A little holiday spirit does you good!!!

You should all go check this out!!! This is definetely good for a few laughs.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1183975612

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Love, Amy

Thankful

Happy Halloween A little late I know considering that Thanksgiving is next week but..... well you know how it goes. Life has been just as busy as ever. Madyson and Elly in school and looking forward to a break next week. Jordyn turned 10 months old a couple days ago. I can't believe how the time has flown. She crawling all over and pulling herself up on things. I am not ready for her to start walking - then things will get really tough. Not much to tell you all about. Still taking things day by day. We have had a "eventful" year to say the least, but as I look at my 3 beautiful, healthy children, my husband who loves me, my friends and family far and near, and all the blessings God has given me I can easily see just how much I have to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Love, Amy

Elly-ism's

So for a while now I've been thinking that I should start keeping track of the Elly-ism's (as I call them) that my sweet little girl comes up with. I guess this is the start. Now you all know Elly and some of the silly/sweet/mischevious things that she does - well yesterday I asked her what she wanted for lunch. We went through the whole list...... sandwich, no...... soup, no......... chicken nuggets. no........macaroni, are you kidding me! (Yes- I have the only 4 year old on the planet that hates macaroni and cheese). Needless to say I start to get frustrated! "Come on Elly, you need to pick something." Elly sets to work at examining everything in the cupboard. After 5 minutes or so she pull out a can of tuna fish. "I want this!" I look at her, then at what she has chosen. "No, Elly. You won't eat that." "Yes I will" she assures me. "Elly, I don't feel like making that and then you deciding that you don't like it" "I promise I'll eat it Mommy" she says. "Okay Elly, but what's going to happen if you don't eat it?" "A spankin?" she asks me so innocently - okay, I'll go for that. I make the tuna fish fully expecting her to take one bite and refuse to eat the rest. "Do you want this on bread Elly" I ask her. No, she just wants it in the bowl. I hand her a spoon and her big bowl of tuna fish and off she heads. Five minutes later she returns with an empty bowl and a big smile on her face. I look at her in disbelief! I couldn't believe that she had eaten the WHOLE thing. "Did you like that Elly?" I asked her. "Oh, yes Mommy!!!!" was her answer. Wow I'm thinking. I guess this is something new that she's actually eat for lunch and I add it to my mental list of the few foods that she is interested in. Now, we're in the car driving to preschool this morning and Elly says, "Mom, I know what I want for dinner (her word for lunch!)." "What's that?" I ask. "That fishfood!!!" she replies." Gotta love that girl!!!!!!

I guess it's time for an update. I can't believe it's already almost October. This year has flown by - but I guess that when life is this busy that seems to happen. As you can see from the picture our little Jordyn is now officially crawling. She is quick too! You forget how much easier it is when children are not mobile. But she sure is cute. She's about 8 1/2 months old now and getting cuter by the day. Elly started preschool a few weeks ago. She LOVES it!!! Her teachers love her too. They say that she is so spunky and spontaneous. One of them told me that she was "a breathe of fresh air"! And Madyson is doing great in 2nd grade. She was accepted into a program called PEP (positive enrichment program) for advanced students. They bus them to a different school one day a week where they work on more challenging projects and such. She started last Wednesday and said it was lots of fun. We also just got back from a week long little vacation. We went to Seattle and stayed with my aunt. We went to the zoo, aquarium, science center, imax, and on a tour cruise of the sound. On our way home we stopped in North Bend and went SHOPPING!!!!!! We had a great time but is sure felt good to get home. We drove over a thousand miles and nobody felt like getting in the car for days after that. We still have lots of stuff going on in our family and would love and appreciate everyone's prayers. We have really learned to appreciate each other. Terry is my rock - I don't think that I could get though all this without him. Well- that's about all for now. Our home is always open if anyone is heading out this way. We miss and love you all!!!!!!!!!!

My Best Friend's Wedding

So, the long awaited event has finally happened! My little Elly was soooo excited to be a flower girl in her "princess" white dress that she could hardly stand it. I was able to spend a week in Montana with the girls and boy a week it was. Soooo busy, but so much fun. Marisa was a BEAUTIFUL bride! Other than the smoke (since Montana was burning up) everything was perfect. Elly and Madyson were pretty cute huh??

Official 4 Year Old!!!

Well - on July 2oth Elly turned a big 4 years old! I can't believe how fast the time has past. Seems like I was just bringing her home from the hospital to our little house in Stevensville, MT. Now she's about to start preschool and definetely has a mind of her own. What a little firecracker. You all know her and love her - and she loves you too! What a special little girl! She wears me out but I wouldn't trade a moment with my little Elly Monkey!

So how does this work?

My very first blog.... I'm so out of touch with reality these days. Apparently this kind of this has been around for a long time. Anyway - there are so many friends and family out there with whom I don't keep in touch with nearly as well as I should. This is for all of you!!

Life has been uncertain lately to say the least. Terry and I have definetly been put to the test to see just how strong we are. We would sure appreciate all your prayers and encouragement. I am trying to see the light at the end of this whole thing. It's dim but I know it is there.

Meanwhile, we are in the middle of yet another summer. All of you know how things get at our house in the summer. The boys are getting older and changing a lot and so are the challenges that go along with it. Madyson is getting anxious for the 2nd grade and Elly for preschool in the fall. Baby Jordyn just turned 6 months old and the time has flown by. She's rolling over, babbling a lot and attempting to sit up on her own. I've also discovered that she's not a big fan of vegetables. Go figure.

We miss home soooooo much! We would move back to Missoula in a heartbeat and keep that hope alive that someday we may have that opportunity. You never know what the future holds!

More later........ you all better hold me to that!