Election Season

Being able to vote is a privileged. BUT..... do we HAVE to be bombarded with this?

This is just ONE day in my mail box! ONE DAY!! And 12 fliers to "vote for me", "so and so did this", "so and so did that" and all from different people and different party affiliations. UGH!!! Enough is enough!! Luckily I haven't been bombarded with phone calls like some of my friends have. Only one so far and I'm so glad I have caller id as it came up as "telemarketer". You just have to love the "personal" messages recorded by people (this one was our County Executive) telling you they endorse "this person" and to vote for them. Ummm, HELLO?!?! I'm not even registered with your party affiliation. What makes you think I am going to vote for this person. I haven't voted for her since I've lived here!!

I'm ready for Nov. 2nd to get here ~ for many reasons. This just being one of them. Give me my mailbox back!

Thankful Thursdays

I am thankful for:

The safety and the return of this boy:

It took a major toll on us (more Robert then us) to make this trip home for leave from Iraq. He was literally stuck in Kuwait for 11 unplanned hours due to just ONE person. I don't know the entire story but apparently a soldier from a unit based in Afghanistan, for whatever reason, tried to "run" and go awol. So no Robert at the airport yesterday was very difficult. Not knowing what was going on or even hearing a peep out of him was really difficult for us. Even today there were delays after delays. But sooooo thankful he's in his home and loving on his sweet baby girl.

OUR CHOCOLATE BUSINESS:

We had the "official" launch last Saturday. It was extremely successful. I'm so proud of Rob and all his hard work. Our chocolate is now in 2 stores in Washington. Chocolate Necessities in Bellingham and Chocolopolis is Seattle. And we're waiting to hear from a store in Portland. Things are growing and we are so blessed.

MY BED:
And I'm going to go hunker down in it right now!!

Just Not Feeling It...

Halloween that is!!! I don't even have my Fall decorations up yet. I know we've been busy (and I'll post about that next) but I'm just feeling a bit "not yet" about Halloween. Maybe it's because we're not going all out on costumes or dishing out candy this year. I'm not sure. But right now, this is what my decorations look like:

Waiting patiently for me to retrieve them from their boxes!

Thankful Thursdays

Okay, this past week went faster then the previous week. That's not supposed to happen!! But there is sooooo much to be thankful for, so let's get started.

I am thankful for:

CHOCOLATE: See I told you this one would come up often. The reason the week has gone by so quickly is because we are getting ready to launch our new "hobby" business on Saturday at the Northwest Chocolate Festival. These past few weeks have been a flurry of activity.

LAUGHTER: And websites that just make me chuckle and shake my head. Gotta love Cake Wrecks!

FAMILY TIME: And the traditions that go with that. We had some time this week to make our traditional halloween sugar cookies. It's always fun!!

This was fun!

I found this cute idea last week and was just looking for the opportunity to make them. Marshmallow Frankenstein's!! They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. And the teenagers just gobbled them up.

I'm in Trouble!!!

David is becoming his Dad!!! Just take a look at this:


Yes, Mom didn't read the list carefully and added his talk he had to give on Sunday. Proof I didn't pay attention! :P

And guess what? He accomplished every single item on his list.

Three Years Ago...

...this sweet little princess took our breath away. This picture was our very FIRST introduction to our little Buggy and she immediately stole our hearts. I still have this picture up in our house!


A couple of my favorites from her first week on this earth.


She had to go back into the hospital for some light therapy for her jaundice. She was just goin' with the flow. Can we say "Spa time"?!?!

She has continued to make us laugh and love her all the more!!

Like here!! HELLO?!?!?!


Can you imagine the feeling of being up sooooo high on her Daddy's shoulders? How fun!!



And this picture completely captures her little personality!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY
OUR LITTLE LIZZIE

WE MISS YOU!!!!

Thankful Thursdays

Wow!! Where did the week go? Here we are again



This week I'm thankful for:

GOD'S CREATIONS:
seeing this beautiful sunrise this morning


And this beautiful sunset while driving to a meeting the other night


MY KID'S ACTIVITIES:

And that I get to sit right in the middle of these great youth every couple of weeks.
GO David on the trombone!!!

LOVED this concert!!

Don't you just love it when you go to a concert of an artist that you enjoy listening to their music and they sound the same? Rob & I have seen Manhattan Transfer before ~ Rob, 2 times and me, 1 time. And today I just can't get their songs out of my head.



Cheryl Bentene (the one singing) is a "local girl" having grown up in Mt. Vernon and went to school at WWU. So you can imagine everyone LOVED what she did at the beginning of the song. Because Bellingham really IS South of Lynden.


Does your family make up your own words to songs? We DO!! And this song in our house is lovingly dubbed the "Memaa" song. "A whack, a whack, a whack, a whack, a whack". Just ask Amber the next time you see she ;D

Their encore number!

Thankful Thursdays

I got this idea and encouragement for this over here.

The plan? The plan is to do a thankful post every Thursday, for the month of October and November! Will you join me? There's only one rule and that is to write at least one thing you're thankful for! It doesn't have to be a huge list, but it can be if you want! Sometimes my thankful posts will include photos, sometimes not. There shouldn't be too much pressure here - the point is to just get it written down.

So, in no particular order (mostly based on the happenings from the week so far)

I am thankful for...

MY CHILDREN AND PRECIOUS GRANDDAUGHTER: With everything going on this week with the missing WWU student search and him being found dead in Bellingham Bay, I am extremely grateful for ALL of my children. And would just love to "nest" with all my birdies but know that isn't possible.


MY FRIENDS: I had the most wonderful "girls day" with fabulous friends that made me laugh and we just loved being together.

MUSIC: Amber and Rob were able to attend this amazing concert last night.

And tonight we are going to see The Manhattan Transfer. Not to mention David is upstairs practicing his trombone as I type this. Music is EVERYWHERE!!

CHILDHOOD: That it's lasting just a bit longer and I have a boy that still loves to play with these.


LEARNING TO GO WITH THE FLOW:

Yes, it's kind of missing something. The globe to the light. This is the MOST difficult and frustrating "project". But in the grand scheme of things it's just not a biggy.

CHOCOLATE: This one just might be a weekly thankful!! Even though we've been wrapping LOTS of these

I still love chocolate :D

You know what? That was really easy!! So who is in with me on this?

Stolen from Jessica

I just had to show you how big and gorgeous our little Lizzie is getting!

She looks like her Mom in this one


And has her Dad's mischievous face/eyes in this one.

Oh how we miss her so!!!

It's THAT time again!!!

What are your Fall traditions?

Om Nom Nom...

...yummy gelato-y goodness!


Tonight's picks by everyone except for me (Amy) was Egg Nog. Me, I went with Cherry.


See how good it was?