Card Party

A few weeks gathered at my parents house to play a little cards.   My mom served some yummy cheesey snacks. 

First we played GOLF.  This is a fun game that we like to play.  We can play for as long or as short a time as we like.  Each round is pretty fast.  I believe it is called called GOLF because you play 9 or 18 rounds.   We started here so we could play while we waited for everyone to arrive. 

Once everyone was here, we pulled out a new game that Kelsey has introuduced to us, FLUXX.  This is a special deck of cards.  It is a game with rules that always change.  I think it makes it exciting, you never know what is going to happen, and it is more about luck than strategy.

Next we played PASS THE ACE.  I know this is not a new game, but it was new to us.  Sarah taught us how to play.  It was fun and easy and I think we may start playing it :)

Finally we played NERTZ.  This is a family game for us, and a favorite.  It is a very fast paced game.   It is kind of like multi person solitare.  This game we play often when my moms side of the family gets together.

As you can see we enjoy a good card game!

Baby Lucy

Miss Lucy Samantha Hicks

 Lucy arrived May 27th 2014 at 3:11am.   She was 9 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long.  She is healthy,  beautiful, and very very precious!!

 Just look at this face!!  Isn't she the cutest baby you have ever seen?!

Ernie loves his new sister.

Her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Joe couldn't love her and her brother any more.  We are just so thankful that she is here and healthy and wonderful!

Christmas Tree

This weekend we headed out to White Christmas Tree Farm in Silverton for our Christmas Tree.

We went out with Joe’s parents.  We loaded up in his parents truck and all bundled up.  It was really cold, below freezing.  This was the first year I've bought a Christmas tree on a day when it wasn't raining.  It was so cold, but the ground was frozen so it wasn't muddy, which is usually my experience.

Joe cut down our tree.  I think we did pretty good picking out a tree. Chuck and his crew bundled up the tree and loaded it up in the truck for us.  We had a good time and everyone was super friendly.  

I enjoy supporting my friends and local businesses! 

https://www.facebook.com/WhiteChristmasTreeFarm 

Black Friday

I truly enjoy shopping on Black Friday.  I know many of you may think I am crazy, but I think it is fun and I have many great memories.

We would check out the ads on Thanksgiving, see who has good deals and freebies.  Friday morning my mom, my sisters and I would get up in the wee hours and head out.   We would stand in line until the store opened.  Some years we would go up to Portland to shop, which meant we needed to get up even earlier.  It was fun to go somewhere different.

It was fun to watch the people around us.  It was interesting to see who would come out this early in the morning.  We shopped, we browsed, we people watched, we drank coffee, and we would go out to breakfast after and talk about our fun morning.  I just have good memories of spending fun quality time with my mom and sisters.

On TV you see crazy people shoving other people or stealing the last item.  That isn’t what my experiences are like.  While I am sure those people are out there, we really dodn’t see it, not even in the bigger stores in Portland.  I think at the most I’ve been elbowed while trying to walk through a crowed.

This year was no different.  I left my house at 5am, yes 5am and headed to my mom’s.  When I got to her house, the house was quiet and dark.  Turns out her alarm didn’t go off, and she was still asleep.  Goodness it was about 5:15am! No time for sleeping.  I poked my head in her room and woke her up. J At about 5:30 we headed out.  We shopped for about an hour.  Then we went to breakfast.   We had a nice, early morning.  We were heading home about 8:30am.  I am usually still in my pajamas at that time.    I’m not a morning person, except on Black Friday.

I am Thankful For....

I am thankful for my husband.  He loves me for who I am and makes me feel cherished.

I am thankful for my parents, my sisters and all my family and extended family.  They are wonderful and are always there for me.

I am thankful for my friends.  I have a few really close friends who have impacted my life greatly.  I don’t know what I would do without them.  I hope I have impacted their lives in the same way.

I am thankful to be employed.  I currently have 2 jobs.  There are many people today looking for work, and am thankful that I have a job and a regular paycheck.

I am grateful that my husband is employed.  We don’t have to function on one income, we are able to both be employed and contributing to our income.

I am thankful for my kitties.  I am not really an animal person, don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but really, I love them from afar.  They are cute to look at, but I don’t want them jumping on me or licking me.  However, I do love both my kitties and appreciate their unconditional love.

I am thankful for my car.  It is something I take for granted.  I have my own car and that is reliable and gets me where I need to be whenever I want to.

I am thankful for my cell phone.  I know that may seem trivial, and I have lived without it, but it is amazing and it allows me to be available anytime.  It has saved me time and money many times.  It also allows me to be in close contact with my family.  It is truly a luxury.

I am thankful for facebook, again trivial and something I can live without.  But it has allowed me to keep in contact with old friends and acquaintances that I wouldn't have been able to keep up with.  I get to see pictures of my old friends’ kids that I would never have seen otherwise.  While it is socializing, and I check it far too often, it has been great blessing.

I am thankful for my education.  I went to school in Silverton, and graduated high school from Silverton High School and Chemeketa Community College.

I am thankful for health insurance.  There were a few years when I did not have health insurance, and that definitely helped me appreciate it now, especially with all the different health care changes going on.

I am thankful for all 4 seasons.  In Oregon we get to see spring, summer, fall, and winter.  I am thankful for warm sunny days, and wet rainy days.  We need them all!

I am thankful for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful for our blessings, and Christmas reminds us that we are not alone.  God is watching over us and Christ died for our sins so we may have eternal life.  Sometimes life gets busy and we need reminded.

La Chica Blanca

My sister Lydia (La Chica Blanca) is getting ready to head down to Mexico for 7 months for a missions trip.  She is going to a small town that our church goes to every spring break for missions trips.  Our church, plus many other First Christian Churches of Oregon helped build El Faro Orphanage and many houses in this small community.  It is a place where I have been, my sister Kelsey has been, and my Mom has been during spring break.  Lydia is going to help in any way she is needed at the orphanage.  She will come home with the spring break mission trip group at the end of March.  Please keep her and the community at El Faro in your thoughts and prayers as she starts this journey.

Here is the link to her blog that she created about her mission trip.

http://lydiarosita.wordpress.com/

Happy Birthday Ernie!

My nephew Ernie turned 2 years old this week.  I can't believe he is 2 years old already.  He is getting so big so fast.

My sisters made Ernie some very cute cakes.  He enjoys playing with balls, and kinds of balls, baseballs, basketballs, footballs.  His favorite these days has been baseball.  Here is Ernie's baseball cake...

Here is cake number two....Shaun the Sheep cake and cupcakes.  Ernie is very into a claymation cartoon about sheep.

 Kelsey and Lydia made these awesome cakes.  The sheep are so cute and yummy!!

So excited to blow out his birthday candles....so are mom and dad!!  What a cute family!!