Some last 2008 photos to share

Hey Ya'll,

I know I bid you a farewell in my last post, but I have a few more photos to share before the New Year. We have been enjoying many lazy days, and lots of moments together as a family. We have never felt more blessed. Enjoy - and have a wonderful and happy New Year!

Our 2008 Christmas card
They boys got their first big boy bikes this year!
A house we had been hearing about from everyone...Pretty amazing display of lights!
The boys in the tunnel of lights!

Some of my favorite things...

Just for fun...

10. Peppermint Hot Chocolate with LOTS of whip cream (and marshmallows!)

9. The smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree, and then the sight of it after it's lit up!

8. 2 little boys, and the wonder of Christmas in their eyes as we talk about the season.

7. Our annual TLC Christmas party & White Elephant gift exchange - I always end up laughing until my big Christmas belly hurts! My all time favorite prize was the stylin' "buffalo touch-lamp" from the Marchants! Love it and still have it!! This year's coveted prize was a belly dancing cd with some rockin' Moroccan tunes - WOW!

6. Egg Nog Lattes with a little vanilla, and yes - you guessed it - LOTS of whip cream! Tis the season, right!?!

5. Christmas music! I limit myself to starting to listen to it beginning in November - otherwise Husband would go crazy!

4. Going up to the mountains for weekend getaways - sledding and snow!

3. Teaching our kids about sharing, giving, and the real reason for the season...JESUS!

2. Baking the traditional holiday treats...Sugar cookies, fudge, candy cane cookie drops, and my mom's famous cheese ball.

1. The blessing of an amazing family that I get to spend this holiday season with!

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas season! See you next year!

Michael Dubya Smith in Boise

It's Christmas, and what better way to get into the holiday spirit than with a 60 piece symphony orchestra led by Michael W Smith? And just to add a little frosting to the cake, let's have Melinda Doolittle come along and sing too - oh man, husband and I were feeling quite festive TONIGHT!! I bought these tickets back in Oct for Husband's birthday, and let's just say tonight has been a long time coming! So, yes - I know Michael (we are SO on a first name basis!) has been around for awhile, and he's a bit old-school, but he puts on a pretty good show. So if you are snickering on the other end of this line - maybe you should give old Michael another chance because he's still as good today at singing gospel than he was back when I had braces-parachute pants-and yes, headgear!

On to another completely different subject altogether...

Things have been a-changing for me lately. That has probably been a long time coming too. I feel like God has been preparing me for change for awhile-and I thought I knew what direction that was-until I lost his voice. Have you ever been there? Feeling like God is silent for a time is a scary place to be. I feel like for me, God was silent in order for me to see that I was trying to direct what I felt was the "right path" instead of letting Him lead - and show me the right way, along with the blessings that accompany it.

So, without going into a novel length description, I will say my plans have changed - and I feel like God is moving me in a very exciting direction with my greeting card business. Things are still evolving, so give me some time to explain as I am still basking in God's awesomeness and really still trying to comprehend why he loves me so much? I feel so undeserving of His love - that at times I fall flat on my face in complete and utter reverence to His grace. Why did He send his only son to die for me? Especially with how much I have sinned, fallen short, and even knowingly disobeyed all to look back and see that He was there the whole time.

WOW.

I hope that God is moving in ways that make you stop, appreciate, and want to give back as He so humbly did for you thousands of years ago in sending his one and only baby son. Alleluia Christ has come! God bless you this holiday season.

Trip to the coast

Hey everyone,

Yes, we are still here... It has been a busy couple of weeks, and thrown into the mix was a last minute trip to Newport, Oregon. A friend of husband's family passed away, so that was the main reason for going, but we thought we might as well make a mini-vacation too! So, husband's folks graciously hosted us while we were there, and husband's grandma also let us stay a night at her home in Eugene - so we had tons of fun! Since I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow (I'm still scratching my head on this one!) I had better get going - so enjoy some pics I took over the weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!
Getting ready to cut down our Christmas tree!
The Tindall's girls and our little guys hanging out!
Christmas tree hunting gang!
Three Kinney Boys
Grandparents strolling on the beach
Our Family

Hair Train

Ok, so growing up, you would quite often find me, my cousins Mandy and Carrie, my mom and aunt Linda in what we liked to call a "hair train". Any girl who's been to a sleepover when they were young knows what I'm talking about! But for those of you unassuming readers, I will indulge you by explaining the "hair train" concept.

It's really very simple, and VERY GIRLY!

