New Addition to the Family! The novel edition

We would like to introduce....Our new car! She doesn't have a name yet( it might not even be a she) but we sure do like her/it. Its a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan, and we ended up getting a good deal on it, at a dealership in Gladstone. We purchased it on Saturday, but not for lack of effort on Friday. Let me explain:
After I got home from school on Friday at around 1:00 pm, the "what do you want to do?" bird came and settled on Em's shoulder. We finally settled on going somewhere "close" and looking at a type of car that we wanted, as we knew we wanted a van but had no idea what type. In Em's words, when asked about what was important to her, she would say," Stow and go seats, and I don't want to pay too much or deal with a hassle." So using those specifications we headed down the 205, to a place that MK recommended, a nebulous void called Gladstone, where supposedly there are ...used car dealerships on every corner and the deals flow like water out of a mountain stream...So we got in our car and headed off. I asked if we had directions and Emali said," no did you print some off?", which irked me, as I am the designated driver and Emali is the unwilling navigator in our driving relationship. But instead of turning around, I insisted that we forge ahead, saying something akin to,"How hard can it be to find a city? Especially one with car dealerships? You would think they would want to advertise their location...?". Many of you can see where this is going, and you are exactly right, I could not find any dealerships the way that I went, and even when we stopped at two gas stations for directions and consulted our handy map of Portland, we were not able to reach our destination of Gladstone.
Frustrated, tired, and more than a little carsick, we decided to head home after driving around for almost 2 hours and then stopping for a rest at MickyD's ( where Goober did a fantastic job of eating her fries and nuggets- and loved her Star Wars bobble-head toy, which is weird cause she doesn't even know what Star Wars is, or a bobble head). On our way home, however, we passed a new car dealership that is close to our house, and we decided to stop and just ask what time they opened the next day, because we realized that we were still in the finding-out-what-type-of-car-we-wanted phase and had not even looked at any that night ( frustrating ). So we pulled into an dealership that is to remain unnamed, and found out that they were still open for another hour and that apparently we were the only people interested in looking at cars that night. So Em got out and found some used vans there, talked about getting some prices, and I don't know what else, but next thing I know I am following Em and the employee in our Escape to a well-lit garage, so that we could see the van better (but I think that it was an attempt to prevent us from leaving).
We go inside the dealership after meeting the sales manager and a finance guy who were scoping out our Escape (apparently Em had told them we wouldn't mind trading in, and in dealerspeak that means "give me your keys now") An hour and a half later, around 9:30, Em finally convinces them that we need to go (ask her how) after their complete disregard for our remarks of "only looking" and "we aren't that interested" and "you'll only pay us 1/2 of what our car is worth as a trade-in!" and "our girls are tired" etc., only to find out that our car is locked in the garage, and they still have the Escape's registration. Ridiculous! The only way they even let us leave was that we would come the following morning at 9:00 am when they open, and purchase the car then, and by purchase, I mean sign the papers that they had ready and waiting. We had such a bad taste in our mouths after leaving and didn't want to go back in the morning...but we did like the car, but were totally sure that we could get a better deal.
And we were right. After putting the girls to bed, figured out what kinds of things were important to us in the van that we would buy, looked up some comparable models on NADA and Bluebook, figured out the worth of our Escape, and got directions to a Gladstone that had a number of models of the type that we liked. We had narrowed it down to a Chrysler Town & Country model van and decided that a dealership called Chrysler Town & Country and Jeep might be a good place to start looking. They opened at 8:00 am
In the morning we called and got directions as we hurried out the door, showed up at the dealership and had a completely different experience. Everyone was kind and there was not any pressure to buy from anyone but Emali. They took us at our own pace and showed us the models that we wanted to see, as well as some others that had a lot of the same things we liked. We found out that the town & country has a twin brother in the dodge family (made by the same machines) called the Grand Caravan, and this particular model had all the automatic doors and locks and stuff that pumps Emali up. She took it for a spin and fell in love. I just loved that she loved it. So we ended up taking it home, and we got a pretty good deal. Em loves it and every time she sees it she gets a big smile on her face, which makes it worth it for me. It is kind of fun to drive, and I must say that both Em and I have squealed the tires a couple of times - its got some pick-up. So now we just need to name it.
If you are still reading this novel, any suggestions?

