We're dreaming of a White Christmas...

Last Christmas we spent the holidays in Seattle with our Dittbrenner cousins and it was FABULOUS!!!! We are really missing being there with them this month.

We love you Dittbrenners!

Polar Bear Plunge

My CRAZY, adorable niece Dixie doing the polar bear plunge before the sun was even up this morning! The girl is amazing!

My 5 year old miracle!

Cole, my darling miracle baby boy, turned five today! He is magnificent!

We often call him our little Pharaoh, the prince of Egypt. Since finding out that he is Egyptian, we totally get it. He is definitely the Pharaoh of our home, as much as we try to dissuade him. Cole is serious, but sweet. He is very pensive, thoughtful. He is quite and is always thinking.

With a birthday 2 days after Christmas, Cole usually gets ripped off as far as birthdays go. In fact, I can't think of a single birthday present he has ever gotten, ever, with the exception of my darling friend Julie Bostrom who remembers his birthday every year! (Thanks Julie, you rock. Without you, I probably wouldn't even have pictures of his past few birthdays!)

So this year, I decided to go all out. We got him a few presents that WERE NOT just Christmas left-overs. He was thrilled!

We got him a "real" birthday cake. Again, not just left over Christmas desserts. I let him choose what kind of cake he wanted and he was so excited to get his own special cake.
Notice the finger "swipes" out of it. He was begging for tastes, and I told him, "Sure, it is your cake! Enjoy it!" He was in love with this cake!
Cole's favorite food's are Pasta with Marinara Sauce and Pizza, so we had pasta for lunch and pizza for dinner.
We went and walked around Snoqualmie Falls with the Dittbrenner family. It was so beautiful!

Then we went to explore the train museum up a mile from the falls. We played in the rain and had a great afternoon.
Then we went to dinner at a Pizza restaurant and Cole was the first one to finish his personal pizza! I was SHOCKED! He loves his pizza when you take the cheese and toppings off in one big swoop, so all he has is the crust/dough and sauce. What an easy kid to please!

Free Flights

We were so lucky to get to FLY on Alaska Airlines for next to nothing for the Holidays! My cute little sister Amy works for Alaska Airlines, and so she was able to come and get us to go and fly with her on her buddy passes. It was really fun to see Amy in her element at work! She LOVES her job so much!!

Here she is as a part of the Alaska Airlines Fly Girls Drill Team.

They do a full routine in parades and team training events and such. So fun!!

Here is a link for other fun pictures of her drill team.
http://www.alaskasworld.com/NEWS/2010/08/Torchlight_Parade/index.html

seriously talented

The Dittbrenners are seriously talented. My family all know, but for my friends information, my brother-in-law Wayne has the very best voice out of anyone I have ever met in real life. It is truly amazing!

So when we went to church today, I was in for some fun surprises. First of all, Amy totally PLAYED THE FLUTE AS A SOLO!!!! Hello, PLAYED the FLUTE as a SOLO! I did not even know she played the flute.



Then it is time for another special musical number and Dixie gets on up there and plays the violin!!! YES, I am TOTALLY SERIOUS! It was really fantastic.

Then my favorite part of all. It is time for the church choir to sing and Dillon gets up and sings with them! It was really such a fun thing to see all of them being so musical and involved in their ward.

The one thing that surprised me is that Wayne did not sing in the choir. With a voice like his, he would be a terrific addition to the choir.. However, the rest of the family totally made up for Wayne's "stage fright".

Funny thing... I never really thought about it.... but the stake presidency and bishopric members do not like it when you pull out a camera in church. I really freaked them out. But I really did not mean to. It was kind of hilarious. Apparently the first councilor in the stake presidency said to the Bishop, "We have a camera going up in row three." And I guess he fully expected the Bishop to "deal with the situation." Hilarious!!!

Luckily I was done with my video clips, so I put away my camera, totally oblivious to the "commotion" on the stand.

So at great personal risk... these above were the quick clips I got for my mom and dad to enjoy. Your grandchildren and daughter are amazing!

Ho Ho Whoa!

This always makes me laugh.. and think of my brother Wayne.

Last year they had the same saying, but with this darling picture of Santa hanging upside down tangled in the lights. Hilarious! I laugh every time I think about it.

