Change

Yesterday marked 4 weeks since we said goodbye to my in-laws. The goodbye was extremely difficult and full of many tears but the couple weeks that followed were not as bad as I thought they would be. I think we were all in denial and had it in our minds that they were all just gone on vacation and life would return to normal soon. But this last week it really sunk in. Six people that were a part of every important event in our life are gone. Mae Mae's house is no longer just around the corner. Katie asked every day for the first two weeks to go to Mae Mae's house and Allie would pipe up and say "No, Katie. They live far away in Alaska and we can't see them unless we get on an airplane and those cost a lot of money." Katie has finally stopped asking. I tried showing Allie pictures of their new place in Alaska and she frowned and said "I don't like it. I want them here with me," and then she broke down in tears; so I haven't been showing her any more pictures.

Watching my husband cope with the loss has been even harder. He sees fishing pictures and hears the stories and I see that he wants to share that with his family but we chose to stay here out of the necessity of keeping his job and knowing we couldn't leave our friends and family that are here.

I am hoping this adjustment becomes easier with time and we are drawing close to our friends and family here during this new season in our life.

Re-Hitched

On June 3rd, my husband and I renewed our vows just short of our 6th-year wedding anniversary. Usually there is nothing too terribly significant about reaching the 6-year mark in a marriage but this year both of our families and close friends came together to bless and bear witness to the vows my love and I made to eachother.

My family approached me with this idea about 2 months before it took place. I didn't really know exactly what to expect but any ideas or expectations I had were blown away and the event was far beyond what I could have imagined it to be. My sister suggested the cowboy/western theme and I immediately loved it even though not a single person in our family of 4 owned a pair of cowboy boots. With my sister, Brittany's, event coordinator expertise, my mom's extraordinary creative flair, and my dad's, well...errr pocketbook :) this turned out to be an amazing party! My brother Brandon and sis-in-law, Bree, were a huge help and were there setting up the 3 days leading up to the big day; I am so thankful for them.

The Venue

A family friend, Tehara Tweed and her daughter, Hope, must be given credit for the amazing photography. I was so thrilled with all of the special moments they captured.

Josh and The Guys

Me and My Sis

Family Photos

 We were surrounded by such amazing friends and family and I am so grateful for each and every person that came. My cousin's wife, Brooke, and her mom taught line dancing and it was so much!

There were so many good photos and unfortunately I can't post them all!

But just a couple more....

My Man...He seriously looks sooo good in cowboy attire that I am considering buying a ranch just so he has to wear this everyday!

So blessed and thankful to be married to this man.

And My Baby Turned 2!!!

Life has been absolutely crazy the last two months and so my plan for April is to slow down a bit.
In February I was honored and blessed to be a part of my good friend, Rachel's wedding.

Me and the gorgeous bride.

Her wedding was beautiful and I could see that she married a great guy (and he for sure scored with an amazing wife)!

And then our little Katie AKA Tigger turned 2 this month on the 18th. I just can't believe how the past 2 years have flown by. It usually rains when I plan a party so I decided not to plan one this year; it rained anyway. So Katie got a party weekend with Saturday night spent at my parent's home with my side of the family, and Sunday afternoon was spent at my in-law's. It was really nice to have a low-key weekend.

 The cake my mom made for her :)

Kisses with daddy

This was taken while we were singing happy birthday to her and she has since sung hapy birthday to herself each day.

After she opened presents, Katie decided it was time to get the party started and so she proceeded to fling tissue paper everywhere and Allie and her cousin, Cason joined in on the fun!

These two sisters really love eachother; it is so precious.

I was reading to Katie last week out of a little children's Bible and it was the story of Moses and when I turned to the next page it looked like this:

And before I could say anything Katie threw her arms up high and exclaimed "surprise!" I got a good laugh out of it and then laughed again with Josh when I shared the story with him later.

Allie has been keeping me busy with all of her "why?" questions and with how just plain smart she is. We have been doing preschool work at home and she is doing really well with writing her letters.

 Josh took her to the park last week and she learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She had been asking to learn after seeing a friend do it. We both though she wasn't quite ready but she was determined to do it and so she did. Allie feels more comfortable turning right so she is only comfortable riding in open spaces. This girl just amazes me and has me terrified of her impending teenage years. The other day I was suggesting a different pair of shoes and she very calmly stated "Mom, I've got this under control." Seriously, she thinks she is 10 instead of 4!

And I couldn't resist one last picture of me and Tigger :)

Happy Wednesday!

