Timmons Family Life

3 years ALREADY!

2011-05-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

Macey Grace turns 3 on May 15th! Where did the time go? She has grown into such a passionate, friendly, talkative little girl! Her teachers call her "sunshine" in class. She lights upa room. I am proud to call her my daughter. God is helping us daily raise her to bring joy to HIS kingdom! Macey, we LOVE you! Happy Happy Birthday sweet daughter!

Here is a look down memory lane...

6 Months already!

2011-02-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

Daphney Claire is 6 months old already! Wow how she has grown! She is a beautiful baby with a sweet spirit. She is SUPER laid back, and can't get enough of her big sister!

Rewind...

2011-02-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

We LOVE Halloween in our family! We love dressing up, and trick or treating and fun parties. As well as the fall weather! This year Halloween was spent in Indiana. We were back in Indiana because Mary was in her good friend Devon's wedding. We extended the trip longer to spend time with The Timmons family. It was SO wonderful to see all of our family! We miss them and wish we could see them more often. Here are the girls in their Halloween get-ups ;-)

The cutest Pirate EVER

Our little Pumpkin - 2months old

Sitting on Grandma & Grandpas porch

)

New Beginnings

2011-02-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Over the Holidays some exciting things happened! Mary's best of best friends Holly, got engaged to Jeremiah Reed. He set up a VERY creative and romantic proposal at the Portland Art Museum. Both of us took part in helping with the surprise proposal! It was very special to be apart of the event and we are thrilled they will be entering this new journey of life together. Congratulations Holly and Jeremiah!Also, our good friends the Eckley's welcomed baby Cait into the world on 1/11/11. Macey's BFF Avery is now a FABULOUS big sister and the two girls enjoy this new journey of sisterhood they are on together.

2011-01-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

Macey had her first pre-school program. We enjoyed watching her perform songs with sign language. This is Macey spotting us in the crowd for the first time!

Macey and Mommy decorating a cookie at her school

Christmas Eve Morning we had over the Eckley's for brunch and gifts. Macey and Avery wore their matching jammies that said "best friends" - CUTENESS

Macey and Daphney opening their gifts from Gma & Gpa Timmons, Aunt Molly, & Aunt Melissa

Macey received her first nightgown from Gma & Gpa Timmons and it came with a matching one for her dolly

Macey with her Christmas morning gifts! "Wow! This Christmas thing is fun!!!" Her favorite part was reading the note that Santa left for her

Macey wearing her dress up clothes from the dress up chest that Papa & Nana gave her

Holiday Part 1

2011-01-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Season began with the hunt for the perfect tree. We started off with a delicious breakfast at South Store Cafe and then headed out to cut down a tree.

Macey LOVED the xmas tree hunt! She was hilarious and kept "helping" us find a "better" one

I think this year we had the prettiest tree we've ever had!

left to right: Macey, Kaia, Avery, Braylen, Halle, Sophie

Our small group had a playdate Christmas party with all our kiddos. They've all grown up so much and most of them had new siblings this year too!

Macey and Avery took some time to cuddle up and take SUPER cutie pix together!

Our Annual Small group UGLY SWEATER Christmas party was once again a BLAST! Erik added xmas lights to his sweater for some extra sparkle ;-)

We feel blessed to be such an amazing small group of friends who love the Lord! We have SO much fun together!

Catching Up

2011-01-18T10:43:00.001-08:00

So I've talked to a few of you, who check out our blog (but never comment!), and would like some updates ;-) Updating our blog is not on my list of things to make time for, so I will do my best. I hope to add quite a few pictures so you can all see what we've been up to over the past few months. Comments are ALWAYS appreciated, it's nice to know I am not updating for no reason ;-) ha ha

Hope you're all well

Mary and the Girls

Tis the Season

2010-12-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

Don't have much time these days to keep up on the blog and with Facebook so popular it's easy to stay connected. We are staying happily busy this holiday season!

Here is Daphney's first visit with Santa and Macey's first non-crying encounter with Santa. We visited The Play Boutique in downtown Lake Oswego for the Santa day! It was great! We highly recommend it!

Mid-west Fuuuuuunnnnnn

2010-11-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of standing in my friend Devon's wedding. I met Devon in 1998 in college. She has remained one of my closest friends no matter how far we live from each other! She married Jeff Johnson in Columbus Ohio on October 30th. Erik and I packed up the girls and flew out to the midwest. It was a great time to catch up with friends, and family and celebrate with Jeff and Devon.

Beth and I getting our nails done

The beautiful bride!

She had a "cookie bar" with hommade cookies by her mama! Unique and great idea!!!

Beth, Kelli, Devon

The Johnson's

Congrats to you both! We LOVE YOU

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T22:39:00.001-07:00

We spent Halloween Day in Columbus Ohio. Mary had the privilege to be in her great friend Devon's wedding (more pix & details to come). While in Ohio we caught up with family and friends. Here are the girls in the hotel room. Ready to show off their adorable little selves.

Cutest pirate EVER

"arggggg"

Our little pumpkin in her tutu

Macey with her cousins - Marrek, Machiah, & Darius (Erik's sisters boys)

8 years...

2010-10-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

8 years ago I married my best friend and the man of my dreams. Every day I fall more in love. Thank you Erik for our beautiful family and for being the best friend, husband, and father I could ever dream of!

The Girls

2010-09-30T09:57:00.001-07:00

G&G visit

2010-09-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

Erik's parents came to visit us last week. We had such a fun time! Macey LOVED having constant attention, and playmates. We layed low around the house most of the time, but got out for a few fun trips. Thank you both for coming and spoiling our girls with LOVE!

Went to the pumpkin patch...

Grandpa was such a trooper... he shopped, and played "house" and kitchen ALOT!!!

We all went to OMSI and had such a fun time exploring

Answers

2010-09-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Daphney is photo #1

Macey is photo #2

More look a like photos to come...

