Here I am all decked out in my winter garb! Geesh! I can't believe how serious and gooberish I look, but I definitely wasn't feeling serious, maybe gooberish. I was having fun. Well, maybe it was the wet bum I had. I was sitting in the snow and waiting forever for Derek to take the picture. Winter here usually means lots of rain and just a few days of snow, although there is lots of snow in the hills and mountains around us, just a short drive away. This week we got the snow here on the valley floor and the kids actually had a snow day yesterday and had a late start today. I love snow but can't stand all the idiots that are out there driving in it. Oh, I love snowmobiling, we take ours out every few weeks in the winter.

I'll take a break from doing the past 6 months in review. At HOP, Chiara posted a blog that had this challenge, so I'm going to answer it here:

A	Aphrodisiac. What turns you on? Yikes! Soft touches from hubby, the considerate little things, really.
B	BFF. Who’s your best friend? I'm not going to mention just one person. Jen, Steph, Miyoung have all been super friends to me over the years. Even though we hardly see each other anymore, LaRonda is still a lifetime friend.
C	Celeb. Favorite? Hmmm...Maybe Denzel Washington? Most annoying? Tom Cruise - man, I loved that guy when I was a teen but now...ick.
D	Drink. What’s your poison? Mochas
E	Everyday essentials. What do you use everyday? My computer and my toothbrush.
F	Fav. color. What’s your signature color? Purple.
G	Groove. What music are you enjoying today? Back to the 80's baby.
H	Hot! Who’s hot? My husband when he's all spiffed up. Who’s not? Ummm...his ex partner at work who thinks he's a babe magnet - I think not.
I	Indulgence. Dish about your guilty pleasure. Mochas, scrapbooking, reading horror/mystery novels
J	{dream} Job. What would you do? Oh, I would love to act in broadway shows.
K	Kitchen Companion. Most used item in your kitchen? It's a toss up between the microwave and the coffee pot.
L	Life is incomplete without. . . ? believing in Jesus
M	Mc. . . What would you “Mc”? McVactions?
N	Natural or dyed? Colored (dyed is a too old-fashioned term)
O	Outrageous Outfit. What’s hiding your closet that you’re dying to wear? Oh gosh. Nothing. I'd kind of like to get out the long silk nightgown I haven't worn in forever, but I'm not dying to try it on.
P	Pet Peeve. What makes you absolutely crazy? Mean people. I mean really, it's just as easy to be nice.
Q	Quote. Share some inspiration. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
R	Restaurant you give rave reviews Oh, that would have to be Dandy's Drive-In in my hometown. They have the BEST burgers in the world.
S	Starbucks order. Grande Size hot Mocha, with a straw please. Yes, whip too.
T	Television. What keeps you glued to the couch? Survivor, Amazing Race, CSI Miami, The Bachelor - you see a kind of theme here?
U	Ultimate Vacation Destination Mediterranean Cruise
V	Virtual Babe Name. What’s your online ID? Scrap Bug, luvabargain
W	Wonder Woman. What woman leaves you in awe? My mom
X	eX - What? My ex-deodorant brand....hmmmm......I can't remember.
Y	Youth in a bottle. What keeps you feeling young at heart? Me. I feel young, I like fun things like Disney and Mickey Mouse.
Z	Zodiac sign Pisces

Micki turned 9 on November 4th. Man, she is growing up so fast! We had an ice skating party for her and then a couple of the girls came home with us for an impromptu sleepover.

We had plans again for Mike & Karyn to come here for Thankgsgiving like always, but their friend Heidi is going through some tough times and is staying with them for now and due to some circumstances couldn't come down so we decided since Chad had the days off and we had plans with them anyhow, we would just reverse the location. So, we went to Portland and had Thanksgiving there. Tori was able to be in the Macy's parade for her dance team and we watched that, in the pouring rain no less!

Sadly, it was another very sad month for us. Our beloved dog Xenos had started deteriorating very badly, visibly worse each day. I insisted he go to the dog park with our Beagle about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving and Chad told me he didn't think he could walk around. He'd been doing fine earlier, but I didn't realize how badly his joints had gotten in a short period of time and it saddened me to see how difficult it was for him to walk, but he still did and seemed to enjoy himself, although he was dragging his legs at times. It was kind of embarrassing as he had lost sooooo much weight and kept losing it even though we were trying everything we could and his appetite was good. Anyway, every day got super worse and when we left for Portland, I wasn't even sure he would be alive when we got back. He was though, but we had to start carrying him outside and back to go potty, he couldn't walk or stand on the wooden floors and we were kept away most of the nights with him. On Monday the vet told us there was nothing we could do for him other than giving him pain pills to help alleviate the pain, he had severe, severe arthritis and it is common for it to suddenly get worse like this and it was also the reason for the weight loss, but there was nothing to be done, each day would get worse and it did. We made an appointment to have him put to sleep and on Wednesday November 29th, Chad and I both sat with Xenos during this time. The kids had loved on him before school and said their goodbyes, so there were no surprises. I was a complete emotional wreck and some days still am.

