Rockin' around the Christmas tree

Instead of showing you the photos of all of us in our PJs opening gifts on Christmas morning (yawn :>O), we are posting some pictures of the family partying like rock stars on Christmas with The Bradstreets.

We are so thankful for the friendship that has blossomed between the Bradstreets family and ours in the past year. Dave initially met Erik while working in the cardiovascular division of Medtronic then his family adopted us after we moved to Spokane. We have spent the past 2 Thanksgivings and countless occasions breaking bread with this family. They also introduced us to our church home, Valley Real Life, in which Dave and I were baptised in a few weeks ago. When I asked Jennie, Erik's wife, if she was sure that we wouldn't be intruding on family time by crashing their holiday meals she was relieved to say that having us there helps to buffer the extended family stress that comes with holiday get together (hopefully her family doesn't read this post of the blog). But seriously, we are truly thankful for the love and support they have provided to our family over the past year, we have been truly blessed by their friendship.

And the winner is... Ashley and Grammy Love

It was a close race until the very end but ultimately Team #1, Ashley and Grammy Love, are taking the title of "Best in Show".

2nd runner up is... Brooke & Papa Love

Brooke and Papa Love decorated this unique tree to win the prize for Second runner up in the gingerbread decorating contest. Brookes comment on the polling results was " they cheated by using Halloween candy".

Every Vote Counts!

The countdown is on to the closing of the poll for which tree deserves the "Best In Show" award. At this point, the vote is tied (thanks to G'ma Hill's multiple votes). We are hoping for a clear winner in the contest. The girls are anxiously awaiting the results so please take a minute to vote using the polling icon to the right of this post. We will announce the winner and 2nd runner up tomorrow.

Date Night

Dave and I had a fantastic "Date Night" last night. We attended the Inland Cardiology Employee Christmas Party held at the historic Davenport Hotel downtown and enjoyed an exquisite dinner and some laughs with my co-workers before spending the remainder of the evening in our room. It was a great opportunity for us to reconnect without the distractions of home even if only for one night. After sleeping in, we savored a scrumptious brunch before returning home to face the long list of holiday "to do's" still left undone; only 4 shopping days left until Christmas. Sigh!

I must say that personally this has been the most stressful holiday season that I can recall. Lately it feels as though we have lost touch with the true reason for the season with the constant hustle and bustle of shopping and shipping gifts when it really is about counting your blessings. I lost my cool with my Mom on the phone today after standing in line at the post office for 45 minutes the second time this week to ship packages to family. My frustration was exacerbated by the fact that in some cases it cost more to ship the gifts than to purchase them. I know what your thinking... I should just send gift cards. I have got to say am not a big fan of gift cards. I have always made a special effort to purchase thoughtful gifts for those in my family however the warm fuzzies are lost when I am not with them to watch as they open the gifts and unable appreciate their expressions as they see what I selected for them. I am sorry to my Mom for her being at the receiving end of my bah humbug attitude, but something has got to give. I am logging off now to go snuggle with the girls and Dave as we watch The Polar Express, a holiday tradition started a few years ago. Hopefully, when I wake in the morning I will have a new outlook on this holiday season, otherwise I will be lovingly referred to as The Grinch!

It's like a gift that keep on giving!

Today God has blessed us with another Snow Day. We have had record breaking snowfall over the past 2 days in Spokane and the surrounding areas. It has finally stopped snowing to allow all of the residents to begin shoveling thier way to the roads that still remain to be adequately plowed. I got word that my office was closed today so I am home as well. The girls, Zeus, and I ventured down the road for a little sledding action but ended up waist deep in some parts so we turned around and took a few runs down the main road.

Soon the girls will be headed to Shane's for the night so that Dave and I can enjoy a night out. My office is holding its holiday party (Yes, the office is closed but the party is still on, PRIORITIES??) at the Davenport Hotel downtown so we took the liberty of reserving a room in the historic tower to make an entire night of it. You can check out the hotel at the link below and I will post some pictures when we get home tomorrow. www.thedavenporthotel.com

Snow Day!!

Christmas break was supposed to start next Monday but it appears that Santa delivered an early Christmas gift to all of the schoolchildren. Today was the first official "Snow Day " of the season. We got word this morning that school was closed so the girls got dressed in all of their layers of cold weather wear to brave the cold temperatures. All of the photos above were taken in our front yard that has been transformed into a sled run following the ~23 inches of snow we received in the last 24 hours.

Goodbye Grammy & Papa Love

We just had a great weekend with Dave's parents, Charlie and Phyllis. They were here from Thursday evening until this morning visiting from the Oregon Coast. The girls had a great time visiting, and getting spoiled, by Grammy and Papa Love. It is unfortunate that both of our families live so far away but we all love to spend moments together as time and schedules permit.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Wishing you a very happy birthday from Washington! We love you "Old Man"!

Upward

Here are a couple of pictures taken by Grammy Love of the girls in their new uniforms. Ashley is going to cheer on "The Glitters" cheer squad and Brooke will be playing basketball for "The Boilermakers" team in the Upward organization. They both started practice last week and are really looking forward to their games beginning in January.

Dave's parents, aka "Grammy and Papa Love" are here for a long weekend to visit and celebrate an early Christmas with us. Today we all took a drive in the country on some back roads to Couer D' Alene, Idaho. We have really enjoyed the time together and are looking forward to attending church tomorrow. I will post more photos of their visit later.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

As a reward for thier good grades, I took the girls to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some "dirt & worm" covered carmel apples and chocolate mints. Mmm!

