Our Baby is 4!!!!!!!

Little Emma Lou Who celebrated her birthday this month. 4 is looking great on her. She has a whole list of things she can do on her own now that she is 4 (and will soon be a big sister). This new-found sense of responsibility is fabulous. We had a great "Princess" party with her friends - dress up required! Here is her cake from this year. Cakes have become a pretty big deal for the girls. They start thinking about the kind of cake they want months in advance which is nice for me so I have some time to figure out how I (not a cake decorator at all) am going to pull it off. Emma was pretty happy with how the castle turned out. Luckily they are not huge critics. As long as it resembles their vision, they are thrilled.
Pizza/dress up party = 8 squealing giggly girls, game of pin the lips on the frog prince, princess and the pea game (identify the pillow sitting on top of the rubber bouncy ball), cake, ice cream, more squealing and giggling, one happy birthday girl!
Cakes of Years Past - Lightning McQueen - 3 Years Old

Cinderella - 2 Years Old
I didn't include a 1 year old cake picture since I guess I didn't deem it necessary to take a picture of the store-bought pink double cupcake pkg. we bought for her 1st birthday. Must have been a rough week. Anyway, Happy Birthday Emma! We love you so much and thanks for filling our lives with so much joy! You are a gift!

Excuses, excuses!

Okay, so some of you may have noticed that I have been seriously slacking in my blogging lately. Well, I guess it's time to come clean about why! BABY ON THE WAY! Yes, we are expecting #3 and #3 is making me very tired and very sick. I guess it's time for me to pay my dues since I wasn't too sick with either of my other pregnancies, or it's been long enough now for me to forget if I was. All I have to say is, thank goodness for grapefruit and english muffins.

The girls couldn't be happier about the baby, they ask me every day if it's time for the baby to come. I'm 11 weeks, it's going to be a long 7 months!

The Great Outdoors!

Just a few reasons we LOVE Oregon . . .

the beach - (doesn't it look warm?) but beautiful all the same

waterfalls and moss

Multomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge

Hiking with the girls

Exploring

Soccer Moms!

So I had to put a shout out to our soccer team, the "Leftovers". This was taken after our first big win. Yes, we went 3 games without scoring a goal. Most of us have never played soccer before so it's been pretty fun(ny). Way to go girls!

Sleepy?

Sometimes you just need a nap and can't be bothered to stop playing to do it. This is how I found Emma the other day. The funny thing is that about 10 minutes before this I asked her if she wanted to go down for a nap. "No mommy, I'm not tired at all!" She slept like this for over 2 hours.

Tagged!

So I've been tagged, sorry it's taken me a bit to get to it Jill! I think I did this a while back so I will try and think of some different and Oh So Interesting things about me :)

1 - I cannot stand the words "cankerous", "crusty"(unless referring to bread), "moist", and "festering". Just to name a few, my repertoire of disgusting words is ever-growing as Justin is so sweet to share many from his medical books. I will spare you the worst of them, as this is a family blog.

2- I have lived in Utah, Connecticut, Delaware, Chicago, Israel, France, San Francisco, and Portland. I LOVE to travel, it is actually a really big obsession. We don't do it too much these days but I dream about it constantly. I love to learn about different cultures, try different foods and meet new people.

3- Justin and I would love to do international medicine in the future. We had the chance to go to Ethiopia for a few weeks to do Ophthalmology research and humanitarian work. We loved it and feel like that is part of our life's mission.

4 -I am always changing my hair style and color. I get an idea in my head and can't get it out. I've had blonde, red, black and now brown. I am really trying to keep the current one for a while. It's killing me though.

5 - I fell in love with Justin at first sight. We met at the Freshman orientation dance at USU and I asked him to dance. We dated for 2 years, waited for eachother on our missions, and have now been married for 6 wonderful years.

6- I love to clean! Whenever I feel down or upset, I vacuum. It is amazing what it does for me. I never feel better than when I have a clean, organized house. Not that it is always like that, but I would love for it to be.

7- I am playing soccer for the first time in my life. I have never played soccer before except for a few pick-up games in France. I am playing on an indoor team with some girlfriends here in Portland. It is so much fun and I'm so happy to pick up a new sport at age almost-30. I scored my first goal last night!

Okay, way more than you ever wanted to know. I tag all of you! I love to hear things I may not have known about you!

Before and After

So, here's my attempt at being very HGTVish with the before and after shot. We have been struggling with this one wall in our house/apt./duplex (I never know what to call it), our home! We just have not been able to figure out what to hang on it. We also struggle with the "brown factor" and have in fact deemed our home the Brown Wonder. We love it, love it here. But the fact remains that all is brown. The walls, the carpet, doors, trim, cupboards, you name it. It is also a fact, in case you haven't heard, that it rains quite a bit here in Portland. So, living in the Brown Wonder in the rain can start to feel a little dull. I needed a little color. Now I didn't want to exert to much time or money on a rental so we decided that maybe just the wall could use a splash. Well, I thought, why not bright orange. I love orange. So by then I couldn't be stopped.

