What a day!

Two big events: Chris got in a car crash (not his fault at all) and Isaac was able to give 100% of selling his train set to the Portland Rescue Mission. God is good. We trust Him. We are praying for Daddy to heal from his injuries (neck, shoulder and hand pain...nothing broken). We are not worrying about tomorrow, knowing that God already has all the details worked out (none of this was a surprise to Him). We also are so thankful that our son was able to spend the money from the sale of his train set on anything he wanted...he chose to give. We praise God for our family!

First Snow in the New Home

These are from a few days ago, but I didn't want to miss including them. We had a light dusting of snow that resulted in more dangerous ice than snow. The kids played outside with Dad a little, but the big events of the day were sad ones. There was a blue truck that crashed and overturned in a ditch behind our house and my dad slipped and broke his collar bone walking back from getting his mail. The ice looks innocent, but it is dangerous. We did not return the library item that was due back that day!

Thanksgiving 2010

One of the Koren traditions is to send Chris off in the early cold of the morning to play football. It was such a great turn out that they split into four teams. Chris loves to burn the calories with the guys in the morning so he can feast on Gramma's sushi and the perfectly brined turkey.

This year's Thanksgiving was very low-key and relaxing. Sadly, the weather iced in the Springers so we missed them, but we had a nice day with my parents and the Fuhs. The kids played together like a dream, so we are able to spent so much time just sitting around the table enjoying one another's company. The kids were cracking up doing impressions of Randy saying, "MMM, pass me the green beans!" (I had to post a picture of the free pumpkin Chris insisted we decorate the house with...it made we want to gag and looked like it needed to see a dermatologist). I do, by the way, make cranberry sauce, but my dad brings his own special one from the can.

God Gave Me You

Every time the song, God Gave Me You, comes on, Chris always stops and says, "I dedicate this song to you."


I’ve been a walking heartache
I’ve made a mess of me
The person that I’ve been lately
Ain’t who I wanna be

But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm goes through
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
*If* There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

There’s more here than what were seeing
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely
Could somehow fall for me
You’ll always be love’s great martyr
Ill be the flattered fool
and I need you

On my own I’m only
Half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
*If* There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you, gave me you.
Gave me you.

As the kids and I had dinner without you tonight, we prayed and thanked God for giving us you! You are a wonderful husband and father. We are blessed to have you in the ups and downs. Thank you for working so hard for us today (selling two homes) and longing to be home with us. We love your smile and hugs when you get home; it is evidence of how much you miss us when you are at work.

Tonight, honey, I dedicate this song to you. XOXO

Playing Dog

Isaac is on a dog kick. He was playing a game with Abigail where he was a dog and she the owner. He would do tricks for treats and even go fetch.

When they sat down at the table for dinner this evening, Abigail turns to Isaac and says, "How was your day, Doggie?"

"Ruff," replies Isaac.

Ruff...rough. Get it? True story.

The Big Water Slide

Today, Isaac finished his last day of swimming lessons. After nine, 1/2 hour classes, he can float (mostly) and I'm not exactly sure what else. He enjoyed it. His teacher, Miss Ashley, was sweet and encouraging. It was also fun that his buddies Owen and Noah were in there with him. According to the teacher, he has not qualified to move up to the next level of swimming, but he's making improvements. He had fun, either way. :)

As a way to celebrate their last day of class, the kids got to go on the big water slide. Isaac was proud and went down at least 3 times.

Fall Cell Phone Memories

Abigail is enjoying her tumbling class. Isaac goes along with us and helps her. Today, he was holding her had on the balance beam. When she stumbled, he said, "It's okay Abigail. Just get back on and try again. You're doing a great job!" It was so sweet, and he is really working on building his sister up. She was really thankful for him and was really proud that she got faster and didn't fall off the next few times. When he was helping her or encouraging her, she replied with a sweet, "Thank you, Isaac."

Man, I LOVE these kids!!!

The little pictures include some moments I cared enough to capture on my cell phone. The highlights include: Fall scooter time, Isaac and baby Aubree, Abigail's finger injury she kept showing off, the Scooby puzzle Isaac completed with Daddy, wearing Tia Mimi's hat, and sick Isaac asleep on the couch. I just had to go back and add an old picture from Cubbies too. Isaac is standing next to his 3 best buddies in there: Jessie, Johnny and Claire. There is also a classic picture with Kian at Costco (the place where the mommies always run into each other). If you look really close, you can see the pic of Isaac trying to "slay the dragon" pinata at Cambria's Sleeping Beauty birthday party (even tough they used a wooden sword, that overly strong dragon just wouldn't give in, having to finally be annialited by Cliff, Cambria's daddy).

A Thankful Evening

"giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"
Eph 5:20

Tonight we made leaves with Daddy and talked about all the things we are thankful to God for. It was such a sweet time. Some of the things on the list were God, hope, forgiveness, Daddy's job, eyes, hands, a cozy bed, noodles, our marriage, family, friends, our health, birthday parties, princesses, balloons (which Daddy brought home from one of his signs for work...we are helping the environment by reusing them before he pops them and throws them away), the sun, and smelly pens (which the kids were using to color with).

