It's that time of year again!!!

Hee hee hee!!!! Always good for a laugh! Go check it out!!!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/2CgUasEL08rrK2kQ2pgs

Love, Amy

Pumpkins and Tea

Just a quick post this morning before I head out to my Zumba class! (Latin dance based fitness for all you wondering what the heck Zumba is!!!) Last week Jordyn and I attended a field trip with my MOPS group to one of the local orchards here in town. She was SOOOOO cute trying to pick out the perfect pumpkin. It started to rain a little while we were there and she couldn't decide which one to get because they were either "dirty" or "wet'! Hee hee - I finally convinced ther that they were ALL wet! We got to ride the "Fruit Loop Express", pick apples, see how cider is made and taste some and then pick out her own pumpkin. We also got to taste some of the YUMMY apple butter they make there. It was so much fun to do something with just her and she is finally old enough to be able to enjoy it and understand it! It was a great day!

Also- yesterday my wonderful friend and I went to a local tea room and celebrated her birthday. Her actual birthday was in June but with the summer craziness and all we finally got around to doing it this month. I found this amazing ministry that helps to transition women from homelessness back into working society. They intern in this tea room (where ALL of their profit goes to the Anna Odgen Hall womens shelter) to gain work experience and have something to put on their resume as they re-enter the work force. It was in a beautiful Kirtland Cutter house on the south hill that is actually also a Bed and Breakfast. It was so dainty and fun! We drank tea and ate treats off of antique bone china. All of the teas were sooooooo yummy! It was definitley an amazing experience and such a rewarding way to be able to support this ministry. It is called Taste and See Tea Room (getting it's name from the verse in Psalms) and I recommend that you DEFINITELY go there and try it out! We were there for over 2 hours and it was only $20 a person! Plus, once you see the pics of all the yummy stuff you won't be able to resist!

I will be updating you all on the EXCITING and new things happening in our lives!!! Please keep us in your prayers - LOTS of changes in store!!!

Love you all!!!

-Amy

Nashville, TN

As promised here are some of the pictures from the trip that I took a few weeks ago to Nashville, TN. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the annual MOPS convention for the fourth time. I was amazing! Filled with dynamic speakers and and training. I felt there filled with excitment and anticipation for the new MOPS year to begin. I was also touched as a woman and mother by some of the incredible and inspiring workshops that I attended. Our last night in town we were able to enjoy a night out on the town. Downtown Nashville is filled with talented musicians with great music filling the streets! This is definitely a place that I intend to visit again someday.

When I got home I was running on 12 hours of sleep in 4 nights! My husband (aka the best man in the world) rounded up the kids and took them all to a movie and instructed me to take a nice, long nap! I love him so much!

As for the fish pictures- those were our "dinner guests". On Friday night we ate at a restaurant called The Aquarium. They have an enormous fish tank in the center filled will every sea creature you can imagine. It was a very neat place to eat and the food was yummy! What did I eat? Grouper!

Love you all - HAPPY FALL!
-Amy

Here Come's Fall

With our first official trip to the orchard over with I can safely say good bye summer, HELLO fall! My FAVORITE time of year! Just a few quite pics for you to look at.

School is going great for the kiddos. Elly is the Kindergarten Student of the Week - an accomplishment that she is very proud of! Chase is going the the first dance of the year this weekend. PRAY that he will use his brain and stay out of trouble! We have had enough of that to last a life time. Madyson has joined orchestra and decided to play the violin. I REALLY didn't have anything to do with her choice. She came home last week and told me about it. I was just a little excited! We took her to the rental shop to have her measured over the weekend it turns out that with her long arms and legs she already fits a full size violin so my old instrument is finally going to get some use again :) Cameron is doing well in school too! We got an email from his teacher last week talking about how great he is doing so far this year and that he has seemed to have made some positive choices and is a role model to the other students in the program. Who would have thought? Needless to say Terry and I are very proud of him.

On Sept. 12, the girls and I particated in the first annual Out of the Darkness what to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I lost a great friend last summer to suicide and 2 of my friends AMAZINGLY got together to put their grief into something positive. I can only imagine the countless hours they put into planning this event and it was awesome! We walked 3 1/4 miles from the U of M Circle down the Kelly Williams trail and back. It was great to spend some time just remembering our friends and all the other people who were and weren't represented there. It was eye opening to see what a huge effect suicide has on our society. It is tragic and preventable!!! I encourage you all the log onto the AFSP website and find an Out of the Darkness walk near you. Suicide truly needs to come out of the darkness and be dealt with and spoken about!

