I want to be a part of it . . .

I'm so excited that I'm almost bursting! I'm going on an adventure, I'm going on a trip!
Yeah, that's right. My dear, amazing husband has graciously agreed to send me to New York with my Mom and two sisters for 10 whole days!! We've the confirmation emails to prove it! We will be spending Thanksgiving Day watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from the street! And we are hoping to be able to see the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center! We are planning on staying a couple of days in Washington DC as well. This will be a "Tanner" first. Us four girls have never taken a trip together by ourselves! This is particularly exciting and nerve racking for me because 1) I've never been east of Colorado and 2) I get very air sick flying (as opposed to air sick while driving or being on a boat). Watch for updates on how the planning is coming. Of course, I'm sure I'll have a ton of pictures to post from our trip also. If you have any great spots or things we should visit and see please pass the info along.
FYI - I have never been on a plane that was not flying into or out of California. Interesting, no?

The winds of change are blowing and man is it COLD!

Last week, it happened over night. One morning on the way to drop off the girls at school the trees were covered in green leaves. The next morning they were turning color and not just a couple of them. I swear half the leaves on half the trees are showing off rich hues of red, orange and yellow. It's gorgeous.
Today, I've been in warm-up pants, sweatshirt and my warm fuzzy slippers while freezing - inside my house.
But the ultimate reason I know that summer is racing full speed into fall is that I've already started ordering my coffee drinks hot!!! That usually doesn't happen until Starbucks starts serving their Gingerbread Lattes! Venti, non-fat, extra-caramel, light-whip Caramel Macchiato - Here I Come!!!

I AM BLESSED

Just a brief little post to share a few thoughts that have been floating in my head for a couple of weeks now.
I am truly blessed by the friends that God has placed in my life. I know that many people say that friends are the family that you get to choose. And I suppose that is true especially for people who don't have any extended family or have poor relationships with family or their family just isn't close by. But I'm lucky to have a very close-knit family that gets along very well together. So my friends are bonus family! Here's a couple little stories highlighting some "true friendship moments":
1. Before heading down to Albany, OR to visit the Owen family, Jane Anne sends me an email saying that there was a possibility we might be going to a water park so pack my swimsuit. I emailed her back and said that I'd packed the girls' and I would see about finding mine but that was a very SCARY thought. In true friendship fashion, her response was not - no pressure, if you don't feel comfortable in a swimsuit don't worry about it. No she told me - if I couldn't handle it to pack a baggy t-shirt to wear over my swimsuit! And contrary to what some people might be thinking right now, I was not offended in the slightest. Matter of fact, I smiled. My friend was not about to let me "get-away" with missing out on great fun over my stupid pride! THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
2. While in Oregon, I made a very last minute phone call to my friend, Kristi, asking if we could come over and see them and even possibly stay the night. Without hesitation (or anger over the short notice) she told me to come as soon as possible and we could stay as long as we wanted. THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
3. In a bit of "It's a small world", my roommate from Ecola who lived in and around the Portland area all her life, happened to move to Graham, WA about 2 1/2 years ago. Sadly, even though we live about 15 minutes from each other now, we still rarely see each other. We are on a bunco team together though, and so usually spend the second Thursday of every month chatting and catching up. This last Thursday was one of those days. As we were getting our dinner, Megan mentioned that the pizza we were both getting had mushrooms. I told her I LOVE mushrooms. We continued on with our conversation and w/o asking me or saying anything she pulled all of the mushrooms off her piece of pizza and put them on mine. I didn't think twice about it. After we had sat down, I noticed that she wasn't eating the mushrooms that had been on her salad. Still talking about other things I ate them off her plate. She didn't blink an eye. THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
4. My friend Heather is into bicycling. She is extremely dedicated and loves it. I help facilitate a scrapbooking/craft night at our church once a month. And have also been very busy trying to help out with our remodel project. (Stay tuned for future posts, proving this fact!) Because of this, we've not been able to spend as much time together as we used too. I realized the other day how much I miss spending time with her. THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
I have so many other stories I could share about other friends but I don't have the time or space to write them all down. I am so THANKFUL for all the people who have blessed my life with their friendship!

And the first day of school is finally here!

