Remembering

With everything that has been going on in life I need to take a minute and pay my respects to all those who are currently in my life and those who have come and gone. When September 11th comes along it always makes me think of what is really important in life and it's not how much you make, what kind of house you live in or even what kind of car you drive. It's your family, your friends, your morals and values. Becoming a mom has opened my eyes to things bigger then just myself and I thank God everyday for the opportunities presented to me.

So THANK YOU. Thank you to all my friends and family for being in my life, teaching me things, and making me the person I am today and the better person I want to be for tomorrow... and thank you to our service men and women and to those who make the ultimate sacrifice to protect us.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
JFK

Weekend Roundup : Celebrating Charlie

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast,

it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil

but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts,

always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails

1 Corinthians 13:4 

... And Love is what Charlie always gave us... friends, family & strangers I'm sure...

This past weekend was such an emotional roller coaster. The girls headed to Bend to celebrate Charlie and I left Jarrod with Brayden for the first time overnight. 

Charlie's celebration of life was beautiful. It was amazing to see how many lives Charlie touched and how many family members and friends were there to honor his life. It's crazy to think what an impact one person can have on so many people. From the moment you walked into the celebration you could feel the sorrow, the tears, the sadness, but most importantly the love. As the tears flow, the memories flood back - the hours of arm & hand tickles (thanks for reminding of the memory Mal), sleepovers, wrestling, beer pong, adventures and much more. I hate seeing people I love hurt, grieving the loss of Charlie. I hated the fact that we were there for this and his mom was 100% right when she said we should all have been there for his wedding. We need to take this tragedy and never forget... take the time to love one another, smile just because and like Sean said live the "Charlie Way"... we owe it to Charlie.

An amazing part of the night happened at the end when we all wrote on balloons... little notes to send to Charlie and we let them go when it was dark... I have no doubt Charlie was there to read them all. I also have no doubt Charlie was on the field as the BEAVERS won the football game he was the 12th man for sure (keep that up buddy)! 

My friend Alyssa did an amazing tribute to Charlie as well... you can read her blog post here!

While the girls were in Bend, Brayden got to stay with his dad, grandma, grandpa and uncle Jordan for the weekend (the first time leaving him over night) I did pretty well... it doesn't look like  he missed me much! 

Throwback Thursday : funniest video / 04/05 college years

For Throwback Thursday I have finally decided to post one of the funniest videos I've ever seen. I hope it's not JUST funny to me! Here is the back story : When we were a freshman in college (Alyssa and I), living in the Oregon State dorms we used to "study" in our rooms. My roommate was one of my very best friends Alyssa and we have shared some crazy adventures together. Anyway, back to the story... we used to get board easily while studying (I'm sure all of you can relate)... our beds were on stilts because our room was so small we needed more room and in order to have more storage, we made our beds pretty tall... I would say a good 3-5 feet off the ground... While Alyssa was on her bed and I on mine, she had dropped the paper we were studying from and instead of getting off the bed (using the ladder on the left side) she decided to hang over the bed and TRY to grab it... by some random act of impulse I grabbed my camera and was video taping her and captured the funniest thing ever. Take a look for yourself...

I would also like to add the more times you watch it, the funnier it gets. We have laughed at this video for over 8 years now!  

Here are some pictures of us that year as well...

Our super clean dorm room... this is pretty much what it ALWAYS looked like... haha

I will never forget all these car rides... 

Weekend Roundup : Park, Fair, Family Time & Nike

Happy Labor Day weekend friends! We hope everyone had an amazing weekend. Here is a quick recap of our fun and adventurous weekend...

Friday: We decided to have a picnic at a new park over by our house. We loaded up, Chipotle take-out for dinner and enjoyed the summer weather, even though there was a pesky bee that wouldn't leave us alone. It was such a good way to start off the long weekend!

Saturday : We decided to stay around the house, relax, pick up the house and hang out. It was very relaxing and so enjoyable! We also watched a lot of college football. I forgot to mention on Friday we got our TV back. Jarrod and I haven't had TV (cable or satellite) in over a year, but Jarrod REALLY wanted it for football season so we got it back :) 

Sunday : After Church we headed to the Oregon State Fair and Meagan and Jordan came too! Before we got there though, Jarrod got pulled over for speeding just as we turned out of the driveway... LUCKILY the officer was in a good mood and only gave us a warning... (boy, was that close - 42 in a 25 - double fine for construction zone)! After that, we had a fun time walking around the fair... people watching, eating, drinking, animal seeing, and eating some more! It turned out to be a really fun day. 

Monday : We all headed to the Nike employee store and did some shopping! Our super cool neighbors gave us some passes and we always spend too much money when go. We used to joke all the time that when Jarrod worked at Nike that we would spend his WHOLE paycheck at the Nike store. After we were done shopping we had a yummy lunch and said "farewell" to Uncle Jordan and Aunt Meagan! 

Fun weekend indeed... good family fun! 

1st Bloody Nose ;(

On Friday when the Direct TV guy was here installing our new system, Brayden got his very first bloody nose (poor baby boy). We were outside standing on the sidewalk watching the TV guy climb on our roof when Brayden took a face-plant on the sidewalk. He still doesn't have a very quick reaction time to catch himself as he falls... and the blood started flowing. We quickly came inside and got all cleaned up. There wasn't too much crying and there isn't much chocolate chips can't fix... even if it's at 9:00 in the morning! So, there you have it... one bloody nose down and I have a strange feeling this is ONLY the beginning of a common occurrence. 

Don't forget Santa...

As I was looking at one of my very favorite websites Pinterest the other night, I ran across this very cute letter that a mom wrote to her child about the "real" Santa. I wanted to blog about it for a couple reasons, 1) I don't want to forget about it when the time comes to explain Santa to Brayden and 2) I love how the letter is written and this is how I want Brayden to think of Christmas forever.

Dear Brayden,

Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?”

I know you’ve wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I’ve had to give it careful thought to know just what to say.

The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa.

I am the person who fills your stockings with presents, though. I also choose and wrap the presents under the tree, the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (And yes, Daddy helps, too.)

I imagine you will someday do this for your children, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sit under the tree, their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can’t see or touch.

It’s a big job, and it’s an important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand. Here, I am talking about love and God, that great power that will light your life from the inside out, even during its darkest, coldest moments.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.

With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no. I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.

I love you and I always will.

Mama

Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen? Is it bad that I'm looking forward to the day I get to give this to him?... Hopefully it won't be for many, many years though!

Weekend Roundup : Mom and Son Adventures!

I'm pretty sure this last weekend was the one weekend a year Jarrod looks forward to... and I know it's really the start of... you guessed it, FOOTBALL season! The boys had their annual Fantasy Football draft. This year they decided to head to Lost Lake for a 3 day camping adventure (pictures to come). 

What did this mean for Brayden and I? Shopping adventures and park adventures too! We had so much fun while daddy was away. We read books, ate junk food, went shopping, played and did A Lot of airplane watching! We sure had fun and I know Jarrod enjoyed his time with the boys. I didn't get any crazy stories this year about things they did... which only means one thing, their all getting OLD... in bed early and starting to mellow out. It was a fun weekend for all 3 of us that's for sure!