Who's who?!?

2010-09-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

Who's who? So as many of you already know... our girls look alike (to say the least)! Can you tell who is Macey and who is Daphney. These pictures were both taken when they were 3 weeks old. Make your guess below and I will reveal the answer in a few days.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Preschool

2010-09-08T14:35:00.001-07:00

Macey starts Preschool next Tuesday and she is THRILLED! We got to go to her class and meet her teacher this week. She jumped right in, started playing and visiting with her teachers. This girl LOVES school and social environments. I am so excited for her, but I can't believe she is starting preschool. We took this picture as we were leaving to go to her school.

Daphney Claire Timmons

2010-08-22T12:00:00.001-07:00

Daphney Claire arrived on 8/21/10 at 3:43pm

7lbs 14oz

20inches long

Mary and Daphney are doing great! Enjoying the new member of our family

Right after birth

Daphney came quickly and Mary had a great delivery

Macey meeting her baby sister

We are still at the hospital, getting rest and enjoying these first days with Daphney. We will update more once we get settled.

Waiting

2010-08-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

We are "patiently" awaiting the arrival of our little girl. Mary's due date was last Saturday the 14th. It's now starting to get harder each day that goes by... We've taken advantage of this extra time with just Macey and the three of us, and we've had a BLAST doing it!!! We are reminded that God's timing is perfect and HE has given us this extra time for a reason.

Today is a hard day, Mary is ready to be done. It is these pictures that help remind us of the miracle that will soon be. Thank you God for the miracle of life!!!

Meeting Macey for the first time!

Snuggle time with Mommy

Stay Tuned...

Summer

2010-07-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Little Girl is on her way. She could come at anytime and we are SO excited to meet her!

We had some photos taken on the beach of Mary's VERY preggo belly, at 36 weeks along. We got some fun memorable family photos that I know we will appreciate through the years.

Everyone asks me (Mary) how I am handeling being pregnant through the summer, and look at me like "Im sorry". I've enjoyed the summer pregnancy. No matter what time of year it is, the last month of pregnancy for ANY woman is uncomfortable. But the summer actually makes it easier on me. Here is my list why:

1. THE SUN, it cheers me up and gives me energy

2. I love the heat, and I have air conditioning everywhere I go

3. I get to wear flip-flops, skirts, and sun dresses (how comfy is that?!?)

4. My parents have a pool, so I feel weightless when I am in it, and it totally relaxes my back

5. A natural sun tan always makes you feel a bit better about yourself ;-)

6. FRUIT, you can't get enough water when your preggo, and fresh summer fruit totally helps!

7. I live in OREGON, and everyone knows we have the best summer weather you could ever ask for!

I am sure there are many more, but these are what come to mind instantly. So, if you're wondering how I am handeling the heat, know that it's not bothering me, if anything it's helping me get through these last few weeks...

Family Photos

2010-07-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

The 5th of July we celebrated my Mom's birthday. She requested updated family pictures be taken on her day, so here are few of that fun day! It was a special time to celebrate Mom's birthday on the beach (her favorite place)

Macey Grace - 2

Olivia Grace - 4 1/2

Andrew - 6 1/2

Aren't they cute!

catching up

2010-07-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

I am going to try and catch up with pictures of our summer activities. Here are a few more of us all at the Beach during the 4th of July. It was great weather, and we had a blast doing fireworks with the Baker clan!

Hangin' on the beach, enjoying the nice day

Macey & Erik, Pat & Natalie

Enjoying the fireworks

She was lovin' her Aunt Barb!

The Boys and their fireworks/sparklers

(no worries, all safe)

4th of July

2010-07-14T07:51:00.001-07:00

We spent 4 days at the beach over July 4th weekend. Mom and Dad Curtis got a beautiful house on the beach that the whole Curtis/Timmons clan was able to stay in together. We had alot of fun. We joined the holiday with the Baker clan. Food, parade, more food, fireworks, and lot's of food! It was a GREAT weekend! Here are a few pictures, more to come later...

Cornhole was a popular game with all the families.

(The Timmons were the champions)

Waiting for the parade to start

Macey had a ball running around and playing at the Bakers! It was a kids house! They had every toy you could imagine!

2010-07-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

We often talk about our small group that we meet with. We are close group of couples that really enjoys our time together, and especially growing in God together. 4 out of 5 of the couples in our group are expecting our second child. Here is a picture of us pregnant girls. So far 3 out of 4 of us are having girls.

In order of due date( right to left):

Niki -due any day now, Me -due in 4 weeks, Janel- due in September, & Aimee-due in January

Ballet

2010-06-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

For summer we enrolled Macey in her first Ballet class. It was difficult to find a class for two year olds (most start at the age of 3), but we found a GREAT class that is June - August and it is a fun activity for her to participate in. She loves her ballet shoes & tutu, she can't wait to put them on! Today was her second class, and she asked me to take a picture so she could see herself. Here is our little ballerina.

Dads Day

2010-06-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed by many great men in our lives! I look forward to celebrating with Macey all the wonderful men in our life and what they mean to us! Thank you for being such strong spiritual leaders with unconditional love! Happy Fathers Day!

Macey with Grandpa Timmons

Macey and her Papa

Macey with her Daddy

Milo with his little girl (Olivia)

30 weeks...

2010-06-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

The final chapter of this pregnancy is here! We love summer, and the sun, and pools so we are wishing that all the fun in the sun will allow the end of this pregnancy to fly by ;-) We are excited to meet out little girl but I am still enjoying getting to know her inside of me. So far, she is VERY active (more the miss Macey) and wakes me up often with her sudden movements.

Many of you have asked if we have a name picked out. We have an exhaustive list of names, but Erik and I "love" different names off the list. We both have chosen to keep the name or names quiet until her arrival (we need to have some element of surprise). Erik likes to go to the hospital with 2-4 names and name her after we have met her. That is what we did with Macey and we loved it!!! We will keep you posted on our summer activities (or lack there of), and Mary's progress. Until then...