I love the fall in the NW. The fire, soup, colors, sweaters and scarfs...

The night was topped off by wrestling, a game of hide & go seek in the dark with flashlights, snuggle time with the newly checked out pile of books from the library (I hear Daddy reading the Beagle book right now...as Isaac keeps interjecting to explain the differences between them and Chihuahuas). God has given me such a WONDERFUL family! Help me not forget how blessed I am. Lord, please help me not to take them for granted or forget to be thankful for my fantastic life.

Baby Loves Disco

Moments to treasure:
*The kids use toy cell phones to talk to each other in the back seat of the van. They laugh and plan what they will be doing that day (they haven't started texting yet).
*Abigail has a toy Mad Hatter that she calls Uncle Justin (because that was the costume Justin made himself for Halloween this year). She cracks up as she yells, "Hey Uncle Justin, why are you wearing make-up? Is your hat barking? Where is Chowder (the dog that we joke is hiding in the big hat)?
*Isaac's new plan for his future: Moving to California, to a remote part on a big cliff where he plans to build a house with a long path of stairs down (and a house for Abigail next door). He plans to be a Realtor and sell houses for Centex (because Arbor Custom Homes is only in Oregon). His plans are to marry Aubree, but he now considers Kayla (and Claire is back in the running).
*In his nearer future: On his 10th birthday he expects his Uncle Justin to buy him a Chihuahua (because he insist that Chihuahuas are only in Mexico or Folsom, CA).

Now to our busy Saturday...The day started with the kids going to build periscopes at Lowe's. They love hiding behind things and yelling, "I can see you! Can you see me?" I don't think either of them are going to be spies or do well at undercover ops.

From there, we drove to Portland and hopped on the Max train. Isaac met a helper dog at the station who was "working," so Isaac couldn't pet him. It was really sweet when the man took his collar off to give the dog a "break." The dog knows that he is off duty when his special collar is off, so Isaac was allowed to pet him then. It was really sweet of the man to consider him. The kids laughed and talked to all sorts of people on the train. I was also very proud of Isaac who stayed close to me on the crowed train and the streets of Portland full of tourists and holiday shoppers. He is growing up! (We did this whole venture without a stroller, in the rain).

Our train venture took us to Baby Loves Disco (which was being hosted for free by H&M as a promo for their new store opening). It is pretty hilarious to see a real DJ and party host (who were 100X better than some of the DJs in Vegas) rocking out with a bunch of little kids. They were gettin' their groove on. Though Isaac is not a "natural," he was out there on the dance floor with passion. He can jump, follow instructions, shake when he needs to and do "cool moves" (which usually means standing on one leg). Abigail has much more rhythm, but was a little overwhelmed by the big crowd and kept getting her eyes fixed on the DJ. The kids also got their faces painted (Isaac sweetly asked for his snake to be purple so his sister would like it).

After all this, the kids went with me to wander around IKEA (which was my "fun" for the day). We finished the day picking up daddy from work and shopping at Costco where we enjoyed some fine food, hotdogs. Of course my kids have days where I don't think I am going to survive being their mom for one more minute; today was not one of those days. I was so thankful and proud of them. I appreciated their obedience, flexibility, stamina, joyful attitudes, belly laughs, ease and ability to make conversations with strangers, inquisitiveness as we passed interesting things on the train and just the fact that they are mine. I know the fun of being a grandparent is that you get to love them and send them back. Today I was especially thankful that they got to go home with me. I love these two precious ones that God has entrusted me to mother. It is an honor for which I am truly thankful!!!

Getting Out of the House

After a few days of sickness/candy overload (which forced us to be inside with fevers and too many dog movies), we got out of the house. We went for a leaf hunt on scooters. Isaac had a touching moment today that needed to be recognized. When Abigail was scared on a big hill, Isaac dropped his scooter, ran back up to his sister, and slowly pulled her down. Her fears turned into laughter, and she left safe with her big brother there.

I am thankful for my friend, Christina, who is just as(if not more so) spontaneous as I am. I get a call at 2 that she is headed over to the free night at the Children's Museum. By 4 we are there together and having a blast. Every time we go, the kids' interests are a little different. This time Alora was so nurturing at the play vet. She was toting around her dog, bathing it, giving it shots and performing surgery. Isaac was with Elijah, favorites being the trains and the dig pit (at which we had many lessons on sharing and responding well to other children who are screaming very loudly).

The moments I cherished today were Isaac drawing a train on my forehead with steam billowing up into my hair, and seeing Abigail draw on her face so intently looking at herself in the mirror.
I had to take a picture of this bag! When the other three kids were building, my independent girly-girl found a purse. She gingerly walked all around the room picking up building parts. She managed to sift though all the multicolored parts to collect a purse full of "purple treasure."
If you say that you have a girl who likes purple, I bet my girl likes it more than yours! ;)

Isaac Wants to be a Photographer like Daddy

Isaac has been accompanying Daddy on some of his photography jobs. He has been inspired to take pictures himself. We were surprised to find what we did when we recently downloaded pictures...we didn't know it, but Isaac was hard at work too!

***The one of Chris' face, we knew he took. He said, "Dad, I even tilted it to make your head look more turned!"