Early Release = Playtime

The girls have had early release from school for the past 3 days due to parent/ teacher conferences so I took the afternoon off of work to hang out with them. We walked to the Basketball court down the road so the girls could shoot some hoops while I tossed the rope toy for Zeus to fetch. We are looking forward to a low key weekend of family time.

Speaking of conferences, We met with the girls teachers yesterday to discuss their progress with the curriculum this year. Both of the girls received outstanding reviews and are considered a treat to have in their respective classrooms. They both received 4's & 3's (A's and B's) on their progress reports in all subjects. We are so proud of the girls that they are maturing into.

As a reward for their good grades, we are planning a trip to Polka Dot Pottery tomorrow to select a ceramic object of their choice to paint then stop off at the new Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory that opened down the road for some sweet treats.

High School Musical 3

While Dave was in Chicago this week, the girls and I took advantage of the time together for a GNO. Friday night we went to dinner at Aztec then enjoyed High School Musical 3 on the big screen along with hundreds of other tweenage girls. It was a great movie so when I saw may girlfriend Jamie's blog tonight I found my way to this site that allows you to embed personal photos into a variety of scenes. The girls thought that it was awesome!! Enjoy.

Brooke & Troy

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Ashley & Troy

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!

The girls and I just wanted to wish Dave a very Happy Birthday. Unfortunately Dave is spending the day at a National Clinical Specialist meeting in Chicago with ~500 colleagues. We did however get the opportunity to celebrate before he left with some gifts and chocolate cake. Too bad he had to leave the leftover cake here, I am afraid there will not be any left for him when he returns :)

Mmm...chocolate cake :)

A Day in Green Bluff

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon touring farms North of Spokane in a community called Green Bluff. Every summer and fall this collection of farms opens their door to invite others to enjoy the crops that they have grown during the season (primarily apples and pumpkins). After church, we enjoyed lunch with The Bradstreet Family before venturing up to Green Bluff. Apparently all of Spokane decided that it would be a good weekend to do the same because it was packed! First we stopped at Siemers to let the kids wander through the corn maze then we ended up at Hansens. While there, we meandered through the apple orchard searching for the scary faces that they hide in the trees. We took the opportunity to have some pictures taken since the Bradstreet's were with us. Here are a few.

You've been BOO'd!!

The girls and I just got back from "BOOing". Our friend Carrie started the tradition last year so we decided to get it going again tonight. We created 3 baskets of Halloween goodies, delivered them to the doorstep of our unsuspecting neighbors, rang the doorbell, and RAN! Inside the basket along with the treats is the following note:

"This sweet surprise is called a "boo"!

You'll never know exactly who

brought treats and then ran off unseen

to brighten up your Halloween!

It's twice the good luck if you go

and "boo" two other folks you know!

Pack up a ghost sign,

treats, and gifts,

and add a poem just like this.

Pick out a house

and sneak up close.

(Make sure its windows have no ghost

that tells you clearly

"We've been Boo'd!"

It's best to visit someplace new.)

Knock fast on someones door- then run!

Make sure you're never seen! It's fun!

And once they get your gifts and food...

they'll know for sure that

they've been boo'd!

The girls had a great time and thought it was hilarious to watch the kids that answered the door of the homes that we "boo'd" run out and look for who may have left the gift. I think that we were able to remain unseen since the girls were in costume (hopefully they don't read this blog). Now the girls are planning a strategy on how to answer the door whenever our bell rings to get there in time to see who will "boo" us.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

I just wanted to send a quick Happy Birthday to my mom who turns 29 again today. This is a picture of my parents and their grandkids while we were in Crown King this past summer.

The girls have been visiting Shane and his Mom while she was in town this past two weeks helping him move into his place in Post Falls. Shane decided to move closer to us so we can see the girls on a more regular basis. No more meeting in Ritzville for us, Yipee!!

We are planning on going to Green Bluff this weekend to pick up some pumpkins, apples, and maybe get lost in the corn maze. I promise to take some new photos of all of us to update the blog with.

Road Trip

Dave and I had a nice weekend spending some time reconnecting while the girls visited with Shane. Yesterday we enjoyed an annual "Hootenanny" with The Grabowski Family then met with some former collegues from Sacred Heart for an dinner party. This morning we caught up on sleep and then took Zeus for a drive in the country. We ended up at one of the marina's on Lake Coere D' Alene where Zeus enjoyed a swim in the lake. We had a great day except for the fact that now my car smells of wet dog. I have the windows, sunroof, and back hatch open and have febreezed all of the nooks and crannies. Hopefully it will be fresh when I get in to go to work in the morning.

Family Time

Here are a couple of pictures I took last night after dinner and showers of Dave and the girls as everyone was winding down for the evening. Ashley took some time to catch up on the latest scoop on her favorite Pop Star, Miley Cyrus AKA Hannah Montana. I know that People Magazine is not the most literary choice for 2nd grade reading but at this age, words are words and I am happy to see her taking an interest. Dave took a minute to braid Brooke's hair. They had a contest to see which of the two had better braiding skills. The first prize went to Brooke but Dave received and Honorable Mention for his efforts.