NEW YEAR'S EVE!

We had fun ringing in the New Year with the Bragelman's at their house tonight! We had TONS of yummy food, we played GUITAR HERO, did Karaoke, danced, enjoyed a fire pit in the front yard, played basketball, and made it to MIDNIGHT (all of us!) when we banged pots and pans in the street! What a fun night!


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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

A Great Song!

What a great song to meditate and pray on as we go into 2009.

God has greater things yet to come and my prayer and hope for my family is that, as the lyrics say: "greater things are yet to come and
greater things are still to be done!"

Happy New Year and God Bless!
-Rich

SLEEPOVER!!!!

Our Christmas gift to the Bragelman kids was a certificate for a SLEEPOVER at our house! So David and Kyle cashed in their's tonight! The boys had such a blast watching "Horton Hears a Who" and eating popcorn!

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS!

WAITIN' IN THE HALLWAY.......

Look at our traditional "picture in the hallway" before they come out to see what Santa brought!

2006

2007 (look what Max has on)
2008 (look what Luke has on)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!
We had a great day! Santa came! Max and Luke jumped in our bed at 6:15.......they layed with us until 7:00 when we put them out of their misery! I could feel their little hearts beating so fast and they were breathing so fast, too! EXCITED!!! We let sweet Sam sleep....and we went to see what Santa had brought! WOW! He brought a cool train set that was set up in the middle of the room and many nice gifts! He also ate the cookies and answered our questions! The reindeer nibbled at the carrots! Sam decided to wake up at 9:30! So we then did the whole experience again with him - he couldn't get enough of the train! It was so cute. After enjoying our gifts and I had made my "cheesy potatoes"...we headed to the Bragelman's for our annual "Mandatory Pajama Day/Christmas Brunch". We all had a blast hanging out, EATING, playing with all our new toys, and relaxing!!!
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THANKFUL THURSDAY...

This Thursday we are thankful for Jesus!

We are thankful for His birth, His life on earth, His death and His resurrection!

Merry CHRISTmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE!

What a day!!!! We started our fun day with a trip to the gym, then off to CHICK FILA for our FREE Chicken Sandwiches - we were alerted via text message (thanks to MobiMark!) that if we wore our Santa hats, we got a free sandwich! We then went to our church for Christmas Eve service with the Bragelmans and Granna and Grandpa - it was a GREAT service in our newly renovated Chapel! Then we headed over to Granna and Grandpa's for a FABULOUS time of gifts, dinner, entertainment and fun. The kids put on a wonderful play called "What is more important....Santa or Jesus?" - we were VERY impressed! It was quite adorable! And just so you know...they know Jesus is the reason for the season!!!! We made it home in time to write our annual letters/questions to Santa, and leave out cookies, milk and carrots! Then off to bed!!!! Hmmm....will Santa come????? BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas!"

MOBIMARK CHRISTMAS PARTY!

The 1st annual MobiMark Christmas party was a SUCCESS! We had so much fun! Cyndi made a DELICIOUS dinner......we had a SILLY "white elephant" gift exchange....we played an INTENSE game of Pictionary.....and had a BLAST just being together!

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Check out these skills......

What a great run......

We completed our run of Baroque Christmas concerts yesterday! It was a great concert. We performed at Bethany Bible Church in the afternoon, and then celebrated with a yummy Mexican dinner! We then all headed back to the church for the 3rd annual MESSIAH SING ALONG....it was SO MUCH FUN! What a special day with my dear friends.

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And here we are at the Sing Along singing our favorite song of all.....

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS!

Christmas 2006....SEE.....Sam loved Santa!

Christmas 2008......not so much the case this year!

THANKFUL THURSDAYS......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG BROTHER, MARK!

I am so thankful for my big brother.....

He is not only a wonderful, protective, caring, helpful big brother......

He's also a super FUN friend to me that I always have fun and laugh with!

He is such an awesome Uncle to Max, Luke and Sam, too - he is their "special uncle that knows how to juggle".

I Love you, Mark! Have a FANTASTIC DAY!!!!

Luke's Holiday Party!

It was a fun morning with Luke at his Holiday Party! The party was during "center time" and each center was a fun craft they made for the Holidays! Then we had yummy hot chocolate and got to eat the delicious gingerbread men they had made! The class got Ms. Shepherd and Mrs. VanKirk a nice present of many gift cards all displayed on pretty wreaths!
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Homegroup Christmas Party!

On Thursday night, while I was at rehearsal, Rich and the boys went to our homegroup Christmas party! They had a wonderful time with our church family eating yummy treats, playing games, doing a gift exchange, and even singing Christmas carols!!!

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Max's Holiday Party and Program!

