Giveaway!!

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Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays Friends and Family!

We are doing our best to try to keep up with the end of this year. It seems things go fast as December winds down. Ive got a series of photos for you that are totally out of order, but let me fill you in on the happenings around here first..

So, after Thanksgiving, we started gearing up for Christmas. We did all of our shopping for Z at Toys R Us mostly. She ran around the store playing with toys and giving us ideas, but we knew what she would like all ready. Im not going to tell just yet - you will have to wait for the after Christmas blog update :) All the gifts are under the tree now.. well, theres one hiding that I have for Eric. THANK YOU to all who sent Zoey gifts! We will get photos and video of our Xmas morning and write you all letters to let you know what she thought. I think this year is going to be super fun.. I cant wait to see the joy in her face when she finally gets to tear through that paper!

We've been hearing that you ALL have been having bad weather this month. Well, we have too. We had a couple days that were super windy - local gusts up to 85mph and the rest were between 35-55mph. Town was torn up.. signs fallen down, accidents all over including a semi on its side, just a mess. Our trash blew away. And, sadly, we lost about half of the brand new shingles that Eric and his friends just put up a couple months ago. We could hear them blowing off, but didnt know the amount of damage until the next day. It sounded horrible. All of Erics hard work is scattered over our yard. So, the last few days, he's purchased more materials and been working on fixing all of the problems. We had a contractor come out and look just in case. He told us that the first few years with new shingles are touchy as the havent had enough time to heat and bond. It was a good thing he said that because I think Eric was starting to feel like it was his mistake. God bless him for being up there in less than 10 degree weather. Hopefully it wont take him much longer to fix.

Ive been busy busy busy! I have been more active in my Moms Group lately. Ive hosted two playdates the last two months and Im working on thinking up another idea for January. I wanted to join Stroller Strides after Eric leaves, but all of us Moms decided to start our own walking group instead :) That begins in January. Ive also been working!!! I stay at home and have an adorable 2yr old girl named Flora over 3 days a week while her parents work. It works out well for all of us because the girls get time to play together, her Mom works very close by and I get to stay at home to make money instead of paying for childcare to work! We play and make crafts together. The girls helped me make photo ornaments. We just finished them and cant wait to have Flora give hers to her Mommy! I should also have another friend of Zoeys on Friday nights a couple times a week beginning in the new year too. I just love it!

Zoeys been talking more and more. Shes learning to count and knows which items in the house belong to me and her Daddy. I put her on the potty every morning when she wakes up. Shes doing okay with it. She gets a sticker when she goes. She will tell me when shes poopy, but also calls her toots poo poo :) When I ask her if shes poopy, she says No sometimes. If I say, "Are you lieing?" she will roar like a lion :) We smell her dupa when we think shes gone, so now she will say "poo poo" and then lean over and sniff herself. Its kind of funny. She also will "meow" if I ask her if shes kidding.. not "kitten" silly Z!!

Hopefully this week we can take Zoey outside to play in the snow. Ive been holding off on doing it because I want it to be a family event. We are trying to do as many things together as we can these days in preparation for our time apart next year. Its creeping up faster and faster, but we are taking advantage of this precious time. This week, Eric has all half days at work so we plan to go see some reindeer too. He may also take some time off soon to finish up on home things and just be with us. Hopefully we can plan something fun! As for those of you who have been bugging me (haha) about the subject, yes, we are trying to have more kids :) Things havent been working as fast as we planned (3 months and no luck), but we have a few more months to try. Just pray for us that we can be blessed again before Eric goes away.

Well, other than those updates, I cant think of anything else to tell ya's. Im sure theres more, but right now Im ready to get moving on my cleaning for the day, Z needs lunch very soon, and I want to finish baking too! We love you all so very much and hope that your holidays are going well too. Thank you all for the beautiful cards you've sent! We currently have a 15 card collection and I know its going to keep growing! They all look great! Look for another update from us shortly after Christmas and keep an eye on your mailboxes, as we will have notes on the way too!

Heres a few photos!

