What I Am Thankful For

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We say a special prayer at dinner where we each go around the table and say what we are thankful for, a tradition most families do, and I wanted to share my childrens responses. Levi was thankful for his prayers and Marki said, "I am thankful for Uncle Scott who is watching over the world!" Scott is in our prayers every night and we tell her that her uncle Scott helps protect us here in America. We are so proud of him! As for me and what I am thankful for...The picture above says it all. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Marki's preschool Thanksgiving party

Marki had her Thanksgiving party at school today. Here is some of her art work. I believe she is truely talented! We will have cute decorations this Thanksgiving!

Bedtime Blues

My darling son Levi has had a bad habit the past few weeks. A few hours after he goes to sleep he wakes up and is ready to play. Here he is at 11:00pm where I kept putting him back to bed until 2:00am. The first time he woke me up I was scared that someone was in our house. It was just Lee playing in our living room. Every time I'd put him back to bed I'd hear a little creek and he'd be peeking out the door trying to get out and play. He wakes up at 6:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed. WHY WON'T HE SLEEP! Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight between Lee and Olli.

Looking Back

Here are some pictures of Marki, Lee, and Oliver visiting their daddy at the firestation and some pictures taken from the Main Street Mile.

Visiting Daddy at Work

We went and visited Mark at Northwestern Clinical Trials, (his second job), and as you can see Marki was upset on two accounts. One: It was not the firestation where she thought her daddy was working and Two: Daddy was not coming home with us. Mark and Marki have father/daughter date days and when we got into the car she stated that it was time for another one. She is such a Daddy's girl! Mark has been working non stop for his family and we want to say that we love you and can't wait to see you in a couple days!!!

Oliver is Baptized

Today was Oliver's Baptism. It was absolutley an amazing day. We professed that we were there for baptism and Damon, Jamie, Mark, and I did the sign of the cross on Olivers head. (My brother Scott and Mark's cousin Jessica are the godparents and unable to be there) Father Joe had our family follow the cross at the beginning of mass and then had us sit up front by the alter. The mass started out with the anointing of oil on Olivers chest followed by prayer. After the Homily we walked to the baptismal font where Olli had holy water poured on his head in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. After he was anointed once again on his forehead. I put a white cloth over his head which symbolized he was clothed in Jesus. Father Joe took him to the front of the church and held him up for everyone to see. We sat back down and a little while later we stood up and they said a special blessing for me and then one for Mark. It was a very neat ceremony. It was a wonderful day full of blessings. Congratulations on your Baptism, Oliver Owen!

Happy Birthday Lee!

We celebrated Levi's 2nd Birthday yesterday,(his real birthday is on November 18th), by going to planet kid and swimming at the Holiday Inn. We also watched the Broncos play Idaho at the Holiday Inn's tailgate party. We thought this appropriate since Levi was born during a Bronco's game and the fact that Lee loves to watch football.

The theme was "Batman" and he had batman everything! It was so adorable to watch him open gifts. He is such a polite little boy. While opening every gift he would act like it was the greatest thing EVER!

Lee almost knows his whole alphabet and can count to 10. He is such a smart boy! He makes me laugh every day just like his dad.

Levi, I love you so much. You amaze me and I love watching your face when you are excited about something. You truely are an amazing little one and you are so fun. I am blessed to be your mom. I love your snuggles every morning. I love you.

Dance Dance Dance!!!

Marki had her dance pictures done today. I am excited to see how the professional pictures turned out. I love Marki's dance school and she always enjoys going. She was disappointed today because she thought she was going to dance on stage since she was all dolled up. Kami Satterlee does a great job with these girls and it is so much fun to watch them.

Levi's first Steelhead's Game

We took Levi to the Steelheads/Alaska hockey game last night. Of course, I forget my camera and could have kicked myself later for it. Levi, who loves sports particuarly football and hockey, sat and watched the game for almost 2 periods with the sweetest look of awe. He really gets excited when he watches his dad play but this time he sat so well which is not normal for him. After 2 periods though he wanted to run around so I took him down and let him run around a bit. I noticed they we selling hockey sticks his size so I bought him one. We went over by the stairs where he pretended to hit a puck for a while. A man who worked for the arena came over and gave Lee a hockey puck. That did it! He was so excited and hit the puck around. He drew a crowd and everyone was so amazed at how good he was. One of the firemen that Mark plays hockey with was completely astounded. He really seemed to know what he was doing. It was so fun to watch him.

Oliver Owen

My baby is two months old already! I am always amazed at how the time fly's by. He smiles all the time now and laughed today for the first time. He is becoming more and more fun every day! He still sleeps quite a bit and loves to be away from his brother and sister who squish him with love when ever they see him. Levi would have the same worried look on his face when Marki would come and love him up when he was a baby. So cute! I love being a mother of 3! Let's go for four Mark!!!! Just kidding.

Congratulations to the Barkers!
My friend Kristal had her first baby on October 20. A beautiful little boy weighing 7lb's 12 oz. We were pregnant together but with Kristal in Montana we were not able to see eachother as often as I would have liked. Kristal, I am so excited for you, you did a great job! Enjoy every moment with him and know that we are thinking of you and your new family.

Election Day!

Marki says, "Vote for my better tomorrow!"

Today, being election day, Marki wore a political shirt to school. When her teacher asked her who would be the next president she replied, "Obama!" We'll have to see if she is right. I hope you all got out and voted!

It's now 6:49 pm and I have been watching Decision '08. Every time Barack Obama comes on she screams his name and points to him on the TV. She has told me all day how important it is to vote. I asked her why and she said it was our responsibility as Americans. I believe we have taught her well. I think for the time being I'll turn the television off. We obviously have been watching too much on the election!

Butterfly's, Skunks, and Pumpkins, Oh My!

This Halloween was so much fun with both Marki and Levi Trick or Treating. Marki went as an orange butterfly since orange is her favorite color. Levi went as a skunk. He was so stinkin cute. It was so funny to watch him. Oliver went as a pumpkin since he had a pumpkin hat. It was so much fun watching them travel from house to house. They did pretty well in the candy department and Mark and I will be gaining lot's of weight due to it. Yum! By the way the dates are off on our pictures:)

Pumpkin Carvin and good friends

This year we carved our pumpkins with our neighbors. Marki and Levi decorated their own pumpkin while Oliver slept. We had a blast! Thanks Josh and Ashley!