Christmas

 On Christmas Eve we decided to take a family hike. This may become a yearly tradition no matter where we are. If it's snowy we'll go snow shoeing or cross country skiing. But it was sunny so a regular hike it was.
I really didn't think that there would be too many people out because, hello, it's Christmas Eve. They should have better things to do like make a huge Christmas dinner and be with family. Apparently, not in Bullhead/ Laughlin area. As you can see from the picture below, there are quite a few cars in the parking area. Okay, you can only see 3. But there were more then that!

This place was right across the bridge into Laughlin.

 My handsome mountain man. He was so excited to get in the outdoors that he brought along his homemade camp stove and a pan to cook something in. Unfortunately, he didn't get the opportunity to use it. 

 Some of the rocks with petroglyphs on them. Apparently this place is sacred to the native american tribe in the area.

 My girls being themselves which is anything but quite and reverent in the sacred place.

 Kaity and her rock.

 Breanne said that this rock formation looks like a camel. So that's what we'll call it. Camel rock. Do you see it?

 

There is water in the desert! It had just got done raining for the past 4 days so there was a pretty cool little river that ran all the way down the rocks. We had to jump across it several times to keep going up.

 The night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

 and the stockings were hung by the (eh hem) counter with care in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.

{Insert Video that was taking FOREVER to upload here}

Christmas morning!

Hope you all had a fun and relaxing Christmas because we sure did. It was nice to have Cameron home for a few days. We even went out a bought ourselves a BIG Christmas tree during the after Christmas sales. It's 7 1/2 feet tall and about 3 1/2 feet wide at the bottom. With our tree topper on we have taken it right up to the ceiling.

 We also got the girls some fish. This one here is "Watson".

This one is "Sherlock". 

The girls would really enjoy a pet that they can play with but this will have to do for now.

Cameron is really liking the job over here. They have him all checked out in the multi engine aircraft and is now one of 2 multi engine instructors. One of the "big wigs" with the company, Senior, has really taken a liking to Cam as well. He's went flying quite a bit with cam to get him his multi hours so he could instruct in their aircraft (which I guess he doesn't do with anyone) and he gave our family a spiral Christmas ham that was delicious. The company also gave a smaller ham and a big tin of Schwann's ice cream. YUM! On top of that, I bought a 9 lbs ham! That's a lot of ham. So we gladly gave one ham away because who needs that much. Our freezer is only so big.

Holy Night

This Holiday season has been so different for us. I know that Christmas is pretty much the same every year as far as traditions and gift giving, baking and shopping, decorating and tree getting but I've really had a chance to think about the real reason we celebrate. This is probably because usually this time of year we're making plans for 12+ hour trips and how much time we're going to spend with each family and what we're going to do to what days, stressing to get the rest of our shopping done, etc. It's all kind of stressful and, like I said, this year is different.
We just moved and will be having the very first Christmas by ourselves with our very own little family. This is the first year that Cameron and I get to decide what WE want to do with our children and how WE want Christmas Eve and Morning to go. Don't get me wrong. We loved being with our families and sharing those moments with them but at some point we have to start building our own traditions and memories. So this is the moment.
We've known since the second week of November that we would be alone this holiday so I've been thinking about it for a while, trying to find ways to make it special for all of us. I started thinking about what I wanted to teach my girls about Christmas and how I was going to get them to understand that it's more then presents and candy and Santa. Now, all those things are good and fun and the girls have definitely experienced that part of it. The big question was, "What am I going to teach them?". I can honestly say that I have learned more by trying to answer that question then I had expected.
I always have known that Christmas is about the birth of Christ, but I never thought about why. Why is that important? I feel silly writing that because it seems so simple now. We're celebrating his birth because that was the beginning of His incredible life. Because that incredible life lead to that great sacrifice that allows us to overcome death. But more then that, he chose to leave our Father in Heaven, come down and be born as a little child in humble circumstances and endure the cruelty and the unbelief to teach us by His example and to ultimately save us. I can put myself in Mary's shoes. Being told that she's going to bring into the world the Son of God (that I can't relate to) and then doing so, not in a house with a bed and blankets, but in a shelter. Not having a crib, but some hay, to lay her new baby in. I think any new mom or mom-to-be can tell you that this would not be her ideal birthing plan.
Besides all the reasons we have to celebrate this season, there's something else I think we can do. The three Wisemen brought gifts to Christ. Gold, an item back then reserved for kings, Frankincense, an incense used in the temples of those days and Myrrh, something used in embalming, signifying his death. They brought gifts that we meaningful. I've heard from a couple of different people that they are having their children give a gift to Jesus. I think that that's great. I think we all should try and find a gift to give. Something meaningful. There are so many things that we can improve in ourselves, to be more kind, slower to anger, faster to forgive, to think better of others, etc.
My hope is #1 you got through this ginormous entry and #2 that we can slow down this week before Christmas and really get into the spirit. To think about the Christmas Story, read it if you have it available to you(Luke Ch.1). Put yourselves in their shoes, Mary's, Joseph's, the Wisemen's, and Christ's. Share the true spirit of Christmas, the Spirit of Christ.
Since I have had the chance to slow down this year, got my shopping done earlier and had to really think about how I want my family to celebrate such a joyous time of year I've found what Christmas really means, to me anyway. Today, being the last Sunday before Christmas, the lessons at church were all based around the meaning of Christmas and I couldn't hold in the feelings that I felt.
I hope you all have a safe and a VERY Merry Christmas!