You sit with one person in front of the other, kind of like a train would look. Then comes the brushes, and most important the accessories! The more accessories the better! The most coveted spot in the "hair train" would be the very front, because you get to totally relax and let the person behind you play with your hair and just pamper you. I don't know about you, but I LOVE it when I get my hair done! There's something about letting someone else do the work that makes it so relaxing!

Ok, so here's my little secret that I'm going to share with you, but don't tell my husband (or our boys for that matter-until they're about 18, then you can tell them!). I witnessed my very first GUY "hair train" the other day in our bathroom. I walked in unexpectedly to the three adorable guys in my life combing away! At first I was a little jealous that I wasn't asked to join, since I would be offering SO MUCH expertise in this area, but my job was obviously to capture the event so that all would be able to witness its first time EVER being caught on camera! I'm surprised the picture even turned out, to be honest, because I was laughing so hard it was shaking the camera! I think what got me was how serious Big Boy was about stylin' daddy's hair :D

On another monumentous note: Our little Peanut went potty in the toilet TWICE tonight!! This is our first attempt at potty-training him, and we're still in the middle of potty-training Big Boy, but how nice would that be? Two at once? I can't tell you what a relief that would be to not have to buy diapers anymore!

That's all for now! Chow!

Apparently when guys do the "hair train" they feel the need to do so with their shirts off...We were much more modest!

Trick or Treating Kinney Style

Last night our boys embarked on an adventuresome journey to find treats from our neighbors. At first they weren't really sure what to do - Big Boy wanted to go inside of the houses for a nice chat and maybe a cup of hot chocolate, that was until we told him that wasn't quite how it goes... From there it was the polite one piece grab of candy.

Then one of our neighbors made the mistake of asking the boys if they'd like 2 pieces...It just snowballed from there into who could grab the most - and they got away with shameless amounts of candy, all because of their definite cuteness and young age. It was the perfect night for strolling the neighborhood, too, at around 60 degrees.

Now we have the privilege of teaching the boys why we don't eat all of the candy in one sitting. When asked this morning what Big Boy was going to make for breakfast (jokingly of course - we don't demand that until he's 5) he thought about it for like 2 seconds and then with a HUGE cheesy smile yelled "I make candies!"

We've got some work to do on that kid!

Brothers
Just lovin' on eachother! Of course they're always this way...
Running down the sidewalk for the first house of the night
Big Boy would always have to check to make sure someone was "comin'" and then ring the doorbell at least 5 times
This is Peanut's nose - the night of our Redneck BBQ he took a tumble off of the couch and into the coffee table. Apparently he landed dead on his poor little nose. I'm not sure if he cracked it a bit, or just bruised it up really bad, but each day we get a fabulous new color to look at!

A life well lived

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post today. Yesterday, around 3:30 my friend Karmen Stuart whom I've mentioned before - who has struggled for almost 2 years now with pancreatic cancer - has gone to be with her Lord and Savior. When I turned on the radio this morning, it was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise to hear Christmas music playing. The radio station's reasoning is to have a positive message of life to be playing on a day that symbolizes death to so many.

But, I know different.

They are playing these uplifting songs of new life - found in Christ - and the celebration of that in memory of Karmen. I can't help but think of her as the radio plays songs talking about "fallling on our knees - oh hear the angel's sing" and how Karmen is surrounded by nothing but that this day. But more importantly she has no more pain, no more sorrow, and is in the arms of her savior.

That doesn't mean it isn't hard, for her husband Scott, & their three kids Payton, Blaine and Kendall, who are no doubt missing their momma. Please be in prayer for this precious family.

What an example of a life well lived, especially in showing true joy through hard circumstances. We love you Karmen!
Karmen and daughter Kendall at Disney World this past summer

1st Annual Redneck BBQ

So today marked another year on my mother's calendar - as it was her birthday - so we decided to spice it up a bit...

Redneck BBQ Style!

Can I get a WOOP WOOP? That's right, we all came in our finest attire - mollet wigs, bushy mustaches, and wild and crazy clothes. My husband has been growing his mustache for about a month and a half all for this night of laughs! Best costume award was a close one with my brother Scott as the big winner, and my mom coming in close second.

We held the BBQ at Scott and Corine's, and boy did they deliver! We arrived to their house to see tires in the yard, Christmas lights up, lawnmower parts all over, and empty beer bottles in the planter bed. I wish I could say this looked different than normal.......Just kiddin :D

Anyways, thought I'd share some of our evening with ya'll! Happy Birthday Mom!
Redneck Family Portrait
Mom blowing out her candles w/peanut's help
The Haverfield Jr.'s
The Parents
The Kinney Clan Bringing it Back!
The Grandparents
The guys showing off their farmer's tans
The girls showing off their duds
Yes, this is me combing my husband's HUGE and really gross mostache!

