Carter as Spiderman & C'mas Program Preview

The kids are going to be a part of our Family Christmas Program at church this Wednesday evening. Since most everyone we know won't be coming here is a little video of what you'll be missing.

The beginning is of Carter being Spiderman, of which he is obsessed right now.

Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUM58fPB2qI

I haven't been able to figure out how to put the actual video here yet, so the link will have to do for now.

I added a new awesome recipe

Cafe' Yumm in Eugene/PDX is one of our favorite restaurants. They serve delicious food that is so good for you.
One of our favorites there is an Original Yumm Bowl. It has brown rice, black beans, their 'secret' yumm sauce, avocado, salsa, cheese.
Oh my, oh my. It is so so very tasty.
I discovered a pirated recipe for their Yumm Sauce & I'm so excited because it tastes as close to the original as I've ever tasted.
Check out the link to the recipe on my "Favorite Recipes" to the left of this page.
Enjoy & let me know what you think.

Our 2009 Summer so far....

Born 2 Run Challenge

Charlie 'competed' in the Lane Pregnancy Support Center

2nd Annual Born to Run Challenge on May 30th.

It was a 5K/15K Run/Walk.
I chose to run in the 15K (9.3 miles). I trained for about 1 month and was feeling very confident. I estimated that I would finish in 1 hr 45 min at the earliest, I beat that and finished at 1 hr 40 min.
However evidently there are a lot of serious runners out there, I finished 43rd out of 48.
That was a bit humbling to say the least, I'm confident I'll do better next time.

Even though I concentrated on trying to beat others & just doing my best, that wasn't the reason for the race.

This was a fundraising event to benefit the most innocent, unborn babies.
It was such an honor to be a part of something much bigger and have a great impact on the innocent, lost & hurting.

The estimated amount that this marathon raised for the center was around $7, 000. Awesome!!
Prayerfully it will go along way.




My cheering section.
Alexis, 6
Preston, 4
Carter, 2

Travis' brother, Sean & fiance Jill, took our kids 1st thing in the morning for breakfast and tons of outdoor fun.

Becky Hall's Wedding

Becky Hall got married to Tom Gregersen on May 23, 2009.

It was such a lovely, relaxed, and fun ceremony in Albany, OR.
From 1st date to Wedding date - 3 MONTHS!!!

They honeymooned somewhere on the coast, isn't that wonderful that as the daughter I still can't remember where despite being told many times.

Becky & Tom will be staying at Tom's house in Junction City until his exchange student has left, then they will move into Becky's house in Eugene while they figure out what their plans are. The have talked about many possibilities, no decisions made yet.

Becky has 2 kids + 6 grand kids, Tom has 3 kids + 4 grand kids.

They are going to be a very busy newlywed couple, and hopefully all of us will remember what being a newlywed is like.
I''ve already learned to cut them some slack, it's going to be a big change for everyone involved.

It is so nice to see my Mom being giddy, even though she's always happy this is very different.

They are always laughing and are always going somewhere. We're going to enjoy having Tom in our family, it will be exciting for sure.




Tom, Becky with Chuck Hall's family
Nicole, Tom, Becky, Chuck
Aidan, Kennedy & Grayson

Some of the grand kids
Tom, Becky
Jacob Gregersen, Preston, Alexis, Grayson, Aidan
Carter & Kennedy

Hollye & Duane Daggett, I think Hollye likes weddings.

Our family at the Hall-Gregersen Wedding 5/23

I don't have pictures yet of my Mom & Tom at their own wedding, but I have this one of our little family for now.

It was a beautiful ceremony, wonderful day and an extremely happy couple.

More to follow......

Update you've been waiting for

Alexis can now blow bubbles with her gum, tie her shoes, whistle and now ride her bike w/o training wheels. The bike thing today was a bitter sweet moment for me, I actually got a little teary over the whole deal. My baby is not my baby anymore, I know she's 6 but she's a big girl now. This opens up a whole new range of possibilities for her, so much more independence and mainly confidence.

The sun was in Preston's eyes that why he looks so sinister. He does not care at all that he's riding a girls trike and I'm glad he doesn't because that's all he's getting for a while.

My favorite part about this picture of Carter is his cute little fingers. He went through a whole bottle of bubbles because he's just so good at not spilling.

Look at our cute 'little' family. This was taken at an Easter Egg Hunt in Eugene over Easter weekend. More candy for me....

The kids loved decorating their eggs, oh yeah I put them back in the fridge and there they remained. Oops.

This is what Carter did the whole time they decorated, isn't that nice?