But then, what to hang on the orange wall. My sister-in-law gave me these fabulous old windows, thanks Meg. I knocked out the glass and spruced them up with a little spray paint and crackle glaze to make them look old again. Justin had the fabulous idea of filling the panes with happy fabric. I don't think he actually said "happy fabric" but that was my interpretation.

Here is the result and I have to say that it has made me extremely happy the past 4 days to have an orange wall in my house. Now if we could just do something about the ceiling fan . . .

One of my other projects since we moved in was painting this table black and recovering the seats. We are hoping soon to move to a bigger table that actually allows for plates and food on the table at the same time. But this one has served us faithfully for 6 years of marriage and with the new look has let me hold on to it for a little longer.

This next project is New Year's mania taking hold of me. We went from a chart-free home to a chart-run home overnight. But it is wonderful and is helping us all stay in line. We have the Prayer chart, Family Home Evening chart, Chore charts, and schedules for each of the girls. The schedules have been so great for the girls. I used to make these with my special ed students all the time and they have been a dream with my girls too. It keeps them going with what they need to be doing and helps me to follow through too. Plus, they get to reward themselves by putting the activity in the happy or frowny face bag when they've completed it.

Blogger Slacker

I have been a major blogger slacker lately. Things have been really busy since the New Year (aren't they always). But I have been busying myself lately with a lot of projects, painting, reading and organizing. The usual, I know, but I've been doing even more than usual lately. So, I decided I would combine the two and post a few of my projects on here for posterity. Okay, mostly just for my benefit so I can keep a photo journal of them. Here are a few to start!



These are the elf tea towels I stitched for a Christmas present. I loved these patterns, I thought they were so simple and sweet. The great thing is that there are so many crafty people out there that post patterns on their blogs now so I can benefit from their creativity.


This was my favorite Christmas project. I made these capes for the girls. They were a major pain since I made them out of satin - but they HAD to be shiny! They are reversible. So the one side is the princess crown with their initial and the other side is the lightning bolt if they want to be a little more superhero. They LOVE these capes and wear them all the time. I'm glad they liked them since they took quite a while to make. Okay, more to come . . .

Pumpkin Regatta (or however you spell it)

Okay, so I know that this is totally backtracking but I came across these pictures and felt that they were definitely blog-worthy and wanted to share. There is a little lake by our house and apparently they have started this wonderful tradition of racing 500 - 1000 pound pumpkins across it each year at Halloween time. What could be better, seriously. It was so much fun and the girls couldn't believe that people were really going to get in the pumpkins. They load them onto the lake with a forklift and then carve a hole big enough for them to climb in. These are pretty big men that have grown these pumpkins on their own farms. It was something!

Happy New Year!

Well, I am finally getting around to thinking about the New Year. This January is starting off much better then our Januarys usually do (knock on wood). It seems as though we are always sick the entire month. Last year I went so far as to break my rib from coughing (of all the lame things). Right now we are healthy, happy and excited to start off this year! I'm sure I just jinxed us though. Okay, here's my list of the best and worst things about 2007.

BEST!
1 - Justin graduating from med school (May 2007)
2 - Abby starting Kindergarten; Emma starting preschool
3- Oregon coast
4 - Moving to Portland
5 - Going to Samoa
6 - Camping in the Columbia River Gorge
7 - Trips to Seattle
8 - Trip to Utah for Christmas; Kev and Jill coming for Thanksgiving
9 - Swimming during a WARM summer
10 - My parents coming home from Samoa (from their mission)


WORST!(not to be negative :)
1- Breaking my rib from coughing
2- Leaving San Francisco and all our wonderful friends
3- Packing to move
4- Lots of overnight call for Justin
5- Getting Emma dressed (everyday)
6- Leaving Samoa
7- Car repairs (4 tows in 5 months)
8- More car repairs
9- My giant zit during the Wilkinson extended family photo (and my mom pointing it out and asking how long I've had it)
10- Getting pickpocketed by a man pretending to be blind as I helped him across the street.

Well, here's to another great year! We hope you all have a good one!

More Christmas Highlights!

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. . .

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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.

Christmas Picture Time!

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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

Hot Pockets!

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.

I'm Thankful for . . .

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!

I'm Thankful For . . .

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.

I'm Thankful For . . .

JUSTIN!!!!!!!!!!! I just have to say that I love this guy so much and am so grateful for him in my life. (I am totally allowed to be publicly cheesy when it's Thanksgiving, right?!) Justin and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this year. It has been an amazing 6 years. We have lived in 4 different apartments, lived in 3 different states, visited 3 different countries, had 2 children, and have had SO much fun. I am always amazed at Justin's ability to work a 90 hour weeks, come home with a smile on his face and still manage to be an amazing father and husband. He never, ever complains about how busy he is. He is such a good daddy to his little girls. They love, love, love to be with him. He is an amazing example to me of working hard and playing hard. He is always looking for the next place to explore and never wants to waste a minute of life. Plus, he has a pretty sweet coin collection :) We are THANKFUL for you Justin!

I'm Thankful For . . .

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?