If anyone is out there...

I can't imagine anyone is still out there. Posting once a year is not a every effective way to ensure readership. Regardless, we have lots of news.

1. We bought a house, rephrase...we bought a project :)

2. Anna is 20 months old and so very much fun.

3. Dillon is officially a pastor.

4. I am officially a pastor's wife...

This is Dillon putting the floors in our house!

So, if you are there you can call, email or facebook either Dillon or myself, we would love to hear from you. Lots of love and smiles!

9 months

Unbelievable! Anna is 9 month old now. She can crawl like she is on fire, she can turn the pages in her books, she can say "uh-oh" and does so appropriately. She is amazing. She is into everything and it is amazing to watch her little wheels turning as she tries to figure out what does what. The other day she was trying to get the plug out of her tub with the tub toys, one at a time she was rubbing them over the plug to see if one would open it! She is pulling herself up and if you hold her hands and coax her forward she will take little steps. Here is a picture from yesterday, her "Glamor shots."

We are having so much fun with her right now! Dillon is enjoying his new job at our church! He is loving his time with the you adult guys he gets to hang out with on Wednesday morning. They had a super cool graduation party for all the graduating seniors, there was a nacho bar and 2 way rocking bands...I felt VERY OLD! The music was loud and I did not understand one word and I had to sit on the lawn far away so Anna did not damage her ears :) How times change. Here is a pic from Father's day of the 3 of us.

Anna is still hanging out with her very loving grandmothers while I am at work 3 days a week. It has been great for her, I am excited she will have such a close relationship with them as she grows. When she is with my mom she gets to play with her cousin who is almost exactly one year older than her. They play with the wagon a lot.

I know she is getting plenty of hugs!

And plenty of age appropriate toys!

Here are just a few parting picutures of Anna's best faces!

Love to all! Where ever you are, we love you and look forward to our next time together!

A parting shot:

Life

So our little peanut head is almost 6 months old now. She has experienced rice cereal, sweet potatoes and peas, the last one she could do without. We are going to try apples today. She is trying desperately to crawl. She has traded in her sweet constant babbling for this new high pitched screaming. She loves to sneeze. We can now put the sweet smelling baby lotion on her without a rash erupting. She still has no teeth. She can scoot backward but not forward very well. She loves to rock her saucer like a mad woman. She wears her sun hat like an angel. She wakes up with a smile for her Daddy every morning. Her favorite books are "Curious George touch and feel book," "The Bed Time Book," "Olivia," and of course "Goodnight Moon." She loves bath time and tries to grab the stream of water when I pour it from in the air. She goes after her sippie cup like crazy. I love her, I think she likes me OK. I remember life without her but I would not want to go back....well not for more than a day :)

I mean really, would you want to be without this sweetie?

All that having been said, I am finally learning how to re-enter life after having a child. True I have been at work for several months now but I am just remembering how to do my job. I am leaning how to manage my home again. This is a steep learning curve, I knew that, but now it is real. I have a excited anticipation, I can't wait to see what God chooses to do with this family and little Anna in the future.

So much love, such a little girl

I am amazed by all the love that can be poured on one little girl. Of course Dillon and I love her dearly but I have loved seeing how her grandmothers love on her while I go to work and her little cousin loves her too. He brings her his beloved stuffed Eyore, brings her toys, talks to her, makes her laugh, and kisses her head. Here is a picture of him pulling her around Grammy's house in the wagon...they both had fun with this one I think.

Here is another picture of her winning smile! In the wagon of course!

She is rolling over like crazy, we can't keep her on her back anymore. The bald spot on the back of her head is starting to grow back in! Hurray! This AM whe woke on her tummy for the first time and she is currently napping on her tummy, she is napping for more than 45 minutes for the first time in several weeks. The more time that goes by the more she looks like her daddy. Here are a few pictures for example.

Enough about Anna I suppose. Dillon and I are well. If you have not heard Dillon was in a car accident, he is fine however his truck will never be the same again, he is very sad. The man who hit him was uninsured so we are not getting much for the truck out of the deal and it has been totaled by the insurance company, major bummer. We are still praying and trying to decide what to do about that.
I am excited to go out tonight with some gals for the first time since Anna was born, you can pray for Dillon who will be putting her to bed tonight alone. He will do great but he is nervous she will not sleep. Maybe this picture will get her in the mood.

Happy 2008

Well, it has been over a year since my last entry...I guess I am not a "blogger." Since that time we have moved again and had a baby. I went back to work 3 days a week and Dillon is working on a Farm/Ranch in Auburn.

Our gift of a daughter, Anna, is now 4 and 1/2 months old. She is a wonder and a joy. Dillon is a natural Daddy and I am doing my best to fill the role of Mommy. The picture above was taken last night. Anna is a happy little girl, she has lots of smiles for everyone and "talks" almost constantly, I think she gets that from her Mommy.

Not much else is new here. We are living life, making friends, cleaning the house, playing with Anna, working, paying bills, discovering our church family and trying to stay out of trouble. Keep us posted on you! WE love you very much and hope to keep in touch more often. In fact, I am not sure any of you will even see this as it has been so long since my last post! Oh well. Hugs and loves anyway.

New Neighbors

I do enjoy the sun. I forgot how good it feels on your skin. I will never ever again take that warmth for granted. But you know, despite that feeling and everything else that is wonderful about California (friends, family) I still ache in my heart for Portland. I wonder how you can love so many things at the same time... how you can be soooo happy and soooo sad at the same time. It is life I supose. Well, I have some new neighbors now. The Man we live "under" has sheep and llamas. I will include a picuture of Tara, she is cute though buck teethed. We also have a male llama, Bart but Bart does not take very good photos.

So, as for news, lets see, Dillon is working part time off and on for an old friend doing dirty grunt work in the mud on a tourism farm where city kids come to feel country like. I am looking into a few things but just don't feel ready to jump in yet. The gentelman we live under has been diagnoised with cancer and I will be helping the family out for a while after his surgery, please keep Cal and his family in your prayers. They have been such a blessing to us, it will be nice to serve them in return. I am day dreaming about this springs garden so get geared up for new pictures of plants. We also have neighbors who have a burping goat, maybe I will take a picture soon, but you really need to visit to hear the burp. Love you all and Happy Anniversary to Peter and Allie!! We love you both.

Merry Christmas

We are here in California and stettling into our new appartment. We are enjoying our relationship with our Landlord. He is a great guy. I have been baking up a storm this week. It has been nice to have a slower pace of life for a while. We have a tiny little tree next to our tiny little wood stove. We have not had to use the stove though. It is nice because Cal keeps the house at 70 degrees all the time. Our little kitty is adjusting well to her new life completely indoors. We are still not sure if we will let her back out or not. We have visited 2 chruches in the area. The church we went to this week was nice...Dillon knows a few people and he so that makes relationship building a bit easier. It is a 2 year old church plant and the just signed their "charter membership" I guess that means they are not a "plant" any more.
I would like to wish each one of you a very merry Christmas. Take time to love your family and remember Dillon and I love you bunches and bunches but Jesus loves you more. I'm not ready to say I would allow my only child to die for you...gosh, that would be hard, but I do love you. Our camera was on vacation for a while so no new pictures today. sorry.