Family Pics

(thanks to Heather Ward Photography!)

I call this:

"Alone with Pudding"

(and yes the ENTIRE face was covered including eye lashes and lids, but they needed to be cleaned off to capture this happy face!)

Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep them girlies rollin'

(thanks to Lance for the quick catch! note: this was 3 weeks ago! --Kami at 10 weeks!)

The Prophet said

to plant a garden...

...too bad the ground is too hard to have good sized carrots.

1994

You Belong in 1994

With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Makes sense I was 12! ha ha ha the good 'ole days...

Princess Gracie (Lance's version)

Jordyn, Owen,Kaylee, and Gracie starting the gym course


cute Kenna!!


um, first date?? Owen is making the moves on Gracie!


Jordyn and Kaylee chillin in car #2


Attempt #1 at trying to get all the kids in one pic


Red Robin Sundae, I think she's happy


this is what she said "Oh, my gosh" to


not anything to do with the party, but look at my Kami's eyes!
(by the way we passed the 2 month mark!)


Thanks Bella for the baking set (see apron and oven mitt). Gracie LOVED helping with the pancakes!


After she had opened EVERY present (SPOILED) she put everything on that she could and put the rest in the backpack to tote around. Man, it was cute!


Gracie turned 2 today. But we have been celebrating all weekend long!!!!!!!!!!!! We really have been, but there is kind of a method to our madness. Gracie didn't really seem to get what a birthday was all about and so we wanted to teach her that it was a special day that is all about her. So we maybe went a little (read- way too much) overboard in preparing her and teaching her what a birthday is all about...namely a long party. so we started on Friday by inviting some of our friends to go to Safari Sam's with us. We have posted about this place before, and once again we were not disappointed.
I had the opportunity (task) of taking the kids all around the jungle gym and crawling around with them and having fun. Jordan Chambers and Owen McFarlane were there at first and it was a definite challenge to convince all three kids to follow me over the ropes and up the different levels so we could go down the three story slide. I was relieved when Chad showed up with Kaylee and we could spread out the fun (responsibility). It was actually quite fun to play with all of the kids and watch them motivate each other to do things that they were afraid of. It was the cutest to hear Gracie yell " 'mon Jordan, 'es go der!" (Come on Jordan, Lets go there.) We developed a good routine of one hardcore climbing set and one break period (mostly for me) and even paused for some pictures in the cars (pictured above).
We played for three hours before we were too tired to play any more, and then to make sure that we didn't hit any traffic, we stopped by Red Robin with the Goodman's for some good eats. Gracie got sung to for the first time ever at a restaurant and she loved it! She stared at the Red Robin employees and clapped when they were done...and then she attacked her free sundae (oh yeah her meal was free too, thanks to her pediatrician's coupons). She ate the sundae for fifteen minutes and would lick it off of the spoon, her hand, the bowl, the table, her shirt, my hand, basically anywhere, but she had to do it herself. It was hilarious how independent she was being during the meal, wanting to cool her own fries and chicken down and drink her own drink! But she was also being really well behaved probably because she was sitting next to her friend Kaylee and they were both starving from the hardcore playfest.
Yesterday (Saturday) We got ready for her birthday after the girls went to bed by wrapping present and Em cooking a cake a-la-Ace of Cakes-style. She posted about that earlier. and we blew up 25 balloons and put them in her room all over the floor so she would have a surprise when she woke up.
This morning she woke up at 8:30 am (miracle!) and was so excited to have balloons in her room. Kami was still sleeping in her crib- she did not move all night long, not one muscle- so we decided to have special time alone with Gracie and brought her downstairs and Gracie was so excited to see her Cinderella cake. She knew what it was right off and said "happy Birfday Cake!! Cin'rella!!" she then proceeded to take her presents down and open them. Em and I looked at each other and exchanged an "Oh well" glance, because we had been planning on doing presents later, but when we heard her say "oh my Gosh" we pretty much let her do what she wanted.
Every present that she opened she wanted to play with immediately and it took a good 45 minutes until she was done (we stopped for mickey mouse pancakes).
The whole day was about Princess Gracie and she had so much fun. She refused to take a nap, and just sat in her room with the lights off and played with their toys. She was really good at church and started to break down right before some neighbors came over to help eat cake and ice cream, but she perked up, played and did so good. We sang Happy birthday to her and tried to get her to blow out her candles (her and I had been practicing) but she choked under pressure and Em and I helped her out.
Whew!!!!!!!!!! what a novel! I am worn out but I had a really good time, and am so happy that my girl had such a fun b-day. Em really planned out such a fun weekend and put in sooo much effort. She is the best and wants our kids to have great memories, which is so much fun, and she does so much for them. I can not believe that I have a two-year old! she is such a joy and I love every minute that I get to spend with her. She makes me laugh and is so smart it makes me scared for my future. From her kisses and hugs to her tantrums that almost make me crack up I could spend all my time just hanging out with my Gracie girl. I feel so privileged to have her in my life, i can't imagine where I'd be without her. Happy Birthday Gracie!! I love you! Te Amo!

