Very interesting..............

It's been a crazy week - busy working lots to get ready to go away with my man for a week!!  Cannot. Wait. Been. Too. Long!!!!!

For those of you who don't know - I'm adopted and for the first time ever this past week I've had contact with both my birth brothers from my birth father and they sent me a pic of my Birth Father - very surreal!!  Hoping to meet them soon!  Am sooooo excited!




Here are a couple of the pics.............This one is of my Birth Father and my two brothers.

 This one is of my Birth Father in 1990 - he passed away 10 years later.

Packing for a trip with all these new restrictions for bags, checked and carryons...........oh my!  It's almost more stressful then getting my work caught up enough to go!

I  promise to share pics of warm and sunny places..............TBA!

I need one of these......................

My kitchen is pretty fabulous.......but it is missing one of these!! :)

We went to Whistler with the kids last weekend and we always have one meal here...............

We all love it and it is such a treat.  I'm thinkin' dieting would be easier if I could just throw some vegies down with a little sauce in the middle of my kitchen every night :)

Great weekend.......the only thing missing was the sunshine :(

Here I am

I am here
I am still working on inventory
I am tired
I am still looking at Christmas decorations in my house (I know, what I said, but ................)
I am seeing numbers in my head while I sleep, or don't sleep
I miss my friends
I have Chistmas $$ from my son I haven't spent yet!!!! crazy!!!!
I don't last late into the evenings to get things done anymore
I am feeling the need to do some menu planning
I need to go to Costco, but am hating going there more and more and have been putting it off way too long - cha ching!
I miss my Judy in Idaho
I am glad American Idol started - it's something I've watched with the kids for years - oh ya ......................
I miss Brandon
I picked up the CD from the Korthuis family pic session so I'll leave you with a couple.........................just cuz' I hate to post without pics!
You can't help but look at this picture and think "well, mom and dad did what the Bible says - be fruitful and multiply" :-)!!!

Inventory week

Well it's January 2010 and that means inventory at work! Yesterday I worked 13 1/2 hours and I'm afraid today will look much the same.

My Christmas decorations are still up because I decided to relax this weekend before the big push at work. Besides, I'm still enjoying the twinkling lights! I always think the house looks kind of sad when I actually take everything down don't you?

Thought I'd post a pic of me and my brothers. We were all together on the 27th and we don't very often get to do that! We decided we're definitely ALL getting older!
Every time I see a picture of us together I think of that song from Sesame Street - "One of these things is not like the other............." :-)

Hope you have a great week - and I hope some of you are still enjoying your decorations like I am!

All dressed up...............

Not very often do I get my whole family together AND all dressed up.

Last week at Jon and Bree's wedding - I got just that!
Just had to share................

Oh ya, and by the way, I DID buy a camera - but how do you take a picture of a camera to put on your blog?!?!

oh ya, and by the way #2, my house is still a mess and my decorating is not done. Fri. PM came home from work at 6:30 and hubby wanted to watch a movie (that NEVER happens) and I said "oh good, I can decorate while we watch, and he informed me this was a sit and watch a movie together night). Sat. A.M. I woke up (late again) puttered around and left at 11:30 to go to B'ham with Kathi. We got home at 4, had to take Em to a friends, got home made a salad and baked crusty bread and had to be at friends by 6.

Now it is 11:45 on Sunday, we have to eat lunch and be at church by 1:00 to watch a play................maybe this evening? Now I'm just avoiding it because it seems overwhelming - I must be sick, or in denial!

1 wedding down 1 to go!

This last Friday morning, Randy, my mom, and myself headed to Corvallis,OR to attend my nephew's wedding. The weather wasn't very nice, and from Olympia south we crawled along, and happened upon 5 multiple cars accidents!! We were so thankful for the safe travels that the Lord gave us - even if it took us 9 HOURS!!! Normally the trip takes 6-7 hours and we had hoped to arrive to have a couple hours to relax before the rehearsal, but we showed up at the rehearsal site 15 min. before it started. I was doing all the music, so I had to hit the ground running!

Here are a few quick pics from the wedding:

The Bride and Groom cutting cake - I was so proud of them for not smearing it into each other's noses - I HATE THAT! :-)

This is me with my brother Dave, father of the groom.

This is with my Uncle Jack, my dad's only living sibling. I always enjoy visiting with him and it was good to spend time with him at the wedding and then again a couple times this weekend. My dad passed away the evening before Father's day last year, so it was special to spend Father's Day with my dad's brother.

This is my brother Dan, my mom, me and my brother Dave.

We have my friend's daughter's wedding this Sunday. Thursday we're taking the family from out of town on the boat to Rosario Resort for lunch. Friday evening I am hosting a large bridal shower here, and then Sunday is the wedding.

June has been more than full for us - I am looking forward to July (although I'm afraid there's a bit more than I'd like on our calendar in July too).