We've Landed

So sorry for the long delay in posts. I called to get the internet on the 1st of December and the lady kindly told me the soonest available time would be the 10th of December (inconvenience #11). Anyway, on to what happened on the way over here if I can remember that far back...

We decided to leave Friday afternoon instead of Saturday because the roads were looking bad EVERYWHERE. I'm talking Southern OR, Northern Cali, Northern NV (inconvenience #1). So Friday it was. We stopped to get gas before actually getting on the freeway and on our way, of course, but we had trouble with getting the gas in the moving truck (inconvenience #2). Got that taken care of without too much hassle and we were off. The weather was alright on our way out of WA besides heavy rain and slush. We stopped off in Oakridge, OR around midnight. Saturday we drove in snow all day. The Willamette Pass had lots of snow but the truck and the car did just fine. The other drivers on the other hand...Cameron was driving in front and saw a semi slide off the road and flip onto its side, breaking the windshield. Everyone was fine and the cops were on their way and so were we. Just a little farther up the road we find ourselves in a very long line up of cars. Through the grapevine we find out that there was an accident involving a semi and another accident involving 2 cars. That kept us waiting for about an hour or so (inconvenience #3). It gave the girls time to get out and play in the snow. We were going to try and make it to Reno that day but as we got closer to the pass there were weather warnings and chain restrictions. So we turned back and stayed Saturday night in Susanville, CA. I have to tell you that if you ever find yourselves driving through Susanville you NEED to stay in the Best Western. It had THE BEST beds I've ever slept on in a hotel. Just had to put that in there. Sunday we made it through the pass and Reno with no problems. That night we stayed in Las Vegas. We woke up Monday morning ready to get to Bullhead City, AZ. It took us about an hour to get there. Our travels were finally over! Yay! But it turns out our troubles were not.

