Babies, Babies

My friend Chris and I have known each other since 1st grade and have been fortunate enough to stay friends the whole time. We spent alot of our teenage years together, playing basketball outside in our neighborhood. We used to talk about the days of "growing up" and getting married and having families. It's crazy to think we're entering that stage with all of our friends - many of our close friends have had or are having babies.
Chris and Tanya just welcomed their baby girl, Natalie Taya Self into the world 3 weeks ago October 29, 2009.
She's SO beautiful - and I'm not one to think that newborns are the best looking...but she is ADORABLE, so sweet, so perfect, and so tiny!!
Here she is...





Then my best friend from 2nd grade, Lauren (again so fortunate to have close friends from so many years ago!) and her husband Rich are expecting their first child in March. Here are some pictures of us before church with her belly poking out - Samson Isaiah Mullen....can't wait to meet him. I'm doing her photo shoot in the hospital after she delivers, so I'll be posting lots of those pics.

Kit Kat Cake

So I'm not much of a creative cake maker, but I saw this cake on someone's blog about a year ago and was determined to make it...I made it for my sister-in-law's birthday and I think it turned out pretty nice. My mom pre-made the cake part, we cut it in half, put vanilla frosting in between the layers, and here's how it turned out - Happy birthday Mandie.

Cancer Sucks...

It's been a while since I've truly blogged, I guess, because there is A LOT going on in my life, some of that will come later...but what I can blog about right now is my dad. My dad lives in Eureka California, and was diagnosed 2.5 years go with colon cancer. When I got that phone call, it's like my heart sunk. "Cancer...? That means my dad is going to die." That's what went through my head...quickly followed by lots of prayers and much more hope. Just hearing that word however, makes anyone's heart stop. Shortly after the diagnosis, my dad completed 6 months of chemo and radiation, to which the doctors were amazed at how much the mass had shrunk and they were able to remove the cancer. It was a long journey for my dad, of losing his hair, being really sick, never regaining complete feeling in his fingers, and feeling like he could never go through that again. After all of that, he's been cancer free for 2.5 years. In the last 2.5 years, my relationship with my dad has changed tremendously!! We are closer than we've ever been. I believe with every ounce of my soul that God used my dad's cancer for me to have some really good and honest talks with my dad. We are different now, I feel like a daddy's girl, and never felt like I was before all of this. I am so thankful for the relationship we have today because of the phone call 2.5 years ago.

Just recently in October, a test came back abnormal for him. His numbers were double what they should be. He went in for some screenings and testings and they have found cancer in his liver and lung. This was a huge blow. I have a friend who just lost her mom to cancer, so once again, this news hit very hard...actually harder this time than last. Finding cancer in two new spots is not the greatest news. My dad sounded defeated on the phone, this was not the news he was hoping for, or any of us were hoping for, for that matter. I have been overwhelmed with emotions in the last few weeks and praying all day long. My dad is strong, and has one of the best attitudes I've met in a person....infact, when he went in for his first treatment of chemo this time around the staff was so excited to see him again (aside from the fact that seeing him again meant the cancer was back), but they were thrilled to be in his presence again and he came in there saying "Ok you guys - you didn't get it all last time and now I gotta come in here again, so come on! You got one more chance to get it right!" in the most fun loving voice you can imagine - they all laughed!!!
When he was there last time, he would refer to his chemo "shot" as "taking a shot" like of whiskey, so when he was cancer free, they sent him home with a whole bottle of Jack Daniels for many more "shots" in the absense of needing treatment anymore... :-)
He had all of them over to this club in Eureka to celebrate and thanked them!
They were sad to see him back because of what it means...but happy to have his attitude and personality back in there every other week.
He began chemo last Monday and will do 3 months of very intense chemo every other week. They will do a scan mid way (so mid December) to see if the masses are shrinking, we're praying that they are!!!! Please join me in prayer!
After his first bout of Chemo, he didn't do too well but we're hoping it was because he was also preparing for his colonoscopy which all the meds you have to take for that would make anyone sick. He's doing better today and has kept all of his foods down for the past day. Cancer sucks, this situation sucks...that's pretty much how I feel about it right now, but that small core of me that knows that God works all situations for his glory and for the good...still hard to see in the midst of concern, frustration, anger, sorrow and worry.
I'll keep everyone posted, but if you would please pray for him (Chris) and my step mom Paulette, who will be by his side through all this, I'd deeply appreciate it.
We're hoping to visit him sometime around Christmas, as long as we're all healthy. We don't want to make him sick while going through chemo.

