Happy Birthday, MARC!

Kinda stinks to have your birthday on the day after Christmas, if you ask me. But Marc doesn't seem to mind. He'd rather have a low-key event anyway...Outback dinner and a movie. This year we're literally snowed-in at the cabin, so he won't even get that. Since we celebrated Christmas a day late, his birthday got squished into the evening. Mom made a delicious prime rib dinner and we had a yummy "Strawberry Whipped Sensation" for his birthday cake/dessert. All in all, it was an excellent day.

Happy Birthday, Marc!

We love you!

Merry Christmas to All

We have made it safely up to the cabin and are just waiting for the rest of the family to arrive for Christmas. Don't tell the kids, but we're actually going to celebrate a day late. Chuck has to work on Christmas, so we've moved everything back a day. Sierra and Ally don't know the difference for now and neither would we if we didn't look at the calendar. It is a beautiful winter wonderland up here in Garden Valley. On Monday we hiked up into the forest service land and picked out a tree. It's tall, scrawny and so authentic! Marc continued the candy train tradition with the girls and we've been having fun reading books and watching movies here in the warm cabin. So far we've seen one beaver, four raccoons, seven deer, and a whole flock of wild turkeys. It has already been a memorable Christmas vacation...and we haven't really even started.

Have a blessed Christmas, friends!

Baking Day

Susie started a tradition a few years back of having one BIG Christmas baking day in mid-December. She invites several friends who each bring some favorite recipes and their ingredients. We spend the day laughing and baking and making a terrible mess of Susie's kitchen. This year was so much fun with Sierra and Ally. They were old enough to actually "help" and when they got bored with the baking, they played with Annie. Susie provided a delicious lunch of potato soup and homemade rolls. Snow flurries fell all day while we kept the house nice and warm with a busy oven. By the end of the day we had fudge, peppermint bark, frosted sugar cookies, Reese's peanut butter cup cookies, candy-cane cookies, and Russian tea cakes - my favorite!

Sierra cuts out the sugar cookies.

Ally flashes her most charming smile!

Sierra put the finishing touches on the peppermint bark after crushing all the candy canes herself.

Ally loved unwrapping the peanut butter cups...and popping some in her mouth before Mommy could catch her!

Marc's mom made these adorable aprons for the girls!

Our Little Angel

Sierra got to participate in her first nativity play last weekend. She was the cutest and proudest little angel that I've ever seen. (And I'm not at all biased!) The adult choir at our church performed a cantata called Joyful and Triumphant in which several children acted out a brief manger scene. She didn't have to say anything, but she got to stand up on stage with several of her friends in a pretty white dress, wings and glitter on her face. It was heaven on earth for her!

Angels in the front row, getting ready for the program to start.

Sierra had her fake smile pasted on her face during the first performance. The second night she actually tried to sing along with the choir.

Our beautiful girl!

Susie's Surprise 30th

I don't understand how it can be possible that we celebrated my little sister's 30th birthday this weekend when I AM STILL ONLY 24!!!! Where have the years gone?

Benjy did a great job of making all the arrangements for a surprise party at my parents' house on Saturday afternoon. We had several Beck and Cook family members as well as some close friends over for cake. Mom made a fabulous ice-cream cake for the occasion. Along with the gifts, we played a fun "Susie trivia" game and watched a great slide show of her life. It was a special day for all of us. We love you Susie!

Mom's tasty ice-cream cake sensation!

Getting a little help with the gift opening.

Watching the PowerPoint show that Benjy and his mom put together.

Elmo Makes Music

Last Friday evening we took the girls to a live Elmo show at the Idaho Center. Ally isn't "into" too many things for any length of time, but Elmo has been her friend for several months. If you remember back to June, she wanted an Elmo themed birthday party. Since then she has slept with her little stuffed Elmo doll almost every night. Funny thing is, she hardly ever watches Sesame Street so she doesn't really know too much about him. I guess she just thinks that he's a cute little character.