We filled out all the paperwork for the apartment but they forgot to tell us that we needed to call and have our electricity and gas turned on before we could move in (inconvenience #4). They let us move in anyway, but we were still without power and heat. We walked to the apt and it was dirty. The carpet and linoleum were stained (inconvenience #5). It just wasn't what I wanted to walk into and I about had an anxiety attack. We walked back down to the office and they sent us to another apt that was MUCH better with brand new carpet and linoleum. The apt was still smaller then both of us had thought but it was taken care of. We had to go get the power and heat for it. I don't know if anyone else in Bullhead has internet because everyone and their dog was in line to pay their bills. I had to wait for a customer service rep first because I couldn't get a hold of anyone on the phone. I think I waited for 20 mins before giving up and driving down there (inconvenience #6). The gas company wasn't any better (inconvenience #7). Again, a line full of people waiting to pay their bills and one lady to do the job. The electric co. would turn our electricity on the same day but I would have to pay extra. We had been in the car for 3 days. Needless to say I pay the extra. The gas co. could fit me in on Wednesday...the day I went in there was a Monday. That means that we were without hot water for a couple days (inconvenience #8). By the time we got done with everything it was about 4:30 and we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. We didn't get a hold of anyone from the ward to help us move in before we got here and we couldn't get a hold of anyone that afternoon so Cam and I started hauling stuff ourselves, to the 3rd floor (inconvenience #9). Now, I'm strong...but hauling a dresser up three flights of stairs strong? I don't think so. We gave up when it got dark and decided that we'd pay for an extra day on the truck and do the rest tomorrow. Luckily, we got a hold of the church and they would come the following evening. By this time things were starting to look up. Cameron and I hauled out what we could and waited until that night to get the rest of the big stuff in. That was about 9:00pm. We had to get the truck back that night because Cameron had to be at work early. We were about to be completely DONE with the move, but no. It couldn't go quietly into the night. It had to give off one more little hiccup. The truck wouldn't start. The battery was dead. We jumped it and got it back to the drop off location. END OF TRIP!
Now that we're here things are settling in to place nicely. The town is small and has a large population of old people and "country folk" (PC term I guess). The weather is better then what we left and I can pull out my flip flops so that makes me happy. We're getting geared up for our first Christmas by ourselves and I'm kind of excited about that. Our ward seems very nice and very eager to have 4 new members. I think we increase the ward by 35% (just kidding...kind of). Cameron is really enjoying working for this company. They're laid back and appreciate the work he does. I think we'll be okay here. So I'll end this very long post by saying:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from our family to yours!

Here's the Plan

I think everyone knows by now but if you don't...We're moving! This shouldn't really shock any of you who know us. Cameron has been offered a job at the school that he did his seaplane training. It's in (drum roll please) Bullhead City, AZ! Where is this place you ask? Right on the Colorado River, across from Laughlin, NV, approx. 2 hours south of Vegas. Still don't know where? Lucky for you there's a map provided. So here's the deal. We're getting our moving truck on Wednesday of next week and loading that same day. Fortunately, we didn't unpack even a quarter of our stuff when we moved here so all that should be fairly simple. THEN we do Thanksgiving. This year it's EVERYONE all together. I mean EVERYONE! My family and Cameron's. It should be fun. We spend one more day with my family and then Saturday we're off. Travel Saturday and Sunday and move in to our new apt on Monday. Cameron will start work the next day.
If all goes well, this job will give him 1500 hours by the start of summer. If that happens then he can pretty much apply to whatever job he wants. That would be pretty amazing. So that's why we are going back on our previous statement (meaning MY statement) that we would never again leave the state of WA. This seems like too much of a good thing to pass it by. So another move it is.
Here are some pictures of our new town.

1. This is from a casino in Laughlin, NV looking over the river to Bullhead.

2. Welcome sign

3. Sun Valley Airport. Home to Sheble Aviation and soon to be Cameron.

If you want to see more, come visit!!

'Tis the Season

Now that Halloween is officially over (and we're stuck with the left over candy) Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.
A few weeks ago I went to a class that was all on preparing early for Christmas. Now, I know what some of you may be thinking because I thought the SAME THING. Seriously? Plan early for Christmas? They already have decorations out in the store before Halloween! How much earlier can we get? Well, the girl who taught this class knows what she's talking about. After hearing all the suggestions that she had I am convinced that we should prepare early for the Holidays. She made up a list of all the suggestions and I want to share that with you. Sorry about the size and the format of the post. I wanted to share the ideas with you but I really didn't want to type it all out :) 

