"Her children rise up and call her blessed..."

I'm so glad God gave us His Word for a so many reasons, and at this particular time, He is the only one who had words to describe how our family feels at the loss of our dear Grandma. Proverbs 31:28, will be on the program at her funeral this week, and they couldn't have chosen a more perfect verse.

We have too many wonderful memories, and we were so blessed to have her for such a great long time, even if we are so sad to see her go. The thought that has been pressing on me is that, 'We grieve as much as we loved.' I try not to be sad because I know how happy Grandma is to meet her Savior! She toiled long to make sure her family knew Jesus and how much she loved Him. What a legacy of love she left for all of us.

Here she is last Christmas, in a photo Michele captured so beautifully, with our kiddos. I don't know if anything brought her more joy than her Jesus and her precious family...if there was, she surely never let us know about it. We were so blessed to call her Grandma.





 



Night Skiing

We have had a chance to ski a couple of times this winter. The girls are getting so good at it! One special trip was to meet Amas, Cheridy and Brooke at Mt. Hood for night skiing. Apparently, it's the 'Largest Night Skiing Area in America'! This is where that reflective strip on Lauren's ski pants comes in handy. (They were purchased in Germany before we left...all outwear tends to have reflective strips.) 

Here's Ali warming herself inside. The girls were beat - the night skiing goes until 11pm!

January Photos

As I finally sit to blog, I found on my camera only pictures that Ali or Lauren had taken over the last 2 months! I'm sorry for my lack of Christmas pictures or, for that matter, anything other than puppy photos to report. Although, he is pretty cute and charming.

He's getting a little shaggy and we'll need to have him groomed sometime soon. But, we kinda like the disheveled look. :) The only time he snuggles well is when he's tired...

We love this picture because of the position of the ears!! It looks like he's about to take flight!

This was because he got ahold of Ali's plastic noise-maker that looks like big lips. We couldn't capture him in the perfect pose, but it was funny!

He's most sad in the morning after the girls get on the bus. Me too. So, we help eachother - he wants to be on my lap as I check email and do my study.

His favorite toy is Mr. Fox so it was only appropriate he be photoed with him before he's torn to bits. :)

Up next, some people photos. :)

Sankt Nikolaus Tag

Well...there went November. :)


It was a LOVELY, wonderful month...full of firsts and special occasions. We are very thankful, indeed. Today is St. Nikolaus Day here at the Long house, and in Europe. I love this tradition, and it has been so fun, because the last 2 years I've been asked to speak to Ali's class on the holiday. They are studying different countries at the moment, so they wanted to hear about Ali's special 'German' holiday tradition. This morning the girls found their boots, filled up with goodies, waiting for them by the door. :)

Today is also the one-month anniversary of Lauren's baptism! She wanted to sign up for the baptism class our church was having, and then she was just-in-time for the November baptisms. It was a great day, and I recorded it, but blogger will not let me upload the video. She gave her testimony, and even though she said she was nervous, she did a great job.

ALL of November...well, up until the 18th...Corey and I were keeping a secret. A big one. Ali was going to get a PUPPY for her birthday. Oh my.

It all started mid-October. Ali has been asking and asking for a dog since we moved in to the house. Then it was always about not having a yard, but now that we have a yard, she was really dialing it up. We told her we were still waiting for the perfect puppy and we'd just have to see. Well, her friend Chloe got a new puppy and we went to meet her. Ali fell in love with her puppy and asked, could she please, just have one like Chloe's? Well, after asking her dad about the breed, and hearing how much they loved her...we thought maybe! BUT, then he said, she was $500. Um. No. Not today.

I remembered that my cousin Jake had pictures on Facebook of puppies they'd had at their house. So, I started scrolling through the pictures and lo and behold...they were the SAME breed as Chloe's. I emailed Jake, hoping they still had the puppies, and that maybe he'd have some kind of family discount. ;) Sure enough...we had our choice of puppies, and for us...FREE. AND, this is the kicker...the puppies would be weaned and be able to be picked up on Ali's birthday. How cool.