The girls ended up starting school on Wednesday, September 5th. This was actually three (school) days late. Their original start date was Thursday, August 30th. But the teachers in Bethel School District went on strike and so school started late. They were excited to get back to school and to see their friends again and find out which ones they had in class with them this year!

Each year I let the girls pick out their clothes for the first day of school. It's always a little interesting to see what they will pick to wear and then to hear their reasoning for it. Last year Samantha was ALL ABOUT the jeans. This year she wanted to wear a dress. I was also told that I needed to buy her more dresses. I'm sitting here wondering why, when ALL she wanted in the 2nd grade was to keep Levi Strauss in business. I guess 3rd grade is a new grade after all! --- Interesting bit of info - Underneath Samantha's polka-dotted dress are some very suspicious looking red marks that bare a striking resemblance to chicken pox! So after missing the first half of her first day of 3rd grade getting the doctors okay to go back to school (chicken pox they are not!), she's ready and waiting!

They are getting to that age where I don't even have to tell them to pose like this, they just automatically do it. It's kind of funny to watch. Of course, after every click of the camera before I say, "smile" again, they are snarking at each other and getting all upset. And then in a blink of an eye, they are once again all smiles for Mom and the camera!

My baby is in 2nd grade! I can hardly believe it. She is excited because she has Samantha's teacher from last year. It's been an unusual experience for Savanah. This is actually the first time she has been at the same school for 2 years in a row. It's a completely different feel to walk through the halls and know where you're going and to pass friends and teachers that you are familiar with. We are happy to be at Graham Elementary!

*** More Firsts ***

So while the girls and I were experiencing a couple of firsts, so was Keith. He painted our house for the first time!!! As scary as the above picture is, it looks GREAT compared to the "original" before pics. Maybe when it's all said and done we can get an actual "before" and a completely done "after" picture posted.

Our brother-in-law, Martin came and helped Keith paint. In another "first", Martin went home without breaking one thing. Though I hear that he tried!

This might look like magenta paint but I promise that it's not. The main color is Spanish Sands; accent color is Seattle Red and the trim is Swiss Coffee. (I think that we might have a thing for S's. We surround ourselves with "S" names! Don't we, Sweetie? Hee, hee!)

And there she is! We've yet to get any trim up and the door is also going to be red. I can't wait til it is completely finished. I am so thankful for Keith and Martin giving up part of their weekend to paint the house. Truthfully, I so appreciate all the work that Keith, my dad, Martin and Seth have put into our home.

*** A Weekend of Firsts ***

This past weekend our family had the pleasure of visiting close friends who just moved to Oregon recently. This was our first trip down to see them. And we had so much fun! We were planning on all driving down after Keith got off work on Friday night but thru a series of events the girls and I ended up taking the train down on Thursday afternoon!

This was the first time we had ever been on a train before and it went amazingly well. It was a great experience and we will definitely do it again. It's quite a different way to travel. Instead of being stressed and anxious you can just relax and enjoy the ride. Plus, we were able to bring tons more luggage than we would if we were going on a plane. And that's always a bonus where us girls are concerned.

The girls brought Barbies, My Little Ponies and Strawberry Shortcake dolls and had a blast spreading out and "playing". (I'm chuckling to myself right now because I know that those three toys are as foreign to Jane Anne as her boys' Legos, Playmobil characters and other action figures are to me!)

Jane Anne picked us up at the train station in Albany which is about 15 minutes from their new home in Lebanon. We had a great weekend just hanging out, shopping, drinking coffee, getting pedicures and celebrating David's 4th birthday.

Before heading home on Monday, the girls and Keith and I drove over to Toledo, which is just outside of Newport, to visit my closest friend from Ecola. Kristi and I have been friends for 15 years. She was my maid-of-honor at my wedding. She was with me when I met Keith. Now between the two of us, we have six kids. Of course, she bears the brunt of that "weight", since I only have two. This was the first time we saw their newest home and also the first time we were able to meet their daughter Annabelle. She is almost two years old and they adopted her from Korea. She is the sweetest little thing. (I'm so bummed that I didn't think to get out my camera and snap a few pictures.) It was great to see their family even if it was for a short little visit.

We had a great weekend with lots of "firsts"!