Free Time

Things are still going well over here in the now frigid state of WA. I have traded in my flip flops for boots and the one pair of closed toe shoes I own and my shorts and t-shirts for sweat shirts and jeans. I actually REALLY like it. It's nice to turn on the heater for the first time in over a year in our car and to snuggle up to Cameron at night instead of pushing him off me because we're sticking to each other . Sorry, that might have been a little too much info. Oh well.
I have found that since living here I have a lot of free time. The girls are content playing with aunts and uncle (there's only one) the whole day. I actually feel quite useless lately, but the girls are having a blast and so that's okay. So in my new found uselessness I have decided to start my sewing machine back up. I'm super interested in making dresses and that's what I did (and still doing).You'll have to excuse the image quality. My camera died right before we left California and we haven't replaced it yet. So these are from my phone...Wow, I didn't realize how much the quality sucked. I'll definitely have to get a better picture up in the future, but for now... Anyway, the top is a royal blue color and the bottom is made from a gray suit material. I REALLY like it. I had some troubles in making it (like I couldn't fit my behind in the skirt part) but some quick thinking and a few cuts later all was fixed. Still not "perfect" but it's the best yet. Here is what I'm going to start on next. I have some big ideas. We'll see what happens.
As far as work goes, Cameron is a stud and working hard. Sometimes getting home at midnight or later and heading off to work again at 8AM, working two jobs. He finished his application for the parks department and is suppose to hear from them this week about an initial interview before he gets to take the physical test and get put on the registry, where any hiring parks can contact him for an ACTUAL interview. Phew! It's a long process but hopefully it will turn out to be worth it.

Were Back in Town, Again

We're officially back in the glorious, wet state of Washington (hence the new background). Time to break out the sweaters and the rain boots and pack away the shorts and swim suits.
We've moved in with Cameron's parents for a short while (very grown up of us, huh?) to save up some money and buy a house/condo (this is a far fetched dream of mine, has been for years, but maybe it's not so far fetched anymore). So for the next, who knows how long, Camano Island is our new home.
We have been really blessed so far with work. Cam has a job as a flight instructor at Snohomish Flying Service that started out not looking too promising but in the last week he's actually picked up a couple students, one being the owner's son. He also go offered a job at Blockbuster as a part-time shift manager. This is perfect because he can still fit his students into his schedule. He goes in this Friday to finish all the paperwork and start some training. Our goals for the near future are these: Kenmore Air is suppose to be hiring come this February for either a dock hand (someone to help dock the sea planes as they come in) or a flight instructor for sea planes. Kenmore is his dream job. Around January Cam will try and get the rest of the hours he needs to be an sea plane instructor, with Kenmore, and maybe that will give him the in he needs. All these things are kind of a long shot because we don't know for sure if they'll be hiring, what the pay will be and if we'll be able to afford to get him another 15 hours on floats. In the meantime he's finishing the application for a WA State Park Ranger. This will take a couple months to get processed.
We're happy to be back with our families, even though it means we have to give up our sunshine. The girls are having a blast spending time with their cousins, aunts and uncles and the grandparents. I probably won't post as often anymore because I did all this mostly for our families while we were away. I'll keep everyone else posted of things that are going on every few weeks, if there's anything to post.

On the Road Again (in a week)

Well, things have finally come together and all these "trials" that have happened have made us see what we think we're suppose to do. This job here in Cali served it purpose. It got Cameron to almost 800 hours, 500 hours dual given, over 200 multi engine and a lot of experience in office work. It wasn't very fun or enjoyable but it was necessary. That has all come to an end as we pack up our belongings (once again) and head to Camano Island, WA on the 25th of this month. We'll be staying there until a job comes, which hopefully won't take too long since he's already filled out 2 applications and we haven't even left yet. He's still going to do the aviation thing but at a slower pace. We need a more normal family life, or a family life at all. The more we think about this move the more things fall into place. If the world was combining against us last week, well it's finally righted itself this week. It's really nice all the support we're getting from family and friends. I just want those of you who we will be leaving in a week to know that California really hasn't grown on me but you sure have. I'm going to miss all of you who I got to know over the last year. I really got comfortable with you even though I knew that we would leave eventually. If I could take you all with me some how I would. I plan to stay in touch through Facebook, blogging and text messages. I'm not good with actually calling people on the phone, sorry.
Our life is crazy, but I think it might be slowing up a bit. I feel like we're almost where we belong.