What a special morning! Max's class had a lovely program and party for all of us to enjoy this morning. The students sang some Holiday songs, played their recorders, gave speeches on "the best gifts they've received", and then we ate some yummy treats! I was SO glad to see they're program, since we had to miss the "music program" while we were in Jamaica last week. This gave me a taste of what I missed! The students did such a great job. We love Mrs. Killingsworth.....

Webb Family Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas with the Webbs and Rasmussens tonight! Joan and Richard had the house decorated so beautifully, we had a delicious dinner, and had fun opening many wonderful presents!!! The boys raised enough money to buy a Wii, which they received Sunday evening when we returned from Jamaica, so....the big gift they received from Papa and Grandma tonight was GUITAR HERO....very exciting!!! Thank you Papa and Grandma for a special night and for such wonderful presents! We love you!

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We had so much fun playing it when we got home! How cute is this?

YA MON.....

Rich and I just returned from a FABULOUS vacation to Montego Bay, Jamaica! We went for our friend, Jeff's 40th birthday celebration! His wife, Liz SURPRISED him with this wonderful trip! We truly had the time of our lives!!!

We stayed in a beautiful villa which was fully staffed with a fabulous cook (Linette), a butler (Leiber), a driver (Roy), a groundskeeper (Kingsley), and housekeepers. It was time to go when I was starting to get used to the "royal treatment" we were receiving! The food was SO GOOD.........lobster, shrimp pasta, steak, eggs benedict, delicious desserts.....just to name a few!! The weather was SO nice and beautiful. Rich got to golf with the boys, and got to have a caddy for the first time! We loved going to the beach and just chilling out together (we were REALLY good at this). Liz couldn't have picked a better group of people.....we all got along so well, and really made some wonderful memories together!!!!

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FLASHBACK FRIDAYS!

Ah....the joy of taking the perfect Christmas picture! This was my attempt Christmas 2005 with Max and Luke. Not too sure what my plan was with them holding the phones....but, I don't even think I used one of these for the actual card!

THANKFUL THURSDAYS.......

Today I am thankful for my FUN, BRAVE, HILARIOUS, SWEET boys. Max, Luke and Sam make me so happy every day. They're excited, happy, silly demeanor is very contagious, and I just love spending time with them. I took them all to see Santa today after school. Max and Luke were so nervous and excited to sit on the big man's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas! Sam on the other hand was not too sure about him! He held onto me tight, shook his head, and let out a very confident "NO".

Here's Max and Luke telling Santa how good they have been...

.......and what wonderful things they wanted for Christmas......
......and how cool it was to be talking to him.....

I know....mean mommy! But I HAD to get the picture....he will laugh about it in a few years...

Sam was so cute after I traumatized him. He held onto me, and we both went right up to Santa and I told him to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He said, "Guitar", then he waved and said, "Bye Bye." When we got home, we were talking about Santa, and Sam pretended like he was scared and said in a pretend "trembly" voice, "Scare...Santa".

Super Saturday!

We spent the day at Trilogy! Granna and Grandpa heated up the pool and the kids had a BALL all day and night swimming! We took our family picture for Granna and Grandpa's Christmas card, and had some very yummy dinner together.

It's so wonderful to see all the grandkids together - what a wonderful thing to have them all so close in age. They kids (and US) were really sad to see Rachel and Sarah go....and we all were sad to see Uncle Mark and Aunt Jenni go home, too.

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS!

CHECK THIS OUT!

I was looking at old pictures, and found this one of Max as a pilgrim in his Kindergarten presentation 3 years ago...

And here is Luke as a pilgrim at his Kindergarten feast on Wednesday...

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot!

What a way to start the day! Mark, Jenni and I ran the Turkey Trot this morning! It is a very fun, FAST 10K run(6.2 miles). The weather couldn't have been more perfect....it rained right before the race started, it was clear and cool during the race, then the rain started up again right when we finished!

GEARING UP!

Our fabulous fans!

We did it!

Here's Jenni nearing the finish line! She finished in 46 minutes....WOW!


Here's Mark and I! We finished in 54 minutes!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

What a fun day with our family and friends. Patti and Jason opened their beautiful home to ALL of us! The company was awesome, the food was delicous, and the ENTERTAINMENT was UNBELIEVABLE........All the kids put on a play for us called "Bear's Lost....Can You Help Us Find Him?" - Patti's kids, Kathryn, Erik and Niklas worked VERY hard putting together this play with scripts, costumes, props, you name it. It was such a wonderful thing for all the kids to do together. We all enjoyed this very fun day together!

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THANKFUL THURSDAYS......

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so many things to be thankful for, but one of the biggest things is my husband. He is my best friend, a phenomenal Dad, and an incredible person. I am thankful for him for many reasons.

Here are just a few:

He has always been the kind of "hands on" Dad who changes diapers, plays fun games with the boys, helps with homework, makes dinner, and makes us all laugh.

He has never thought that caring for his own children was "babysitting."

He makes me laugh.

