Christmas

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

So blessed are we!! The gifts under the many trees we visited yesterday didn't compare to the family we shared our time with. Words can't describe how loved we feel so I thought I would just share some of our favorite moments.

At the Milhollin Home

At the Darco Home

There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries. ~W.J. Cameron

Winter's A Blast

“When it snows,

you have two choices:

shovel or make snow angels”

We have decided to make snow angels!!

The "Arctic Blast" as predicted by Northwest NewsChannel 8 has arrived at our little house in the 'Couve! We woke to about 1/2 an inch and tonight at 8pm we have about 8 inches!! It snowed all day and the kids couldn't be happier. We're so thankful and so blessed to be cozy warm in our home with our Christmas tree and a kitchen full of yummy treats. God has been and continues to be so good and faithful to us. We are BLESSED!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Dr. Seuss

Well it's coming, ready or not! Christmas is right around the corner! We have been so blessed this year that it's hard for any of us here in our cozy casienda to feel Grinch-y at all. We can't wait to celebrate our first Christmas in our new house!! We've got our tree up and our stockings up and (for the first time ever!!!) our outside lights up!! This season is filling us all, yes...even me...with a deep joy and excitement.



We've already had a chance to spend precious time together. On the infamous "Black Friday", after my mom and I fought the crowds for 1/2 price socks at Fred Meyer, we had my family over for some pre-Christmas festivities. Lots of good food, good conversation and a little "Fred Claus" made for a wonderful evening. It was such a happy time to have my whole family in my home!!! We're looking forward to more family traditions like Gingerbread houses (thanks to the Amazing Aunt Brandy), baking cookies for our friends and neighbors and Christmas Eve from North Portland to Camas!

The kids have been busy too. Jenny went to her first ever High School dance on December 6th. It was a Sadie Hawkins dance with a safari theme. She went with her best friends Emily and Sheila then they came back to our house for "girls night!" I am amazed at how quickly they grow up. She didn't even look like my little girl...she's so beautiful, inside and out.

Brandon, unfortunately didn't make the basketball team at Fort so, always the positive one, he has decided he wants to try baseball. Now there is a decision I can get behind!! I'm looking forward to Spring and lots of ball games. We'll be celebrating his 17th (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?) birthday in just a few weeks. I am a little overwhelmed by that fact! Seems like just yesterday he was hiding GI Joes in my Christmas tree!

I was handed a bit of a challenge this past month. Apparently, even nannies aren't immune to the slow economy. My current nanny family is having to scale me back to part time so I've had to venture out and find another part time job to fill in my missing hours. God is Good!!! After scanning a 4 page list of part time jobs I came upon the Smith Family (honestly...Smith!). They need the exact number of hours that I have to offer and they seem wonderfully nice on top of it. I'm excited to start working with them and their sweet little guy, Rowan in January. I'll be working two days in the Pearl District of Northwest Portland and two days here in Vancouver with a split day on Mondays. Wish me luck!

Hopefully this finds you all well and Joyful. We'll talk soon!

It's November already

Oh my goodness! I can't believe we're halfway through November already. Where does all the time go. Here in Darcoland things are going along without much drama...just like we like it.

The kids are enjoying school and staying busy. Brandon has basketball try outs next week so we're keeping our fingers crossed for him. Jennifer is helping with the class council and working hard on socializing and texting! We were able to have all the "aunties" over last month to celebrate Jenny's 14th birthday! It was a great afternoon full of cake and cupcakes and candy...all Jenny's favorites! We're looking forward to Brandon's 17th next month.

Terry has just taken over the night crew at his store. We are, as always, looking for silver linings in this Safeway story. The good news is that he will be writing the schedule so we can at least have some predictability from week to week. It will still be graveyard but we're hoping for two consecutive days off with one of them being Saturday so we can go to church as a family on Sundays.

I'm enjoying my nanny job with the Lamey's. The kids are at really great ages right now (9, 7, and 4) and we're having so much fun together. Most of all I am LOVING my part time job at Arts and Scraps!! It's been both a humbling and exciting few months as I navigate my way through my very first foray into retail sales. A little bit of friendliness can cover up a multitude of ignorance! Everyone has been very patient with me as I figure out how everything works and I've thoroughly enjoyed becoming part of the Arts family.

We've also really been enjoying our house this fall season. It was the first time since Terry and I have been married that we had trick or treaters! Such fun!!

We are looking forward to spending turkey day at Terry's mom and dad's house in a few weeks. We will have the kids with us this year and that makes the day extra special.

So here's to a Happy November and remember:

It's not so much what's on the table that matters, as what's on the chairs.