Bigger and Better Things

No go on the Sierra West job. By the time his background check got in they had already hired someone else. So ridiculous! Anyway, that happened and then a couple of days later he finds out that he has lost his medical because the FAA didn't get all the info they wanted and all the letters they've been sending go to his parents and blah blah, they didn't get to us on time. So he can't fly until they review his case and mail him another one. He called his boss in JAX and was pretty nervous about what they would say, maybe something like "you're fired" but the only thing he said was "alright. let me know when you get it straightened out." That was a relief to hear until we found out why he had been so nice. They stopped his pay as of the day he called. Now mind you, he can't fly but he still runs the whole office and has been doing ground lessons and proctoring exams. So that's crappy. To add to the mess and frustration our car needed some costly repairs, our camera is broken to never be fixed again, out DVD player crapped out and my cell phone has decided that it doesn't want to charge itself anymore, ever. Is the world combining against us? Why yes, yes I think it is.

The Waiting Game

Cameron had a job interview in Oakdale, CA last week for Sierra West Airlines. This is a charter operations that do a variety of different things from transporting cargo, to people, to prisoners (yeah, I know). It's strictly "on-call". When he first went he thought he would be interviewing for a metro
This would be really awesome because it's a turbo-prop aircraft and that time of time in aircraft is really valuable at this point in his career. When he got there they asked him if he knew what kind of airplane he was applying for. Just for the sake of things he said he wasn't really sure. Turns out he was interviewing for one of these:

It's a Lear Jet 35. Uh. yes. I said jet! How great would that be? Um, REALLY GREAT! So, anyway, the interview went pretty well, we think. He already filled out paperwork for a background check and did a drug test. I guess the background check is taking longer then expected, so we're told, and they're still waiting on that to make a decision. So we're playing the waiting game, still. The job would move us to El Paso, TX, if they extended it to him, for 18 months. I've been waiting to post this because I don't want to jinx it. If anything, interviewing for this job has made him get everything in order for future job interviews. We'll keep you all posted and let you know anything as soon as we know it.

As for other matters. I'm starting the process to get Breanne signed up for preschool this fall, if we're still in the Riverside area. She's very excited about starting school and I think this will be a great experience for her.
Breanne has also started swimming all on her own. She jumps in with daddy, into the deep end, and backwards. She's becoming quite the fish. Kaitlyn sees her swimming without her floaty and automatically thinks that she can do it to. She's gotten quite a shock a couple of times as she figured this out. I would put up pictures of all of this but our camera went crazy a few weeks ago and I haven't taken it in to get fixed yet

Happy Birthday Father's Day!

My birthday falls right next to Mother's Day and Cameron's birthday is right near Father's Day! I think this is great. Keeps the party going a couple extra days and who doesn't like that?
Cameron has been working like a crazy person this last week, in fact I think we had him home for dinner only once. That was Monday...or was it Tuesday? What ever it was it wasn't very much. THEN, I found out that he was going to have to work the night of his birthday too. So, to make up for it we picked him up for lunch and took him away from his second home, AKA: the airport. I also had a softball game that night and Kaity was looking like she wasn't going to feel good enough to go spend an entire evening outside. I made arrangements for Kaity to have someone here with her until Cam was able to get home but to my surprise Cameron walks in the door at 6 pm when he wasn't suppose to be home until more like 8! YAY! And to top it all off Kaity seemed to be doing pretty well so we all got to go to my game and see my team get slaughter....yea, wasn't pretty. Before we left though Cam got to blow out his candles and make a wish, I hope it was a good one :)

Saturday we went to a graduation party for a friend here. Kaity still had a snotty nose but that seemed to be the extent of it. I thought I may have even escaped getting this little bug but later that evening my throat started to get scratchy...and then it started. Cameron got the WHOLE Sunday off, which in the last 4 weeks or so was unheard of. He hadn't been able to go to church in 3 weeks. And this was the perfect weekend to go because Breanne was going to be singing in the primary and she had been practicing her song for about 2 weeks. Sunday morning comes and I'm not feeling all that great but I get up at 6 am to make our traditional Father's Day cinnamon rolls. Kaitlyn isn't 100% and Breanne started to get a little worse. I'm determined to go to church because Cam hasn't been able to go in a long time but finally after persuading me to sit down on the couch I succumb to the sickness and realize that we shouldn't go and contaminate everyone else. We had a fun day of just hanging around the house in our jammies and playing games and watching movies. It would have been REALLY nice if all us girls hadn't been sick, but we're glad that we got to spend the day with our favorite guy. Breanne got to sing her song for Daddy even though we didn't go to church. It goes a little something like this:

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home. As glad as I can be.
Clap my hand and shout hurray! and climb upon his knee.
Put my arms around his neck. Hug him tight like this.
Pat his cheek and give him what? A great big kiss!"