The library hosted a Santa event again this year just for the story time kids. We took Z and Santa gave her another hand made wooden horse. She gave him a huge hug, but my camera acted up and I missed the photo. I was taking pics of all of our friends and my flash was slowing down my camera by the time it was her turn. We went to dinner as a family after and all the way there Zoeys horse was "talking" :)

This year she was apparently given a very loud horse!

We could hear her horsey noises over the radio! We decided that since she has two now, they will make great book ends once she no longer plays with them. They are the perfect set!

Zoey didnt want much to do with the tree while we were setting it up this year. Daddy let her help a few times, but she didnt care for it. We set it up right after Thanksgiving. Now, she likes to bring me "ball" ornaments as she calls them. She can point out the "baby" ornaments (anything that looks like a doll or person) and also the bows. Its helping her learn vocabulary! Shes only stolen a couple gifts and puts them back when shes caught. Its cute and very hard not to laugh at her.

We had a very special "tea" party for our favorite librarian who is retiring. Teressa and Jenna (left), Karen (librarian) is holding Rita, and Julie is next to me.. see Toby? Hes growing fast! Karen has been such a great friend to us. Zoey just loves her. The library won't be the same with out her there.

She was laughing while drinking from her cup. She wouldnt pick it up since she had balls in her hands so she thought it was funny to lean in and get a drink. Dork!

Being silly in the tub! She lays on her belly and I taught her how to blow bubbles in the water. I think we will be in a swimming class very soon!

Zoey loves rolling around on her ball and bouncing her dupa on it too!

I cant remember if I said before, but we spent Thanksgiving at the Cahoons house for dinner. Zoey hardly ate a thing.. She was being weird! Christmas dinner is at our house :) I am making a ham and lots of other yummy things. I have been working hard on my cookies this year too! Most of these are gone now between our family and my Moms group. I still have my sugar cookies to bake and plan to take some to the single soldiers in Erics unit. Im sure they would like to have some home baked goodies for the holidays.. living in the barracks w/o family around cant be all that fun this time of year. I'll leave you with a few photos of this years creations!

Taralles - Italian Hand-knotted Christmas Cookie

Brownie Bottom Cheesecake Bars.. for Eric :)

12 Dozen Apricot Tarts

Carmel Apple Tart I made for Thanksgiving

Hungry yet??

The End!

Just One..

Heres one new pic of our little Z that I took and edited this week. We have a few things going on right now, so Ill post some updates over the weekend :)

Zoey and the Hippo Song

I'll have some new photos soon, but until then, heres some LIVE Zoey for ya's!
She had more fun dancing the first few times I played this for her, but its still cute!

What a Big Girl!

Our little Zoey has been growing non-stop these days. She is adding new words to her vocabulary so much this week! Daddy had to spend the week in the field, so Z and Mommy spent lots of alone time together. It was good practice for the deployment. We are getting more involved with our Moms Group now too. We hosted a Thanksgiving recipe exchange this month and next month we are hosting a a cookie recipe exchange playdate. The group has changed a lot since last year, but the new Moms are great and there are lots of kids her age right now.

Here she is "going shopping" with her hat and purse! She loves playing dress up!

Big smiles as she was playing on her slide with Jenna! Look at all those teeth!

She dumped a cup of water on herself during a playdate, so she ended up naked for a while. The kids were all playing in her bed.

Zoey was acting scared of the vacuum, so I let her help me and Daddy took some pictures. She was pushing it with me and can use the hose all by herself. She loves to dust with my Swiffers too!

Heres a funny story...

I baked cookies for my Moms Group playdate. While some were baking and some were cooling on a plate, I let Z watch a cartoon so I could take the dogs out to potty - usually this is no big deal since it takes 2 minutes. When I came in, she was still watching her cartoon and eating her cereal snack of Kix... or so I thought! I went into the kitchen to finish the cookies and noticed the plate looked odd. It was a bit, umm, empty. I walked around the corner and found Zoey like this... It was my fault for leaving the plate so close to the edge I guess so instead of getting mad, I got the camera. Then, I got Z in her chair for a proper lunch :)

She loves stacking her bananas! Every time I feed them to her she does this all by herself!

