More of My Favorite Ornaments

So I said that I would post some more of my favorite Christmas tree ornaments and I almost forgot. So here they are:

This one is from a friend of mine who is a missionary in Kenya. She was one of the girls in a Bible study I was a part of my first two years in college. That group of ladies has, and always will, a special place in my heart. I am awed at the work Tracy is doing in Kenya for God's kingdom and feel very blessed to call her friend. She has been there for 6 years so far. I can't remember what year she sent this but it has been on our tree ever since.

These next two ornaments are what we gave the guests at our wedding 14 years ago. My mom wrote our names and the date on each one by hand (thanks mom!). I am not sure how many people actually took one that night because we ended up having quite a few left over. In fact, about 90% of our first tree, a year later, was decorated in these "Kim & Dean" ornaments. A couple of years later, our small group had a white elephant gift exchange and one lucky person took home a big box full of them. Unfortunately, at the same party the next year we ended up getting them back. Now we just have these two so I am making sure they get stored carfully.

The boys get a new ornament every year from us and Dean's parents so there are a lot of memories on our tree. I limited myself to just picking one from each boy and actually found a couple that were from them instead. This cute little angel Jake is from 1999. A friend of mine, Shannon, had watched Jake for me one day and when I came to pick him up she gave me this sweet little guy telling me that Jake had made it for me. He is just too cute!

These next two pictures go together. This is an ornament that Austin made for us when he was in kidergarten. I have a few different hand print gifts from the boys that have similar poems with them but I will never get tired of seeing how cute and little their hands were once.

These are Griffen's ornaments that he got in 2004, his first Christmas, and 2005 (I think). I love these two because they sum him up at that age. He LOVED to jump in his doorway jumper and I even began calling him my Tigger. When he got to be two he still loved to jump around and really loved it when I would sing the Tigger song while he jumped. (The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs. Their bouncy, flouncy, trouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is [your] the only one. Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo)

The last ornament is one of about ten or so that my Grandma Mahlum made. They are all different shapes, sizes, and designs. I liked to watch her crochet as I was growing up and I enjoy getting these out every year and putting them on our tree because I know that they were made with lots and lots of love.

I Think We Got Some Snow!

Well after being a bit disappointed Wednesday morning when we only had MAYBE a trace of new snow instead of the inches upon inches that we were told was coming, the snow started to dump by about 10:30. This is right when I was getting Jake and Austin ready to go over to school (late start). Jake even asked if they would then call off school since it was now snowing so hard. Sorry, no getting out of it. Off they went and Griff and I watched the snow level grow outside.

On Wednesday morning, the small area where there is a dip in the snow on the railing was actually bare since someone had pushed the snow off there. When we woke up on Thursday, it was like this. I am still amazed at how much we have. Griffen has a bit of a hard time walking in it since it goes past his knees at times.

Dean giving Griff a little help down the hill.

Late Wednesday night the school district had already cancelled school for today and Dean decided that he wouldn't go to work so we had a whole day to play in the snow! The boys spent a lot of the morning out in the backyard sledding down our little hill. After a bit of a warming up and a little food we headed over to the school to tackle the big hill! It has been so great to see the boys get more adventurous this year. In previous years, they had a hard time even going down with us, but now both Jake and Austin are going all the way to the top and flying down the hill. Austin is even trying to go over some small jumps that other kids put in. Griffen even got more daring when we found him a place lower down where he wouldn't get run over by the big kids. That was until I messed up and didn't let go of the sled soon enough when he tried to run and jump on it. He did a great faceplant in the snow as his little body continued forward when the sled stayed put because I didn't let go. Oops! He wasn't too happy with me and was done with sledding at that point.

We ended our day with a Christmas party with our small group from church. We had yummy food and a very fun white elephant gift exchange. We love our small group. They are a great bunch of people and we have lots of fun together!

All six couples: the Palmers, the Kindlunds, the Pursleys, the Buhlers, us, and the Farrs.

Six families worth of kids. All 15 of them! (9 boys, 6 girls.)

On This Day Twenty Years Ago...