That song really does describe the joy that happens when Daddy comes home. Even Mommy can relate to that. We love him so much for the hard work he puts in and all the stuff that he puts up with. So from all your girls, WE LOVE YOU DAD!!

Busy Month of May

So the month of May is full of celebrations for our family. I already posted about Bre's birthday but after that was Mother's day
Cameron managed to buy me beautiful flowers and get them home on his motorcycle without destroying them. The girls gave me cards and Cam had them draw in them to put on their personal touches. He doesn't get much alone time with the girls so the only time he could think to do it was at my softball game. When we went out on the field he would pull out the markers. When we got back into the car after the game Breanne was acting really weird and kept trying to tell cam a secret. I had no idea what was going on, but the next morning Cam was getting ready for work and Breanne comes to me and tells me that she made me a Christmas card yesterday. I'm really confused for about half a second when it dawns on me.
"Breanne, you weren't suppose to tell me that!"
"Do you want me to show you?"
"No, Bre, you'll show me tomorrow."
It was pretty cute. I kept it a secret from Cam until after they had given me the cards.

A few days after Mother's Day was my birthday. Cameron was able to take the day off (amazingly) and take me to the beach like I had asked.
The weather wasn't real great and we all ended up kinda cold so my day at the beach was cut short to an afternoon but it was still nice to get out and do something together. Later that evening they took me out to dinner.

Breanne being cold. I guess she never warmed up after leaving the beach. But as we say, she could be in the middle of the desert and be cold. Been there, done that.

Kaity and Daddy sharing a fry.

And I had to post this last one because the sharing of the fry reminded me of him and Bre sharing a shake. I think it's so sweet how much they love their Daddy and how they have him wrapped around their little fingers.

May has a lot going on and June doesn't slow down too much because it's Cameron's birthday on the 18th and Father's day on the 20th. But I did enjoy all the celebrating and I'm glad that I got to spend it all with my family.

P.S.-We just had the cake for my birthday last night. It's okay to drag a birthday out a few days, right?

Happy Birthday, Breanne Alice!

Breanne had her 4th birthday on May 1st.
Here's a trip down memory lane...

3 days old

3 months old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

She wanted to be a fairy princess for her birthday and what the birthday girl wants the birthday girl gets. I made her fairy wings out of wire hangers and some knee highs. After much frustration and a sliced thumb later, here they are. I let her paint them. She alsorequested confetti cake with pink frosting. Sorry no pictures of that.
We were lucky enough to have my mom, step dad, sister and baby Sophia come down and spend a few days with them. They spoiled them rotten, no doubt, but the girls had a blast.
While Cameron and I snuck off to Indio, CA Thursday and Friday night for our 5th anniversary

they took the kids to the wild animal park down in San Diego (pictures to come later, I'm sure). Don't worry, those are virgin mimosa's.

I can't believe how fast the years have gone. Bre, you've taught me a lot about being a mom (some good, some bad). I should give you more credit for being the "guinea pig" in this whole motherhood experiment. You're so smart, sometimes too smart for your own good. You always keep me in check. You're full of life and love to laugh. When Christ told us to be as little children I think of you. There are great things in store for you, my love.

Happy Birthday to our big, 4 year old, girl!

new dresses

So I found another really good tutorial :http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2010/04/lemonade-dress.html

I made 2 dresses using this as a guide. The first one is more like the one in the tutorial and is just a casual dress (VERY comfy!). The second one is a little dressier. LOVE them both.

Hiding a little mistake with buttons on both sides.

I also made a flower pin to pin the second dress because, as I am still a novice at this, it was a little big in the waist.

The pictures aren't the best. I have 2 options; self portrait, or ask Bre. I opted for self portrait this time but next time I think I'll have Bre do it :) I feel stupid smiling....oh well, you get the idea.