Read it!

I am reading the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I love it and recommend it to anyone! This may sound crazy but by reading the book I no longer feel alone in my quest to understand God, the meaning of life and my role here on earth. Just reading about someone else's struggles with those same things brings me comfort. I've learned a lot about myself just by reading this book and I have some peace now when I think about what happens after we die. Not that I know the answer. Of course I don't. But I am able to finally let go of the things I have struggled believing and embrace what I have always felt in my heart.

Holidays 2007

We had wonderful time this year. It was so exciting to see Christmas through the girls' eyes. We hosted our annual cookie decorating event at our house on Christmas Eve. We had a terrific potluck dinner. Dylan made his first ever prime rib. I heard it was good. I wouldn't know since I don't eat beef. The kids made cookies to leave out for Santa.

I hardly slept on Christmas Eve. I was full of nervous energy. I kept expecting Kendall to get up in the middle of the night and I wanted to get her back to her bed before she saw her presents. Santa doesn't wrap what he brings the girls so it would have ruined the surprise. Plus Dylan and I bought the girls a huge dollhouse that sat out unwrapped as well. But both girls slept all night.

Everything was a hit Christmas morning. Nana stayed the night so that was an extra special treat. The girls tore through their gifts just like the kids do on A Christmas Story. I think the biggest hit was a giant princess tent that Dylan bought for them. Every year I say that I am only going to buy one gift from Santa and one gift from us. And every year after all my shopping is done Dylan decides to get them another present. And it's never small. This time it takes up our entire living room. But they love it! They didn't come out of that tent all day yesterday. I probably could have taken off for the day to run errands and they still would have been sitting there inside the tent playing with their dollhouse.

On Christmas morning we went over to Dylan's sister Rachel's house for a nice relaxing dinner. My sister Nicole, Chris and Aidan joined us there. Of course I ate too much but that's what the holidays are for, right?

I love the holidays but I also love the day after Christmas just as much. I take down the tree and neatly pack away all the decorations. I just love the way that makes our house seem so clean and roomy. I know some people like to extend the holidays by keeping the decorations out for a while longer but ever since I was a kid I got way too much joy out of packing everything up. I guess it's my way of saying I'm ready for winter to be over. Bring on Spring.

Let it snow......

The girls had a blast playing in our one and only snowfall this year. Hopefully we will get more. I also had to add this picture of the two of them. I thought it turned out cute.

Happy Holidays!

We are so excited for Christmas this year. It is the first year that we are able experience Christmas through the eyes of a child. Last year both girls were still too young to remember what happens at Christmas so they weren't excited. This year Kendall is bouncing off the walls and Taylor has an equal amount of energy even if she doesn't know why.

We went for our annual visit to see Santa. I have taken the girls to the same Santa every year and it's so great to see all of the photos displayed in a row. So we got dressed up to go again. Taylor refused so it is just Kendall in this year's photo. And when it was her turn and Santa asked what she wanted Kendall asked "Can you just take my picture?". Those of you how know Kendall well probably aren't surprised. But I think Mr. and Mrs. Claus didn't quite know what to think.

The other day Taylor said "Me sit Santa's lap". So we will get the girls dressed and try it again tomorrow. I would love to get both of them in this years photo. Either way I will post this year's picture on here this weekend.

I can't wait for Christmas day. We bought the girls a big pink and white dollhouse. They are going to love it! Now I just need to get some furniture.

I have new pictures to post from the first snowfall of the season. I will get those up soon.

These are my wishes for 2008:

• GiGi and crew sell their house and move back to Yakima
• Mom and Tanja's new business takes off and they are super successful
• We have a big celebration for Kolton's graduation in June
• Korey safely gets his license and continues to get great grades
• Nicole, Chris, Mark & Jenny have good things happen this year
• Rachel, Rob and Xander welcome a healthy new baby around Valentine's Day
• Maggie finds someone special that fits her life perfectly
• We sell our house in January and get to move closer to work and school
• Our family and friends continue to be blessed with good health

Have a wonderful holiday and very happy and prosperous 2008.