October turned out to be a very sad month. My Uncle Jerry (Mom's brother) fell off a ladder and although the Dr.s did everything they could, he couldn't be saved and was taken off life support 6 days later. I flew to Salt Lake City to be there for the funeral. It had been an exhausting week for everyone, my mom & dad, my Uncle Jon (who lives near me), my Aunt Betty, my Grandma who had recently moved in with my uncle, his wife, his 7 kids plus his grandkids and step kids and grandkids. I will think about doing a memorial post for him.

Chad had an oral board interview in Portland with the DHS agents. It went very well, he passed that and has moved forward in the hiring process.

October also brought another birthday for Chad, he is 35. We celebrated at home, I made a really nice bbq dinner for him and we got him a nice MP3 player.

The start of our September was good. I took the kids camping over Labor Day weekend. We left early Friday morning and came home Monday. I didn't even have a plan as to where we would camp, but we wound up camping clear up at Diamond Lake. I'd never been camping there except once as a child. It was nice, we had a pretty shady spot and there were lots of bike trails which was great as we brought our bikes. The tent took forever to put up, Chad is the one who always does that part and had never told me the poles were broken, but it finally got done. Good thing there were no wind storms! There is a wolf sanctuary (Howling Acres) in Josephine County and they had a really neat presentation they did at the camp. They'd brought a wolf and had several slideshows and just really neat fun informative information. We went both Friday and Saturday nights, the kids loved it so much. We spent some time the beach at the lake, the water wasn't as cold as we expected, and the weather was warm. Derek made some friends and we even saw some we knew.

Derek started middle school (6th grade). It is a whole new experience for him, but aside from doing schoolwork and HAVING to be there, he seems to really like the school. Micki started 3rd grade and is in Mrs. Ward's class.

Derek did not want to do football, but he and Micki wanted to try soccer, so they started that. They had a good time I think, but I don't think they want to do it again. Derek has discovered he is better at football.

I'll give a brief summary of our summer and maybe add some pics later to showcase a few things we did.

June: We had a really good season with the girl's softball team this year, I was really pleased with my girls and their parents. It was fun, but we were all glad to see the season end around the second week in June. Derek had his first year in the majors but did not have such a great season playing baseball this year. It was disappointing, but sometimes it's just that way.

The last weekend in June, Mike, Karyn and the girls came down and stayed with us for a few days as part of their vacation. We had a really fun time, usually they only come at Thanksgiving, so it was fun to have some warm weather in which to share. We went to Wildlife Safari one day and went to the Oregon Caves another. It was fun playing games, bbqing at home and just hanging out.



July: I took off Friday June 30th and Monday July 3rd from work. Mike was here on the 30th and I just wanted a long weekend so that was 5 days off. On July 4th, we had to get up very bright and early, Derek was in the CP parade for his Pop Warner football championship team. We then went to Jewett School where they had several activities, games, jumphouses, etc. set up. Afterwards, we picked up our Taco Bell lunch and headed to Tou'Velle State Park where the kids and I floated on inner tubes down the Rogue River and played in swimming holes. Chad didn't do any of this with us, he had to work all day, but at least got to set off fireworks with us.

On July 5th, my Mom's 2nd cousin Betty and my Aunt Betty came from Washington and Aunt Betty stayed with us for about a week.

Chad's days off were completely different from mine and he wound up getting screwed out of his vacation when he came off of transport due to everyone having already bid for all the summer spots, it's a long story and I'm not going to post here. Anyway, I needed to get away and took the kids to Great America for a weekend. I got a great deal at the Hilton, got there late Friday night, went to Great America on Saturday and hit The Winchester Mansion and a couple of stores before we headed back home Sunday. It was really odd, when we were at the Hilton we wound up seeing Derek's football Coach and his former baseball coach, all our boys were on the same football team. They brought their families for a long weekend too and we wound up being in all the same lines and rides.

Derek went to church camp the day after we got back for a few days of fun on the coast in Gold Beach. The next week, Chad took the kids and the dogs to Gold Beach and they enjoyed a couple of days there while I enjoyed having a couple of days to myself at home. Someone's got to work, right?



August: Nothing much went on in August. Our close friends Jeff & Jen Chad's co-worker since the academy) moved to Keizer, Oregon. They are both from here so it is a huge change for them being 3 hours away.

Chad and I celebrated our 13th anniversary on the 22nd, we went out to dinner, I got roses delivered to work.

So much for a "brief summary".

Wow. I am not good at keeping up with this thing. Oh well, guess I'm just such an interesting person that I don't have a lot of time for this. ;) Ha! Well, other than some cute smilies I haven't posted anything since the beginning of summer, and here it is 2007! Well, most things are same-o, there's always changes though, it's just part of life.