Thanks for listening...sorry I've been a bad blogger. I'll get better.

As Christmas Season is coming, please remember....

*Twas the month before Christmas*
*When all through our land,*
*Not a Christian was praying*
*Nor taking a stand.*
*See the PC Police had taken away,*
*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*
*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*
*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*
*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*
* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*
*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*
*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*
*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*
*Something was changing, something quite odd! *
*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*
*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*
*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*
* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*
*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*
*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*
*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*
*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*
*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*
*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*
*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*
*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*
*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*
* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*
*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*
*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*
*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*
*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*
*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*
*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,not Happy Holiday !*

Please, all Christians join together and
wish everyone you meet during the holidays a
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christ is ¡The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!

My loves...

I LOVE THESE TWO!!!! Scott and I are coming up on our 4 year anniversary and I couldn't love him more!!! These are truly the loves of my life!

Bad Dog

Tubbs is SO good at home, we leave him out of his cage most days, he lays on the couch - just like this:


Every once in a while, he must get bored, and finds our pillows, or anything with stuffing in them....and I come home to this:

BAD DOG!

Scott's playing Soccer

I've known Scott for over 6 years now, and never once have I seen him play soccer. One day he comes to me and tells me he's going to play on a soccer league with some friends of his.
Turns out, he hasn't played since he was 12 - with his friend Brian Rush, who is also on the new team now.
Scott is a pretty good player though. He has scored a goal in every game he's played! I'm very proud! It's funny to see him play soccer, and funny for people to hear he's playing soccer because everyone has only known him to play football.
Here are some action shots:

Brian's little girl, Magnolia

Matching curls...

Catch up

I figured I'd use some of this time to catch up on my blog.
I feel like summer has flown by, yet we haven't done alot - but we've been SUPER busy. Ok, I guess we have done a lot. :-) I think I've finally come to grips that summer is over. Leaves are beginning to change, there is more crisp in the air and the sun definitely isn't as hot.

Where should I start?
After the 4th of July - Scott and I took a road trip to visit my dad and Paulette down in Erueka Ca. On our way, I got to visit a cousin that I have never met before. We had such a great time. I feel like we've known each other for years! She's fantastic!

After a quick visit with them - we headed down to Eureka, to camp for 3 days with my dad.
We always have dinner with the whole family when we're in town - and it's usually tacos! :-)
Here is the whole family - or most of them anyways.

Then we headed to the ranch for a little R&R. Tubbs LOVES camping - I think cause he gets to sleep in our tent, and hog all the blankets. He was great - and everyone there loved him. It was good to see my dad and Paulette and just relax.
Here are some pics of our time while were there.

Tubbs with something cute stuck to his chin - he enjoyed getting dirty and "roughing it."

Of course many nights with a great fire!

Tubbs after a good swim in the water

Paulette, Dad and me on top of the hill!

This was on the way back. Tubbs was supposed to be in the back of our car, however, I think he just wanted to be close, and was so tired, he passed out half way over the seat on top of the cooler! Ha, silly boy.

We have had such an amazing summer weather wise - we had over 100 degree weather here while Scott's mom, Marilyn and his sister Dana were up. It was awesome, but also SMOKIN hot. We would just sweat just sitting here in our house. I'll have to remember this when I'm sitting here FREEZING in the winter.
Here are some pictures from that week - I'll explain them, and then I'll post some pics from Scott's oldest sister's baby shower.

Scott and Dana at some of her friends place on the Nooksack River.

Me, sweating, putting a few pages together for Lindsay's "Letters of Love" baby book idea that Dana had. If any of you have any friends that are having babies, I recommend this. Dana had all of Lindsay's family and friend write her a letter encouraging her about motherhood. They were all so sweet and the book turned out great!

The family - Marilyn, Lindsay, Dana, Scott and Geoff - Fairhaven, Wa.

One of the last days Dana was here, we borrowed some Kayak's from Firwood and Kayaked around the Island and over the South Cove. It was a sunny, hot beautiful afternoon. I LOVE Lake Whatcom!

