Liver Life Walk 2010

Hello!!!! Can you believe that I am actually updating my blog. Goodness it has been a long time!! It has been a busy summer and I can't believe that school is about to start again.

I actually have a selfish reason for updating. I wanted to let you know that I have created Team Rick again this year for the Liver Life Walk. We are super excited to be doing the walk again this year. Samantha is really looking forward to it again as well. It is September 12, so time is really running out for me to get some donations for our team.

You can visit my personal fundraising page by clicking here. I really appreciate donations. Any amount is great as it all adds up.

We had so much fun last year and we are really looking forward to being there again this year. I am very happy to report that Rick's health has been very stable this year. We don't take that fact for granted however. I know it can change in the blink of an eye. Which is why this fundraiser is so important to me.

Thank you in advance for anyone that is able to make a donation. I will post more information as we get closer to the walk.

Until next time,

10 Years Old

Ten years ago today I was holding a sweet, tiny baby girl in my arms. Tonight I am hugging a big girl that is now 10 years old. Wow!! 10!! I can't believe my little girl is 10 years old.

Sam is definitely her own person. She is strong-willed and smart. She is loving and kind. She is a challenge and a joy. And I couldn't be more blessed to have such a compassionate daughter!!

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA!!!!!

I love you Sam!!

Love,

Mom

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time

Guess what everyone, it's that time of year again. We are now selling Girl Scout Cookies. Megan is our newest little salesgirl this year. And she is excited to be selling cookies.

If you are interested in ordering some cookies just let me know. I have a couple girls that are really looking forward to earning the cookie dollars that they can use towards things at the Girl Scout office or for camp.

The cookies are $4 a box. New this year are the Thank U Berry Munch which has cranberries and white fudge chunks. Sounds good to me. Of course we also have Lemon Chalet Cremes, Trefoils, DO-SI-DOS, Samoas, Dulce De Leche, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints. We are currently doing pre-orders. The cookies will arrive around the end of March.

Just let us know if you would like to order some. Thank you very much!!

Until next time,

Christmas Morning

I think that the pictures speak for themselves. The girls were very excited Christmas morning and Santa treated them well (although I wonder if he got them confused with some other girls). They were super excited to play with all their new toys. But of course the new things are opened slowly as we figure out where to put the new stuff and what old stuff to get rid of.

I hope that you all had a great Christmas! We sure did.

Until next time,

Jaime

Christmas Eve and Pajamas

We had a wonderful Christmas with family this year. It was nice to spend time together and celebrate. I love Christmas because of the time spent with family. Of course Christmas Eve is still a work day for Rick and I so we didn't get to spend the entire day together but we did spend the evening at my Mom's house. We had a fantastic dinner and opened presents.

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And we have our Christmas Eve tradition of opening a new pair of pajamas. The girls know what it is but I wrap them anyway. It is fun to go to bed in brand new jammies on Christmas Eve. I should have bought a new pair for myself.

The girls were so excited for Santa to come. Sam went to bed and basically fell right to sleep, which is amazing!! Megan, on the other hand, had a REALLY hard time falling asleep. She was up really late and she came out to the living room saying "someone please help me fall asleep." And then not too soon after that she was in bed calling out "PLEASE HELP ME FALL ASLEEP!!" It was sooo cute, and yet so sad. She was so worried that Santa wouldn't come because she wasn't sleeping. Luckily she did eventually fall asleep so that Santa could bring presents. Santa was pretty late though, like after midnight. I hope we didn't make him run late.

Until next time,

Jaime

Christmas Lights

One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is to go look at Christmas lights. I have been doing this every year since I was a little kid. Last year we didn't get to go because of the 5 feet of snow. But tonight we started our adventure by going to Manito Park to walk through the conservatory. It was all decked out with poinsettias and lights. It was so gorgeous. I took a couple pictures (of course).


After that we went downtown for pizza. And then we took off looking for decorated houses. We found a house with a huge light show. They had A LOT of lights that were set to music. The girls LOVED it!! And I loved it too. As we drove around we listened to Christmas music and sang along. My favorite was when the girls and I sang along with a Raffi song that I used to listen to when I was a kid. It is special to share moments like that with the girls.

