Christmas Eve seafood-fest . . . Abby's favorite food is shrimp!
The Nativity - the girl's called it "the activity" and have wanted to do it every day. Justin is being a good sport under that blanket.
Daddy and his girl Christmas morning. The girls were so excited this year!
Reading the new Christmas book. Notice the stuffed snakes, that was the one thing they asked Santa for this year. They are so funny!
Can you tell she is pretty stoked about the snake. . .After a long break from computers, phones, e-mails, blogging, dishes, and cooking, we are back to the real life! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! We had such a great time in Utah for Christmas this year. We played hard, enjoyed the snow, ate a ton and enjoyed ourselves so much that it was hard to come back. Here are a few of the highlights:
A little bit of sisterly Christmas love!
Decorating cookies . . . always the girl's favorite part of Christmas!
Lots of Christmas Eve snow!
A "two-horse" open sleigh ride to see the reindeer (elk) at Hardware Ranch.
Always the animal lover, Abby had to pet the horses before we left.
My fabulous brother and sister-in-law were in town this weekend and Jill took some family pics for us. Jill is a super photographer, her website is: www.jillynphotography.com so you should check her out.
We hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I would love to post pictures of ours but since our camera is still broken . . . I will just tell you how great it was. We were lucky enough to have my brother and sister-in-law and their adorable daughter in town from Utah. It has been a lot of fun and was my first time doing Thanksgiving dinner all on my own. Justin even got off of work early and was able to join us for dinner, so we had a lot to be grateful for. Another wonderful year, we are happy and healthy and couldn't be more thankful for our family and friends.
Thanks for all the great posts about the special, meaningful things you're thankful for. They've reminded me just how thankful I am for.......hot pockets.
Grandparents! I have to say that I think Abby and Emma lucked out with the BEST 2 sets of grandparents in the world! Even though they don't get to see them very often, they think and talk about them all the time. I am thankful for the wonderful influence they are on my children (and us too, of course). Abby is constantly drawing pictures of her with her grandmas and grandpas. What a blessing family is! I am thankful for my family - love you all!
Abby and Grandma Wilkinson "getting pretty".
Gwompa and Emma at the Logan Temple.
Grandpa T. and Abby making a run for it in Samoa.
Emma just loving her Grandma T. in Samoa - sorry you're sideways mom!
Diversity! I am so thankful that we are all so different. I've been so blessed to be able to visit a lot of different places and meet people from every walk of life. It has taught me to really appreciate our differences. (And has created a dangerous need to travel.) Living in San Francisco for 4 years was such a great experience because of the amazing diversity right there in that city. I'm grateful for all of the things that I have learned from others, thank you!
I thought I would share a little story from our trip to Ethiopia (see previous Ethiopia post for details about trip.) There was an Ethiopian health worker with us on that trip names Hade. He was truly the smiliest person I have ever met. I never saw him without his huge grin. He was married with 2 of the most adorable, well-mannered children I've ever seen. He and his wife had started a health clinic in his home. They invited us over one night to see it. He had his living space in one area, a room with a microscope served as their pathology lab, a room with a single bed was where they saw patients, delivered babies, and performed any other procedures. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which means that either he or his wife are constantly there and ready to see patients. He said that there hasn't been one night in the year he's been open that they haven't seen patients in the middle of the night. They do this in order to get the business they need to stay open. He is so happy to be able to have this opportunity to help out in his community. When we went to visit, he and his wife served 8 of us a huge meal. I would imagine it cost them a whole month's income to feed us, but they were so happy to do it. I am constantly amazed by the ability that some have to take the situation they have been given and make the best of it, and to do it with a smile that never fades. Thanks Hade for your example!
Hade in front of his clinic.
Me in the delivery room/procedure room/anything else that needs to be done room.
Hade's son washing everyone's hands before dinner.
The Pathology Lab.
Hade and his beautiful family.
Toothbrushes! I LOVE to brush my teeth, it is the best thing ever!
Okay, I decided that since our camera "got broked" this week by our littlest angel :) and I won't have any new pictures to post in a little while, I would dedicate this month to things we are thankful for. Seems appropriate right! I know it will most likely get very boring to all of you, but will be a good way to fill the space until we get the camera fixed and it's always good to reflect on our blessings. So, for today (since we are all sick and I just left the playplace with both kids screaming) I am thankful for toothbrushes. They are always there when you need them, always make you feel better, always yeild the same results, come in lots of fun razzle dazzle colors, are cheap, and make me happy.
What are you thankful for?
So exciting, I've never been tagged before! Alright Terina, here it goes:
1. The player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves - try to find 6 you haven't already posted about!
2. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, and then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for the rules.
#1 - I love, love the smell of dryer sheets. If they made dryer sheet perfume, I would totally buy it. One time in college, my friend Laura and I :) rubbed dryer sheets all over our clothes before we went to a party. When we got there, we realized how strong the smell really was. We didn't even care, we thought we smelled so good (and we did).
#2 - I believe that everyone has a "what I would be if I wasn't what I am" occupation. I will out Justin on this one. His is a police officer. (Sorry, honey, it's out there now). He loves being a doctor but secretly watches Cops sometimes and is envious of that job. Mine is an Interior Designer. I have my degree in Special Education, which I love and wouldn't change, but I spend way too much time looking at design magazines and dreaming about one day decorating.
#3 - I LOVE to read! I know, this seems like a boring "about me" statement, but it's true. I am in 2 book groups. There it is, my confession. I love all kinds of books but always seem to lean toward non-fiction "survival stories". My favorite book in the whole world is Les Miserables (not a non-fiction survival story). I tried to read it in French after my mission but didn't make it more than half way and finished in English. I love love books!