Birthday #2

2010-05-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

For the evening of Macey's big day we had over Nana & Papa as well as Uncle Milo, Aunt Bethany, Andrew & Olivia. Macey requested pizza for dinner (that made it super easy on this preggo mama). After dinner we opened her fun gifts!

All the kiddos at dinner

The gift opening begins...

Macey's "favorite" gift was her kitchen! My dad (Mary) had made this kitchen for me when I was little. He saved it all these years then re-finished it and gave it to Macey for her 2nd birthday! Such a special gift for her to have. She LOVES playing kitchen and she feeds us all very well ;-)

The kitchen looked awesome! Very vintage chic. Macey also got a matching apron with her name on it ;-) She's set to go!

Thanking Papa for her gift

Birthday - All Day Fun!

2010-05-18T13:35:00.001-07:00

No big party this year, just a fun filled day all about Macey! We started the day at CHAP (a non-profit, children's healing art project) downtown. We invited Avery and her parents to join us. This place was AWESOME! No limits, you can paint, glue, stick, color anything in sight! Surprisingly we were the ONLY ones there, so the girls ran the place. Following Chap, we had a picnic lunch in the park, then ended the morning at Saint Cupcake. A fun -filled morning! The evening was a small party with family. We have lots of pictures to share, so more to come...

Macey playing in the castle

Avery in the painted boat (i think she added to the masterpiece)

They loved the paint!

The painted castle - the girls loved playing hide & seek in here

Picnic time!

Cupcakes are a must on your birthday!!!

Birthday Girl

2010-05-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

We can't believe that two years ago Macey Grace entered the world! Everyone says it goes by so fast, but it really does! Today we celebrate her 2nd birthday! No big party this year, just a full day all about her! We will post more this week. Here are some pix of Macey through the years ;-)

MACEY GRACE
Born May 15th 2008

First Birthday

2nd Birthday

Mom's Day

2010-05-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

I was royally spoiled on Mothers day! We had such a fun family day. It started with Erik and Macey bringing home breakfast and Starbucks. On the table was a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a sweet card. After church we headed downtown to Washington Park & the Rose Gardens, where we had a picnic and let Macey run around. The weather was absolutely WONDERFUL! After playing hard at the parks and enjoying some ice cream, I got to take a nap ;-) Ending the night with Dinner out. The three of us always have so much fun together and I love family days. Thank you Erik, for such a special day!

Avery turns 2

2010-05-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

Avery (Macey's BFF) turned two on Saturday and we got to celebrate with her! It was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party and the weather was absolutely perfect! Lots of fun, presents, food & cake! Happy Birthday Avery! We love you and love being apart of your growing life.

Denver and the Ebbinghaus'

2010-05-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

We flew out to Denver to visit the Ebbinghaus family! It had been years since we had seen them, at it was a much needed visit. Ebbs, was Erik's roomate and great friend of us both through college and now after. Brandi his wife and their almost 4 year old daughter Ruthi were the best hostess! They made our trip as fun and comfortable as possible. We really enjoyed ALOT of sight seeing as well as a visit to Ebbs new church - Greeley Wesleyan - where he is youth pastor. We didn't take many photos while there, but here are few of our trip to BEAUTIFUL Estes Park.

The Guy's with their girls watching the Elk

The boys never changed...

This is the hotel from the movie Dumb & Dumber

Nothing...

2010-04-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

We've not been up to much, just life. Learning life with the "terrible twos" & potty training. Nothing yet to report, but I will try and take some time to post more of what we are up to. Until then...

Movie Night

2010-04-09T12:58:00.001-07:00

Last week we had our first family movie night! For the most part we've not had Macey watch tv or movies for her first two years of life. Since she will be 2 years old in one month, we thought it would be a treat to have our first movie night. Erik took Macey to the video store. They went right to the kids section, and at her eye level was Veggie Tales. She got so excited, grabbed the video and asked daddy to "sing it" (she has a personalized veggie tales cd in the car). They rented their video and she came running in the house so excited to show me what they got! After bath & p'j's we made popcorn and curled up on the couch. Words can not explain how excited Macey was! She was so thrilled to have popcorn, movie, and mom & dad all together!!! Her thrill was more in the experience then in the movie. We both enjoyed watching her light up! This was such a special time, and we look forward to more Family Movie Nights in the future.

Cutest Kids!

2010-04-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a fun Easter weekend with our niece and nephew. We celebrated with a delicious meal at Mom and Dad Curtis'. The kiddos had fun on a Easter hunt that Papa had set up for them. It was a relaxing day of celebration!

Olivia (4), Andrew (6) & Macey (almost 2)

The girls think it's so fun to have matching dresses and get all dressed up!

Andrew is a sweet, loving big cousin! He loves the girls!

One Year

2010-04-04T09:44:00.001-07:00

Can't believe this was just a year ago! Macey has changed so much! We were both shocked when we looked over last years Easter pictures...

Macey - Easter 2009

Macey - Easter 2010

Remember

2010-04-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

May we take time to remember and reflect. May it continue to change our lives.

The tomb of Christ is but the bed
He rested on three days.
Easter morn He rose again,
The flower of our spring.
On Him, arisen from the dead,
Must we, though flesh decays,
Bestow our faith that when we die
Our souls, like His, shall not long lie
Forsaken in our tomb.
Christ shall, with deep affection, when
He sees our soul's affliction, then
Redeem us with His pain.
In His eternal suffering
Shall we find grace enough to bring
The seed of faith to bloom
Thomas Leixlip the Proud.
By Turlough O'Carolan. Sequenced by Barry Taylor.

