Some Time Away

Christmas was great this year!

The last few weeks have been extremely busy and really fun for our family. Most of our Christmas break has been spent traveling. We are all really glad to be home and in our own space, especially to our bed! It's great visiting people, and we had a really good time with our family and friends, but Dorothy knows what she's talking about - there's no place like home!

Our first stop, after a terrible, long, disgusting car ride (I'll just say it involves vomit and Micah), was my parents' house, for a week. We spent a lot of time relaxing, and did a family Christmas celebration on Christmas day. My mom is so funny - she made my brother this great chef's hat, apron and oven mitt for Christmas. They're perfect for him because he loves to cook, and talks about food all the time! The hat is really great - all the gathering must have been a pain, but she did a great job.

Micah really enjoyed opening (and playing with) his presents - he just sat down  in the pile of wrapping paper and played with his new Legos!

I made my sister a jewelry holder for Christmas (and a purse gone wrong), and I think I'm going to make one for myself too. I used a picture frame, hot glued ribbon and gray felt onto it, and put nails on it to hold necklaces. I also bought a flower necklace from Laura at Along For The Ride, and included it so she'd be able to tell what it was!

Micah also got a haircut while we were in Everson - here's a before picture:

And an after: 

I think he looks so much older!

I also got to go wedding dress shopping with my newly-engaged sister (I won't include those pictures...), visit with my good friends from high school, and see a lot of friends. I didn't see everyone I'd like to though, it just seems like time goes so quickly - especially over the holidays!

Our next stop, after an uneventful car ride, was Eugene for a couple of days. We stayed with our college roommates and did some shopping, played Just Dance 3 on XBox, celebrated a very low-key (but fun!) New Years, and ate a LOT of sugar. It was really exciting that we also got to meet baby Madison for the first time!

We took Micah to a toy store in Eugene on Saturday morning. He was really happy in there, and walked all around the store picking things up, looking at them, and then moving on to the next.

Everyone got a chance to hold Madison - she was very sweet and very cuddly.

Here's a sign that Micah will be a great big brother. We set Madison on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her to cuddle for 15 minutes or so. He was so sweet to her!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! I'm excited to see what God has planned for 2012, whether or not it's the end of the world... I'm thinking it's not.

A Few Things, Unrelated

We started school two weeks ago, and I feel like we've been in a whirlwind ever since. I'm struggling to get everything done I'd like to, like keep up on housework, take care of Micah without being exhausted, and have a little time to relax. Mix those up with some stressful goings-on in my family, and it's been a busy, tiring few weeks. I'm looking forward to church this morning - I need a good reminder that God is in control.

I keep thinking of this verse, which I know I've shared before: Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." I need to be reminded of that - that God is in control, and His plans will prevail. Not only that, but His plans are good - no matter what.

Anyway, that wasn't the goal of this post - that's just a thought I had. It's free. I wanted to share a little about what we've been up to - we've gotten to have a little bit of fun in the midst of the craziness lately.

David and I went to Seattle for a night last weekend - we went to the Seattle Sounders v. Real Salt Lake game, then went to dinner and a movie in Bellevue. We left Micah with his Gram-B and Papa for the night, and it was nice to have time away, but we really missed him! On Sunday morning, we woke up at about 7:30, and while we took our time getting up and going, we returned to Hermiston pretty early and got to spend the rest of the day with our little buddy.

Right after the Sounders scored their first (and only) goal. The fans went crazy and threw a bunch of these streamers.
 I love how they were flying in the wind.

We had pretty good seats, behind the south goal. Even though we were up a ways we could still see really well.
Plus, I only paid $15 for both tickets - getting a great deal makes any seats become good seats.

I really enjoyed the game - I thought I'd like it alright, but I REALLY liked it!
I hope we can go to a Portland game too, sometime soon!

Last night, David, Micah and I went to a wedding of my good friend Jennifer, to Kevin, a youth pastor in town. It was beautiful, so much fun, and one of the nicest weddings I've ever been to! The ceremony was at a neighbor's house and the reception was in her parents' backyard. They had a photo booth, with props, and the three of us had a series of photos which quickly have become my favorite family photos yet! I'm hoping to figure out a way to incorporate them into the header of this little blog sometime soon.

Micah wore a bow tie that I whipped up just before we ran out the door. He's getting cuter and cuter every day. And he's getting to be more and more fun! I love that little boy so much - can you tell?

Micah and Me with my beautiful friend Emilee (left) and Jen, the beautiful bride!

God has really blessed us with good friends and family - and I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband in David! We're so happy and thankful to be able to celebrate the marriage of our friends, and to know that God has many, many great blessings ahead for them! This is such an exciting time in a relationship, and it makes me so happy and reminiscent to think back to our wedding three and a half years ago.

Another First For Micah and A Fun 'Weekend'

David, Micah and I spent part of last week at my parents' house, up near Bellingham. Because Micah was sick we had to go a day and a half late, so it was a short visit, but we had a great time!