He is handsome (just look at him)!

He is patient.

He is hard working and determined.

He is teaching our sons how to be caring, loving, thoughtful young men.

He always puts his family first.

He is passionate about his likes and dislikes.

He is an awesome basketball coach.

He supports me and encourages me to "go for it" and enjoy my hobby of singing.

He is the kind of friend everyone would like to have.

He puts up with me, and that is not always easy to do!

We are true and complete partners in our marriage, parenting, and in life.

Rich's greatest legacy is his kind and giving heart. I cannot even put into words the kind of man that he is. I am blessed that God brought him into my life, and thankful for the 11 years of marriage we have shared so far. I look forward to so many more.

Thanksgiving Festivites at School!

What a special day we had at the boys' school today! Granna and I went and saw Luke have a real Thanksgiving feast with all the Kindergarten classes. He chose to be a pilgrim, and he was a pretty precious one as you can see. Then Rich and I went to Max's class for a very special presentation and pie. Six students were chosen to read their papers on "Things I'm Thankful For" and Max was chosen, you will see why in the video I recorded. PRECIOUS! Rich and I were puddles on the floor after hearing it.

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Watch this precious presentation of what Max is thankful for....

"Thanksgiving reminds me of all the things I'm thankful for. I appreciate my brothers, my mom, and my dad. I'm especially thankful for my brothers because I have a lot of fun with them although, we sometimes fight. But, I'm thankful for them because they're my brothers and I love them. I also appreciate my mom, because she gave me my wonderful life. And she's one of the awesomest mom's in the world. Finally, I'm grateful for my dad, because he is lots of fun and he is really nice. Without my dad I wouldn't have any fun. As I enjoy this holiday season, I realize that I have many reasons to be thankful. My brothers, my mom, and my dad are very important to me."

Mark, Jenni, Sarah and Rachel are here!

YEAH! Mark, Jenni and the girls arrived today for Thanksgiving! It is so wonderful to all be together! It is so wonderful to have all 9 cousins together again - Sarah and Rachel joined right in with all the kids - how awesome for all of them to have each other so close in age. We had a fun night here hanging out and gearing up for TURKEY DAY tomorrow!

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We gave it a good try....

We had a garage sale this morning....note to self, Saturday mornings are probably a more popular time. We started at 6:45 and ended at 10:00 when we headed over to Lynnette's for lunch. We made a whopping $40! Hey, it's $40 more than we had, and it went towards our "Wii bucket" - the boys have been saving for a Wii for Christmas and have raised $190.78 to date!

Ryan and Clara's visit!

We had a nice visit with Ryan Brock (Rich's cousin) and his new bride, Clara! They met in Korea one year ago while Ryan was working over there, and were just married last week! This is Clara's first visit to America. She was a delight to meet and speaks EXCELLENT English!

Congratulations Ryan and Clara..we are praying for a marriage full of many blessings and happiness!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID AND KYLE

What a FUN birthday celebration we had today for David and Kyle! They are 6 years old! We had a super fun time at Bounce U...then we headed to a nearby park for cupcakes and presents. What a fun morning with our sweet, fun cousins.

We love you, David and Kyle!!!!!

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Home for the Holidays....

After the birthday party, Granna and I decided to take Max, Luke, Daniel and Julia to downtown Chandler for the "Home for the Holidays" event! They had the "Dickens Carolers" perform (which my friends from chorus, Simone and Sunny both perform with). The kids got to ice skate on a synthetic ice skating rink, and then got to make ornaments. A very fun afternoon!

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FLASHBACK FRIDAYS!

This is Sam and Rich 2 years ago today.....all the boys have a picture like this with Daddy. There is something about Daddy's chest that the boys would just cuddle up and sleep.....hard! I think it was how relaxed Rich was.....both baby and Daddy would just be snoring away totally relaxed, comfortable, and safe. I miss these precious moments!

There is a song entitled "Safe in My Arms" that is written from the perspective of a mother (I'll say father today!) to her child and I can't help but realize that this is the same way God feels towards us....

Your baby blues

So full of wonder

Your curly cues

Your contagious smile

And as I watch you start to grow up

All I can do is hold you tight

Knowing clouds will rage

And storms will race in

But you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down

Waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

Story books are full of fairy tales

Of kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn just in knowing

You'll someday see the truth from lies

When the clouds will rage and

Storms will race in

But you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down

Waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

Castles, they might crumble

Dreams may not come true

But you are never all alone 'cause I will always

Always love you

When the clouds will rage

And storms will race in

But you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down

Waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

In my arms

THANKFUL THURSDAYS......