Boy or Girl

2010-03-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

We had our 19 week ultrasound on Thursday to find out the gender of our baby. We decided to have the technician put the results in an envelope. Then we met mom and dad Curtis at Nordstrom, where we picked out two baby outfits. One Boy outfit and one girl outfit. We handed the un-opened envelope to my parents as well as both outfits. While we were gone they opened the envelope and proceeded to buy the correct outfit that matched the results. They had it wrapped up. They gave Erik and I the wrapped gift and just the two of us went out to dinner. We opened the gift at dinner. We decided (got the idea from our friends the Eckley's) this would be a little more fun and surprising way of finding out what our new little bundle of joy would be.

Here is what we opened...

SO CUTE! Can't wait for another little girl!

family!

2010-03-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Melissa and Marco (Erik's sister and brother n'law) came to visit last week. It was their first visit out to the good ol' NW. It was so great to see them. We went to the beach for a few days to get away and relax. We miss them already and look forward to seeing them again.

Weekend Getaway

2010-02-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

Erik and I got away last weekend to Sunriver Resort. Our small group all left the kiddos behind for some R&R. The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!! Surrounded by mountains and LOTS of sunshine! Normally we would be up on the mountain skiing, but considering I was 16 weeks preggers, that wasn't an option this winter. We played games, slept, ate, laughed, and just had FUN!

Sunriver is about 3 hours from Portland.
We had a fun "road trip" with each other and without a toddler ;-)

Couples Scategories (word game) can get VERY interesting...

Coming August 2010

2010-02-22T13:50:00.001-08:00

Football & Cornhole

2010-02-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

We had a few friends over for the Super Bowl on Sunday. We had lots of yummy food! The weather lately has been beautiful here! We've been waiting for good weather to break out our new Cornhole boards. Our good friends Devon and Jeff suprised us with a custom set of Cornhole. Jeff hand makes and paints Cornhole boards. WE LOVE IT! So, at half time we all broke into a competitive game of Cornhole. Most people out in the NW have no idea what Cornhole is (glorified and a cleaner version of horseshoes ;-) but they will soon learn... The pictures aren't very clear, but here are a few of the day.

Custom Michigan (GO BLUE) Cornhole

In action

Parenting

2010-02-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

As we have mentioned before we are apart of fabulous small group. We meet every other Friday and we usually study topics on marriage and parenting. There are 5 couples and we each have one girl that is within 4 months of each other in age. We hire babysitters so we can have un-interrupted adult conversation. Erik and I lead the study and Andy & Aimee host the study in their home. We LOVE it!!! It is always challenging, refreshing, and lots and lots of laughing!
Our church began a PYK (Parenting your children) 6 week study at the church on sunday nights titled Parental Guidance Required by Andy Stanley. We tend to LOVE Andy Stanley and all his studies/ books.
The great thing about this study is it for parents with all ages of children. Andy's perspective on the importance of genuine loving time is more profound then we could have imagined. This study is extremely challenging and we HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE! If you can't do the DVD series then at least read the book. Has anyone else read or been apart of this series? Thoughts?

We have been given such a HIGH calling as parents to guide and direct our children. Macey is God's and we have to trust Him. But He expects us to raise and her in the ways of HIM. What dose that mean? How to accomplish it? What is too much or not enough? We are excited for this adventure of parenting and we thank God everyday for the blessing He has brought to us.

Avery's Dedication

2010-01-31T20:10:00.000-08:00

We had the privilege to be apart of Avery's (Macey's BFF) dedication to God. We joined them at their church service then celebrated with family afterward for brunch. The girls enjoyed each other's company (as usual) and had a ball playing and making each other laugh! These two girls have grown up before our eyes and we couldn't imagine a better friend for Macey to have!

holding hands... so sweet

Look alikes

2010-01-28T18:52:00.001-08:00

So we all know that Macey looks ALOT like her daddy, but here are some old photos of "mommy" that we cam accross this week. The older Macey gets (and the more hair) the more some of her mommy's features start to show. The last picture is a picture of macey also in a bikini. Macey and Mommy for sure had the same rolls and curves :-)

First Birthday

At the lake with big brother... showing off my vivacious curves ;-)

driving

2010-01-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

This is a typical site for us when we look into the back seat of our car... Our little book worm. As we have mentioned before, books are her favorite "toys" and she can't get enough! We had to capture this site, knowing one day we will no longer see this. We are proud of our little bug a lug.

Who's got the ugliest sweater?!?

2009-12-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

We have an amazing small group that we meet with every other Friday. We are a group of 5 couples that all have girls the same age. We tend to follow studies that focus on Godly parenting and a Godly marriage. We are very close to each other. We had an "ugly" sweater party for Christmas this year. Each couple needed to come in an ugly sweater and bring a "date night" related gift for the gift exchange. We had a BALL! It was so fun! We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our life.

Andy & Erik
HOT!!!

The Boys

The Girls

As you can see Erik and I did a matching "teal" color
The Whole Gang.... wow that is quite a sight!

Avery (Macey's BFF) opening gifts
in their cuite Christmas Pj's

Sweet Halle, Macey & Avery

Melissa, Tim & Sophie

Aimee, Andy & Avery

Niki, Austin & Kaia

Andy, Janel & Halle

Murder Mystery Dinner

2009-12-20T20:03:00.001-08:00

My parents hosted a murder mystery dinner for a 30th Birthday party for Erik and I. It was A TON of fun!!! The theme was high school reunion. We all had our own character parts. Milo (Mary's brother) played Steven Speilman a famous movie director. He was murdered at the reunion...

Andy & Aimee were the Jock and Cheerleader

David & Darci (The band geek & Hall monitor)
Now a Music producer and Cop

Bethany was "Pamala Abdul" and Holly was the "flirt" in love with Steven
Milo (Steven Speilman) and my dad (AKA the "punk")

The Hostess

The whole gang

During the Dance - was when the murder occurred

Erik was the math nerd now an accountant, I was a Hollywood celeb

Jeremiah was our class president - now running for President

My dad cracked us all up, he drew on tatoos and everything! SOOOO funny!