Portland Zoo day

Portland Zoo day

My Mom, Becky and her intended Tom Gregersen. So far the date is set for Sept 26th, we'll see if they last that long though. Maybe it'll just be for a reception and they go get hitched real quick like before.

Preston in the Spotlight

Preston's first trip to the Dentist.
He said he was going to be brave because they were going to poke him. They just cleaned his teeth & he did a great job.

Enjoying his time in the spotlight with no interruptions from his siblings. He's doing his thinking pose right now.

The Week in Review

Here is our week in review (give or take a few days). I'm working on being more consistent with keeping up on activities here.

Here are some photos for you.....

Good friends.

Laura Masters, Gracie Pixton & Alexis. Notice Gracie & Alexis are missing the same top tooth.

Preston joined me for my workout & then we decided to "show off" our muscles.

"Mean faces"

One of very few sunny/warmer days.

AWANA games today. Go Harvest!!!

The boys with Sparkie (or Sparky) from AWANA. Carter was running away, he wasn't as crazy about seeing him as Preston was.

Great Song

Can You Spot the Irony Here?

2 days ago: First lady Michelle Obama, right, stops to have her photo taken as she helps to hands out meals during her visit to Miriam's Kitchen in Washington, Thursday, March 5, 2009. The center provides meals, case management services and housing support to nearly 250 men and women in Washington.
Photo & description from AP.

Recent photos

Our church's homeschool group had a field trip to an animal hospital.

This was after our homeschool group Valentine's Party, party pooped.

I got to see my best friend, Mireille, from grade school the other day. I've been friends with her for 26 years, yikes. She's been "hiding out" in other countries for 10 years so I only get to see her from time-to-time.

Here's another friend I got to see a short time ago, Aunie Buck. We've been friends for 34 years now. We used to drink from our baby bottles together, cute huh?

All the boys had birthdays

For some reason or 20 others I have completely neglected putting anything family related on our blog. I'm sorry, I'm going to try & make it up to you now.

So all the boys celebrated birthdays in the last 2 months. Carter turned 2, Travis turned 34 & Preston turned 4.
Here goes....

Well, I promised that I would take as many pictures of the younger kids as I did of the older kids. I just let myself down. I didn't get a photo of Carter on his birthday, so this was taken shortly before so we'll count it.
We celebrated both little boys' birthdays in Eugene at Grandma Becky's house. So much easier than having family come to us, more fun for the kids too.
Carter is still such a sweet little guy. He loves to be in the mix of everything. We have started being more quiet so he can have time to talk & guess what? It's actually working, he's talking now.

Here is Travis turning 34 & I did manage to get all 34 on the cake. It was pretty smokey after he blew out all the candles. I had all the lights off so you could really get the feel of how much light 34 candles gave off. I didn't plan for when he actually blew them out, pretty dark.

All of Preston's photos from his birthday party were a little too busy to put up here. This is a photo of him at a festival in town. He really liked being up on the big bike. He didn't ask to get one, but just in case he asks later "NO".
He had a great party at our place & he got to invite 4 friends. He loves his boy friends & literally prays for them at every meal. Of course the siblings & mom's came too. We had a total of 13 kids in our cramped little place. The kids had a blast.
It was hilarious to see how the girls were playing & then the boys. The boys loved to harass the girls by trying to break the door down. The girls said, "NO BOYS ALLOWED!!" Loved it.

What the......????

Ok, right a baby that can be aborted can't live outside the womb? These people who really do believe this are intentionally ignorant. I am so sad when I think of how these women will feel when the reality hits them.

Medical board revokes license of abortion doctor

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

The Associated Press

A Florida agency has revoked the license of a doctor accused of medical malpractice in a botched abortion in which authorities say a live baby was placed in the trash.

The Florida Board of Medicine on Friday found Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK') guilty of medical malpractice and delegating responsibility to unlicensed personnel.

An administrative complaint said Renelique was scheduled to perform an abortion on a teenager who was 23 weeks pregnant.

According to the complaint, Sycloria Williams gave birth at a Hialeah clinic after waiting hours for Renelique to arrive. A clinic owner placed the baby in the trash. Police recovered the decomposing remains a week later.

Renelique and his attorney declined to comment after the hearing.

My new addiction

20 Years Ago I was....
13, and was just starting High School, such anxiety as I think of it now.

10 Years Ago I was....
23, and had been married 1 year and been having a marvelous time.

5 Years Ago I was....
28, and loved not having to have a job so I could take care of our precious 1 year old. Wow, 1 kid that's a great memory right there.