During the first snow fall, I went out and made a snowbear for Z. She loved him until he melted. She has yet to play in the snow since we are waiting for a good day while Daddy can play too. Right now, the snow is hard and crunchy - yuck!

And best of all, we are done using the sucky! This is one of the last photos we have of her with them. She did this by herself too - silly girl! She was getting a small rash, probably from moisture and teething, so we decided not to give her sucky back after breakfast one day. We nervously waited for her naps and then bedtime. She did just fine! I think its been a few weeks now and we do find her chewing on her fingers more often than before but its a step towards being a big girl and we are very proud of her!

The end!

Heres a Preview!

Check out our cards from Shutterfly!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IYsmTJsxYsmGV

Its PHOTO Time Again!

One week from today is family photo day!

YAY!

We have been doing so many things around the house the past few months that we can not afford Dori's photos this time around. We did find an awesome photographer though who is just starting out and offering us a free session!

Next Sunday, we will be meeting in Anchorage for our shoot. It's currently snowing, so we should have another white backdrop this year!

As soon as I get them back, I will be ordering our cards from Shutterfly!

Why?

A few reasons actually!

We have been using their beautiful cards ever since we moved to Alaska. We trust them to deliver our items to us quickly and we're always impressed with the quality of the merchandise we order.

And, this year, we get 50 cards for FREE!

(read to the end of this blog post to find out how!)

This year, Shutterfly's Holiday Story Cards really caught my attention!The outside has your favorite photo(s)..

And the inside helps you tell the story of your year or share updates on each family member!

Super Cute!

If you happen to visit their site, be sure to check out the holiday gift tags and address labels that are on sale right now! They also have new designs on their calendars!!

So, bloggers, impressed with Shutterfly?

Want your own free cards this year?

Click Here

to find out how!

Future Movie Star, Drummer or Plumber??

What will Zoey be when she grows up? Anything she wants to be! We have explored a few options lately..
What a silly girl!

Its done!
Here's the final finished commercial for Providence Childrens Hospital in California.
We are so proud of her! She was doing well until they wanted her to sit down and not move. She wasn't happy about that! We helped her do her best and she made the cut! Some kids didnt!

Banging away on my tupperware as if they were a drum set!

She was texting on the job!

Daddys helper!
I'm so glad she didnt drop that on his head!

Lets Play Catch Up!

Hey everyone! I finally have a free moment while Zoey is napping and Erics at work, so I'm updating you on all the happenings with Zoey! Summer is over.. and so is Fall now! We had a few family outings before the weather turned cold, so here are some pics to keep you in the loop!

We went out as a family one night and Eric was craving a chili dog, so after we ran our errands we stopped at A&W for take out. Then, we went down to Wasilla Lake to eat. Well, there happened to be some ducks there! Eric began throwing them fries and soon they were all around us. We saved a few fries for Zoey to feed them too! I love how we are all making shadows!

Then, there was the Palmer Fall Festival! This was our first year going out to a cute little farm in Palmer for some fun! Of course, I took the camera!

Here's Z being an AK grown potato!

Zoey got her face painted! She was perfectly still for the man and had a cute butterfly when he was done.

Playing in a leaf pit! This was very fun for her!! They were in our hair and all down the inside of her outfit too!

Shes growing so fast! I love this picture of her.. very "fall".

We dressed Z up in her Halloween costume to play and take photos in the pumpkin patch. We wanted her to be a cow this year because she loves to say "Mooooo." Teressa and Kerry brought
Jenna to this event too, so we took turns snapping a family shot for eachother.

I love you Zoey Paige!

Walking with Daddy through the pumpkin patch.

Then, back at home over the past few weeks...

Holy curls! This hair has been slept on too! I cant believe how long its getting too.

Daddy and Z on Daddys Birthday.

Zoey making silly faces!


This month, Zoey was selected to be in a tv commercial for a hospital in California. We shot in Anchorage a couple weeks ago. We should get a copy of the finished spot, but I'm not sure when. I will be sure to share it when we do. :) Z also used the potty... once! Right before her bath, Daddy put her on and she went. So, we are not forcing the issue, but we are randomly working on learning. She has also been cutting her molars like crazy. Her first top two are being stubborn. Her bottom right started after the top two and is all ready in. Shes been.. not herself. It must be painful because shes a handful most days. We know its the start of her terrible twos too. Its a little early, but the "tude" is beginning. So, that about sums it up...