...I was getting ready for my first date. I know, you all are probably saying, "Wait a minute, I thought she couldn't date until she was sixteen. It hasn't been four months since her last anniversary post." Well you are correct, it hasn't been four months, but my mom and dad decided that they would allow me to go on my first date three months early. The Winter Ball at our school was on December 17, 1988 and my parents said that I could go as long as Dean came a little early to pick me up so that they could meet him.

My mom and I took a special trip up north to find my very first formal dress. We looked at a lot but found this blue one and I fell in love with it. Saturday night, my mom helped me get ready and Dean arrived about a half an hour before our dinner reservations. We exchanged Christmas presents and he got to know my parents a little and they got to know him a bit. We went to a "fancy" restaurant close to my house with Dean's best friend and his girlfriend then we were off to the dance. It was a fun evening capped off with dessert after with more friends. Who would have guessed that night that...



Six Years Later, on December 17, 1994....

We would be getting married! It honestly wasn't planned to be on the six year anniversary of our first date, it just was. We had gotten engaged almost two years before while we were living about two hours apart (a story I will save for THAT anniversary).


Our first intention was to both finish college and then have a couple of months to find jobs then get married. Well that put our wedding around August of 2005. After about 8 months, we both felt that the long engagement thing was getting rediculous so we started looking at our options. We were still at different colleges, I was at UW and Dean was in Ellensburg at Central, neither one of us wanted to be in Ellensburg or Seattle but we both liked the Bellingham area (Dean's sister and her husband lived here). So Dean looked into transfering and I looked into getting done early since I really did want to finish at UW. When we saw that I could get done a quarter early (two if I did a summer quarter) we picked two dates. One in March and the only one really an option in December (the 17th). The next step was to ask my parents about summer school. When mom found out that we wanted to get married sooner, she was really excited about a Christmas wedding. (Summer school here I come!)

All dressed and ready to go!

The last few week before the wedding were crazy as I finished up my classes, started packing up things at my apartment, and finished wedding details. Any time poor Dean came to Seattle, I sent him back with whatever I could live without for my remaining time there.



Anyway, The Big Day finally arrived. I was so excited and didn't think I was nervous until I was finally able to see Dean. He came in to "see" me for the first time and then everyone gave us a few minutes to be alone. That few minutes calmed my jitters that I didn't even know I had. It was the best day! I got to marry my best friend. The one I had waited to marry for six years. And now, after three and a half years of long distance relationship, we were going to be together for the rest of our lives. (what an adjustment that was, to now be living under the same roof after three and a half years of living two hours apart).

Entering as a single woman.

Leaving as husband and wife!

I feel so blessed to have Dean as my husband. He truly is my best friend and is an amazing daddy to his boys. He works so hard for us and I really, really appreciate him! Happy Anniversary Babe! I Love You!



If you missed any of the other anniversary posts they are:

here - part one

here - part two

here - part three

Snow, Snow, Snow!

The snow finally arrived! We had heard that we should get snow Friday night, then Saturday...but then nothing. Finally, Saturday evening little snowflakes began to fall and then fell faster and faster. When we woke up this morning we had a good four or five inches. We made our way to church and then stopped to get donuts on the way home. After our treats, we hauled out the bin of snow clothes and spent what seemed like forever getting the boys ready to play outside. Thankfully they satyed out log enough to make all the prep time worth it. It was very dry snow so not the best for snowballs or snowmen but the boys had fun anyway.

Jake did make one snowball that flew.

Austin's favorite snow activities is eating it.

Griffen just likes being out in it. He is starting to like the taste like Austin.

Jake and Austin went sledding across the street for quite awhile and had a blast. Poor little Griff is dealing with a very stuffy nose and cough so he only went out for a bit in the backyard and then opted to saty in the house with mom and watch Christmas movies.

Another bonus of where we live... a great hill for sledding right across the street at the school.

Dean and I got a little adventure after he returned fro the store. Our garage door broke and we had to fight to get it back into its track. All I have to say is...it is COLD out there.

I was hoping to get a better picture of our house in the snow with the lights but no such luck. This is after we got the door back in its track (not an easy task) we still aren't sure exactly what happened but hope that it is fixed.

The Homestudy is Complete!

As I stated before, this process seems to be speeding by. We got a call yesterday (Tuesday) from the social worker doing our homestudy. She said that all of the temporary workers (her included) had their time shortened again and she would be done working by the end of the week. She then asked if she could come today to finish her last visit for the homestudy.