#4 - I never feel closer to God than when I am in nature. I love to camp, hike, bike, be outside, and it always makes me reflect on my blessings. It makes me feel peaceful and happy and is something I love to do with my family.
#5 - I have a serious sweet tooth. I think we are pretty healthy eaters for the most part in our house (Thanks to Justin!) But I love to eat sweets; my favorites are anything chocolate, anything ice cream.
#6 - I don't sing in front of anyone but my kids and Justin (and that is recent). I cannot sing for the life of me. It's just one thing I will not do in front of anyone. I was called to be the Relief Society chorister in our first ward after Justin and I were married and I seriously mouthed it every week. (But I do sing to the girls all the time, more than they would like me to I'm sure).
Okay, there you have it, more about me than you ever wanted to know. I am going to tag: Chelsea, Jocelyn, Laura, Kevin (that's right, you bro - you have to participate!), Emily Freeman and Jen Lowry. You're IT!
Emma and I spent such a nice afternoon at the pumpkin patch this week. Abby had gone already for a school field trip so Emma and I headed out there together. I love this time of year, I love the food, I love the pumpkin patches and haunted houses, I love the costumes, and how excited the girls get about everything, and again, I love the food. We got the best pumpkin and apple cider donuts fresh out of the . . . whatever they come out of. It all just makes me happy.
Okay, Okay, it's not really the first day of preschool. Emma refused to have her picture taken on the first day. She loved it, had a great time, but was not about to let me take a picture. So . . . this is on her second day of preschool. Don't worry, she is wearing the same outfit that she wore the first day (it wasn't worth the fight). She is so happy to be in school, she's been waiting ever since Abby started preschool. She is in the same class as her cousin Alice, which is so fun for them. They both think they are pretty big now. We love you Emma!
Abby was pretty excited for Emma too, I think they like to have alone time with Mom while the other is at school.
It's all about the boots . . . she had to make sure I got these in the picture.
We were looking through recent photos and remembered how much we loved our Angel Island kayaking trip while living in San Francisco and decided to share an album with you. Sorry if it's a bit long, I went a little nuts with the new camera. It was so much fun and absolutely beautiful. And, to top it off we got to leave the girls with friends for a couple days!
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| Angel Island Kayak Trip |
We've been loving the fall weather this year in Oregon. The vivid colors of the changing leaves are amazing. Lanie and the girls went for a nature walk the other day to collect leaves and other treasures and the girls havn't stopped singing their favorite song, "In the fall-time the weathered leaves, fall from branches off the trees. Whirly twirly whirly twirly in the air. Whirly twirly whirly twirly everywhere." Over and over and over and over again....
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| Autumn in Lake Oswego |
I'm willing to bet that none of you out there have been to this park before, but maybe I'm wrong. It's a little state park pretty close to our house. We were exploring one day and decided to check it out. If any of you are frisbee golfers, apparently this is the place. We are not, so we opted to throw rocks in the river. One of the Wilkinson family's favorite activities. Much more exciting than frisbee golf and accuracy, which is not my forte, is not required.
Here's the big soccer player in action. Yes, Emma is tying herself up in the net in the background. She's not so sure yet about this soccer thing. 
Abby and her little buddy Cameron - in the middle. They sometimes have a hard time focusing, they like to smack eachother on the head, flirting already . . .
Emma wanted in on the action. We were practicing at the park, the goals aren't quite this big in the actual games. 
Wow, it's been a pretty long time since we posted. Fall is here and I love it! I was pretty sad to say goodbye to the summer sun and welcome the 9 months of rain and gray that we keep hearing about. But the leaves are changing and everything is so green and beautiful, so we can't complain. Abby's been loving her first month of kindergarten. I mostly hear about snack time and recess. Other than that, I'm a little blurry on the details. But I could tell you whether she's had lemonade or fruit punch to drink for the past week, and if it's been monkey bars or swings at recess. But hey, she's happy and seems to be really liking it.
Emma starts preschool next week. She cannot wait and every day is greeted with "Is is TODAY?" We'll post pics soon of her big first day soon.
Abby started soccer this month. It's been so fun to see her get out there and be so excited about it. I wouldn't say that 5 year olds really get the game, but more like they move in a herd around the ball up and down the field. It's so fun to watch. Almost as much fun as watching the parents of the 5 year olds get worked up about it.
- I've been trying now for 30 minutes to post pictures but for some reason our computer won't let me. I'll try and work out that bug . . .
Lanie and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Ethiopia last fall to participate in a research study with UCSF studying trachoma, an eye disease that leads to blindness. Many people go blind from this disease in Ethiopia and other developing countries. We were looking at ways to effectively treat it in countries with limited resources. It was a great experience working together for such an important cause. We enjoyed experiencing the wonderful culture, food, and countryside of beautiful Ethiopia and can't wait to go back!
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| Ethiopia Research Trip |
Our little Abby is starting Kindergarten tomorrow! I know, I know, it's a bit pathetic to get all sentimental about kindergarten, but she's my little girl and it seems like yesterday that she was 2 months old (see above pics). She is all ready, princess backpack (not my fault), dry erase markers (for kindergarten?), glue sticks and knee highs. Mom on the other hand is a bit emotional about the whole thing. I think I'll pull through but tune in later during the week for the update on the big day. Happy Labor Day, hope you all celebrated by not laboring at all :)