Milo (Steven Speilman) was murdered during the dance
I ended up being the murder - (ha, ha! Kinda funny killing my brother!)
I knocked him over the head with my Emmy ;)

The delicious cake from Cheesecake Factory!

We had soooo much fun! Thanks to Mom and Dad for putting so much work into this thrilling party!

Macey's First haircut

2009-12-14T08:31:00.001-08:00

We too Macey to Little Clippers in Lake Oswego to get the back of her hair trimmed just a bit. Since she has big curls her hair is pretty easy. We knew that we just wanted a little bit of length cut off so that it didn't look like a mullet while the rest of hairs caught up. They trimmed it just a bit and it looks great! Still a head full of curls and she seemed to have fun!

on a tree hunt

2009-12-02T22:09:00.000-08:00

While Dad and Julie visited us for Thanksgving we celebrated Christmas with them early. Our last day together was spent at Kraxberger Tree Farm on the Hunt for the perfect Christmas Tree! It was the PERFECT weather. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We came away with a 8.5 foot slender noble fir tree.

Macey found a tree just her size

Family photos in front of the tree

Macey Loves her Grandma & Grandpa

Erik and Tim loading the tree on top of the car

We eneded the festive event at Starbucks sipping on Peppermint Mochas! We love THE SEASON!!!

Think About It...

2009-11-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

Holiday Give Away

2009-11-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

April, is having a fabulous Christmas giveaway event! Check it out! Sign up for free products!!! Many local designers and companies! Enjoy!!!

18 months

2009-11-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

Macey turned 18 months yesterday. Crazy that we now have a toddler on our hands. We are having more fun then we could have ever imagined! She is just a blessing! She is extremely social. She loves Church, the club, and library days. Reading is still her favorite "toy" and finds enjoyment reading to her Minnie. Everyday she says about 3 new words, her little tiny voice could melt anyone's heart! For those of you who are far away and don't get to be near our little bug much, these posts are for you! Mommy set up a studio in the house and a did a quick photo shoot of Macey Grace. Enjoy!

Reading to Minnie

Aunt Holly brought back an infant size Grass skirt and Coconut bra from Hawaii! SHE LOVES to dress up! The Giraffe she is holding is from Africa - brought back from Nana & Papa's recent trip.

Who doesn't love bubbles?!?

For Bethie...

2009-11-12T20:22:00.001-08:00

After Every Bath Macey puts on her adorable robe - made just for her by our good friend
Beth Boswell.
She has almost out grown it, but I had to post a picture of how cute it looks on her! Thanks Beth!

It's that time of year?!?

2009-11-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I LOVE the holiday season so much... but something about it just gets me all excited!!! The holiday "season" starts earlier each year. And even though WE don't decorate or start celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving... I do have to admit, I love seeing all the Holiday stuff in the stores. Yesterday Macey and mommy just wandered through the Christmas isle at Target. I am just taking it all in! The season comes and goes so quickly, so why not secretly enjoy it a bit earlier? I'm just saying? ;-)

Trick or Treat

2009-11-03T12:47:00.001-08:00

Daddy carved Macey a Minnie Mouse pumpkin. He did a really good job!

We started our Halloween weekend with the Harvest Party at our church. Southlake always does such a good job with this big event. From a petting zoon, slides, bouncy house and hay rides, the girls had a great time! Halle was a puppy, Macey was Minnie and Avery was a tiger! They were SOOOO cute! And had SO MUCH FUN!

On Halloween Eckly's (Avery's Parents) invited us all over for homade pizza and trick or treating. This was the girls' first time to go trick or treating. We loaded them in the wagon and hit up about a dozen homes in their neighborhood. It was pretty funny to watch them. Avery caught on VERY quickly to the idea of knocking on someones door and you will receive candy! Since Macey has never had candy, It took her a bit to catch on. The weather was crisp but not cold and we all had a blast! Once we were finished Macey discovered that the hard plastic things people were giving her tasted good, you just had to get past the wrapper! ;-) Macey now, knows what candy is! ;-)

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T19:14:00.001-08:00

Macey was thrilled to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween! She kept twirling in a her dress with a huge smile! She was the cutest "Minnie" we've ever seen! ;-)

We had a full weekend of 1st time Halloween Adventures. More stories and pix to come...

God is God

2009-10-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, it's Erik. I honestly haven't posted in a llllooooonnnngggg time. I need a place to vent/share what's happening in my heart and brain over the past couple of weeks. So, indulge me, if you will. This site is a little more private than my twitter.com/erikandmary account and facebook as well so I feel as if I can share a little more openly. (It won't be long, I promise)

I have this overwhelming feeling, recently, that God is God. I'm not. I've been a Christian for a long time now and Love Jesus with all my heart. I've heard this spoken directly to me before, I've heard it as sermons, I've heard it in the Christian Music I listen to but for some reason right now, it's ringing true in my life more than ever.

So, being the Jesus lover that I am you would like that I would let the truth that God is God and I'm not sink in, right? Nope... I can't get it from my head to my heart. I can't!!! For some reason, I have this crazy hole in my heart that is trying to get me to believe that I'M god. It makes me want to cuss. Why can't I get on with letting God rule?

I have this idea that I can control what's happening in this life, that MY dreams are what matters, not God's intentions for me. What the heck!?

Well, do you have any thoughts? I know I'm going to be struggling with this long after your comments but I want you to know that I appreciate your thoughts.

Also, I don't feel this is a dire situation, I just can't get my heart to hand it all over to Him. I'll get through it, just need a little "push". Thanks.

pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins

2009-10-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Since we love fall we tend to go to a few different pumpkin patches a year. Last weekend we visited the Roloff farm again. As always TLC was filming every minute. They offer a variety of activities (all free for Macey) that were really well done. Because of the popularity of their show "Little People Big World" there are many people visiting. Thankfully we arrived right when they opened and we didn't have to experience much wait time. The tractor tour was REALLY well done! We got to see all the family members, AND Macey loved the western town!