The end!

God made dirt.. And we have LOTS of it!!

This is how our front side yard looked when we moved in. Eric cut down those small trees. (I do not have a good pic of the back side yard, so just picture this type of mess there too!)

Then, he rented several machnes to get it to this point...

The above photo now looks like the photo below..

Side yard..

The new fence will go from the back corner (attaching to the exisiting fence) to about the middle of the hill in this photo. Then, it will come down the hill to meet the yard with a double gate and continue a few more feet until it touches the side of the house. Can you picture that?

Side and back yard...

The burm and yard will all get hydroseed next year. The ledge in the middle of the burm will have small bushes and wildflowers planted on it. We will also be planting a few new trees and a small garden for Zoey. She loves blueberries and strawberries!

And Currently..

Heres the view when you drive up. On the left of this photo, we have dirt piles that will stay about 1 or 2 feet high until they reach the driveway. This will keep and water from rain and snow melt from flooding our neighbors. We plan to set up a fire pit and seating back there and also put a short fence (maybe a split-rail) on the top of the "flood saver hill" just to give it a more finished look.

Heres the side yard

Eric has also set some of the posts for the fence on the top of the burm

We will keep updating the progress as we get more done. Right now, Eric's up on the roof with a good friend replacing the shingles. We wanted to go one more year before we did that, but he was looking at it the other day and noticed they were all lifting. Each time its windy or rains we end up with black pieces all over the deck too, so it was definitely ready to be replaced.

UPDATE

The roof is done! I didnt get all the photos on here when I started this post, so thats the reason for the delay. Heres a new photo of the fence too!

Sorry about all the delays to those of you who wanted pics of the landscaping projects. We are still running AT&T internet which is terribly slow. We even had a few days where it was crashing our computer. I am actually debating trying to go back to the Monday Email again, but I know my yahoo doesnt support that well either. I'll get some new photos of Z up here very soon! Check back!

Lots To Tell!!

Wow! Where do I begin! We have been super busy lately.. or at least it seems like we have been. Back in August, we decided to take Zoey to the Alaska State Fair. Thank goodness we had a Daddy who wasn't working and a beautiful afternoon with sunshine! Here's some photos!

The goats were her favorite!

Isnt she cute as a fat old man on a tractor? Haha!

We took her to see the animals first. After that, we decided to go back to the car for the stroller. That turned out to be the best idea we had since she fell asleep right after she sat down. Mommy and Daddy walked around for a long time and then we all went to dinner together. It was a great day!

Zoey has transitioned into a toddler bed!

Here's the first photo of her in her bed! Shes on the left side of the monitor.

One day, she decided to climb out of her crib during a nap so Eric quickly changed her bed into the daybed with rails. She's done well so far. She escaped one night and Eric found her in the living room at 4am. After that, we now keep her door shut! Another morning, I found her here..

because Eric thinks he didn't shut her door all the way! Usually at night she gets out a couple times and during naps she sometimes plays with her toys for a while, but shes done well with the change. I can't say she always sleeps in her bed properly. Here are some examples - look hard!Sleeping on the floor beside her bed.Sleeping with her head hanging off the bed.In a lump on the floor by the door (top right corner).Torso on bed and feet on the floor.. yes, she is asleep like this!

Other than that, she's been doing typical toddler things..

Having lunch with a good friend!

Enjoyng her new slide!

Helping Mommy with the tupperware!

This past weekend, Eric worked on landscaping. Hopefully he can get that and some wood harvested before Friday which is the day of his next knee surgery. He will be off work for 10 days again. I'll update you all on that later. Zoey went to a new bouncy house with Rita and did great! I'll take the camera next time! We went to Julies ultrasound today (its a boy!) and the park too. Zoey is now napping (by the door again) so I'm going to wash dishes. Thanks for reading our updates! We love and miss you all!