his first hair cut this last week. Our neighbor across the street used to do hair and offered to help me with the kids, but she ended up just doing Timmy...he was a moving target that would have been hard to learn on!

Here is the before picture, he did very well about sitting there and playing with his toys while Mrs. Jenn cut his hair.

This is a picture of me, today on my birthday! I have had the worst day! I started getting sick last night, but couldn't tell if it was from the baby or the flu...it was the flu! I had extremely bad stomach cramps, I actually at one point thought I was loosing the baby, but I called my sister and she has the same flu a few days before, she said she had the same thing! I vomited anytime my zofran ran out and everything came out the back end too. The bad part is because I am pregnant that I have low blood pressure and I just kept fainting! I would have bad stomach cramps and double over in pain and then try to get up and then would faint! Ohh how I love the first trimester in pregnancy!!

Pregnant with Baby #3

Well we were really surprised a week ago Sunday when I started getting sick. I couldn't stand the smell in my parents house and everyone else said they didn't smell anything. I walked down to my sister's house because there was a Philippine meeting in progress and I was planning on going with her to teach VBS there. They handed me my plane ticket and I put my two sense in and then headed back to mom and dads house. I walked in and couldn't stand the smell again, so I hung out in their backyard with the kids. I remembered feeling the same way when I was pregnant with Timmy. I had been feeling nauseous all day but attested it to the coffee I had earlier that day. When we finally got home that evening I decided to take a pregnancy test. It was as clear as day a positive sign! I cried a little and smiled a little. This changes my plans for this year, especially going to the Philippines. I also had plans to sub a little more this year and we have a trip planned to Orland in November. That trip is still on but my other trip is not happening and I haven't decided about subbing yet. I need to get through the sickness first! I have some meds that help me not throw up but the nausea is still there in waves. I am extremely tired and am napping everyday while the kids nap and rest. Joya comes and wakes me up when her noise maker goes off and by then it had been an hour and a half!
Needless to say we are excited that the Lord blessed us with another baby, it was really nice not having to decided when to try for baby #3! We were a little shocked because I was on birth control! We also are really excited that we are still on Tim's NFL insurance! That is a huge blessing!!
Baby is due April 24th, Easter Sunday, but will most likely be born the week before because my doctor told me she doesn't operate on Sundays! When baby comes, Timmy will have just turned 2 and Joya will be a couple months shy of her 4th birthday.

Swimming

Joya has been taking Swimming lessons from our babysitter who also teaches at Osborne Aquatic Center. I hired her on the side to come to our pool and teach Joya while Timmy is napping in the afternoon. Yesterday Zoey had to come in the evening so we got to watch and Joya was swimming! She can hold her breath and swim underwater the width of the pool. She puts her arms in front like she is diving in and just kicks! She is doing great and Zoey is a great teacher, she is going to start working with Timmy for just a few minutes after Joya's lessons! This is the first day of swim lessons with Zoey.

Timmy is trying to repeat and talk more and more. He has a few words that he says ALL the time. Doggie, Ball, Dada and Mama are his constants, but now he tries to say football, which sounds like "BotBall". He is also repeating animals like kitty, pig, and bear. He is teething really bad right now to where his mouth is bleeding. His molars are coming through...three of them at the same time. He hasn't slept through the night for the last 5 nights in a row. I don;t think he will sleep through the night again until his teeth stop hurting!! Poor guy!

We're Sick Again!

This is the kids and I making cookies for the new neighbors...and for ourselves!! We made monster cookies and the kids licked the beaters. Timmy is old enough to join in now, and he fights for his turn to pour in the ingredients and of course getting the rewards of helping!

We almost went a month without being sick...but not quite! We have been sick since October. The kids had hand, foot, and mouth in Oct. Then in November we all got the swine flu, in December the kids got croup. January we moved into the house and Joya and I got the flu. February, I can't remember what we had but in March we all got sick with a horrible virus that lasted a month! April we were still sick and I got a virus in my eyes and have not been able to wear my contacts since then. We have had colds since on and off since April including a cough that has lasted for awhile! Joya and Timmy are sick again, but I think that has to do with staying up late and playing hard this last weekend!

On Saturday we went and hung out with my cousin and his family, they were camping with their Church outside of Sweet Home. We floated down the river, had dinner, and then church with them. We hung around to roast marshmallows and then left when it was getting dark. It was about 9:45...the latest the kids have ever stayed up! Sunday I went to church and Tim and the kids stayed home, Joya and Timmy already had nasty green goop coming out from their noses by then! We just hung around the house for the day. After nap time I took the kids swimming and Tim worked hard at finishing the shed, he finally finished today. Anyway then we walked over to the neighbors house to grill with them and a bunch of friends! We walked back to our house where we lit fireworks, starting at 8 and finally ended at 11. I put Timmy to bed at 9:45 and he never woke up! He was out. He even took a 3 and a half hour nap today because he was so tired from last night! Joya was able to make it until the end. We all slept in until 8:30, i think that is the latest the kids have ever slept in and I think today was the first day in 3 years that I woke up on my own instead of one of the kids waking me up!
We had a great weekend and loved having Daddy home today!

Joya is 3!

Wow I can't believe our first born is 3! She had a fantastic day on her actual birthday starting with breakfast in bed..she thought it was awesome! She also got a smoothie from dutch brothers, a small party after dinner with my family, and of course cupcakes!

We also celebrated her birthday yesterday on Sunday with her friends. We had a little pool party, then walked across the street to our house for pin the crown on the princess, neckless and bracelet making with fruit loops, and of course cupcakes! She has had a fantastic week and a fun birthday!

I had to add these pictures of little man, the first is of him sleeping with his new found love, snickers the dog. The second picture is of Timmy and the first time I made lasagna...he really liked it, so he put it all over his face!

So I haven't written in a long time!! We have been very busy...having fun! I thought I would re-cap our last month with pictures!

Here is TJ riding a cart that Daddy is pulling around, just having fun at home with Dada!

Last weekend we went to Sunriver for Memorial Day Weekend. In the middle of the Village Mall they had a Children's day. Here is TJ playing in the bubbles, another kid gooed him with a bubble wand. he didn't seem to care, he was having fun.

While we were there Tim, Joya and I floated down the Deshutes River in a Canoe. We had a blast while going down, then we got off the river and didn't have a plan on how to get the canoe back to the house. So we called my mom to bring our Tahoe so we could put it on the top of the car. She brought the truck and the canoe didn't fit in the bed of the truck. So Tim held the canoe on his lap in the bed of the truck while we drove home...good thing it was only 5 miles home!

This is a picture of Joya just being released from the stairs. She thought it was a good idea to put her head through the banister...she quickly learned it was not a good idea!

Up until last week we had nice weather, so here is the kids enjoying a Popsicle outside on their little play structure. It's on the concrete slab because we are working on the back yard!

Here is Timmy making piggy faces on the sliding door...He cracks me up!

Here are the kids pretending to be dogs in a large dog kennel. This is what we do when the weather was nice and now we have to play inside!




Some machinery we rented to start on the back yard. We hulled 6 yards of rock with the little bobcat, and whacked it down to make more room for our picnic table, grill, and eventually the shed will be down the side of the house on the rock!

More before pictures.

We had to lay plastic down first before putting the rock down...here is Tim working hard on that!