November & the year long beard.

So November was another exciting month. Marked with Liza getting her Godly Character award for prayer, our first snow fall, a trip to CoeurdAlene and the 5Th month of the year long beard.


CCS does a monthly Godly Character Award that they give at chapel. Liza here with her friend Jace and Teacher Mrs R. Ryan and I can hardly believe the blessing of Liza in our lives, we are not worthy of her sweetness.

We were planning to go to Boise for Thanksgiving but the roads ended up being too bad. So the weekend after thanksgiving Ryan and his parents took the girls to CDA so I could get some items on the "to do" list done. They built a snowman w/ Sibley.

Okay, so because my husband is so proud of his beard, I figured, I should be also. His goal this year is to grow it for an entire year....(sigh). He started in June. Only 8 more months to go!

Playing catch up!

The blogging world has been alseep in our little home for the last two months. Of course, that doesn't mean we have been asleep. October is always a busy month for us. It marks the annual "Cow Plop" a major fundraiser for Cornerstone Christian School, where the girls attend. It always promises to be a great time. We also celebrate another wonderful year of our Liza. She turned 7 this year and that is so hard to believe. And of course, we can not forget that day where we all dress up and ask people for candy....nope, can't forget that. This year we went to our church Harvest party on Saturday and as always, had a great time.

October also marked a hard month for the employees of Costco. The loss of 3 of their employees over a 3 week time period. It was almost unbearable. Ryan spent a lot of time over that period of three weeks, praying, helping, loving, giving, crying....... It was awesome to see God at work during this and although it was a heavy time, it was an incredibly graceful time as well. Seeing so many people from so many backgrounds and beliefs come together for the greater good. We are proud of of our Costco family and VERY proud to work for them.

Liza has found a new love for Lego's. She got a few boxes for her birthday and has been able to create all kinds of stuff. Lauryn has decided that indeed, she does enjoy school. It only took about 2 months but once she got the groove of it, she decided she could handle it. We will see what next year holds when she has to be there the entire day.

October is also the month when Ryan get's to go on his annual fishing trip. From what I am told, this trip is THE TRIP of all trips. They can't keep the fish off their lines, they sleep in a glorious log cabin on the Salmon River in Hells Canyon and they are surrounded by the people they enjoy to be with and of course, plenty of refreshing drinks. They don't go for wanting much, on this trip....or so I'm told.



The cabin on the Salmon


The fish....and the beard. :)


Liza's birthday w/ almost all the girls from her class.


A hay ride w/ the Krahn boys.


A GOOD witch & a kitty.

Lauryn-isms

Lauryn is full of it. She is!

The other day when a friend of our's graciously took the girls out to ice-cream while we had small group was driving by Baskin-Robins and Lauryn says

"my mom is nammed after Baskin-Robins."

Friend: "oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, her name is Robyn and she is part Basque."

:)

Then when asked what her favorite part of school is. She answered. "Going Home".

(that one actually makes me a little sad...but it's so dang cute)

A mix of emotions

It's unreal actually. That feeling of having that baby in your arms and the toddler running around doing all the unwanted things while mommy is nursing and can't do anything about it. The falling down stairs as we are learning to navigate on our chubby little feet. The new teeth, the first words, the sleepless nights. It really doesn't seem at the time, that these things will ever be "just a memory". It really doesn't feel, at the time, that you will ever see the other side of it.

On Wednesday I sent my babies to school. And although just two weeks ago, I couldn't WAIT for school to start.....and although just two weeks ago I couldn't wait to have a few hours a day to myself.....it still sucked!

(yeah, I said "sucked" because, it did)

As we walked into school and I ushered them each to their classrooms, took pictures, and found their seats, the entire time I was holding back the tears. "Don't talk to me, I'm about to loose it!" So once in the safety of my own car, the water flowed, and flowed, all the way home. It's just the matter of fact....I won't ever get those first 6 years back, and it's okay, I just had to grieve for a few moments. Then my phone rings, it's Ryan...."are you done crying yet?"

Thanks for the moment.




I think they are the cutest kids ever to walk the halls of Cornerstone.


Liza with Mrs. R. (Everyday she comes home and RAVES about her teacher, she thinks she is the funniest person ever!)

Lauryn with Mrs. St. Onge. What a big Kindergartner....sniff, sniff.

Shootin the gun

So secretly, I want to be a logger.....

....and I think I'd be pretty good.

Enjoying God's Creation

Dworshack Reservoir.

2 in less than 12

Numbers 5 and 6 came out in less than 12 hours apart.
She isn't little anymore, is she???

Last night was the 3 Piggy Opera.....

...and I watched one of the cutest wolves ever.







I love them.

April was a good month

Well here it is May 12th and I am finally blogging about April. Our baby turned 5 on April 19th, and no matter what, I can't get used to it. Our girls are getting big and experiencing life, it's strange, exciting, fun but also SAD. I wrestle with the baby years and wishing I could just have them back for just one day. Oh how I would make sure I enjoyed it.



Blowing out the candles.



Lauryn's "DREAM COME TRUE" Thanks to our friends the Fleishman's, she got to ride a horse for the first time. She LOVED it.



The three amigos!



On her actual birthday she got waffles with the whip cream number 5.



Lauryn with her preschool Teacher Mrs. Monda.