My year in review....

Well, hard to believe that another year has ended and a new one is just beginning. My family and I are finally starting to settle back into a somewhat "normal" rountine of daily life, though most people who know me would hardly define my crazy, busy, chaotic life as anything but normal. We had a nice Christmas here at home. We went to Montana for Thanksgiving knowing that we would be spending here. Our New Year's Eve celebration was pretty mild. We went to our friend's house and stayed until Jordyn had reached her limit. We were playing guys vs. girls at Catchphrase and I'm sad to report that the girls were defeated (pretty badly actually!) But, we did have a great time there. Madyson and Elly are both back at school and thriving. Madyson is still doing extremely well. Elly and has really gotten into the swing of school and her teachers are always telling me how much they enjoy her and her enthuseism for life. My baby girl Jordyn will be celebrating her 1st birthday on Sunday. We are having a little party for her with our friends. I'll be sure to post pictures of her cute little face covered in cake for you all to see. One again I am just so amazed at how the year has flown by.
Looking back at 2007 we had had some of the best and worst experiences in our lives. In January we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world and she has since filled our lives with more joy than we could have possibly imagined. Terry's job is going well, although stressful!!! His store is growing and growing and growing which makes for a lot more work to accomplish with the same amount of employees to do it. I am so grateful and blessed to have such a great husband who works so hard so that I am able to stay home and raise our children. It has been a sacrifice but absolutely worth it!!! We are excited to see where Norco will take us next! Elly started school this year and loves it (though she doesn't enjoy waking up to get ready to go- yes, she's definitely her mommy's girl!) Madyson was placed in an advanced learning program and I just read her assessment for the year so far - shiny and perfect!! (I know I'm biased - but I swear, she's a genious! Right Grandma Lori???) Terry and I have had our stuggles with some tough things that have happened to our family this year, but through the trials, tears and pain we have learned to lean on and depend on each other more than ever. We appreciate all your prays and ask you to continue. Things seem to be nearing an end though it is still a daily stuggle. But God is so amazing! I have seen Him work miracles. He has taken situations that seemed so hopeless and turn them into some of my lifes greatest blessings. You don't always know what He is doing, but..... HE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!!! Put your trust in Him and he will never forsake you. I love you all and send you best wishes for a wonderful 2008!!!

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!