Anyway.... the show was pretty fun. It was family night, so we got discounted tickets and had fairly good seats. All the Sesame Street characters were there and the costumes were very VERY realistic. The plot of the show wasn't very compelling to anyone over the age of six, but Sierra and Ally enjoyed themselves. Sierra pulled out all of her white-girl dance moves for several of the musical numbers. Ally picked her nose most of the time, but she did watch the entire show. (Quite an accomplishment for her!) In spite of the begging, we didn't get suckered into the $15 light spinners or the $8 balloons. Although Sierra told me that she positively DID want to get ripped off. It was a night that the girls will be talking about for a while.

Like I said....

F.Y.I.

Here's why you should always shake the pasta sauce BEFORE you loosen the lid. AAARGH!

The sauce was EVERYWHERE!!!

Pictures

I found the camera right where I figured it would be...underneath my seat in the car. Now, isn't that a clever place to hide it?! So here are a few photos from the last week or so. I went a little crazy with the uploading. Sorry.

Happy sisters in matching outfits yet again! I honestly don't purposefully buy matching clothes. Most of what they wear are hand-me-downs. It just happens to work out that way.

Sierra loves to hold Annie and "teach" her how to play with new toys.

Story time with the cousins.

We had to make our own turkey on Wednesday so that Marc could have his own huge supply of left-overs. (I know - I should have given you a better view of the bird.)

This is Ally's method of eating a baked potato....just go for it like an apple! (Don't you love the place mats that Carolyn made for the girls last Thanksgiving?)

The "Kid's Table" at Thanksgiving. Everyone is so grown up now.

And the rest of the Obenchain clan.

Sierra and Ally "taking naps" on Aunt Sue Herrick's chair after the feast!

Making Grandma's famous cinnamon rolls...or cinnamon lumps if you're between the ages of 2 and 4.

A Good, GOOD Day!

Yesterday was just one of those good, good days! It started with spending the morning with Susie and Annie, doing a little Christmas shopping and sharing one of my favorite lunches at Baja Fresh - nachos with chicken and pinto beans. Annie is such a sweet little girl, always full of smiles. She cut her first tooth yesterday and made us all very proud. It was so fun to see three little girl cousins sitting in high-chairs around the table and giggling with each other as they munched on their food. Sierra and Ally love their cousin and it is becoming quite apparent that the feeling is mutual. Annie is almost 7 months old and very aware of the world - such a fun age!

In the afternoon Susie watched the girls while I went to my doctor visit. I was anxious about my blood pressure issues but things are under control for now and no new tests were required. The best part was that I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the very first time!!! I am already 15 weeks along and have had all the pregnancy symptoms (and then some!), but there is something about hearing that little thumpity-thump that makes it all so real. I waited until I was in the car driving home to tear up with excitement.

And as if all that wasn't enough, I had a wonderful date night with Marc in the evening. My brother works for Channel 7 and often has the chance to get free tickets for various events. This time he scored two tickets to the Jim Brickman concert at the Morrison Center. Chuck works in the evenings and Mom and Dad were busy with a pastor and wives meeting, so the tickets fell into my lap. Just so happens that I LOVE JIM BRICKMAN'S MUSIC!!!! (Romantic piano stuff for those who don't know.) It was a beautiful concert and Jim is actually quite funny. There were lots of laughs about everything from his first piano teacher to the way he flails his arms and left leg while playing his music. Aunt Missy took care of the girls so that Marc and I could enjoy this relaxing evening together. Thanks so much, Chuck and Missy! We had a great time.

There have been lots of other good days in the last week as well...like Thanksgiving and a couple of days at the cabin, but they will have to wait for a post until I retrieve my camera from under the seat in the car. Hopefully I'll have a couple of good snap-shots to download soon.

Still Thankful

I'm at home alone this morning with a very unpleasant stomach bug. But, I'm still thankful! Mostly because of that handsome guy up there. He is always very helpful at home, but especially when I feel sick. (Which seems to be a lot lately.) This morning he got the girls up, dressed, fed and out the door for church...ON TIME! All I had to do was fix their hair. Daddy's fingers are never very good at that sort of thing. There are many days when I wouldn't make it without his help.