3 Years ago I was....
30, had just had my 2nd child & was wondering if I would ever survive it. Preston was sleeping in the bathroom at the time - in a bassinet of course.

So Far this year I...
moved to an apartment & started homeschooling Kindergarten, celebrated 11th wedding anniversary, celebrated a 2nd(soon) 4th & 6th birthday.

Yesterday I...
wasted time on the computer in the morning, taught school in the afternoon & went to the library with Carter last night. Oh yeah, watched & fell asleep during "24".

Tomorrow I will...
work out, teach school, go to a friends house to let the kids play & eat dinner with them, then off to church in the evening.

Next year I will...
be living in Eugene in a house with a BACKYARD so the kids can get all the wonderful energy out somewhere nice instead of right by me!!!
Celebrate my 12th anniversary, celebrate a 3rd, 5th & a 7th birthday, teaching 1st grade & Kindergarten.

I'm Pro-Choice, but not how Obama thinks of it

My own commentary first:
I'm Pro-Choice, I want to choose how my tax dollars are being spent. I don't want to pay for other people to have abortions, if people want to do it, don't take my money for it. Do I expect others to pay for me to get my ears pierced? No.
Can you believe that Pro-Choice is actually 1984 style government?
Making abortions legal is one thing & wrong I believe, but making me pay for them in the U.S. and internationally is ridiculous. But then again the majority of people voted for this, but the majority of people are not for abortions. What did the people of Obama-Rama do to us?

Obama Signs Order Ending Ban on Abortion Funding Article from Christian Post.

From: AFA ActionAlert email:

President Obama has lifted a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama's actions mean that hundreds of millions of your tax dollars will go to help groups like Planned Parenthood perform abortions around the world.

His actions came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.

Is this the Governments job??

I'm pretty sure that the majority of people already know how they get STD's. But like education, let's have the Government throw our good money into it since we already know that when Government gets involved with something it's usually not a good thing.

Article from Drudge Report
.pdf file of bill



$335,000,000 FOR STD PREVENTION IN ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL
Wed Jan 28 2009 09:58:30 ET

Democrats may have eliminated provisions on birth control and sod for the National Mall in the "job stimulus" -- but buried on page 147 of the bill is stimulation for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases!

The House Democrats' bill includes $335 million for sexually transmitted disease education and prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

In the past, the CDC has used STD education funding for programs that many Members of Congress find objectionable and arguably unrelated to a mission of economic stimulus [such as funding events called 'Booty Call' and 'Great Sex' put on by an organization that received $698,000 in government funds.]

"Whether this funding has merit is not the question; the point is it has no business in an economic plan supposedly focused on job creation," says a stimulated Hill source.

Developing...

11 Years of Wedded bliss

Last Saturday the 17th, Travis & I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. I thought only old people were married 10+ years, I guess we fit the bill now. It just doesn't seem possible that we are old enough for that, but when we watched our wedding video with our kids, Alexis said that "Daddy looks so young" or something to that effect.
It's true that when we were dating & he would come in to see me at workand the guys would ask if that was my little brother...hee hee, how cute...yuck!
We met at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR in 1993, we were biology partners with relational commitments elsewhere so no flirting was taking place & I had no intention of being other than friends with this guy. Later, I was a 3rd wheel with him & his then girlfriend and 4 years later would think it was completely weird to be going out on a date with Travis Daggett. Our first date was to a pool hall & we innocently said good-by at the end since it would've been really gross to kiss a friend. I quickly got over that & 6 months later we were engaged and 6 months after that we were married. Quick you might think, but well OK you'd be right.

Thankfully we both had praying parents & grandparents that I really believe helped guide us & protect us from whatever else is out there. We made a good choice.
I am so glad that we "went through with it" and that day replays in my mind like it was just yesterday. The only thing I regret is not taking my bridesmaids advice and letting them keep the ankle length dress instead of hacking it off to mid-calf. Doesn't every bride go a little crazy with wanting their way since it's their day?

Well, 3 kids later, many moves later & many hard times later I am 100% sure that I married the man of my dreams. He's a good man, that Charlie Brown. What a lucky girl I am!
I am excited to see where another 11 years takes us, wow I'll be 44 by then. Crazy! I know I just told you how old we are, but I'm not embarrassed by my age. I better not be Alexis tells everyone that "my Dad is going to be 34 & my Mom is 33", I'm enjoying my life a lot more in my 30's than I did in my late teens-early 20's, truthfully I really don't ever want to go back to those. Well, I guess but only the times that involve Travis.