Zack driving the tractor

Macey wouldn't leave the blacksmith store... she loved all the metal and tools

Hunny & Papa really took to Macey! Macey really liked Molly

The finished castle - much bigger then we thought! VERY COOL!

Amy out on the patch

BEST PART - they had a baby LION!!! WAY COOL

Family Photo ;-)

pumpkin time!

2009-10-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

We went to our favorite Pumpkin Patch - Bauman Farms, last weekend. We have watched this farm grow each year! It sits on beautiful property and has TONS to offer every age group! We love that they have apple orchards and sell their unique all natural apples at the farm.

We had great sunny cool weather. Macey enjoyed running around the garden and the patch. Her favorite was the all the animals. She didn't want to touch them, but she LOVED the baby cows...from a distance ;-)

She looks like such a big girl in this picture!

Enjoying their famous Apple Cider Doughnuts!

Stay tuned... we visited another pumpkin patch with a whole different experience.

A little R&R

2009-10-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to So Cal. We started our trip off with a visit to our good friend Alex Lester. The Lesters were good family friends from Marion that we met during our college years. We met Alex when she was in 4th grade! And now she is a Freshman at UCLA! She gave us a great campus tour and we also did some shopping in the area.

While Shopping we were shopping they were filming "the real housewives of Orange County" and we were shopping with them... that was interesting.

In the shopping district of UCLA we stopped and had a cookie ice cream sandwich at this local place. IT WAS SOOOO GOOOD! There was always a line in front of this place! Even at 10am!

Spent our third day at Disneyland & California Adventure

It was Halloween Days at both parks... pretty fun!

Haunted Mansion and Halloween Minnie Ears

The entrance of California Adventure

The Hollywood Tower Hotel ride, was much better then anticipated and pretty cool!

Here we are on the California Screamin' ride... it was such a fun ride, Mary had a perma grin the entire time!

Halloween Minnie & Mickey... our favorite

Our last day was spent at the sap at our resort. We had a relaxing week away. It was nice to just get away.

7 years

2009-10-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

On Monday October 5th, we will celebrate 7 years of marriage in sunny southern CA. I could not be happier and am so blessed to be married to my best friend! Looking back we can't believe we have been together for 10 years!!!

Hubby and I are leaving on a jet plane for some RR. Mace will be staying behind with Nana and Papa. This is our first time away from her for more then two nights. It will be good for us all ;)

Thanks to our good friends Andy and Aimee (explain details later) we will be staying at the beautiful Hyatt Regency

can you tell this picture was taken, well, just a fewwwww years ago ;)

2009-10-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and we are LOVING it! Crisp cool air, leaves changing, FOOTBALL, pumpkins, sweaters and snuggling up! Our home is decorated in autumn decor (with a hint of halloween) and smells oh so yummy!

Macey got a KICK out of watching the squirrels at the park! She thought they were hilarious gathering nuts, chirping, and chasing each other.

It's that time of year...

2009-09-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Fall that is. And, time for Halloween Oreo's (the only good, store bought cookie)! We try not to keep these sugary yummy cookies in our home, but I strongly believe that the orange halloween oreos are better then any other (yellow spring oreos are a close second). Devon (my roomie from college) and I have a bond over these treats, and while she was here we couldn't resist picking a pack up while in the store! :) Devon had the honors of giving Macey her first Oreo! Looks like she agrees, orange is oh so yummy!

Minnie

2009-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight Hubby, Macey and I all went to the Disney store to get Macey a Halloween costume. Now, being that we are "new" parents we aren't familiar with the Disney store or what it has to offer. Erik, had already thought of Minnie Mouse for Macey, but we were unsure of the cost. We get to the Disney store to find that her costume had just gone on sale. YAY! And they had her size (usually they never have the size you want when on sale). Also it came with a free "accessory" - mouse ears. We were very proud of our finds and also impressed with the customer service we received. We are all very excited for Halloween!

beach days

2009-09-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach for two days this week. It was a beautiful 85 degrees. We spent time in our swimsuits laying on the sand and watching Macey play. She LOVED the beach and Ocean. We couldn't pull her away. We didn't get any pics during the sunny hours of the day... we were too busy having fun. Theses were all taken one evening before dinner.

"oh no, my paddle is gone!"

2009-09-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

We went White Water rafting down the White Salmon River in Washington on the Columbia River Gorge. Devon, Jeff, Holly & Jeremiah all went with us. We rafted with a company called Wet Planet. The White Salmon is a very narrow but beautiful river. We highly recommend! We were a goofy bunch and we had our own raft. Our guide had to think we were crazy because as we just start to get into our raft Jeff looses his paddle down the river. Thankfully our trusty guide got it back to him and we went on down the river. It was a pretty hilarious start. We didn't get any pictures rafting but here are some before and after:

Driving down the Columbia River Gorge

Devon thought she looked like a superhero

The water was about 40 degrees so wet suits were needed!

Devon and Mary after rafting

Stopped at Multnomah Falls on our way back home.

Lovin the Curls!

2009-09-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

We aren't sure where the blonde hair and blue eyes came from, BUT...

FINALLY She got something that is like her mommy!

CURLS!

Macey Dances

2009-09-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

Check this out, Macey is quite the dancer:

Portland Children's Museum

2009-09-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

Took Macey to the Children's Museum. We weren't all that impressed with it, but Macey seemed to have a BLAST! It was small but creative. It will be a nice option this winter when she can't play outside or go to the pool.

