When Life hands you Lemons- Make Lemonade!

Nothing better than an ice-cold glass of freshly squeezed lemonade!  YUM!

Trip to Oklahoma!

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2011After Jon had his back surgery in January, he was home recovering for two months, so he decided to take a trip home to see his folks.  As his trip drew closer, I realized that our kids had never been out there and hadn't met any of his family (except his brother and his brother's wife when Clay was a baby)!  So, I suggested that we pack up the whole family and head out there together.The trip took us 3 days in the car and a lot of scary ice/snow driving.  The kids were pretty great the whole time- pretty much plugged in to either a movie or video game (sometimes I really do love technology).  When we finally got there we decided to stay at a hotel in Tulsa that had a mini waterpark inside.  The hotel was a success, the boys loved every minute of it and the pool was very shallow and all of the water features geared towards younger children.  Jon's parents and family were so happy to meet our kids and overall the trip was a lot of fun.  We went to the aquarium, rode quads, swam, bbqed, celebrated out nephew's birthday, and just hung out.  We also got to meet Jon's brother Tommy's fiancee- who I LOVE and get to know her better.  Welcome to the Bredensteiner Family Tina!

On our way home we stopped in Utah for a short visit with some good friends who used to live in WA, the Knaptons & the Sampsons. It was really nice to see them and we were really grateful for a place to sleep that wasn't a nasty motel! Thanks guys!

We are so blessed to have family that love us and we hope to be able to see them more often.

THE WATERPARK

THE OK AQUARIUM

Gabs with Auntie Megs

Eph with Grandma Lee

BBQ AT THE LAKE

Cousin Mathieu showing Kai and Gabby how to most effectively chuck rocks into the water.

Jon Sr. and Matt manning the BBQ

           Jon with his Great Aunt and Uncle

WE LOVE OUR BREDENSTEINER FAMILY!

Chinese New Year in a box!

As many of you know my parents, as well as some of my siblings live in China; so, this year the kids and I were delighted to recieve Chinese New Year in-a-box from Grammy! 
The kids each got a traditional Chinese outfit and Gabby got a couple of extras from China and Vietnam.  All of the kids were very excited to wear their new clothes- Kai would actually still be wearing the pants everyday (everywhere) if I didn't insist that he changed.  The box also had a lot of cool CNY decorations and a few other goodies- like Christmas a month after Christmas!  Thanks Grammy!!!


Which picture do you like best?

Check out our decorations!  We have received a lot of compliments!

Gabby got some monkeys- the boys helped her accessorize.

Eph turned 6!

Ephraim turned 6! 

This year we did a low key family birthday party for Eph.  He asked me to make him a rocket cake and after doing all kinds of research on all of these cute/complicated cakes I was just not feeling it, so Jon suggested I back a round cake, frost it grey, pluck down some plastic rockets and a little flag and call it the moon- success! 

We are so grateful to have Ephraim in our family.  He is so ready to serve, always the one who jumps up when anyone asks for a favor.  He loves to snuggle and make people happy.  Ephraim is in Kindergarten and has done very well.  He likes to go to school with Clay on the bus and looks forward to eating lunch at school next year.  He loves to play cars, video games, and listen to books.  He really loves to explore nature, especially under rocks for bugs and at the beach for crabs and other intertidal critters.  He even "explores" our house, with a flashlight in hand he searches under the furniture and in all the nooks and crannies for hidden treasure (he actually did find my wedding ring that I had lost 3 years previous stuck in the bottom of our couch).  He is still in the 90th percentile for height- he is going to take after his daddy.  He played soccer and basketball this year and looks forward to more soccer and swimming this summer.  Happy birthday Eph- we love you!

Back Surgery...AGAIN

Sexy, right?

Jon had his first back surgery for a herniated disc (C5 &C6) October 2009 and apparently C7 felt jealous at all the attention his neighbors were getting and Jon went in for his second back surgery this past January.  He was home for two months and then I kicked him out and sent him back to work.

Unfortunately, he has been in a lot of pain this time around and when he went in for a recent exam they said that his discs were not fusing and he may have to go under again.  He started taking calcium to help the bone growth and we have been saying a lot of prayers (if you have a few to spare send them our way) and we hope that he doesn't have to go in AGAIN!  I think he is tired of dealing with all his back issues and how much they impact his life and I hope that he can get some relief soon!!

Meeting Baby Hudson

Since my family lives a cazillion miles away, I have to adopt family wherever I live and sometimes they really feel like the real thing.  Tori and Justin are perfect examples of the real thing and I was so relieved when they moved that it was only 4 hours away near Portland.  I was so happy when they had their first baby and couldn't wait to get down to see them!  When I was finally able to get down there, Hudson was about a month old and I got to be there for his baby blessing.  I fell in love with Hudson the moment I saw him- a little string bean who looked just like his daddy.  I had so much fun spending time with the Tori and Justin and giving lots of kisses and hugs to Hudson.  Now that my family is complete I realize that I will never have a newborn again and that makes me kind of sad (not sad enough to actually want another baby but still, nostalgic).  It was nice to have that snuggle time with my little Hud and I look forward to future visits!

Baby Hudson's Big Day- doesn't he look excited?

Happy New Year 2011!

Okay, don't judge me, I'm only 5 months behind on my blogging!  I finally updated, sorted, and named all of my pictures from 2011, so I thought that I would spend this week trying to catch up and then I will take another 4-5 months off and continue the cycle again.  It is much more exciting this way, as you never know when I will post-so it will be a pleasant surprise when I do :)I read my sweet cousin Faith's blog and remember how much better I was about everything-order, organization, following a schedule, being consistent with anything; that was, before I had four amazing little packages from heaven that turned my world upside down...in a chaotic but happy way!SO, that said, here we go with January...

New Years Eve Day at the Children's Museum

Gabby adores all things that sparkle, so New Years Eve party attire was right up her alley!

My hubby always gets so excited about all of my little "ideas"- in my family growing up we got to each pick out a dinner junk food for New Years Eve.  We would eat crap, play games and then eat grapes for our New Years count down (which was probably around 9pm with a little clock adjustment by my dad).  So, we have carried on that tradition.  We didn't do the grapes this year but we watched the ball drop in NY from some previous year on Youtube.com, ate plenty of junk, and danced to weird music from Pandora.  Overall, it was a blast!

PS I do love my other children, I swear!   I just seem to take a lot more pictures of Gabby, probably because she hangs around me.