Throwback Friday

Exactly one year ago.

I surprised Ron with a zip line tour through a National Park.  And got a first hand experience of what it would feel like to have a panic attack.  No joke.  Aside from that, it was really pretty cool.

Throwback Friday

Some of my boys from Honduras.

Throwback Friday

Maddie & Abby enjoying their first taste of Starbucks.

And since all time for me is referenced by children - this was 2 kids ago.

(aka Summer 2006)

Throwback Friday

Last Friday night we were watching Maddie and Abby's theatre performance.  And maybe I just haven't had time to post the pictures. And so I'm using them as my Throwback Friday.  It is my blog.

Here is Maddie as the Wicked Witch (nice!).  She is inspecting the items that Red brought her.

Abby, as the Blue Fairy, waking Pinnochio from his sleep.

Note the incredible crispness of the photos....and also the heavy sarcasm.  I might have been nursing and therefore shooting photos with one hand....the 'ole lefty.  Whatev.

Throwback Friday....and a Guessing Game

UPDATED:

Lincoln is shown in the first photo.  Gabriel is in the 2nd.  

Congrats to my SIL Amie who was the first person to guess correctly.  :)

Am I Gabriel....or Lincoln?

Am I Lincoln....or Gabe?

Any guesses?  Both pictures were taken in the same outfit at 2 weeks of age.

Throwback Friday

Here's one of my bff's from high school....shortly after giving birth to our sons last week.  In the same hospital on the same day.  Literally, we delivered next door to one other.  

And no, we didn't plan it.  

We did make a memory though.  Traipsing back and forth to each other's rooms during the day and texting hilarious stories at night as we nursed our babies.  Good times.

Throwback Friday

July 2007

Today's Throwback Friday is dedicated to my amazing husband, best friend and life partner. 

Who incidentally is striking a Heisman pose in this photo with my tiny infant son.  But let's not focus on that.

Throwback Friday

We recently had a bit of a tent upgrade.  Let me explain.  When Ron and I married, (10 years ago come August!) we bought a 2-man pup tent for our Oregon camping adventures.  It seemed, and was, completely appropriate for that time.  

Not quite as appropriate is that we have continued to stuff our many children in each year....and passed it off as fun. 

Here we are last year.  Well, minus Gabe who probably refused to post for a picture.  Anyone surprised?  Yes, Madeline - 7 at the time - was almost as tall as the tent!

And here's our upgrade.  Thanks to our friends Mark and Cara who camp with us and couldn't bear watching another year of abuse of camping with the old tent.  Happy Birthday to us.

And this is Gabe standing inside our new tent.  The thing is enormous.  Huge.  Its an 8-man tent....8 very large men.  They said they went with the 8-man, "just in case."

Very funny, guys.

Throwback Friday

Ok, so I'm only Throwingback to last week. You caught me.

Madeline made her very first meatloaf and here she is putting it in the oven. She even cut fresh parsley from our parsley plant and added it to her recipe.

I have to admit, I made my first meatloaf when I was in my 2o's so I was pretty flippin' proud of her!

(and just for the record, this is not your regular 'ole mother's meatloaf. this is gourmet, melt-in -your-mouth-good meatloaf. just ask my friends!)

Oven Mitts - Usage #26

Throwback Friday

Summer 2006

(We were pregnant with Gabe....but didn't know it yet)

Throwback Friday

Abby (3) and Lauren (1)  - Summer 2006

Throwback Friday

A Throwback from 2005.  

I found this message on the bathroom mirror after Ron had left for work one morning.

Throwback Friday

I managed to catch a couple pictures of my 2 men (so far....3rd man soon to arrive!) catching up over breakfast recently.  

These pictures say 1,000 words to me.  I hope I never, ever forget the sweet way my son interacts with us.  How he will gently place his hand on you, look into your eyes and say something as simple as, "Milk, please?"

Side note:  As I type this, he is sitting beside me - yes, on the desk - and he just very carefully picked up the candle off the candlestick, smelled it, and said, "Yuck!"  That's my boy.

Throwback Friday....a couple days late

....oops....was out of town this weekend....

A couple of the kiddos watching us give hearing screenings to their classmates in Honduras.

They were the sweetest.  They stood there, as quiet as mice, for hours so they could watch!

I miss them.

Throwback Friday

Lauren and I visiting (my sis) Rebecca in Phoenix, AZ.  Feb. 2006

...and here's a pic I snapped of her yesterday.

Throwback Friday

This is a true Throwback Friday photo.  The kind you run across and think, Oooooh, if only I could Throwmyselfback.

Ron and I had escaped to Mexico in the middle of the cold, tundra-like winter, and we are lying in our cabana waiting for Miguel to bring us a cold beverage....with an umbrella in it.  Ahhhhh.

Throwback Friday

Ok, I'm cheating again.  This isn't a Throwback.  I snapped it about 2 seconds ago.

Couldn't resist.  Gabe carries this baby around everywhere.  

He affectionately refers to it as, "My Baby."

Throwback Friday

I can't believe I get another one of these!  We had our ultrasound yesterday and.....

IT'S A........

BOY

"No pictures please - I'm sleeping"

(Gabe on his one week birthday)

The ultrasound was wondrous.  Incredible.  Literally breath-taking.  You would think these things would get old.  Not even close.  

We saw his eyelids.  Yes, eyelids.  And his eye lens.

The doc turned on the infa-red and we saw our baby boy being nourished --by moi -- through his umbilical cord. 

And his kidneys eliminating waste.

He tucked up his legs -- under his cute little behind -- criss cross, apple sauce.

We saw him swallow.

At 7 inches in length and a mere 9 ounces (see your cell phone for comparison), our son has every organ and body part working in perfect order.

Isn't our Creator amazing?

Throwback Friday

Oh my.  This is not what it seems.  Ok, maybe it is.  Madeline might have Gabriel in her Moses basket....intended for baby dolls.  

(before you call child services, please know that she was being closely monitored)

Throwback Friday

Exactly one year ago.  Abigail feeding Gabriel his cereal with her rollerblades on.  I distinctly remember her skating around between bites and him crying for more....I had to shut the whole operation down.  Fun memory.