So Superman, don't be a hero... Take it easy this year. Okay Cowboy?

Man Down!!!
Love you!
Charise

On the Go!

To translate, Cole says "I fun" and "ready set Go!"

I am so thankful for Healthy children and darling Cousins!




And then what I love about this video...
Brighton can't be bothered or slowed by the camera. He has places to go.
Dillon is the entertainer. He'll slow down and give you some comedy.
And Cole... who "they" said would never speak or walk on his own. Doctor's... wonderful people, but clueless as to what can really happen with Heavenly Father's touch and a little love from a family!
Cole's little legs going as fast as he can.
Cole is all about the "Ready, Set, Go!" He is in the racing phase. It is great! I can get him to do anything by calling it a race!

A day at the beach with cousins

My sister Amy has a job with Alaskan Airlines, and she loves it. She is really good at what she does. Their family has been to Alaska lots of times in the past few months. One of the greatest perks of Amy working at Alaskan Airlines is that we got to meet Sarah Palin.

Actually, no I am totally kidding, but that would have been so cool! The best thing is that they get to travel all over for free! It is so awesome! Last week they came for 3 days and we had such a great time. We spent one day at the beach. Amy had a great idea of roasting hot dogs on an open fire down at Balboa. Since it is November, we were a little worried about the weather, but it was gorgeous!! This is where we were when we saw the Prop 8 skywriters.


We even called dad and Bill and since they were working on beach houses a few blocks away, they both came and enjoyed a hot dog lunch with us! So fun, and delicious!
Dixie is the QUEEN of sea adventures. She loves amazing finds like this. She fished it out of the water and wrestled it up the shore to us. She is such a sea explorer!

Dillon 6 roasting marshmallows with Denim 4.

Such Cute Sisters!! Darcy 11, Dixie 9. I think!

We had to stall for time while Cole was in therapy for an hour... so we went to the dollar store and let each kid pick one toy. Greatest $1 spent! They were in heaven, and Amy, Wayne and I had lots of fun also! Brighton got a foam dart gun.

We had brought our Halloween costumes swords and shields for the boys to play with, so Wayne was in a sword fighting mood all weekend. Here he got Amy to Hot Dog Roaster Stick sword fight her. I think they both had a really good vacation away form the stresses of home.

My own Title of Liberty

In memory of our god, our freedom and our religion....
We know that there are times when we must stand up and be counted, and that there will be moments when that is difficult. I can only imagine that it will become increasingly more difficult with every passing year. Life gets harder as this world changes. But with those changes also comes the opportunity to grow, and our strength of character to become stronger.

I have dear friends who feel differently than me on this issue, and that is one of the things I love about this country. It is okay to have different beliefs. We just need to respect each other's rights to choose for ourselves. To these friends I say I love you and I am thankful for our friendship. Please do not be offended that I have chosen to embrace this issue so fully. This is important to me, and I appreciate your feelings also.

I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I believe that those who choose a same sex lifestyle should be given the rights associated with a civil union, but that marriage remains between a man and a woman.

I have loved having the opportunity to be a part of something so historical and significant! As I stood out there in the middle of the road holding up my sign, I felt like I was standing up and being counted. I was really there, saying, "This is what I believe, and I am willing to shout it to the world." It was my Title of Liberty moment, and I am so thankful for it.

Papa was hilarious! He was so happy! Really, really happy! He was the team coordinator for his area, and he did a fantastic job. But the greatest part was when he was out on the corners holding signs. He would smile like prince in a Disneyland parade. It was amazing! I have never seen him smile so much, for so long! And it was not fake smiling... It was adorable!!!


The Dittbrenners were in town, so Dixie, Amy and Wayne came out to hold sings with us. Dixie was very cute. She learned a lot. A Lot! We were flipped the bird many times, and that was new to her. And she learned some new words. But she was a trooper, and just kept on holding up her sign. Seriously, how big of a jerk do you have to be to yell obscenities at a little girl and flip her the bird?

We were so excited to see these skywriters while we were playing at Balboa Beach!
When it started, we were trying to guess what it would say. I was so worried it would be a vote no sign. When it said yes, we all went bizerk screaming and cheering! It was awesome!!!

Click to see the pictures bigger!


Vote yes on Prop 8... Save Traditional Marriage