She loved the "construction zone"

1st time camping :)

Southlake Summer Bash

2009-08-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Our Chruch- Southlake had a "summer bash" on Sunday. It was the first time everyone was together. Being that we have 5 services EVERY weekend, never is everyone together. We had one large service outside, then a BBQ, games and live music. It was quite the bash! I look forward to church activities, it is always cool to see the body of Christ unite and worship!

2009-08-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

We spent Saturday afternoon celebrating Sophies 1st Birthday. It was a gorgeous day to be outside for a party. Macey had fun being with all her friends and running around.

Macey & Avery

Macey was cracking everyone up with her sunglasses. She left them on the whole party! Didn't want or need to take them off! Guess she realized how much they really do help!

Sophie look thrilled to be clelebrating!

It was an "elmo" themed party

The whole gang of girls! From left to right:

Sohpie, Kaia, Avery, Halle, Macey

Stay Tuned...

2009-08-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

We love that an Oregon summer typically lasts until mid October. We also LOVE fall! We are in no hurry for summer to end but anticipating the beautiful season of Autumn. We sat down as a family and planned out the next few months of activities and traveling. We are thrilled that every month beginning in September and ending in January we will be traveling or having far away family/friends visiting! With that in mind I'm sure many of you will be seeing your smiley faces on our blog as we visit. So, stay tuned...

And while you stay tuned check out two great friends who are having fabulous give aways on their blogs...

Babies...Belly Laughs & Bare Feet: Funky Monkey Giveaway!

dot... dot... dot..My Big Giveaway Event!!

Clean Windows

2009-08-16T08:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went out and purchased the new Windex Outdoor All in One window cleaner. We are pleasantly surprised with the results. It was quick easy and did it's job! Being that we live in a new construction home we have alot of dust/dirt caked to our windows. It too all of it off with a streak free shine. We were disappointed with the length of the handle, you still need a ladder for high windows. You can get a coupon off a starter kit.

Lindsay & Ryan

2009-08-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Lindsay married Ryan Maine last Sunday on August 2nd. It was a beautiful wedding at Oregon Golf Club. She of course was a BEAUTIFUL bride and they seemed so happy! Holland Studios (the photographer Mary works for) did the photos. Mary was able to take photos as well as enjoy her self as a guest.

Holly was a bridesmaid

Before the ceremony

The cake - created by our friend Rachel Desimone (sweet deliveries )

The girls

During the reception

Congrats Ryan & Linds!

Picnic at the Oregon Zoo

2009-08-01T22:31:00.001-07:00

Erik's company (Yorke & Curtis) had their annual company picnic at the Oregon Zoo. Milo, Bethany and the kiddos are in town visiting so it was a lot of fun to have them with us! With the massive heat wave we are having here it was exhaustingly warm, but very worth it.

Andrew getting his face painted as a dinosaur

Macey with Mommy & Daddy

Adorable little girls

The whole gang on the train ride

Weekend Away

2009-07-29T08:56:00.001-07:00

We really enjoyed our weekend away to Seattle. We walked, shopped, and ate! The weather was perfect, and Seattle was buzzing with activities.

We walked down to the pier to take Macey to the Aquarium and she fell asleep about 2 minutes before we got to the doors.

Aren't they cute ;-)

Emerald City

2009-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

The 3 of us needed some family time away from home...just to get away and breath, think, and rest. We headed to Seattle for a weekend away. Will post more when we return. Enjoying our time away in this beautiful refreshing city!

Macey is Dedicated

2009-07-23T08:29:00.001-07:00

We had the privilege of dedicating Macey to her FATHER in heaven this past weekend. It was such an honor. Macey waved and talked during the dedication. And also clapped when everyone else clapped. She was quite the little diva on stage. ;-) We had family and friends supporting us in this outward giving. Thank you to everyone who came. It meant so much to us.

After church we went over to Mom and Dad Curtis for a BBQ and pool time. It was a very special day.

2009-07-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

With this hot, hot weather, Macey has been enjoying her water table. This was a fun birthday gift from the Baker clan. She loves water and loves being outside!

Little Reader

2009-07-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

When Macey and I are upstairs she wonders off to her room and this is how I find her...

She is curled up on the floor with a pile of books around her happy as can be!

Now in her room and our loft upstairs she has baskets of toys, but this is where she loves to be. The girl will always choose a book over a toy! She sat for an hour looking at her books the other day while I did laundry. We love our little reader...

Garage Sale

2009-07-10T10:26:00.001-07:00

I've been busy preparing for our garage sale this Saturday.

The Eckly's and us are planning a garage sale for Sat. July 11th at the Eckly's home from 8am - 3pm. Come on down and check it out. We will have all kinds of goodies. Including: Designer Jeans (True Religion, Seven for all mankind), Juicy, Shoes, Purses. Sizes ranging from 26''- 28"

Also lots of Baby/ toddler clothes, home decor. No junk all nice stuff just don't have room for it all. Email me for directions to her house or look for our adds on Craigslist.

Patriotic Macey

2009-07-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our 4th of July pool side with 90 degree weather and with family and friends. We had a great day! Thanks to Mom & Dad Curtis for hosting and for all the yummy food! More festivities tomorrow on the 5th as we celebrate Momma Curtis' b-day.

Adorable top & skirt provided by Aunt Holly

Trunk Club

2009-07-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

In my earlier post I mentioned that Joana's business The Trunk Club would be featured on the Today show. Well it will be on tomorrow morning! Tune into NBC from 7 - 8am and you will be able to see her and her amazing business featured. Here is a link with a short clip about The Trunk Club.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8Kfueupvg

Here Come the Newlyweds

2009-06-30T18:11:00.001-07:00

We don't watch much tv in the summer and Erik and I are usually too tired to stay up for this show. But we think it is pretty funny! We watched it last summer and got a kick out of it. Now, we watch the episodes online because it's on late Monday nights(and we don't have cable or a DVR). BUT last night we stayed up late to watch and we were CRACKING up! They brought a hypnotist on the show and we can't really explain what happened but it had us rolling! If you haven't seen the show it's pretty fun to watch. Especially if you are a "newlywed". We are far from newlyweds but we still try and answer all the game questions and play from home. If this show was around 6 years ago we would have SO applied to be on it. Dose anyone else like or watch this show?