So, we kept it a secret and on Ali's birthday we went to pick up 'Cash'. Now, all the puppies were named after country music legends...ours was Johnny Cash, and with the girls' approval, we shortened it to 'Cash. Ali's reaction was priceless...I think shocked into silence. She couldn't believe it. The best part was telling the whole story, how he was the perfect puppy for us.

 And, as a HUGE bonus...Cheridy, Amas and Brooke were able to get Cash's sister, Holly (aka Holly Williams). So, the girls are all about puppies each time they chat on Skype...which has been daily. :) It will be a fun, fun Christmas watching brother and sister meet up again. ;)

October in Fast Forward

Well, we'll just skip on down to Halloween, and lookie there, I'm all caught up. :) Corey did have a birthday in October, but he spent it in Germany and it seemed the month was over before it started!

The girls were invited to FOUR Halloween parties this year! I'm not a huge fan of the holiday, but we did narrow it down to 2 parties. Lauren, who no longer enjoys dressing up so much, chose to be a 'cowgirl' for the first party at our neighbor's house on Saturday. Ali stayed true to the original plan and went as Carrie Ingalls...even though she was without a Laura Ingalls. :)

Lauren got more into the "Little House" spirit on Halloween day. We visited my grandma at the hospital before heading to Jeff and Michele's to trick-or-treat. I think my grandma liked seeing the bonnets and smiling girls. :)

Then it was time for our second-annual trick-or-treating with the cousins! We like heading over to Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Tom's neighborhood and making the rounds. Here's the crew...An Iceblue Ninja, Carrie Ingalls, Laura Ingalls, and a beautiful witch.

Jeff and Michele's yard makes for some great photos!

Life is good.
The girls gained lots of candy that we're working on each day to finish up. :)

Landscaping Extravaganza

Oh dear. September was the month of sun-up-to-sun-down, and then some, landscaping. I remember so vividly while looking for houses while we were still in Germany, that I wanted a finished house with a finished yard. I didn't win...so therefore, we once again, were landscaping.

A little more effort for this one...being on the side of the hill, we were all about the retaining walls. 4 to be exact + stairs + sprinkler system = a LOT of work for Corey. He's just such a perfectionist and wants it done right the first time...which I love, but poor guy never had a break and was at it for a looong time.

A view of our new front steps...

Corey and I hired a company to put in the 2 boulder retaining walls in the back, and the smaller boulder wall in the front. But, he and our neighbor worked together to put the one in that runs in between our properties, as the yards are not even. They did a wonderful job.

A view of the back yard...steps!

He was so busy at work that he had to miss our visit across the mountains for my sweet friend Erica's wedding. The girls and I went and had a fun time catching up with my college friends.The girls danced and danced and I got to talk and talk with my friend Katie, who I hadn't seen in way too long! I don't have a photo with her! Here's a photo she took of us... man, you can tell I'm in Seattle when my hair is flat. :)

Thanks Corey for all your hard work, I know you do it for us! We love it!

Labor Day Camping Trip

We don't normally camp on the big holiday weekends, but Corey was desperate to fit in a camping trip with our girls and that was the last weekend left! So, Corey enlisted our friends - The James' - and the guys took care of everything. The first night, as I still had the twins, I stayed behind and went out with Becky the next afternoon.

Fishing was the big attraction for the kids. That, and boating. If they weren't boating, they were attempting to fish...here is a shot of Patrick and Lauren...

Unfortunately, fishing was also a cause of great frustration for both the men and the kiddos. Case in point - the fishing line...

But, overall, the guys did great and took care of us all. All the kids had a great time with the dads in charge... lots of kid-food, dirt and bare minimum personal hygiene.

I laughed out loud as we got into the truck to go home on Monday and Lauren states, "My hair is atrocious!" And yes. It was.