Tomorrow I will be getting on a plane and flying to Nashville, TN for the annual MOPS convention. I am not feeling mentally prepared to leave as it was kind of a last minute decision made by our group but I am excited to be refreshed and reenergized for the new year. I've signed up for some workshops that I'm looking forward to - one about blended families and the other about "writing" during this season of motherhood. Terry will have his hands full taking care of the whole brood! But you know me and if you were at my house right now you would see the detailed lists and notes that I have taped around the house to make things "easier" for him (or at least for me!!!)

I hope life is treating you all well! Ours is quite crazy as usual. If you think about us say a prayer for our family. We have some unexpected "things" going on right now. We have been and continue to pray that God will make His will clear to us and that we follow Him regardless of how "SCARY" it may seem.

Love to you all!

-Amy

Back to School Time!!!

I was watching TV a few weeks ago and I happened to catch a VERY funny commercial. This dad was taking his son and daughter back to school shopping at an office supply store. As he was perched on his cart (with a HUGE smile on his face), gliding down the isle randomly throwing items into it the Christmas song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the the Year" was playing in the background! It then shot to a view of the two kids who looked less then excited about the whole experiece. :) I laughed to myself thinking that this was just about how I felt after spending the summer at home with 5-6 kids!!! (6 because Chance spent about 1/2 the summer here as well) I remembered back to how I thought it was so strange how excited my mom got when we all went back to school. I now have a much greater understanding and appreciation for that!!!

Last week Chase entered his junior year, Cameron his 8th grade year, Madyson 4th grade and Elly into full day kindergarten. They all seem to be adjusting pretty well. Chase seems a little less than enthusiastic about it although he is excited about his new art class. Last year he completed an incredible prisma drawing and his teacher was amazed that it was his first year in art. This year he wants the do graphite and has been looking for the perfect picture to use. Cameron is hoping and praying to be able to transition out of the alternative middle school (there are only 3 students there - and NO girls! Torture for an almost 14 year old boy!!!). Right now it is the best place for him and we have told him that if he is able to prove himself and keep his behavior and grades in check that we will sent him back the the regular school at semester. I am cautiously optimistic after dealing with the middle school staff and principal A LOT last year. It is unfortunate the they claim to treat all students equal although it is clear that some are very obviously singled out. I do not think that Cameron's behavior was acceptible last year at all but I was also surprised and saddened by some of the things that I witnessed the teachers doing as well. He is doing well and had a pretty unbelievable turn around toward the end of summer. He even came to me on his own accord to apologize for his behavior over the summer. It gives me a little home that all this hard work and effort counts for something! Madyson loves her teacher - but then again she usually does. She has spent the entire Labor Day weekend wishing that she could go to school. She is such a good student and it is nice to not have at least one kiddo to not worry about at school! Elly is adjusting incredibly well to the full days at school. She came home the first day and told me "it was all just baby stuff Mom!" I explained that it was only the first day and after they figure out what level all the kids are at that it will be less boring. She particularily likes being able to eat lunch at school like the big kids!

Chase also celebrated his 17th birthday on Sept. 4th! He feasted like a king as I made him steak, baked potatoes and salad followed by a homemade ice cream cake! He was a little dissapointed that he didn't hear from more of his friends from home - (or his own mother! enough said about that one!) I guess it's just part of growing up - birthdays get less and less exciting! I did my best though and I think he appreciated it!

Well - I'm off to a good workout at the YMCA! I am officially starting my new "non-diet diet" today. The summer and all the stresses of life have gottent he best of me and I have gotten to a point where I need to reign it back in. Soooo in an attempt to keep me accountable I will be posting updates of my progress! Please pray for me and cheer me on! Day one - so far so good!

Love you to you all! I miss you!

-Amy

A very BUSY July!

What a July it has been! The Sanchez Family has been BUSY enjoying the sun and our family! Here's a few things the we have been up to!

Chase turned out to be a prettygreat waterskier!

Elly's first time tubing SOLO!


Feeding Grandpa the yummy huckleberries that the kids worked so hard to pick.

Madyson enjoying the waves!

Mom and Elly right after riding Timber Terror at Silverwood

(she was scarred to death at the beginning and as soon as we stopped she said "I want to do it again!")

The guys riding Panic Plunge

Water Baby! (Hard to believe that last summer she wouldn't touch water!)

My little bathing beauty

Happy 6th Birthday Elly Monkey!

Destroying the pinata!

Cake and homemade ice cream - YUMMY!




First of all our little Elly Monky turned 6 on July 20th! I CAN"T believe that she's already that old. I remember meeting her that HOT July evening and staring at her beautiful skin and full head of dark hair. I knew that instant that she was something special and not a day goes by that she doesn't prove it to me! We had a birthday party the day before her actual birthday. We had a dual slip and slide that lasted all of an hour! They certainly don't make those like they used to. I remember the yellow one we had as kids that lasted for years! My mom probably still has that thing hidden away somewhere! :) On her real birthday we went to Silverwood Theme Park as a family! We spent the morning at the water park and rode the rides all afternoon. We were all starving when we left so we finished off the night at Olive Garden (Elly's favorite!). Jorydn amazingly made it through the whole day and dinner without a nap! As soon as her belly was full and we loaded into the car she passed out and slept until late the next morning. I think Elly really enjoyed her birthday and we had so much fun with her.

