2010-What a Ride!

Growing up in Southern CA, I had the opportunities and privilege to have my fill of roller coasters, especially in my teen years. Between Magic Mountain, Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm just down the street, my friends and I lived for the trill of being tossed and turned and thrown and rushed up and down and looped and then that all to familiar abrupt HALT when the ride was done. Then we'd rush to the next line to do it all again...

Then I turned 18 and 'grew up'. Somehow between then and now, I moved to Idaho, got married, started having babies, moved to Arizona, had more babies and got on with a life that did not include the thrills and rush of roller coasters at theme parks...

A couple years ago, I found myself in a severely reclined position, a restraint over my shoulders securing my torso to the hard seat I was sitting in, listening to the familiar and steady, "clank-clank-clank"...As I looked at the beautiful view of what seemed like the entire world, I knew the "clank-clank-clanking" was coming to an end. I involuntarily trusted in the integrity of the structure and mechanics of what was carrying me. Though I knew that I would survive the loops, turns, and twists ahead, make it to the end, and be fine- a panic rushed through me, a tightness twisted up in my gut. I thought of my three babies waiting for me at the other side of that 'EXIT' gate. What was I thinking, being on this silly thing? I wasn't ready for this, (clank-clank-clank) but it was too late. I didn't have the choice to just 'get off' at this point...

Then there was the release.

The weightlessness overcame my body. The harness, as we all know, did not completely prevent my body from being thrown around. I felt my rear lift of the seat, my body pressed against the left side and then the right, my head whipped all around. There was that all familiar rush of adrenaline through every inch of me-I screamed with eyes wide open, and smiled and laughed and then screamed again...

And then, abruptly and harshly, it stopped. My body flew forward and slammed back. We were done. The harnesses released. I had made it to the end, never doubting that I would. I trembled as I climbed up on the platform out of the car. As i followed the arrows to the exit gate to meet my family, my stomach was turning and my body was attempting to recover from what it just went through. It was a mix of terror and thrill, shock and exhilaration, panic and intensity, apprehension and excitement...

I saw my sweeties as I approached the gate-waving, smiling and beautiful...And then the question from my Love-"Are you ready for the next one?"

Though I'm ready to enjoy "It's a Small World", I have a strong feeling we're in line for something more intense than what we just got off...

Bring it on 2011!

Changes

Couple changes to our site

• Design-obvious cosmetic changes to the site.
  
• Arrangement- some things have been moved around
  
• Sharing options at the end of the posts-now you can share and comment on facebook, twitter, and other social networking sites


• Feedback boxes at end of post-It's nice to know if people actually are reading. One reason we write this is to keep a journal of our family's life, but another is to share this experience we call life with friends and family. One click will let us know this website is serving it's purpose. This feature will not identify you and is faster and easier than having to leave a comment. (Kind of like an anonymous 'like' button on facebook) You can still leave a comment of course, if you'd like.

Christmas 2010

Boys woke up at 2:30 AM and the mean mom that I am made them go back to sleep...

They slept until 7:00 and kept trying to peak around the corner and tip-toe into the living room. They couldn't wait to see if the cookies were gone, if their stockings were filled, what exactly happened while they were sleeping...

We decided to end their struggle at 7:30 by getting up and showering...and then, finally, we headed out to the living room...but had to fight Bethany to get out of bed first...This all was killin' the boys...

But they survived it and then the festivities began...


Bethany was thrilled...She wasn't ready to get up :)
Santa brought lots of fun crafts to do...
Yep, Mike was pretty excited too...

So many fun things and so much love from everyone-we unwrapped love with every package...













There were so many fun new goodies to enjoy and one special present that reminded us of families that weren't as blessed with 'things' as we are. Grandparents Renwick gave a family a goat on our behalf so that they can use it to generate an income and sustain life and their basic needs. What an awesome and meaningful gift that was to us!!

After enjoying and appreciating the shower of love from everyone there was one set of gifts waiting...a surprise to everyone. Background-we do not have a family gaming system, no xbox, Wii, playstation, none of that...Soooo, one more set of presents to go-I open a package of wires and cords, Matthew opens a joystick, Niko open an old Vans shoebox full of old game cartridges, Bethany opens another one. Mike sits there trying to figure out what's going on, knowing, but NOT knowing...He opens the final box that puts everything together...an Atari 2600! An ohhh, the memories and flashback to the 80's as we rummaged through the game titles...Fun times!

After a beautiful, fun morning and afternoon, we coordinated the plans of getting together with our friends, then we were off to the Stubblefields for a night of diner-elk, lamb, sausage and peppers, split pea soup, and pasta...

We watched the space shuttle fly over, played cards, and had a great wrap up to Christmas 2010.
Then Sunday we headed up to Chandler to spend the afternoon and evening with Mike's dad. It was nice visiting and catching up with them and sharing the holiday with them...

Christmas Eve

While Mike was at work on Christmas Eve day, the kids and I got some last minute things accomplished.

Then Matthew and I met Mike for a couple more errands...

And then home to start cooking. It was a simple Christmas dinner-lots of cans-but a good start to put Bethany to work. She learned about hams and yams...she did fantastic!

After eating a yummy dinner, we headed out to look at some lights around town.

First stop Disney Lane. the neighborhood had these board displays, each house having a different theme. So creative...

Super Mario Brothers was a favorite...
Charlie Brown, of course...
This one was adorable-101 Dalmatians-loved the puppies on the eves
The Jungle Book honored the 'reason'? I guess it was the thought, right?
From there we headed over to the much acclaimed 'Winterhaven'...but alas, we never made it to the lights. That place had an INSANE amount of people there with the same idea. We didn't know there were that many people in all of Tucson...