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Tonight I made a Cinco de Mayo meal for my family. Brandon didn't have golf tonight, so we actually got to sit at the table together - Emily was relieved to not be the only child dining with mom and dad. I'm afraid she'll get plenty of this in the next 4 years!! :-)

I stopped by El Ranchito and picked up fresh Pico de gallo, and then ran over to Food Pavillion for their fresh tortilla chips.


Nothing fancy for the main dish. I grew up with this recipe of my mom's and my family loves it, Spanish Rice. It has hamburger in it AND bacon sprinkled on top with cheese. It's awesome leftover too! Heated up some refried beans (from the can - worked until 4:30 so no time for homemade) and broiled some cheese on top.

I was going to take a picture of the family dining, but Emily came down from dinner directly out of the shower and she had a big purple towel wrapped around her head - I was warned NOT to take a picture . I guess I just didn't feel daring enough tonight to try it! So instead, you get a picture of the meal before the family dove in - not very decorated or fancy, I was going to make virgin margaritas - but everyone wanted milk instead - how boring!!

Hope you enjoyed a beautiful October day?!?!?!

License to be "shellfish and crabby"...........................

On Friday I went to Dave's Sporting Goods in Lynden and got my license to be "shellfish and crabby" - I didn't know I needed a license for that! :-)

We headed out with Dan and Marla to Sucia Island on Friday afternoon. Saturday was Opening day for Boating and for Shrimping. We woke up Saturday morning and headed out to set our pots and were back in for breakfast by 8:30. After breakfast we went back to pick up the pots and reset them. By the time we picked up 6 pots we had our limit and had to dump the rest - but we promised them we'd come back for them this coming weekend!!

Dan and Randy enjoying their coffee before we head back out to pick up pots.............

Marla and I thought we'd better take our picture so we get in the scrapbook too!

The First Mate down in the galley (OK it's the stateroom and dining room too :-) preparing breakfast!

It was so relaxing - until the storm started coming through!! We were sitting out at the island about 3 o'clock and decided to not risk trying to "beat the storm" to get home - they had posted a "small craft advisory". The storm blew in and it was crazy - WIND AND POURING DOWN RAIN!! We cooked up our shrimp, enjoyed dinner, and then went below and watched Seinfeld for and hour before going to bed. Our boat was tied to a dock and we banged against the dock until about 2am!!

We woke up Sunday morning to beautiful blue skies and headed home.

After we cleaned out the boat - cleaned up ourselves, and did some laundry, we headed back out to Sucia about 3pm with our friends the Strotz's, to do Brandon's Sr. pictures. I haven't seen them yet - but the subject was very handsome indeed!!

Back to reality now!!

Sunshine, Pedicures, and Family - oh my!

We just got home last night from visiting my brother and his family in Corvallis, OR. The sunshine was wonderful - it runs about 10 degrees warmer down there, which means it was almost 80 degrees on Sunday. We sat outside on their patio watching the golfers go by - it was so relaxing! All of their trees and plants are blooming right now, so it was a wonderful dose of spring!

We headed to Oregon on Saturday, Emily's birthday, so we stopped at her favorite place for lunch.....Olive Garden.

Sunday night we went for dinner with my Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary. We went to Applebee's and since we had eaten a large lunch after church, Emily decided to opt for just dessert (surprise, surprise :-).


Monday we went shopping at the Woodburn Outlet Mall - this is like the best place ever! I just followed Emily around as she spent her birthday money. The weather was beautiful and flowers are incredible as you walk around.

After we spent the day shopping, my sister in law treated us all to pedicures - ahhhhhhhhh!

This is my mom and Sue enjoying their massaging chairs and pedicures!

I just love this picture..............this was Emily "relaxing" as they started scrubbing the bottom of her feet. She had a guy working on her, and I think he was trying to get her to laugh :-)!

I didn't get a picture with my brother - who I gave grief all weekend for being a "follower" of my blog, but never reading it :-)! I love spending time with him - I wish he wasn't so far away. It was such a wonderful, relaxing and encouraging get away! Thanks Dave and Sue!

The shower is done!!!! YIPEE!!

Wow - now you know why they charge so much to have a tiled shower put in! My poor, hard working husband has finished the tiled shower in our bathroom! Yes, I'm aware we've been in the house for 8 months, but honestly, this job was a beast. And frankly after we worked our tails off to get in this house in less than 5 months - WE WERE TIRED!!! Randy worked every spare evening and Saturday for the last 6 weeks to get this monster done............and he did it!

This shot is from the bathroom looking into the shower........................

This shot is dark, but it shows the listello and the cool showerhead, this one is mine because it's shorter because I don't like water shooting on top of my head and into my face..................

This shot is inside the shower looking at Randy's showerhead - taller for him - he DOES like water shooting on top of his head and into his face :-)!!

So if you call and I don't answer, I might just be enjoying my shower too much!!!

That dreaded early morning call !!!!

