My girl

She is growing up................

Friday and Saturday was LC High Schools' Pop Concert.  I went both nights (of COURSE I did) and watched my talented girl!  She accompanied herself as she sang a song she wrote...................LOVED it!  So proud of my baby girl!

Each section picked and theme and did costumes.................

The Sopranos chose Mario Cart - Em was the cloud

She also had a solo in one of the choir songs...............

With her boyfriend - the one she wrote the song for..............(daddy was teasing her saying he knew she wrote it just for him ;)

With Grandma Brim after the concert

Love my girl!!

It was kind of weird as I was laying in bed last night thinking about the fact that we have one more year until she graduates.................it's gonna fly by fast!!  Totally savoring the moments with my girl! 

rah rah sis boom bah.................

Whatever that means?!?!?! But, what I'm talking about is Emily's first official cheer. Friday night was LC's first game at Civic Stadium against Sehome High School!

To begin the night the girls came here to eat dinner..................
and get ready...............................................(did I mention that our room was full of hairspray, sparkles, glitter, bobby pins, etc?)The girls headed out and then we cleaned up and headed in to the game.

This was our view most of the time..................................but once in a while we saw this...............................My camera is cheap and is absolutely horrible for pictures zoomed in from far away, so of course I had to go down and get one from closer up!
At half time she came up and said "hi" and was even willing to have her picture taken with her ol' ma and pa!she even wanted her picture taken with her cousins Kolton and Levi!
The weather was beautiful, but boy did it get cool once the sun went down! That ol' wind was blowin and we were glad we had brought a blanket. I'll get this thing down to a science.............
1.blanket
2.thermos of coffee
3. munchies
4. gloves, and other warm gear are sure to be added too!

Oh ya, by the way, our football team won the game 10-0! I guess football is the reason we went :-)!!

She's back.....................in school!

Monday was Emily's first day of school as a Sophomore!................yes I need a closeup thank you! (It's what moms do!)It was a beautiful day. I dropped her off at school and then took some flowers from my garden to a friend and then headed back to school for convocation. I love this about Lynden Christian! They start the first day with the whole school gathered and friends and family join them and they sing worship songs and dedicate the school year to God.

Tomorrow night Em cheers at her first game..........can't wait!

Deja Vu.............or View

It's all how you look at it. Today I was standing in the kitchen talking to Emily holding her cat and this is what I saw in my mind's eye.................
.........but this is how it really looked!
Does your mind ever do that to you?

Shameless Advertising........

Yesterday on my blog you met Miss Emily the cheerleader................
Well - this cheerleader and her squad are having a car wash tomorrow at Hinton's in Lynden from 10 - 2...............I'm just sayin'!!
(Do you have any idea how expensive these cute little uniforms are?!?! :-)

This is what our year is going to look like!

Monday night Emily came home with this.......................
This is her basketball cheer uniform, I didn't get a picture of her football cheer uniform. Right now she has practices 2 times a week and in 7 weeks she has her first football game. Cheer camp was in June down at SPU and the girls had a blast! This is her cheer camp outfit.
She says it's a really fun group of girls and everyone gets along really well so there shouldn't be any "drama" :-)

Yes, my baby girl is growing up - way too quickly!! I'm looking forward to going to games (the basketball more than the football cuz' I love watching indoor sports :-)!!!

Worth a thousand words

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.........................

Then 2 pictures must be worth two thousand...................................

.................enough said!

She's signed up

Weird - yesterday I signed Emily up for Drivers Ed!!!! When did that happen?!?! It really kind of caught me emotional!

Tomorrow we are heading in to get her Drivers Permit and NO, I'm not going to let her drive home from Bellingham!! I'm thinking we'll start with Wiser Lake Rd. and Blysma Rd. and work our way up to Hannegan to Lynden. Definitely NOT heading to the round-abouts anytime soon!!!

It seems like just a couple years ago this is the way things were...................
Seriously - I remember hearing this when I was a young mom (which I guess that makes me now an "old" mom :-( !!) and thinking, "right - I'll be doing this parenting thing forever and wiping snot off my knees every Sunday on the way to church!" BUT NO - no more snot!! Pretty soon she'll be saying - "I'll just meet you guys at church" - nope - not gonna happen - I can use the excuse of $3/gal. gas, but really, I just want her with us as much as possible - the next 3 years are going to FLY!!