Catching Up

Okay - so this is turning out to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated. Not that I'm running out of things to be thankful for, by any means! But finding the time to sit down and write it out each day is just not quite happening. So rather than making up for the lost time, I am going to just pick it up whenever I can.

DAY ???

I am so thankful to have my mom and dad in Idaho this year! We could never have imagined living two miles away from them, getting together for Family Nights each week, hearing Dad preach every Sunday, going to Bible study with my mom on Thursday mornings, sending the girls for occasional sleep-overs, regularly raiding Grandpa's candy jar in the office, etc. It has been such a treat to have them around. We love you "Grandpa" and "Grandma!" We are so thankful that the Lord brought you close to us!!!

Day 8

I have recently started a habit of tuning into the first few minutes of the Today Show while I get my make-up and hair done in the morning. This week the anchors are traveling to the "Ends of the Earth." I also enjoy watching The Amazing Race because it features such unique locations around the world. So, today I am thankful for the beauty and diversity of God's creation! There are still so many places that I want to visit and things that I want to see, but here's my list of TOP TEN MOST AMAZING CREATED WONDERS (that I have seen):

1. The Grand Canyon in Arizona.
2. The glaciers in the Alps of Switzerland.
3. The sand dunes in Natal, Brazil.
4. The hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park, UT.
5. The wildlife in the Amazon jungle.
6. The night sky from Warm Lake, ID.
7. The giant Redwoods in California.
8. The coral reef in the Red Sea of Israel.
9. The white-water rivers in Montana.
10. The Everglades of Florida.

On a lighter note...

Day 6

I am thankful that at the end of every busy week there is a WEEKEND! It may be hectic with different activities...but at least I know that Marc will be home. He is a very hard worker, but he knows how to take a break on the weekends to spend some extra time with the girls and I. This Saturday he treated us to a matinee showing of MADAGASCAR 2. "We like to MOVE IT, MOVE IT!"

Day 7

I am thankful for FREEBIES! For example: a couple of free tickets to Disney on Ice from Chuck's work, the $10 Kohl's card last week, frequent coupons for BOGO free burritos at Taco Del Mar (yum!) and today's free gymnastics class for Sierra at Little Gym. Sophie B. invited Sierra to come as her buddy this morning and she loved every minute of the class. (And I loved watching her have so much fun!) Thanks, Julie. She'll be talking about it for weeks.

Days 4 and 5

Day 4

"Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold."

I am so thankful for the friendships that God has blessed me with over the course of my lifetime. Having moved SO MUCH, it was always a very difficult thing for me to say goodbye to close friends knowing that we would probably never see each other again. Yet, at each new place, there were new "kindred spirits" to be met. It has been neat to see how God has provided just the right people at different times in my life: childhood friends (Florence, Mandy), the junior high years (Helena, Alison), high-school (Colleen, Andrea, Raquel), college (Susanna, Sarah), early marriage (Janella), teaching buddies (Kayce, Julie, Lynn, Kelli, Tiffany), and now in Idaho (Kelly, Julie, Shawna). The list could go on. I appreciate the laughter and tears that I have shared with each of these precious friends!

Day 5

Although it was hard to make and leave friends around the world, I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to travel so much and see so many different cultures. Being an MK (missionary kid) allowed me to grow up along the coast of Brazil, visit an Indian village in the Amazon, live in JERUSALEM (yes, Israel!), climb to the Parthenon in Athens, backpack around Switzerland and see much of the U.S. while on furlough. How cool is that for the first 18 years of life?!

Life Interrupted

I haven't given up on the daily thanksgivings! Life just got a little busy yesterday and I'm trying to get a pot of soup ready for a youth group barn party this evening. I'll pick up right where I left off as soon as I can.

I got a call from my doctor yesterday afternoon. It seems that because of my elevated blood pressure and the presence of some protein in a urine test, they think it is wise for me to be on some medication. My immediate reaction was to worry about the cost and side effects for the baby. After a reassuring call to my mom and lots of prayer, we headed over to WalMart to pick up the prescribed meds. Three answers to prayer came within minutes of entering the pharmacy area: 1) The medicine only cost me $4!!! 2) The pharmacist took the time to give me a great consultation and pep-talk. 3) I ran into a church friend (Judy) who had similar blood pressure issues during her pregnancies. She said that I could borrow her cuff and digital monitor so that I could keep track of my blood pressure at home. ISN'T GOD GREAT!?!?! I have a follow up appointment in two weeks and I really hope that I will not have to stay on the medication for long. Please pray that my blood pressure will go down, that the baby will be safe and that I will get over this nausea soon. Thanks! More later...