I wasn't going to post about this on my blog, but Nathan himself has it all over Facebook, and I figured most of you have already heard.........................many have asked me about it. So here it goes.......................................................................

Sat. in the wee small hours of the morning, the phone rings. Did you know that the ring of a phone has a completely different sound at that time of morning, especially when you know you have kids out there? I jolted awake, just knowing it involved Nathan. I saw his cell phone number on the caller ID so I knew he was alive. A group of friends had a going away party for a friend going to Italy for 3 months. Nathan's friend was driving his truck and they stopped at a flashing red light and then proceeded and were struck in the right drivers corner by a small car going VERY FAST!! Nathan's friend had not been drinking, and we don't know yet if the driver of the other vehicle had been or not.

As you can see, Nathan is not very happy about losing his truck. It is definitely totaled! We went to get Nathan's stuff out of it on Mon. and when we came around the corner in the lot, it took my breath away! I know God spared their lives. The impact was so hard it threw the canopy off the truck and it was about 50 feet away, the front tire was ripped off, Nathan's friend's head went through the door window, the gas tank was leaking, the police clipped the battery cables so it wouldn't explode, it was just a mess!!


I know that it could have been far worse, Nathan's friend did go to the hospital for the night and the other 3 in the truck are all very sore! God obviously has plans for their lives! I can't tell you hard I hugged Nathan when I saw him Sat. morning - standing there in one piece! Thank you Lord!

I'm officially a college mom......he's in!!

Yesterday was a test of honesty, integrity and motherhood!! I was minding my own business, getting the mail (as I do almost every day) and there it was....................the envelope!

Oh how I wanted to open it - there it was staring me in the facing - almost laughing at me, taunting me.............................

We had a meeting at 6:45 and Brandon doesn't get home from golf until after 7, so like any good mom would - I hid it until after our meeting so I could take pictures of him opening it. Randy thought the chances were good it was an acceptance letter, and I quote "they don't send rejections in such big envelopes"!

When I called Brandon downstairs, he says "it must be a letter from Whitworth", I asked "how do you know" and he says (in a very smart alik way) "because you're holding the camera"! As I'm taking this pictures he says "mom - seriously".

I'm in...........................!!!


Here he is making the dutiful calls to people that have been praying...........doesn't he look thrilled to be on the phone - so much like his dad!

So all this to say- I have less than 6 months to finish teaching him everything he needs to know....................you know..................how to dial mom and dad's phone number, our email address, etc. All the important skills!!

Happy Anniversary!

Today was our 23rd anniversary! It blows me away that in 2 years we'll hit our 25th! I remember my parents celebrating their 25th! I am blessed to have Randy as my husband! He is the consistent, non-dramatic, "staying point", in my life! He is my friend - and he has proven his love for me over and over through the years! (I know I couldn't handle being married to me! :-)

Tonight we had dinner with the Jansens and Raskes. It's always a special treat to get together with our "Dinner Group", but it was even more special because they wouldn't let me bring anything. Well, anything but the makings for Lemon Drop Martinis.........so we started off with those.

Then of course, Kathi had the table all set up with the "LOVE" theme! It was beautiful!


The dinner was delightful and then we hot tubbed for about an hour at the end! It is such a blessing to have friends that have the same values, beliefs, likes and dislikes, the men get along as well as the women do, but best of all friends that have been friends for years!

Kathi was a bridesmaid at our wedding 23 years ago and then I was her bridesmaid when she and Jeff got married almost 18 years ago!


We've known Dan and Marla for almost 18 years and we became fast friends and have just grown closer through the years.

Valentines day..................skiing style!

On Sat. (Valentines Day) Randy and Nathan had ski patrol. They headed out about 6:45 am and Randy left me this for Valentine's Day!!

I got up and baked a loaf of crusty bread, stuffed 40 mushrooms (to bake up there at the end of the day for the team), packed a lunch, and Emily and I headed up the mountain. We got there about 11:30 and met the boys for lunch. After lunch we headed out to ski with Randy for the afternoon. Here is Randy and Emily in the Ski Patrol warming hut at the top of Chair 8.

Randy had to leave right after this (His hand in his jacket is on his radio getting ready to respond to a call), to help out on a Code Red call. Here he is getting the tobaggan ready to go. He said it was probably one of the toughest accidents they've had as the guy was on about a 45 degree angle where they had to get in to rescue him.

It was a busy day on the Mountain accident wise. There were 2 Code Reds, which means pretty serious. One was flown out by Med Flight and the other was taken by ambulance. I forget to be so thankful for all the safe days of skiing we've had with our kids. Randy works so hard up there........all those guys do. It's not always such a fun job!!

Here Emily and I are at the top of chair 8. It was a pretty cold day, and it was snowing most of the day. Emily remarked how when you caught snowflakes on your glove, you could see actual flakes - it was beautiful!

We came home and cranked the fireplace and watched the 2 little neighbor boys for a couple hours and then went to bed nice and early! It's amazing how a few hours of skiing can wear you out!!