the masterpiece (my first attempt)

How to make a pretty princess birthday cake (Emali style):

1. Make 2 cake mixes according to box (bake in 2, 8-in round pans and 1 pyrex bowl)
cool, then stack on platter and carve to make a dress, shove long glass down the middle to make room for the barbie. cover with butter cream frosting; freeze



2. shove barbie in cake and realize the cake is too short, SHOOT! Quick throw ANOTHER 2, 8-inch rounds into the oven and throw in to freezer to cool quickly. Look at clock and realize it's been more than 5 hours since you've started this cake and it's still not decorated, it's going to be a long night. remove previous cake from platter and figure out how to stack the new cakes on the bottom. Note: we are now at 5 layers of cake! frost bottom. Knead pre-made fondant, add flavoring and food coloring. roll out, realize it's not big enough to cover entire cake, swear, roll into ball and start over with fondant. repeat this last step a couple more times...



3. Cover cake with fondant and shape to make dress skirt. Cut off bottom of skirt to make even. Use remnants of fondant to make details on skirt. Figure out how to put frosting and tip inside a decorators bag, get Lance's help (he's actually helped a little bit throughout). Add Cinderella. Pipe details. Display. Enjoy!



Obviously it's my first attempt but it was pretty fun... pastry school here i come (as soon as I practice a bit more)

Happy Birthday!

happy birthday!! we love you!


Michelle (today)
(I'll let lance take over and say a few things: )

-ok, so today is a day that I look forward to every year. My sister and I were born exactly a year and a half apart ( almost to the hour) and so her birthday marks the halfway point to mine every year. But that is not why I look forward to today. I look forward to August 3 every year because at our house growing up, on our birthdays we could do whatever we wanted to. Whether that meant sleeping in, going to the movies, having our favorite meal, or even putting our feet in the sink!(uncle steven reference) My birthday is in February so most times I had to go to school on top of doing what I wanted, but Michelle's B-day was always in summer and I always looked forward to her wanting to do something fun and my getting to tag along. I also loved to tease/ annoy/ bully my sister growing up and so I didn't get to make her happy a lot, and maybe because she is the oldest and a girl and was therefore wound tightly, but her birthday was always a time when Michelle would just let go and relax and have a little more fun. It was the her day and still is and I wish we were together to spend her Day doing whatever she wants to do. I love you Michelle, Happy Birthday and Raspberries when you least expect them!!!!!





and Jared (yeah, I know it's two weeks late, but better late than never!)
I couldn't be more proud to be his sister! I have a terrific brother who was probably more excited that I was having a little girl than I was (if you can believe it, and imagine how it was when he found out he was getting his own little girl, man will she be spoiled!) Even though I have to endure his endless torment of pokes, tickles, and teasing I still love you bro!

Breaking Dawn (aka hanging with the teens)

Whoot-whoo!! Today is the day!! Last night some of the WSCC wives went to the midnight release party. I love these girls! We had a blast trying to fit in with the teenagers! :) Boy, was I wiped this morning! I was so happy that Grace and Kami miraculously let me sleep in. I've ordered my book but it hasn't arrived yet!! ARGH!!

**additional note: I accidentally ordered an alcoholic drink at Red Robin last night with the girls and on the way home I realized that I didn't get carded. OH MAN! Am I really too old to be carded?? WHAT!!?? That seriously bumms me out! (by the way I didn't partake of the forbidden drink, I had her bring me the MUD PIE and take back the MUD SLIDE. They seriously need to change one of those names!

(thanks crystal for the fangs!)