The craziness of Christmas begins now. Starting with Christmas parties this weekend and a special Church program. We will be busy busy for the next week. Even my work is in on the Christmas fun. Today we had a potluck and next week is Christmas spirit week.

Ahh, the holidays!!

Until next time,
Jaime

Happy Halloween

The girls have been super excited to get to wear their Halloween costumes. They finally got to put them on yesterday for their class parties. They both picked out what they wanted to be without any influence from me. Sam chose The Flash. Apparently it is a superhero from Justice League. I don't know, I'm not very knowledgeable in superhero. Megan chose Daphne, from Scooby Doo. I know, big shock. She is a huge fan of Scooby Doo. At least I knew who that one is.


Nana and Papa with all their little goblins.

I hope you had a fun Halloween. It was a busy day to end a busy month. And it is just going to get busier with the upcoming holidays. I am already exhausted, oh please Lord give me strength.

Until next time,

Jaime

Soccer Saturday

Thank goodness for warmer weather. It was a very pleasant day for soccer today. Sam's team won 6-2. She played out during the first half and goalie during the second half. She was close to scoring a goal. It can be so frustrating to watch sometimes. But I really enjoy cheering her on.


Until next time,
Jaime

Daisy Scouts/Soccer Saturday

Tonight was Megan's second Daisy Girl Scout meeting. It was the first time she wore her Daisy vest. She was super excited to wear her vest and go to another meeting. We (and by "we" I mean "me") made name necklaces. And she was able to recite the Girl Scout Promise so she has earned her first official badge. It will be the center to the Daisy petals. I am so proud of her.

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Sam had a good game this past Saturday. She played goalie for the entire game. Although her team didn't win she was able to make some really great saves. And she is getting really good at her drop kick.

I have really bad at taking pictures lately. This was the first game I took pictures. She scored a goal two weeks ago. I missed the game because I was at a band competition with Rick. My Mom said that Sam was so happy. Apparently she had a HUGE smile on her face. I am really proud of how she is blossoming as a soccer player this season.

I will take some more pictures at her next game and hopefully Soccer Saturday will actually post on Saturday.

Until next time,

Jaime

The Oregon Zoo

We had so much fun at the zoo. It is so neat. We all especially enjoyed the Predators of the Serengeti exhibit. Some, well a lot actually, of my pictures didn't turn out great. It is hard to get pictures of moving animals behind glass windows. Who knew??

Sam enjoyed the Sea Lions and Sea Otters. They were really fun to watch swimming around. The exhibits to see all these animals swimming were so cool. All the windows at different levels made for some great viewing, albeit some not so great photos. Oh well, it's the memories that matter anyway.

Even after a really long walk Sam was still full of energy. She really enjoyed everything and was so excited to see the next exhibit that she practically ran through most of them. I did manage to get her to stand still for a few seconds for some pictures every once in a while.

We really enjoy monkeys and it was so fun to get to see them.

The sea turtles were pretty cool.

But the baby elephant was even cooler. Meet Samudra, Sam for short. What a coincidence.

The amazing painting elephant. This elephants paintings sell for around $900 each.

After the live predatory bird show one of the trainers held a bird (I don't remember what it is, some type of falcon I think) for the kids to see up close. Sam asked some really good questions and was really interested.

The Predators of the Serengeti exhibit was so great. There was live music, and crafts.

Of all the animals in the zoo Sam decided that the Meerkat was her favorite. She even picked out a meerkat stuffed animal.

I liked the Polar Bears and the Zebras. And the Monkeys of course.

The Eagles were pretty amazing too!!

Sam and Daddy in an Eagles nest.

The memories we made during this weekend will last a long time. We had so much fun together. I hope that Sam will remember this time with Mom and Dad as a very special weekend. I am actually getting a little teary just thinking about it. Since we have no idea what the future holds I am holding on to these memories in a very special place. We don't get the opportunity to spend special time like this together, and I hope that we will be able to do the same thing with Megan in a couple years.

Liver Life Walk, we will be back next year. It felt great to do something, and to make special memories.

Until next time,

Jaime