Busy Weekend

2009-06-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we spent the afternoon at Macey's friend Jaynes house celebrating her 1st birthday! We went from partying with little ones to our friends the Blakes for a BBQ and pool party. The weather was great, but we were all pretty tuckered out on Sunday. Here are few photos of our weekend.

The Fun Fruit Bowl

And the cake...

Happy Birthday Jayne!

Swimming at the Blakes

Steve and the guy's playing with the kiddos

summer weather

2009-06-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, I love garage sales. I really love to host them. I am such a clean freak, and organizing is just fun, garage sales allow both to happen at once. And I get to visit with people all day! ;-)

With summer finally here, I soon will be hosting a fabulous garage sale with my friend Aimee. In a few weeks I will make a post of what we will be selling so those of you who are interested can come by.

Saturdays, Erik and I like to go hunt for garage sales(i know surprising, hugh?). With the help of craigslist, there isn't much a hunt, but it's fun to us. Not sure what is fun, we usually don't buy anything. In fact, often times we say to each other this is alot of crap. Literally.

Our favorite is to find neighborhood sales. That we can park the car, get the stroller out and with our starbucks in hand, hunt for things we didn't know we needed ;-) I think we mostly enjoy it because it's time together. Just us, walking and catching up on our weeks.

Quick Trip

2009-06-18T22:08:00.001-07:00

Macey and I took a whirlwind trip over to Bend with Aimee and Avery. Aimee's mom and sister both live in Bend and we were visiting them. Aimee's sister Joanna owns a very successful business called the Trunk Club We were able to go see where the business began and where she works from. Becuase of Joanna's sucessful business The Today show flew out to film her and The Trunk Club. They were filming while Macey, Avery, Aimee and I were there. It was fun. We did get to meet Today show anchor Jenna Wolfe along with a few others. Joanna and the Trunk Club will be featured on the Today show in the next week or so (i'll post an update). If you have never been to the Trunk website check it out. It's a pretty awesome way to dress men! Or, if your husband hates shopping and you don't have time it's perfect. Anway, here are a few pictures from our time in Bend.

Headquarters

Avery & Macey playing in the boxes...

Aimee and Joana

A Clean Home

2009-06-10T07:25:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my awesome hubby we have a sparkling clean home! Erik treated me (for mothers day) with a cleaning service. They came in and cleaned from top to bottom doing all the things that I don't have time to get to, cant reach, or just hate to do! I'm LOVING IT!

back to running

2009-06-07T19:26:00.001-07:00

Since Mace has been born we haven't made as much time to run in race events around the city. Erik ran today in the 10k Rum Run. It conveniently began and ended at our club. Good day! It was fun to be apart of the events again. Hopefully more to come this summer!

And.... they're OFF!

Macey and I went inside the club so she could crawl around while waiting for daddy to finish

Party Girl

2009-06-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Macey had a birthday POOL party for local friends and family. It was hot 90 degree weather, perfect for playing in the pool. It was a good time.

Natalie and Macey chatting...

Janel and Halle ready for the pool

The "papa's" with their girls

Little Avery

A bit of History on St. Simons Island

2009-05-29T18:03:00.001-07:00

Birthdays

2009-05-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

While away Milo turned 33 and Macey turned the BIG ONE! Their birthday's are just one day apart. On Macey's birthday we all rented bikes and rode around the island. It was fun.

Since Macey's loves pink pigs so much AND they make her laugh, I made some chocoalte cherry pink pig cupcakes. Not professional, but they turned out pretty cute, and the kiddos loved them

Fun on the beach

2009-05-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

outdoor shower to rinse off all the sand! Macey loved it!

Andrew

Olivia

chubs

2009-05-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlighted pictures of our trip to Sea Island GA. We had a fablous time on this tiny resort town. It was very quaint and we all truly relaxed. We stayed in a spacious 5 bedroom 4 bathroom home that allowed everyone to have their space. Below are pictures of the pool/hot tub that were in the back yard of the home. Just down the path behind the house was a the Atlantic Ocean. The weather was amazing and it was so nice to be in great weather with family. More pictures to come.

Memorial Day

2009-05-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

With such nice weather we spent the weekend and the Curtis pool! Dave and Linda were out of town so we hosted a BBQ with a few friends on Sunday afternoon. We had a nice time all together enjoying the sun, water, and food! Avery and Macey both LOVED the pool!

Avery showing off her walking skills to Macey

By the end of the afternoon Macey was laid back in her floaty with a water bottle. She was happy as ever!

The evening ended with them needing a bath. So why not together! More fun!!!

Hope to soon be posting pix of our recent vacation. We had a blast!

Macey's First Birthday

2009-05-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

We are just back from vacation where we celebrated Macey's Birthday!

Macey's First Year

2009-05-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

Our Baby is One today! What a year it has been! Here is a slideshow of her first year. We love our little bug and are so proud to call her our daughter. We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we do.

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

From our house on the Golden Isles! Enjoying family, the beach and SUN!!! I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my 1st mothers day! A year ago I was VERY preggo and ready for miss Macey's arrival. Hope you all had a fabulous day!

Keep checking in with us!

2009-05-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

A special thanks to everyone who sent me gifts early (Aunt Darci, Great Grandma Wissemeier, Bethie, Grandma Julie. AND If I forgot anyone, sorry but I am thankful) for my first birthday! Keep checking in with the blog. We will have birthday post next week. So be checking back with us! The song on our blog is one that was played for me while I was in my mommy's tummy. This song is still one of my favorites and has ALWAYS calmed me down when I am upset. I hope you enjoy.

Love you all -

Macey