Grandma and Grandpa & great Grandma Come to town

Grandma Lu and Grandpa Tom and Great Grandma Haley came into town last weekend for a visit. Dan had called his mom on Friday morning and was teasing her by telling her to bring her snow clothes since we woke up to 6 inches of snow. Of course she bought it!! But he came clean and told her he was joking. But who knew it would literally start snowing an hour before they got here. So we only had a couple inches but it still led Grandpa and the kids into a full on snow ball fight! They also built two great snowmen. We took them to some fun stores and also took the kids bowling! Had a great time!



Spencer got caught!~




G-pa Tom teaching the kids paddle ball!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for the holidays, Dan and I have chosen to stay close to home and keep things simple. For thanksgiving we had a wonderful opportunity to spend the evening with our friends Ryan and Amber and their girls. Ryan is a long time friend that grew up across the street from Dan and he and his family moved to Spokane just shortly after we did. We had a great time and the kids had a blast playing together. Dan and Ryan had a few (quite loud) matches at the ping pong table, I think by nights end they were tied. It was a wonderful evening! Thanks Bissells!

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2008!!! Alvin, Simon and Theodor sent this picture to their Grandpa Tom for his October 31st Birthday. (side note... we removed our wood stove this fall and are sending it down to Grandpa Tom for his shop at the coastal house.)

The kids love the newest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie that came out last Christmas and have been planning on dressing up like them for Halloween for the last several months. They had a blast this year!!!! Even more so because they were very excited to have Grace join them for the annual "Candy Carnival" put on by our church. It was a great success and the kids absolutely make a hall on goodies. They didn't even bother to go trick or treating in the neighborhoods.











Here, Josh is showing all the children how they really need to get the right crank on the ball for the bowling game.

Pumpkins X2

We carved our pumpkins as a family last Sunday. BUT Cousin Grace came to town on Tuesday and revealed to us that she had not yet carved a pumpkin so we had a second round for her just before Halloween. This was a pivotal year in the carving festivities... The kids designed their own faces on paper and then Dan and I transferred the pictures for them, but the best part was that they ALL carved them by themselves....woohoo no more hand cramps! Dan and I both agreed this was the best year all in all for the kids' designs. Maddie drew a really cute care bear face and Sophia chose that to be hers and it tunred out great! And of course Dad...the Blazer fan was very creative too. I think the kids were awe over his fancy design.

Family from Home!

We had the privilege of housing Conner, Trisha and Alicia for a weekend while they were up here for the wedding of a college friend in Coeur D'Alene. The kids were ecstatic to see some of their favorite babysitters from back in the day!! Funny to watch the kids, even as they are older now, they love these guys just like family. They were hanging on them all the time they could and begging them to come watch all 3 soccer games. Thankfully they were (as always) gracious and went along and cheered them on with Dan and I. Poor mom-to-be Alicia...very close to her a due date was keeping right up. As always, it was a blessing to have them be here and a reminder of how much we miss everyone from home! We love you all a ton!

celebration and relaxation!!

Alright, so we are absolutely 100% behind and as the days march on I am finally giving in. We will never catch this blog up from all that has happened from Spring to Fall 2008. (though Dan will try and I am sure posts will pop up between here and there) I mean we are talking...camping trips, day hikes, swim lessons, first day of school, basketball camp, birthday parties, silly times, soccer, labor day woodstove projects, family campfires, garden, golf trips,tetherball installation camp Kiwanalong..my gosh the list goes on and on. After this posting I will work very hard at adding some new stuff. I have some great pictures of the kids that I am dying to get out there for you guys to see.

As I sat down tonight to catch up on e-mail, I realized that we have had such a whirlwind of events since spring that I have yet to update some people on some of these, well...pretty big events.

I finished my NAC (Nurse Aide Certification) schooling in Spring. I passed my state skills exam and written exam in July and I am now officially an NAC. In fall I began my search for a job and as of yesterday I was officially hired as a new staff at one of hospitals here in Spokane. Yeah! Just when I thought my pretty bare resume/application was finding all the circular files in Spokane! I am looking forward to the new transition and hoping that I will adjust smoothly.

Second bit of great news. I think my new neurologist is up to something. I had my 2nd year check up and when I went in I was going to stand firm and tell him I was not going through another MRI. By the time I left his office I was not only having the brain MRI but they were also going to do a cervical spine (the neck area) MRI as well. He also scheduled me for a test to be done on my optic nerve on the right eye (the eye that went blind). My MRI returned clear yet again this year. No sign of any lesions. yea! But for my Dr. this is concerning, as he seems to think that there could be a possibility that I may have been mis-diagnosed with MS. So he is having me retested to make some new baselines and then I will have the sames tests done in 6 months and if the MRI is clear again....we move to take me off my disease management drugs, then on to monitoring for awhile after that. His theory is that in the 14 or so years he has been studying MS, he has never seen an MS patient return a clean MRI. That even with drug therapy, there is always some sort of lesions still active and going on. Maybe not producing the effects physically but nonetheless they are still present. So it is all at a stand still for awhile yet but what fantastic news!! I am very excitedly embracing this news. Will have more to come on that front sometime soon.

note from Dan: There is also the very real possibility that Tina has been healed! The lesions on the sheath around her brain- and subsequent decline in health during July of 2006 - were very real. Sorry for intruding on your post babe, I just had to throw that in :)

I am looking forward to settling into fall....the kids (all 3) have their last soccer games of the season this Saturday. We have been running around like crazy people with all the soccer practices and games. I am excited to sit back and enjoy a quiet evening at home, a nice long cooked meal and a soothing glass of Merlot. Such a great feeling soaking in the warmth of this time of year. cheers! And new pictures to come soon! - Tina

Leavenworth trip - July 18-20 (still no kids!)

Those who know Tina well know that she loves musicals. I found out that the Leavenworth Summer Theater performs The Sound of Music every year in their outdoor theater on Ski Hill Road so we decided to check it out and make a weekend of it. It's a beautiful setting with the mountains behind the stage. We love Leavenworth but had only been in the winter before. It was beautiful as usual and fun to actually see in the summer. We spent the weekend there in a small camper cabin at the Icicle River RV Park about 3 miles out of town. We got the last 2 tickets to the premier of Batman: The Dark Knight at the Icicle Cinema on Friday night, took in the play on Saturday night, went on bike rides, took a nap in the grass downtown, visited Wedge Mountain Winery.... It was like a second honeymoon. We had a great time.