God Is Good Even When Life Isn't

There haven't been any recent posts because they simply would have been way too depressing. The first 3 weeks of 2012 were rough. Josh and I kept looking at eachother and saying "what else? let's just get this all over with." It started out with a few irritating events such as the electrical cable getting snipped so that the electricity kept surging and fried our microwave, baby monitor, fan, and a light fixture. Ok, a little irritating but nothing to get upset over. A few days later, I went running with my mom-in-law and we came back to her car to discover the back window was broken and my purse, that I had placed under the seat, was gone. Thankfully I had my phone with me on the run so I was able to call right away and cancel every card and so the damage was minimal. Driving back from the DMV a day later, I was thankful to have a temporary license and to have all of my cards re-ordered. I thought "that really sucked but it's over now, thank you, Lord." That night my husband receives a phone call and we are faced with the possibility that he might not have a job the following week. I sat there trying to encourage him, but we are both overcome with fear and anxiety. We prayed together and then we had to just wait. The next couple days were filled with ups and downs and they were down right grueling on my husband. The Lord answered our prayers and Josh still has a job but it definitely got both of us thinking and it made us realize that God is leading us, specifically my husband, in a different direction. A few days later, Josh got a flat tire on the way to work but after the previous week, neither one of us were shocked and I watched my husband fork out the money we didn't have without so much as batting an eye. This month taught us TOTAL dependence on our Savior. He has daily provided for us. Another door of opportunity was closed this week for us and so we are waiting again, wondering what is around the bend in this crazy, unpredictable life. I am just waiting in the comfort that God has a much better plan for us.
Our two little girls have been blissfully unaware of what has happened over the past few weeks. They have been playing as hard as ever and brightening our days with their funny little antics. No matter how many times I tell Allie how to say licorice she can only seem to call it lipstick (which I think is ever so cute). On our way to AWANAS last night Allie declared to me "I am going to have SO much fun at AWANAS, mommy!" I am so glad she loves it.

Today while I was grocery shopping Josh sent me this picture. Allie had taken out the beautiful braid her aunt had done and was now VERY upset at the end result. I could laugh because I was not there to hear her fit. As soon as I got home she asked me to fix it :)
I thought I'd end on a fun note :)

Janelle

Some Highlights of 2011

December is such a crazy month and we make it even crazier with the celebration of Josh's birthday and Allie's birthday on the 19 and 21 of December respectively. With all of the hustle and bustle it was impossible for me to post. Any spare time I had was spent wrapping presents and studying for my medical transcription program.

It was fun going through some of our photos from the past year and I decided to share a few...

january

One of our family days in Coronado.

february

It snowed in Ramona! So then we made a trip to Julian to play in it...(below)

march

Our baby girl turned 1... and now I can't believe how much she has changed since then.

april

Our lil' punk

may

Katie's little personality definitely revealed itself to us this year!

And she finally started walking at 14-months-old!

june

Josh and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. I love how our love deepens with each passing year.



We attended one of the most enjoyable and fun weddings ever with some amazing friends (the photobooth at their reception just rocked!)

july

The Husband practiced, practiced, and practiced. He has become an impressive golfer and he is hoping to play in some tournaments this year (lovin' the look of his muscles in this pic!).

august

We welcomed our new addition to the family, Ginger.

september

Josh and I went to New York City. An entire week without the kiddos :)

october

Two precious ladybugs

november

A new bedroom.

december

Knott's Berry Farm

Our Allie girl turned 4!

We had a really nice Christmas spending time with both of our families.

Allie was proud to be an angel in the children's production at our church on Christmas Eve.

I am looking forward to a somewhat normal routine and having a healthy family again. I thought we had luckily missed out on the sickness surrounding us this season but this week Josh came down with a really bad cold and Katie has a double-ear infection. I can't wait to have a decent night's sleep. Looking back I see how much God blessed and provided for us during 2011. I am hopeful for this coming year and certain that my faith rests in a loving and faithful Father.

Happy New Years!

Our Christmas Tree!

Today was the day! We got our Christmas tree! If you live in Washington or Oregon, picking out your Christmas tree may be quite an event but here in SoCal you can just buy it and load it onto your car along with the diapers and other Costco items. I had to hold my hubby up when the total came up on the cash register; $94 for 2 perishable items. Poor hubby, the money goes so fast especially during this time of year.

I love that Allie is old enough to really enjoy all of the Christmas festivities this year. She, with some help from her daddy, placed the star on top of our tree.

Her triumphant grin.

I lost track of the amount of times that I had to tell Katie "no touch," and I know I'm not done yet.

O I just love those little faces!

She smiles so big when she is about to do something she knows she is not supposed to...

And a picture of the 5 of us :)

Tomorrow we are off to Knott's Berry Farm! It will be fun but also a lot of work since Katie thinks she is in charge of our every destination. Next week I am planning on baking my first batch of buckeyes so if you'd like to stop by and help me dip them in chocolate I would very much appreciate the help :)