So we called it good with Disney Lane and headed home. Besides Matthew was very concerned about getting home to get to bed...

At home we got in jammies, the kids opened one of their special presents-they each got a good Bible this year...

And then they opened one other special present from Nana-new pillowcases!!!

We spent some time together and then we read the traditional 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'...

We have about four copies of this book-beautiful ones-but alas they are in storage. So Mike's first present of the year was to open this tiny 1.00 board book so we could stay true to tradition...It did the trick :)

The kids set out cookies and milk for Santa, making sure their stockings were hung with care...

Bethany and Matthew drew pictures for the big guy...

Mike and I didn't have stockings (in storage) so we used Sprouts bags. Matthew was particularly concerned about this confusing Santa so he insisted on me writing a note to explain it.


The excitement in Matthew was so fun to watch. He was so particular and careful at how everything was laid out, double checking it a couple times before running down the hall to get to bed...So funny...

When the kids were all tucked in, Mike and I enjoyed the tree and some quiet time, set out gifts, and got to bed so Santa could come...

Such a peaceful, lovely Christmas Eve. No schedules to keep or places we HAD to be...

The week before Christmas...

Loved having an entire week off this year before the Christmas festivities began...


We started the week off with a morning full of thick fog. It was so beautiful :)


Bethany had gone down to Sierra Vista on Monday with her friend to do some work at a job site down there. She came back tiered, but feeling good about the hard work she had accomplished.


Ms. Bowlin from school came by the apartment with her horse and gave rides to all the kids. It was a fun treat for sure. Especially for Bethany.
We also made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers.
The kids worked hard on them...

and were very attentive to detail...

We also wet to a double feature at the cheap theater for dollar Tuesday. We saw Legend of the Guardians and Despicable Me. Both very different, both very fun, and both very good.

Niko made a visit to the orthodontics and was prescribed 10 more turns on the expander and then he'll get his braces on.

We watched movies and played legos and cleaned and wrapped and organized...

And then before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve Eve. Thursday night we came upon five full Christmas dinners that were donated and looking for homes. We did some calling around and were able to get the food to families who had nothing for the holiday. It was a real treat for us to be a part of.

After the meals were delivered, we settled into our sleeping bags and had a fun movie night with the kids...

It was a great week

Christmas Play

Bethany and Niko were in a Christmas Play last weekend that they performed for the 'Kid's Church'

Bethany was one of the narrators, a girl named Christmas who is being sent to live with her grandmother and not seeing much good in it and not looking forward to Christmas. Her friend is reminding her of why Christ came to earth, to bring hope to the hopeless and a reason for joy, by retelling the story of His birth.

Niko played Wise Man #1. He did so good memorizing ALL of his lines!!

They were having sound issues with the microphones so we missed some of the lines, but here are some videos that we took...

Niko is the wise man in the red talking when it starts...

Bethany doing her 'snowflake' dance

Going to the king

presenting gifts to Jesus

Niko's In The Double Digits Now...

Today our Niko turned 10!! Yep, no longer in the single digits, he's ranking in double digits now. Watch out!!

He had a very full day today. Full of laughing, family, presents, cake, and fun times...

He has been waiting so patiently as his loving family from afar have been sending gifts to him through out the past few weeks. As his pile of cards and a few presents has grown, so has his excitement.

When he woke up this morning, he was anxious to get started. So, after he got ready for church and got off the phone getting birthday wishes from Nana and Papa Washburn...

he opened up his birthday wishes from Grandma and Grandpa Biddle!!!

And then it was a gift from Dad and Mom...woo-hoo :)
He talked us into one more gift before heading out the door...
But first we needed to capture some of the love in front of the Christmas tree...
Awe...I think they just might...maybe...kind of like each other...sometimes....for special occasions...such as a special brother's birthday!!!
Then he and Bethany were off to church. Today was a big day for the two of them at church that deserves a post all to itself. But briefly, Niko was Wise Man #1 in the church's kids christmas play today. Nana and Popo came down from Chandler to see him and Bethany perform and then celebrate the rest of the day with us...

Niko did an impressive job on his lines....
After they completed the beautiful performance, they all came out to take a bow...
Then we all headed back home for lunch-pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, baked beans, and jello-just what Niko ordered (minus the beans)...

And then, of course, more of those presents and cards...

He got well wishes from Great Grandparents Renwick...

And received many other birthday wishes from aunts and uncles...

Then it was CAKE time -chocolate with white frosting- Just what the birthday boy ordered :)
We sang...

And he blew out all TEN of his candles after making a big wish...
Let them eat cake!!!
Couldn't wait to start on his new lego sets!!! This set has two instruction books to it. Busy, busy...One page at a time...
While he was busy with that, we played a good game of Hand and Foot. I don't think we know any other game :)
Look at that mind work!!
Niko had a great birthday. After a good conversation with the Biddles, he settled into bed and was out cold...Today he enjoyed the excitement of the cards and gifts as any kid would, but more importantly, he really enjoyed the love from people around him and the thoughts and words that made this day special for him...Busy day for him, but very special.

We are so fortunate to have been blessed with Nikolas. He is such a kind-hearted, giving, sensitive kiddo. He tries so hard to do what's right and be a good kid. He is so intelligent and smart and funny and creative. It has been an honor to watch him grow and mature over the past ten years. We are so excited to see Godly character growing inside him each day. He has a quiet will. He loves peace and though he will fight for his way, in the end, he's the first to surrender-not because he has given up, but because peace is more important to him than winning. I am so excited to see what God has planned for his life in the coming year. I know it will be full of good things.