CHEESE!

One of the last major events of the summer, was Lindsay's long awaited baby shower. Her and Geoff have been living in England for the past 3 years. Lindsay is due with...we are 60% sure (the ultrasounds have been tricky) a Boy in October. We're SO thrilled for them!! We loved seeing and touching her baby bump! Here are some pics from her baby shower - - - that was on a day that it was over 100 degrees with no air conditioning. It was HOT. She did great though.

Proud mom with daughter - saying hello to grand-baby!

SIBLINGS!!!

Lindsay looking gorgeous during the "Name the Chocolate poop Diaper Game!"

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Lindsay shedding a few hormonal tears while seeing the beautiful painting her mom had created for her - Marilyn, it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

Lindsay, if you read this - you are the most beautiful expecting women I've ever seen. You have such amazing strength, courage, and compassion. I cannot WAIT to meet this little peanut! We are so excited for you guys - we wish we all lived closer, but we know that we will be close in our hearts no matter the physical distance. I can't wait to see you as a mother, and Geoff as a father. We are praying for Peanut and his/her big arrival! We love you!!

Remembering a Friend....

My dear sweet dog Harley was put down this morning at about 8:45am. My mom called me and said it was time for him to go. He wasn't eating and was in pain, and just wasn't himself. I'm heart broken, yet feel at peace knowing he is out of pain and free now.
I honestly don't know what happens to animals, but I know the bond that I feel with animals, and I want to believe it's for a reason. I know God created them, and they don't have souls, but maybe it's just because they don't need to choose or believe in Jesus, maybe they just get a free ticket in. Animals are so precious, even though their lives may be long, they are just never long enough. :-(
I'm really sad today...I'll miss Harley, but glad he's not suffering anymore. I got him when I was 10 years old. I still remember the day. We picked him out because he had light fur with dark little ears. He was a hyper dog almost all the way until his last days....we have many memories with him.
Here are some pics:

Update

I will update our blog this weekend. We have been busy with family, HEAT WAVES, baby showers, and weddings. :-)
Be back soon!

Promoted Already

So I should update everyone and tell you that in just one short week, Scott was up for a job out at BP - the refinery. BP contracts out to Dawson - so he's still working for Dawson, just at BP. Make sense? :-) He interviewed and he got that job!! He'll start in about two weeks and the pay is $7 more an hour than what they first hired him at - last week. We feel so blessed, and excited.
Scott works so hard and has such great work ethic, he has really put in his time.
He will be the "Gate Keeper" - this person is in charge of checking every truck that enters for anything that could be fined - and we're talking $50k fines. It's a big deal. He'll go through a list of things to look at and look for, and sign them off. He'll also help unload trucks if they need it etc.
He'll work four 10 hour days with some overtime. Which is just what he wanted.
This is just fantastic and we're really excited.
If you guys know our whole story - you know how hard Scott has worked and even working the not so glamorous jobs (Petsmart, church Janitor, etc) just to make ends meet.
I'm so proud of him!

New Beginnings Once Again

Good morning all.
Well, we just returned from a 5 day trip down to California to visit my dad and family down there. It was great. I can blog more about it later and post some pics.
BUT - There is new news.
Scott got a new job!!! He has been working at our church with me, doing maintenance and coffee on the weekends for a "survival job" after he was laid off at Ranch House Doors this winter. This job has been great and has paid our bills, but we've been looking for something else that's more "career" oriented for Scott.
Thanks to a connection from a woman I used to work with here at the church, her husband got him in for an interview at DAWSON Construction. This company is based out of Bellingham and Alaska and does huge construction projects (College buildings, buildings at the refinery, Hospitals, etc). They have done well through the "economic" times we're going through and have very high expectations of their employees.
Scott will start out for the first months in the supplies yard stocking all of the rigs and trucks that will go out with proper supplies. He'll do this until he gets a feel of the company and then they will place him according to his strengths and skills.
This should be a great job, there is tons of room to move around in the company, and there are people working there who have been there for 25 to 40 years. Very low turnover.
So pray it all works out and that this is a steady permanent job until the Lord brings along something better if he chooses.
We are excited.

Happy 15th Birthday to my dog Harley!