Today I am thankful for cooler weather. Maybe this isn’t a really big thing, but I am loving it. It’s cool enough for long sleeves (at least in the morning!) and I am loving it, loving it! I can hardly wait until we pull out our winter hats. Well, these last few days, it's only been cool in the morning, but I'll take it! It is just WONDERFUL. This morning, the boys and I rode bikes to school. After dropping them off, Sam and I rode around and "chatted" with the ducks at the pond near their school, went to Petco and said "hi" to the ferrets, mice, gerbils and fish, and then went to the park. We did all this with just light long sleeved shirts on, and we were sweating by 10:00!

We leave the windows open all night, and everyone wakes up feeling very energized! That’s the beauty of cooler weather. But, let us not forget how good those sheets will feel tonight when we snuggle down between them, and they wrap us in comfort and warmth.

You gotta love November in Arizona!!!

Family Pictures November 2008

Pirate Party!

Today was Daniel and Benjamin Keller's Pirate Birthday Party! We had a BLAST celebrating with all of our friends!

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GILBERT DAYS PARADE!

We were so excited to see Lynn and Julia's Brownie Troop march in the Gilbert Days Parade today!

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Yeah Brownies!!!! Mrs. Bragelman was so proud of her troop!

Sam loved all the excitement!

ASU HOMECOMING GAME!

We had fun at the ASU game today with our friends, Jennifer and Doug!

We got to "tailgate" before and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather all day!

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS!

Look at this little CHUNK! This is Luke when he was exactly the same age Sam is right now - he had just turned 2! We were looking at old pictures and watching old videos of him tonight, and it was cute to watch him try to process that that was him in those pictures! He asked questions like, "How old was Sam when I was 2? Were you still my mommy then? Was this our old house? (we've been in the same house for 9 1/2 years!)"

He is still the same sweet, reserved, loving and silly boy like he was in this picture 3 years ago!

THANKFUL THURSDAYS....

Every Wednesday for the past 10 weeks I have been meeting with these beautiful women at Cornerstone Church for my weekly Beth Moore study. We studied A Heart Like His - Seeking the Heart of God Through a Study of David. It was something I looked forward to each week to sit, learn, pray, share, laugh, cry, love, encourage, and grow with these wonderful women! Thank you to Machelle, Michelle, Natalia, Laurie and Tiffany for being the highlight of my week. It was sad to be done with the study and have to say goodbye.....I will miss you all!

What a wonderful study...there was so much I didn't know about King David and his life. The one theme that runs through the entire study is that God's love for us is not conditional, and that He can and will do great things for anyone who seeks to know and love Him. We, as Christians, are called to greatness! It may not be to be "King" like David - but I am never to underestimate the greatness He is calling me to be "right where I am" each day.

Suns Game!

Wow! What a night! Tonight was Bright Beginnings School night out at the Suns game. Max and Luke were picked from the school to be part of the fan tunnel. This is the tunnel that the players run out of to go to pregame warmups! They got to high five every player!!

The game was awesome...we won....we almost blew it, but ended up pulling it off 107-102 against Memphis.

After the game we got to go down to the VIP area. Thanks to cousin Matt McClure for arranging the passes, he is friends with Suns player Louis Amundson. It was great! We waited for the players to come out and we saw everyone! Max and Luke got a lot of autographs and got pictures with Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and Robin Lopez.....wow!!!

In the VIP area I met Peter Jacobson, pro golfer, that was pretty cool for me!!

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A Tea Party!

I had the privilege of going to Sarah Verdugo's 6 year old Tea/Birthday Party today! It was so precious! What a fun "just girls" thing to do! Laurie had every detail in place, it looked like an article right out of "Martha Stewart Living" Magazine! We sat at a beautifully decorate table and had yummy sandwiches and desserts, I read the story "The Princess and the Pea" to the girls, and then they decorated their own crowns and wands - so cute! When I was getting ready for the party with my dress on, Luke sheepishly peeked around the corner fighting back his tears, and said, "I want to be a girl today, mommy."

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Let's Go Fly a Kite!

The weather was so perfect for kite flying yesterday! We were very successful with Luke's BUZZ LIGHTYEAR kite!

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Look at that skill!!!

Great Season, DUCKS!

Today was Luke's last soccer game of the season. He sure had a great time with his cousins, David and Kyle! And how awesome it was to have Uncle Bryce as his coach! Luke was an excellent Goalie and did his best every game! It was a successful game when we made it half way up the field! The kids didn't care and loved every minute of it!

Warming up....

Thumbs up for a GREAT season!
Way to go, Kyle!
Way to go, Luke!

Way to go, David!

Great Season, COUGARS!

Today was Max's last basketball game of the season. It was so great having Rich as the coach! Max (and the rest of the team) really learned a lot and really improved every game. It was so neat to watch them come together as a team and play so well together!

Go Cougars! Go #15!

Way to go, Max and Coach Rich!
We had a fun pizza party at the park afterwards to celebrate a GREAT season!
We then played Dads against boys!

Pile on Coach Rich!