A girls weekend

Saturday morning we headed down south. I let Emily take a couple friends and I took a friend and we shopped, saw a movie, spent the night, shopped - and came home!

I only took one picture because I didn't want the wrath of my daughter (I don't know how she expects to have pictures in her photo album!!). We were sitting outside Starbucks waiting for the movie to start and I snapped this picture without them knowing. I just had to capture this moment!!
All three girls were sitting there texting, Mikki had just put hers down to take a drink when I snapped the photo. Doesn't this just describe this generation??

We went to see "The Last Song" - personally, I loved it! It was a very good movie, very clean and make sure you bring kleenex! I definitely could see it again, and I'm not a Miley Cyrus fan.

On the way down Sat., we stopped in Marysville at the Outlet Mall and I spent all my shopping money (I had some thanks to my sweet hubby) in the first store we went in - Ann Taylor - what a sale they were having!!

Sunday we headed to Alderwood Mall. It was a beautiful day and Val and I enjoy coffee and then later, lunch outside while we soaked up the sun.

Hope you got to soak up some sun this weekend. Next week promises to be even better!!!! Yeah! Now if someone could just turn this blasted wind off!! I MIGHT take pictures of what I acquired just to show you the awesome deals I got!!

Happy Birthday Emily!

Yesterday was Easter yes, but it was also my baby girls' 15th birthday!! I know we all say this, but "where has the time gone".........................
A family tradition - your choice of breakfast on the celebrate plate! The choice - Chocolate chip pancakes! That's my chocolate girl!
Saturday she had a group of friends over for a barbeque and movie! Great group of kids!
This is her opening a present that she thinks she knows what it is!
This is the look on her face when she realizes that she got what she really wanted - which she didn't think we'd ever get her. Her generous brother Nathan paid for half so we could swing it.............
AN IPOD touch!
I know Emily does not read my blog, but I just need to say, Emily Claire - you are growing up to be such a beautiful young woman inside and out! I love your independent spirit, your ability to make people feel comfortable and accepted, your musical talents, your love for animals, your spunk and your ability to think for yourself and have opinions about what's right and what's wrong. I am blessed to have you as my daughter!

PS I guess I'd better update her age on my sidebar profile!

Life lessons

Last week we were blessed to spend 5 days in Palm Springs (thanks Debbie and Marty!!).

We headed out EARLY Tuesday morning with Emily and her friend Sarah (wonderful BFF Marla chauffeured us at o'dark thirty!!!)
and hopped on Allegiant in Bellingham direct flight to Palm Springs.

We arrived in PSP about 11AM and Marty picked us up at the airport. He and Debbie own a spot at Outdoor Resorts and they have a beautiful 5th wheel parked on it, along with great outdoor furniture and beautiful pots of flowers. They let us use their Honda Element that they leave down there, so we were all set!
Here's where the life lessons come in........................this is a HUGE resort, about 1200 spots! It's a small city. It's obviously full of middle aged to "God's waiting room" aged people and as I watched these people come and go I saw something VERY CLEARLY!

IF I DON'T TAKE CARE OF IT NOW - IT ISN'T GOING TO MOVE VERY GOOD LATER!!!! Seriously - there were people that I reckoned lived their lives like me - hating exercise!! And then there were people playing tennis, riding bikes, walking, etc. and they were having fun!

So - what does this life lesson mean?!? ......................for now I don't know....................but something HAS TO CHANGE...............stay tuned!

More vacation pics to come.

Busy, busy, busy...................