Surprise Party!

Birthday party, eh? Just imagine in your minds a very strong Canadian accent with this post, ok? That is what we had the pleasure of experiencing yesterday with the boys and about 35 other people, a surprise birthday party for our Canadian friends the Muirs. Brian and Tina along with Bryson and Cole drove all the way here from Alberta and are staying the week here, visiting old friends. Tina planned all by herself to have this be a complete surprise trip for the boys for Brian's 40th birthday party. So up until the day they left they had no idea that they were all coming here for the week! Brian was my husband's baseball coach in college - and Brian and Tina went to our church and are just an all around awesome couple. Brian is especially known for initiating all of the "ultimate challenges" that would end our bible study group time, and were usually things like getting dared to eat a worm/rotten egg/or a spoonful of salt (YUCK!!)

Anyways, the party was a fun time - but also a very tiring time for husband and I because we were on the constant lookout for our kiddos with the river being so close to the house. We're excited for the days ahead where the boys are more self dependent and less needy of us during outings like this one. We still love them in their dependency, though!

Well, enjoy the pics, eh!

Baseball buddies
Muir cutting the HUGE cake!
Our little peanut holding hands with Trav, trying to play volleyball with the big kids!
Peanut trying out Chan as his playing partner
In the action!
Muir's boy Bryson, and our Big Boy chillin
Big boy
The most beautiful sunset!

Star gazing & midnight rude-awakenings

The infamous "glowstick"

Well,
The other night when we celebrated my hubby's 34th birthday - the boys ended up with some pretty sweet gifts from Grandma laurie and Papa. They are these crazy little light sticks that have brought endless hours of enjoyment and even mass hysteria when one is lost and we have to learn to "share" all over again :D (I'm talking about the kids! Of course husband and I share things no problem...)

Anyways, another thing the boys have been wanting to do more lately is star & moon gazing. Whenever we've been out for the night and we get home after it gets dark we always have to go out and find the moon and the stars. On the night of husband's birthday, the guys thought it would be so much fun to test out their new glow sticks AND look for the moon/stars at the same time!! Needless to say, we agreed, but only after bundling up with like 7 layer of clothing/hats, extra socks, etc because we've all but lost our warm summer nights.

On another note, our Big Boy has started a weird new phase of toddlerhood that has driven husband and I bonkers the last week or so. First off, he screams bloody-murder when we put him to bed, saying things like "you forgot to take my toothbrush" or "leave the light on in the hall" or "I need a band aid"...So, once he's finally worn out all possibilities of going to bed - and falls asleep, we are then startled awake by the noisy clanging coming from the living room, anytime between the hours of 3 -6 am. This morning was quite classic, in that he decided to come downstairs around 6-ish, husband and I are in a zombie-like trance from many nights of inconsistent sleep.

So, I was taking the "preventative watch" of checking on our Big Boy every so often to make sure he was staying out of trouble while we tried to catch a few more winks... Well, as I walked out into the living room, one eye open the other glued shut I scanned the room for our little morning glory. It wasn't until the flashing of a shiny object channeled my direction to my youngster, and as I walked closer to my proud little guy, I had found what he had gotten himself into... The day before our children's paster had given both boys a sheet of shiny, metallic stickers. I was hoping to use these as incentive for Big Boy's potty chart, but he had another plan in mind all together! He had emptied the sheet of about 25 stickers, and had what looked like a protective coat of armor on his entire right arm :D Let's just say he wasn't having as much of a good time when we had to peel them off of his tender, baby soft skin :D

Our star gazing boys
what we see a lot more of these days...Peanut trying to fight back!
Chillin with my birthday boy and all our layers of warmth!
Our sticker arm model - such a lovely pose don't you think? He did the hand holding thing all by himself! We're thinking of entering him into some contests....

Happy Birthday Babe!

That's right, husband is a whoppin' 34 yrs old today! So, in honor of my sweet man, I thought I'd take you all down memory lane...Happy Birthday Babe! I love you more!!
Cutie Pie - at about 1 yrs old
Looks just like someone else I know...
I guess he was always a ladies man :D
Stoic football poise
The baseball buddies
Paragliding in Venezuela (I took this pic! This was before our dating days)
Wedding day with friends Oscar and his wife Auda
Proud Papa