Not only did we get to spend time with friends and family, but Micah got his first haircut! Here are some before, during and after pictures:

I miss those curls already!

We went to lunch with my good friends from high school, Jen, Katie, Kara and Stacey. We all lead different lives in different parts of the country - and world! - but it's interesting that we are all married. It was great to spend time with my friends, and to eat dinner at El Nopal (AKA Elmo Paul), where we spent a lot of time in high school. This was the first time in five years that we all had been together - because we don't live in town, I missed the get-together last year.

I love that we can all come together after a long time, and still be just as comfortable talking and joking around as we were back in our high school days. I meant to get a picture of all five of us together, but Jen had to leave a little earlier than the rest of us to go see some family. So, I just got four-fifths plus the two little guys, Micah and Noah.

Stacey, Me, Micah, Noah, Katie, and Kara

Micah also got his first birthday present, from his friend Noah. He was excited to open it up at the restaurant, but even more excited to play with it at my mom and dad's house! It's a little helicopter with four colored plastic balls, and he's been crawling all over our house with those balls - he's in love. Thanks Noah!

Also, Micah didn't wear the same shirt all weekend - I think I took a lot of these pictures on the same day!

Two Months Old

Wow, time flies! Micah is two months old on Sunday, just two days away! I can't believe how much he's grown and changed in such a short time. I was looking back at the first video I posted on here, what a difference! Some of the new things that Micah is doing:

* Sucking on his hand! He's found a new, free toy, which is always there. We recently discovered that sometimes when he's fussy, all we have to do is move his fist to his mouth, and he's happy!

* Talking all the time. Of course, he's not actually saying words, but he is saying consonants in his little sounds now.

* Got his first set of vaccination shots... what a bad evening that was. He was a little fussy in the afternoon, but anytime he was awake in the evening he screamed and screamed: even when he was eating.

* The last two nights he has slept from the time he went to sleep (9:00 or 10:00) until 5:00 in the morning, then back to sleep until 7:30 or 8:00! How nice for Mom to get extra sleep!

Micah (and David and I) got to go visit his Grandpa and Grandma Tevelde in Washington last weekend. It was a long trip, 7 hours each way, but he did really well! He slept almost the entire time that we were driving, and was quite a happy little guy during the visit.

He also got to meet his best friend (pre-selected by me and my good friend Katie), Noah. Noah is three months older than Micah, and was much more aware of Micah than Micah was of him, but we could tell that they're going to enjoy being best friends. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend trip:

Cuddling with Aunt Stephanie

And with Grandpa

His Grandma (my mom) and I got to give him a bath in the sink

Micah loved watching football and soccer with his daddy!

with his best friend Noah... Micah's asleep.

Micah slept most of the time we were visiting with Justin, Katie, and Noah. Then he cried when he woke up, and Noah wondered, "What are you doing?"

Summer is Here!

David and I had a busy couple of days last weekend, and I got behind on updating with the videos and pictures I wanted to share. So, it's only a few days later...

On Friday, our last official day of school, we had all of our students (minus the two graduated seniors) over for lunch, plus two of the parents. We ordered pizza from Dominos ( we ordered 10 thinking they'd eat a lot, and I'm still eating left overs, plus we have a whole pizza left in the refrigerator), and had fruit, veggies and brownies. We also filled up a pinata from Fiesta Foods and the kids got to take some whacks at it. They had never done a pinata before, and loved it! I had a good video of my kindergarten girls swinging at the pinata, but I couldn't get it to load. :( I'll keep trying and maybe soon I can post it.

Our good friends, Kayla and Aaron, were here Friday night until Saturday evening, with their little border collie, Benjamin Franklin. Once our dogs got acquainted with one another, they had a good time playing together. Benny is a year old and has a lot more energy than Maverick, the old-man 2-year old, but they ran and jumped around the yard a lot. We were even able to take them down to the nature trails at McNary Dam and let them swim in this stream area that was about 3 or 4 feet deep. It was a great visit with friends that we don't see nearly often enough!

Saturday was also my first baby shower! Marci put it on at our friend Felicia's house (it's newly remodeled and beautiful!) at 4:00, and a bunch of my friends were able to come. It was really a great time spent with friends, and I was so thankful that everyone had come to show they were excited about little Micah. He sure is going to be a well-loved little boy! I got some great gifts too, including a monitor, the diaper bag that I wanted so badly, many baby toiletries, toys, and supplies, and some very cute little clothes! David and I are so blessed to have great friends and family, and we're so thankful for them! I forgot to get out my camera at the shower... very typical, but Barb got some pictures luckily. :)

Kara and I, with Kirsten in the background. Kara made the great diaper cake on the table with the food. It had 95 disposable diapers in it, and some fun bath toys. On the top were some cute little onesies, some baby bath products and some more toys! :)

With Marci and Felicia, and Radar the kitten... he wasn't a shower gift unfortunately, but he sure was a sweet little kitty!

This is a picture of me with my cake, it's ice cream cake! My favorite! I got a little sunburned at the river...