Day 3

Today I am thankful for two healthy, beautiful daughters. Over the last couple of years I have become painfully aware that I should not take one day for granted. I have watched a couple of my college friends go through the diagnosis and tragic deaths of their young children. Their testimonies of God's grace and purpose through their pain have been such a challenge to my own faith. (Could I bring God glory through times of such sorrow?!) I am so thankful for the strong bodies and minds that God has blessed Sierra and Ally with. I pray that they will use those bodies and minds as vessels for His use!

Day 2

On a gray and rainy day like today, I am thankful for a safe, warm, comfortable house. If you haven't heard this story, it's a good one! Two years ago we were living in a nice (but small!) townhouse here in Meridian. It was close to Marc's school and fit our tight budget. Then, out of the blue, we received a call from my Uncle Jim. He was interested in buying a house from a friend of his and wanted to know if we would be his tenants for the same price as what we were paying at the townhouse. If you know Uncle Jim and Aunt Ann, you know what generous souls they are and how many people they have blessed through their generosity! (Although they would never want you to know.) We were thrilled with the prospect of having a HUGE living room, an extra bedroom and a nice yard for the girls to play in. On top of that, this house was still within biking distance of CVCS! We moved in just before Christmas of 2006. We love our home and are so thankful for it every day!

Thanksgiving Countdown

While blog-hopping recently, I was inspired to make a list of things that I am thankful for. One entry for each day from now until Thanksgiving. Let's face it, my posts have been a little lack-lustre lately. I also love how this fits so perfectly with the passage we were studying last week in women's Bible study: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and OVERFLOWING WITH THANKFULNESS." Colossians 2:6-7

So, here's a little overflow from my heart. Join me if you would like. I think it will be a blessing.

DAY ONE:

I am so very thankful for the godly heritage that I have - parents and grandparents who sincerely love the Lord and have devoted their lives to serve Him. I have seen their sacrifice. I have benefited from their personal Bible study and teaching. I have watched them rejoice through trials. I have felt God's answers to their prayers on my behalf. They have been wonderful examples to me of men and women of faith. My prayer is that this legacy will continue to be passed on to my children, BY GOD'S GRACE.

God (please) Bless America

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray

and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

II Chronicles 7:14

(Spoken by God at the dedication of Solomon's temple...applied to me on this election day.)

Trick-or-Treat

This was a week of parties and treats! The girls had three opportunities to wear their costumes. Sierra had her heart set on being a princess, so we were well prepared for that. She wore the beautiful dress that Marc's mom made for her last year. It still fit! Ally wanted to be a cowgirl so that she could clomp around in her beloved pink boots, but when she saw the overalls that I had planned she quickly opted for her Minnie Mouse costume...also a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Mouser. Lucky for us, not a dime was spent on costumes this year. They both looked so cute!

On Wednesday evening the girls dressed up for the "trunk-or-treat" at church before AWANA. It was a great trial run for the whole trick-or-treat idea. They enjoyed seeing their friends in all their costumes as well. This morning we had a great party over at the Garret, Carson and Graham's house. (If you want to see their amazing costumes look here.) And then tonight was the grand finale of the week, going door-to-door in our neighborhood. Sierra marched around several blocks in her plastic click-clack shoes and bravely rang all the door bells. Ally was a little more timid, but we think she had a good time.

Sierra and Ally with their friend Sophie at the trunk-or-treat.

Party time with 20 other little kids!

Annie came over for a quick visit on Halloween.

The girls pose with our very last minute jack-o-lanterns. We almost forgot to carve them with all the excitement of the week.

Taking off for an early loop around the neighborhood.

Sorting through the loot!

And yes, even Mom (Grandma Phyllis) had to get in on the Scrabble prank: