Diane Sawyer called my friend Tam...Tam!

Have I mentioned how cool my friends are?!?
WATCH HERE

Did I mention...

I went to Obama's inauguration? Cause I did. It was a wonderful experience. I am excited that I will get to look at History books when my children are in school and say, "your mom and dad were there." Here are some pics.

Me and Dylan at our seats. See the podium behind us? Yeah...we had good seats! Thanks Dale!

Did I mention it was cold?!? It was cold!!

Our view of the millions of people. In this pic a crowd of people are waving their flags.

Just a few old Presidents/Vice Presidents.:)

The family Bible that was used for Biden's swearing in was HUGE!

It was so funny when she jumped on her little stool. She looked around wondering why everyone was laughing which it even more cute.

The swearing in!!

Just after his speech.

Obama and the millions of people watching.

I Pledge

MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge


I pledge to...
...use my canvass bags not only for groceries, but also for clothes, toiletries or any other purchases I make.
...get involved with helping cancer patients and finding a cure.
...get to know my neighbors better.
...help the children I work with to realize their potential and get them the services they need despite the enormity of day-to-day tasks.
...just try.

Christmas and New Year's

We had a good Christmas. We stayed here in Portland and spent some time with my family. It was pretty mellow and low key. I loved it!








Opening Christmas Eve PJ's.


















My niece and nephew.
Did anyone else always get PJ's on Christmas Eve?














Slippers too!:)
















Kisses from dad.
















Julian playing his new puzzle game. Smartypants.
















Julian playing.


















Dinner.












We spent New Year's with some friends from our church.








Our first pic of 2009.:)












Our friends. Funny that you can't seem to take a picture with noisemakers without actually blowing the noisemakers.:)






Happy New Year's everyone. I hope 2009 brings you health, happiness and peace!

It has been a rough few weeks for me and for some reason I don't like doing posts about difficult times. That then prevents me from posting at all, not that I post all that much in the first place. So, here I am posting anyway. Not sure why, but I felt like providing an update.

As most of you know I work with children in foster care and their families. It can be challenging at times to say the least. It can also be very rewarding. 2 weeks ago one of the children I worked with passed away from cancer. Professionally (and personally a bit too) it has been one of the hardest things for me. She lived a short 2 years and had a rough life from the get go. That is hard. Then to get cancer so young. She was an absolutely adorable child and touched every person she came across. I try to remember that about her and not how she was in the end. While I love my work, it is hard not to be reminded of what happened all the time when you have to notify the court, produce narratives, plan and pay for a funeral and eventually close the case. I am grieving with a bunch a paperwork to finish.

In addition, a dear friend of mine from church is also suffering from cancer. Despite this crazy weather I decided to stop by yesterday and drop off a Christmas present. Turns out they were in need of some help. To make a really long story short we had to call an ambulance to get her to the hospital. Dylan chained both our car and theirs and we followed. She is stable right now, but things are not looking good. She is not going to make it through this, although timing is unsure. Knowing that is so hard. I had a small break down on my husband's shoulders saying that I am not yet emotionally prepared for this right now. Yet here I am.

Needless to say I have been a bit emotional as of late. I am here and I am healthy and I am grateful for that.

On a good note. It is Christmas and it is snowing. There is something renewing about the snow. A clean, fresh start. It is healing. Although I haven't had the motivation to put any Christmas decorations up, I am finally starting to feel the Christmas spirit. I may not get to putting up decorations this year and I am okay with that. Luckily I get to spend it with my family and watch 2 sweet kids open up presents Christmas morn. Nothing feeds the heart more than that.:)

On another good note. I am feeling pretty motivated to do some work for a cancer charity. I need to do some research on which one and what I would like to do, but I think it will be good for me to get involved.

Now I am off to wrap presents for the kiddos I work with. I actually enjoy wrapping presents so this is a good thing.

I hope you holidays are safe, happy and healthy.

Karaoke Fun!

My uncle Mitch celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday. He was in town for Thanksgiving, so we decided to have make it special. We went for a dinner cruise on the Portland Spirit and then we sang some karaoke. It was so fun and funny!:) There is this new karaoke place in NW Portland called Voicebox. You have a private karaoke room for your party. Great way to not be completely embarrassed. I know some participated that never would have. Here are some videos to share.:)


My cousins Lindsey and Anthony. You gotta love the BSB!:)


My brother in law, Seth and cousin Anthony. It is all about picking the right song. This was the right song.


My uncle Mitch, the birthday boy, my dad and my uncle Doug.


If only my camera had not died. You would get a great video of my husband performing (notice I used the word performing and not singing...that was intentional) I'm Too Sexy...I'll say.:)

It's A New Day!!