The following week was CHAOTIC! Terry had a Gas and Welding regional convention to attend and I was fortunate enough to be invited to all the "fun" events that were part of it. On Wednesday night we toured Lake Cour d'Alene and enjoyed drinks and appetizers on one of the resort cruise ships. The next day we were invited to spend the day on the lake with one of the distributors. This is the biggest boat I have ever been on! It was amazing to see all the gorgeous home on the lake. Some of them were borderline castles! That evening was a delicous catered dinner at the resort! I ate like a QUEEN! Until then I had never even been in that hotel. It was fun to pretend to be among the "rich and famous" for a day or two but the next morning I woke up and it was back to reality. We were supposed to head out to go camping in a few hours and I hadn't even started. Somehow I pulled it all together and off were went...... again.

We spent a awesome weekend at Seeley Lake with mom and dad! Other that than mosquitos that tried to eat us alive and Jorydn's "sleep issues" it was a pretty darn good weekend. Mom and Dad's boat was running again so we all got to innertube and low and behold I actually got up on waterskis after a 10 year sabaticle! I was feeling pretty good until my hubby and stepson both got up and made how I skied look pretty pathtic! Oh well - other than the fact that here I sit, a week later, and my body is still feeling it I was pretty amazed that I did it! Yes, age certainly changes things. Things certainly don't work like they did when I was a teenagers. Funny how the signs of age creep up on you! I know you are all thinking "you're still so young!" but think back to just before you turned thirty and all the little "details" you started to notice! Hee hee - gotta love it! The kids and Terry also scoured the campground and picked a full bag of yummy huckleberries! I just finished making a huckleberry cheesecake with chocolate truffle glaze that we're going to bring to a friend's house for dinner tonight. Can't wait to taste it! It looks soooo delicous!

I hope all of you are enjoying your sunny days as much as we are here! And to all you wimpy Seattlites complaining about your weather - put on your big boy/girl undies and suck it up! JUST KIDDING! But 100+ weather here is not uncommon so I guess that I ALMOST feel sorry for you!

LOVE YOU ALL! -AMY_

The kid's new toy!

The big boys play on the new toys!

Couldn't have done it without our great friends! Thanks Shawn and Ruthe!

2 days later and the project is finally complete!

There is something that I have been wanting to get for my kids for the longest time - a new swingset! A few years ago our neighbors moved and "donated" their old (15+ years!) swingset to the kids to play on. I wasn't sure if they would even use it but we eventually had to take it to the dump for fear that it may actually deteriorate or flip over on top of them. I've talked to Terry about getting another one several times but he wasn't convinced that it would be worth it and I let it go at that.

Over the last 6 months I have been saving money here and there and putting it aside. I wasn't sure what I wanted to use it for but when summer hit and the kids desperately wanted to play outside my decision was easily made. Icounted up the money I had put away and it was actually a lot more that I expected. I spent the next few days scouring the internet for the best deal I could find. After deciding on one I talked to Terry and he was so impressed that I had saved the money for it he didn't even question it. We went down to Toys R Us that evening and and as he handed over the cash (for the VERY LAST one they had) he said "there goes my plasma TV, again......). The cashier responded by "but your kids with LOVE it!" He told me that he felt like a good dad when she said that to him.

We asked our great friends the Sexton's to come over and help us put it together. Shawn and Terry both had Friday off for the 4th of July so they spent ALL DAY Friday piecing it together. At the end of the day it was only half finished! They aren't kidding when they say "assembly required"! We spend the next day at the lake and celebrated the holiday. Sunday morning rolled around and after church the guys were at it again. By the end of the day all the hard work had paid off and we had a BEAUTIFUL swing set for the kids to play on. We have since spent HOURS outside enjoying the sun and each other. I love hearing my kids laugh, play and be carefree, just they way they are supposed to be. It reminds me that although Madyson is 9 1/2 (not they typical "swingset" age) patience always pays off. I so easily get discouraged when I look at other people's beautiful houses, fancy cars, boats, vacations......... and I think, "will I ever have that?" It's hard not to be envious! But in those simple moments of sunshine and swingsets I know more that ever the my God provides everything I need! He is so good and gracious - and I am blessed beyond measure!!! I have all I need, many of the things I want and all the time in the world for the rest!

Thanks again to Shawn and Ruthe! We love you guys!

Love - Amy