Halloween

It's official. Kendall is a mix of tomboy and girly girl. I love that she feels completely comfortable with who she is and embraces her inner ballerina and inner Spider Man. She wanted to be Spider Man for Halloween this year. She was the red one and her cousin Xander was the black Spider Man. Taylor was a Care Bear.

Kendall, Taylor and Xander had a great time Trick-or-Treating at Nana's office. They get spoiled there. This was Kendall's first year Trick-or-Treating by going door-to-door. I don't think she was very impressed. For one, she didn't think it was at all appropriate that we went to homes of people we didn't know to ask for candy. So that really limited us. I also think that she thought it was too much effort for the little candy that she got. Like I said, she got really spoiled by Nana's office. It's indoors, warm, and the offices are very close together so they get a ton of great candy in a short amount of time. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about her not wanting to go to neighbor's houses. This is the same child who freaked about the thought of a tooth fairy coming in at night to take her tooth and leave money. Needless to say the tooth fairy does not come to our house. Taylor was so cute. She kept practicing "Trick-or-Treat". She would have gone to anyone's house if we let her.

I was a little worried about Kendall going to her new school as Spider Man. The friends that she has been with since she was a baby at her old school know her so well and would have fully embraced her as Spider Man. Her new class has almost all girls and they are very princessy. They also do a lot of "You're not my friend" "You can't play with me". Kendall is really working through these issues in such a mature way. She tells me all the time about conversations she has with the girls about that being hurtful. My heart breaks for her but I try not to let her know that. So when I thought about her going to school as Spider Man I worried about what the girls would say. Would they make fun of her? Would they tell her that only boys can be Spider Man and get her to question herself? I just want to protect her. But it seems like my fears were unfounded. She seemed really happy and the few boys in the class thought it was really cool.

Kendall also went on her first field trip and first bus ride ever to the pumpkin patch. She loved it!

Back to Work

I started a new job on Tuesday. I know it will be a great thing but last week was rough! The poor girls are having a hard time adjusting to being away from me all day. Kendall tried to be strong but she was really nervous because she doesn't know the teachers or other kids. She is happy at the end of the day though so I know that is a good sign.

Poor Taylor isn't doing well at all. She doesn't eat or sleep at school. Her little eyes were red and puffy and her voice hoarse from crying. She has slept a lot this weekend and won't stop eating. I think she is catching up from the week. I hope that this week goes better and she adjusts quickly. It breaks my heart to think of her in a strange place all day long crying.

The job itself is so nice. I work for a school district and work just the school year calendar. That means I have all school holidays, breaks and summers off. I also work short hours so when the girls are in grade school they won't have to go to before or after care. What a dream! I know it's hard for them now but it will be a really great schedule for all of us once they adjust.

Ballet

I never thought Kendall would be a girly girl. Remember, this is the girl who was best friends with all the boys, wanted a Percy party one year and a Thomas the Tank Engine party the next. She had a car bed and didn't know what a princess was. Now that she is 4 1/2 and good friends with a princess up the street, she is into all things girly. She started ballet classes last Saturday. It was so cute. She is the biggest girl there and the strongest. Not the most petite ballet type. But she loved it. Notice that she is the ONLY girl in pink? I didn't know that they were supposed to wear black. Who knew?! I always said I would never be "that mom" but that morning I was definitley "that mom". Oh well. She didn't notice. And now we have our black outfit and are ready for this saturday.

The Title

The title of this blog comes from our neighbor girl. S is a great friend of Kendall and Taylor's. She is 2 1/2 and a spitfire. At the end of our play dates she used to yell "Bye guys". Her mom would remind her to say girls. After some time she finally got it. As we left for the day she yelled "Bye grilz". And from that day K & T have been known as the Grilz.