Thursday night was Emily's Choir concert.................
Friday night, Ken and Sal came for dinner and we drove around and looked at lights while we sipped white choc./peppermint lattes............................they are precious friends of ours!
Saturday Kim and Becky came by to work on a project and Kim helped me spruce up my tree! Thanks Kim - it was looking so pitiful.......................much betta'!!
Saturday night the Jansens and Raskes came for dinner. Dan made superb ribs, Jeff made divine appetizers, Kathi made an apple pie with a twist, the night was relaxing and the only thing missing were Brian and Judy:-{!!!!
Today my friend Kari was at church. She and her family have moved to Montana and it was SO good to see her. Kari is like my daughter - I love her so much!! She gave me a special necklace that has a charm that says "God Bless You" on it(she has one on in the picture. She said some very sweet words to me - this picture was after the tears!! Thank you Lord for Kari!

Tonight we had the College Age Christ Group over for dessert. It was a wild and crazy - insanely fun - party. Pictures to follow............................

My soccer girl...................

Yesterday was a beautiful day to watch soccer! Emily decided to play soccer this year and because she started the practices a little later than the rest of the team, yesterday was her first game.

They only have 8 players so those girls ran hard and never had subs for the WHOLE game!

They were hot and tired, but they played hard.

It was so fun to watch her out there. I didn't realize how much I've missed watching my kids play sports.
I will say after watching the game, there is NOTHING in me that says "hey that looks like fun- I think I'll run my guts out and let people kick me :-)" - too much work - definitely not for me!!

A defining moment........of my age!

Well, it's official - MY BABY GIRL IS A FRESHMAN - yes, a high schooler!

I knew it was coming - but it still blindsided me! Wow - when did it happen? For those of you with younger children, you hear remarks like this and think - "I will be in this stage FOREVER , ya, I mean they are growing up, but I think I will be raising children forever". Trust me - my child raising days are coming to an end. Really at this point you kind of switch into more of a coaching position (with a lot of authority!!), but the role really starts changing as you get them ready to make decisions and figure how to "do life".

Anyways - enough of that chatter.....................Here's our beautiful freshman daughter!!
And what does a freshman girl do as her mother is trying to take her picture?
TEXTING!!!!!!! ARGHHH!!!

It was a rather weird picture moment- as I was taking her picture I was flashing back to all the school pictures I've taken over the years (I took the first one in 1993 - yes 16 years ago) and this is the first one with only one child in it! When Nathan headed to Kindergarten, Brandon was in the picture with him for his first day of Preschool. I told Emily she should pick up Max for the picture because she looked lonely! :-0

Now - 2 days to go until we take Brandon to Whitworth, but that's a whole different post!!!! :-{

Shop til' you drop

Saturday morning, Marla, Kameryn, Emily and I headed down across the border (the Oregon border that is!). We decided to take the girls school shopping in Oregon where they could shop tax free. They both worked in the berries this summer and were excited about buying some school clothes.

We stayed with my Brother Dave and his wife Sue in Corvallis. My niece made us her "famous" homemade pizza for dinner Saturday night.


Sunday morning we headed to Woodburn Outlet Mall. It's between Corvallis and Salem and it is the best outlet mall ever. They have the most beautiful and unusual flower displays!

Me and Emily...see the new red converse shoes.....only my daughter..... :-)
Marla and Kameryn.......... she got purple shoes :-)
Me and Marla..................

On our way home Monday we stopped for a couple hours at Clackamas Town Center - a two level mall. Emily had decided at the beginning of our trip that she would like to get her ears double pierced (I have a double pierce, but only in one ear - I know weird - kind of a signature I guess ?!?!). We called and asked dad and he said yes, but made it very clear this will be the last piercing she ever gets under our roof! So we headed to get the ears pierced.

It wasn't nearly as traumatic or exciting as when she was 10! :-(


When we left the mall we had a late lunch at Claim Jumpers - another "must visit" for you all! There is one at Alderwood Mall and South Center too! Awesome food! I always get a California Citrus Salad and a bowl of Baked Potato Cheddar Soup. Of course, there's always dessert! This is the favorite - I seriously crave this................English Sticky Toffee Pudding - it's served warm with a brown sugar sauce, Whipped Cream AND Ice Cream!! If anyone has a recipe for anything like this, PLEASE let me know!!!!
Kameryn opted for the good ol' chocolate cupcake, she gave it a thumbs up!
It was a good weekend, and now back to the grind - literally - I'm at the Woods booth at the fair Friday from 9-3 so come by and say "hi"!