Catching-up

First, happy 2nd birthday Duke!


Second, we had a great Thanksgiving celebrating at my parents place in Corvallis. Both my sisters and their families were there and some of my parents friends. I worked a little bit Thursday, but we still got to enjoy lots of fun with our nephews and niece. On Friday we went to the Corvallis Christmas parade and Christmas tree lighting.

Jaden being super cute as always:


All of us at the parade:
href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I2Ek2ZGOCIA/SxvmTFoCy3I/AAAAAAAAAbc/HjklJB0nkaQ/s1600-h/100_1915.JPG">

Bedtime stories with Grandma J:


We are having the worship team over for a holiday dinner next Saturday. We know how much time and energy they give and wanted a chance to say thanks. So, our time this weekend and probably this week will be spent getting ready for that. Yesterday we got our Christmas tree and put up the lights. So many fun events planned for the next few weeks and we can't wait to enjoy them all!

Thanksgiving

I went around and said why I was thankful for each of my students yesterday (I know totally cheesy), and then they wanted to say why they were thankful for me...such sweethearts! I love teaching!

Happenings

We have been busy as usual. This last weekend we went up to Portland and saw Paul's brother's place, then headed out to Gresham to see some friends and their two day old baby girl, and finished our time in Gresham with a surprise birthday party for Paul's dad's 50th birthday.

Church continues to go very well. We went to dinner at a family’s house this last Monday and had a great time getting to know them better. The pastor and his family are always very encouraging and supportive.

This week is National Young Readers Week. We are celebrating it in many different ways, but one thing we did yesterday was host celebrity readers (aka: parents!). My class had so much fun getting the room ready, laying out a red carpet, setting up a reception and escorting each reader in. I can't wait to do it again next year!

I have today off from school thanks to Veterans Day. I can't really upload pictures very easily from our desktop computer, but I will try to put a few up when Paul gets home with the laptop tonight.

Side note = everyone always talks about how fall is their favorite season. With all the pretty colors, warm fuzzy clothes, and warm drinks who wouldn't like fall?! But I just have to say that when it pours for hours and you leave for work in the dark and return home from work in the dark it is hard to love fall sometimes.

Advent Conspiracy

Our church is starting this session on Advent Conspiracy. We watched this promo video this last Sunday, and I thought it was moving and inspiring. I am really looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Fire

We had a fun weekend celebrating Paul's B-Day. On Friday night we went up to Tualitin, shopped at REI for a bit and then had dinner at Claim Jumper. On Saturday some of his family came down to celebrate. For Paul's birthday we got a fire pit for our back yard. Paul said he wanted to roast marshmallows for his birthday cake. I felt bad that he wouldn't have candles to blow out or anything that resembled a cake, so I made a pre-s'more cake. On Sunday we had a nice lunch with some of my family and then celebrated a bit with our bible study group. Happy birthday my love!

Today

Happy 26th birthday, Paul!

Yeeha!

Paul and I continue to pack in as much as we can into each day...I wonder if that will ever stop :)

Saturday was suppose to be a day that we would go get a coffee, maybe run a few errands and do some work around the house. Well, instead on our way to coffee I thought it might be a good time to pick Paul's bike up from Peak, so we headed over to Corvallis. Then we saw the farmers market going on so stopped at that before getting his bike. Then I went up and saw a friend in Salem for a few hours before we decided to go up with some coworkers of mine to the PBR (bull-riding).




We have started a bible study/community group at our place on Sunday nights. Paul and I continue to enjoy our time at our new church home and have enjoyed meeting lots of nice people. We have had 13 people each week at our study, which is perfect for our house.

Paul's birthday is this Sunday. We have plans to go to dinner with some friends Friday night and Paul's family is coming down Saturday.

Oh, and I have Friday off! I am so excited to have a day off; feeling like some canvas painting is in order!