Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa celebrated his 57th birthday today! We had a brief visit before "papa" had to head to bed. Luckily, we were able to sing happy birthday. The girls were happy to help papa blow out the candles! Happy Birthday Dad!

Kaitlyn started pre-school!

Kaitlyn started pre-school this morning. We just found out last Thursday that she was accepted into a program to assist her with her speech. She's come a long way the last year or so. When I read the child profile (came in the mail) for a 3 1/2 year old and realized she was a little behind on her pronunciation, I looked into the specialized testing provided through the state. She got in! We are so glad she enjoyed her first day of pre-school AND loved riding the bus! We are SO proud of her! I have to admit, this time many tears came strolling down my face! Happy that she's happy and she's getting the assistance she needs, but sad that both my babies are in school!

Baby Brother has a Baby Girl!

Kevin and Heather's baby girl was born on September 27, 2008 at 4:11pm. Poor Heather was in labor for 2 days! We're glad she and baby are doing well and are home from the hospital tonight. Mya was 8'11 oz and 22 1/2" long. No wonder little Heather had a difficult time....I'm sure Kevin's genes don't help, he was 10 1/2 lbs when he was born! Mya gave the cutest coos when we all came in to welcome her! Congrats Kevin and Heather! And Mya, welcome to the family! You sure are a sweetie!

WHAT A HARVEST!

We're grateful for the warmer weather this summer. We had a great family night harvesting some of our produce tonight. It's the best crop (in our 3 years here) of jalapeno peppers, bell peppers and plums and this is only half! Salsa and fruit leather here we come! Last year we only got one pepper out of all our pepper plants....the plums seem to be plentiful every other year.

Pretty, Pretty Princess

I've looked forward to the time when Kaitlyn and I would get to have our time to spend together. It's nice to have a few hours to ourselves; reading, going on walks, playing games and watching Kaitlyn be herself and doing what she wants to do for a change. We've said, at times, times that the red hair makes her "our little challenge". But she's growing up and getting much easier to handle. She's our little princess and is loving the dress Grandma White got her when they got their "one on one date" last week. She loves the attention she gets from her Grandma's and loves them both very much! She's always wondering when she's going to see "Gran-ma White" and Granma Nooth"

Ally's in Kindergarden

Ally started school on the 4th of September. She loves it, as we thought she would. She's the little social bug and is meeting new friends each day. She has a great teacher, Ms. Lyle, who happens to be in Grandma & Grandpa White's ward at church. We have many friends who have had Ms. Lyle in the past and know Ally is in good hands!

A schedule was one of Ally's biggest challenges. She likes to sleep in. On the third day, I found it difficult to get her going and get her list of things done to get to the bus stop. I asked her to make her bed and get dressed...10-15 minutes later, she hadn't done anything! She was sitting on her bed day-dreaming. I mentioned that we don't have the time to sit around that it's important to do what's on the list so we can make it to the bus stop and not miss the bus. We got ready....with me on her case every 5 seconds and being as patient as I could be. On the way to the bus stop...Kaitlyn was holding Ally's hand and telling her "hurry, we can't miss the bus!" Ally calmly said: "oh, don't worry if I miss the bus, mommy will just drive me." You can imagine my reaction after the conversation we had 20 minutes prior!!! The next morning the schedule (with pictures drawn to match each task) was posted on the wall....she knows to follow the routine and has been following it. It's fun watching her grow up!!!

We've been married 10 years!

As of June 20th, Jeremy & I have been married 10 years! Ten years that feel like 20, according to Jeremy! :-)

The week of our anniversary, the Kanooth side of the family went to Seaside, OR for a family trip. All of Jeremy's immediate family was there. I think everyone would agree, we had a really good time! The 19th, everyone went their own ways, including our girls (who went home with Grandma and Grandpa). Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Jeremy and I took off to Lincoln City, OR for a little get-a-way and to celebrate our 10 years. We stayed at a friends (Sara & Ron Hogevoll) beach house. We wanted our trip to be memorable and do things that would be out of the norm (for us). The weather was gorgeous and we chose to watch the sunset (which is something Jeremy doesn't usually like doing). We were able to sleep in and Jeremy awoke me with a surprise, an anniversary ring! He picked out a really pretty band! Sorry I didn't do much for you sweetie :-(

We wanted something different to do for our anniversary and looked into horseback rides. No one would return our phone calls. We weren't having much luck finding something new to do. We drove to Depot Bay and went whale watching....of course, no whales (they were there the previous day). After going through a couple shops and watching the seal at the pier, we noticed a runner on the main highway. It was the 2008 Olympic Torch! That was a highlight and more than likely a once in a lifetime chance. It was after that that Jeremy had an idea and chose to surprise me again after recollecting a childhood memory. He took me to Devils Lake for a Paddle boat ride....it sounds a little silly, but we had tons of fun! I knew Devils Lake existed, but I had never noticed it before. We had a nice time and enjoyed being in the middle of the lake alone! After all the paddling, we had a lovely dinner with oceanview at Kylos restarant. We had planned to stay at the beachhouse 2 nights, but after being gone for most of the week with the rest of the family, headed home for our own bed and a chance to sleep-in without the pitter-padder of little footsteps coming to wake us up early in the morning.

Thanks for the great get-a-way and the 20, I mean 10...years! Love ya Hon!

Getting Started

I figured it's about time to start a blog for my family. I enjoy (when I find the time) to read family and friend blogs, but am always wondering how in the world you people find the time to spend on this kind of stuff! So at this point I'm going to consider this my way doing a family journal or remembrance book. We'll see how it goes and how little time I can spend on this without getting addicted and feeling like I'm wasting my time! Time is SO valuable!