So she arrived at 3:00 today and we went over our personal history packets that we had given her last time. She had a few questions about Dean's (apparently men are a little less expressive with their writing than women). She also got a chance to see Jake, even though he wanted to act very shy. At one point in our conversation, she mentioned that she should have thought of us yesterday because there were three little girls at the office that they were looking to place. One, a little baby no older that a month old was actually placed with a family just north of us who she had just finished their homestudy. It once again made me realize just how soon we could have a little one here.

As she left, she said that as far as getting our license goes we just need to have a visit from a licenser who will be looking at the house to make sure that we are up to their codes. Then she said as far as the adoption end of the process we are good to go! Now I am praying more fervently that God will make it really clear what child we are to accept. I am so thankful that He knows me and knows what a slow-to-hear person I am and that I tend to need a very obvious smack in the head to see what He is pointing out to me. I will rest in the knowledge that my Heavenly Father knows me sooooooo well. I am also thankful for our amazing friends (you) and for your prayers!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We went on our annual Christmas tree hunt today. They boys got out of school early so we headed out as soon as Dean got home from work. We had a bit of a rough start as we had a VERY grumpy ten year old. We finally got him out to the truck and off we went. Friends of our told us about a farm that had pretty good prices, so after almost 13 years we changed tree farms. I think we made a good choice as we got a Noble-like (I can't remember the exact kind) for less than we would've gotten a Douglas at the old farm. The boys had a good time wandering through the trees and trying to find THE tree (even Jake perked up and enjoyed himself).

Austin and Griff did a happy dance when we found THE tree.

Strong boys carrying the tree.

While we were looking, we met an older couple who wondered out loud if they were going to need to go back to the front of the farm to get help carrying their tree. So after we got our tree loaded, Dean and Jake headed back out to find them. They did and carried the tree to their car. As they did, the gentleman told Dean how he had had a stroke last spring and was so thankful for the people who have stepped up to help them with things (a neighbor mowed their lawn, Dean helped with the tree, etc.) He even invited us to their open house Christmas party on Sunday. He said that they would have their tree up with ornaments from the 1980's all the way back to the 1880's. They both were so sweet.

Jake in a MUCH better mood.

Our Christmas adventure continued when we came home as we began to decorate the tree. I tested each strand of lights before putting them up and all worked fine. When I got the tree 3/4 of the way done and decided to test them again...only half of one strand lit up! When Dean tried to fix them, they all went out. So I headed to the store to get new ones and of course, the only choice was red. They did have some big clear lights so we now have a mix of big clear and small red lights on the tree. I think I actually really like it. The Christmas spirit returned once the boys started to put their ornaments on the tree and were giggling the whole time.

Our pretty tree!

So my cousin Dawn, did a post on her blog about some of her favorite ornaments and I thought that was a great idea so I am going to try it too. After putting up all of ours, I realized how hard this is going to be. So I pick a couple older ones to post today and will do more in the next couple of weeks.

This is an ornament that my parents bought for me when I was little. She is so cute!

This is an another ornament that my parents bought for me when I was little. The date on this one was 1978, so I was five years old.

This sweet angel was a gift from a family who's kiddo was in my classroom when I worked at Kindercare. She is just so cute and reminds me of the cuties that I used to worked with (they are all now in high school!)

Foster Liscence Update

Just a quick note to update you all on our journey toward foster parenting and adoption. We had another home visit from a social worker yesterday (Tuesday). When she scheduled this meeting she had mentioned that she would want to talk with the boys and that she was wanting to "finish up" our home study. Well, she arrived just after 2:00 and went over a couple of worksheets that she needed done (these are actually for the adoption end of the process). She collected the rest of our paperwork that we finished up the night before and asked us a few more questions. While Dean went to get Austin from school, she looked around the house to see where we are planning on putting the newest kiddo. Then after a little bit more conversation she left. She told us that she might come back one more time and that our actual liscensor would come for a visit which is when I assume they will be checking to make sure that we have everything up to their codes. So, once again it feels like we are sailing through this process and who knows what will happen next. Thank you to all who are praying, we so appreciate all the prayers!