Some softball photos

So I am head coaching the varsity softball team at Portland Christian. The team hasn't been very good in the last few years so its been quite the challenge. However, this past week we won our first league game in three years. And yesterday we won again! One of the days take pictures at the games so I thought I would share a few. Never thought I would be coaching softball but its been very fun!

Advent Christmas

For Christmas this year, Andrew and I decided to celebrate Advent. the idea is to give gifts that have a little more meaning and don't cost as much. The whole goal being to invest in the people of you life and build lasting memories instead of giving them a gift that will be used up in one shoot or maybe even never used. Then in the end we gave a percentage of our "Christmas" money to a ministry. On my side of the family we had Andrew and Rebecca's name. So for their Christmas gift we bought the ingredients for making pizza. We wanted to do something that the kids could get involved with and really make some fun memories. It was a blast! We had flour everywhere and kids created their pizzas and Rebecca even made a calzone! And believe it or not...it all tasted pretty good! Besides the amazing food, we had some great conversation with Andrew and Rebecca and played with the kids. I am really glad we decided to spend our Christmas money this way. I usually hate giving gifts because I am afraid they won't like it, but this time I couldn't wait to give our gift!

Kings River Packing Shed

My brother Andrew works as a sells rep at Kings River Packing. They grow and pack mostly citrus, such as, lemons and oranges. When we were there they were harvesting lemons. Andrew gave us the grand tour. It was very interesting all the steps that it takes to pack some lemons. It was also very neat to see how much computers are used to do the tasks. Some day we won't even need human hands to sort through the lemons. They really have a computer that scans the lemons, decides if it is a good or bad lemon and then it sorts them. So cool!! Here are some pictures from our tour. I am so proud of my brother!

Horn Christmas

Here are some of the many wonderful pictures that my sister-in-law Amy took of the Horn Christmas. We had a wonderful breakfast and Andrew and I enjoyed sitting back and relaxing as all the little ones opened their gifts. My mom and dad made gifts for all the grandkids, so you will see a few of those photos in here. We also spent a little time with our good friends, the Ellisons. They live just down the street from my parents and we have been friends since I was about 2 or 3 years old. Christmas' are a lot different now with young kids running around. But everyone did a great job and it was a wonderful morning full of tears (good tears) and lots of laughs!

Wilson Christmas

For our Christmas present this year, Mom and Dad Wilson took all of us to Disneyland! I hadn't been to Disneyland for about five years. I went with the Wilson's when Andrew and I had first started dating. We spent the night and got up early and spent all of Christmas day at the park. I had always wanted to go to Disneyland during Christmas time to see it all decorated. Us kids ran around to the rides while Mom was in charge of keeping Dad off the rides to protect his back. The rides were really fun but I think what we enjoyed the most was spending time with everyone. The park was super busy but that did not hinder us from enjoying the happiest place on earth!

One Year Anniversary!!

We did it...we survived our first year of marriage!! Although the beginning involved many changes and transitions for both of us, this year has been filled with much joy. We have so loved getting to know each other better and still continue to learn about one another. To celebrate our anniversary, Andrew surprised me and took me to The Resort at the Mountain, located just below Mt. Hood. We were hoping it would be snowing but no such luck. There was snow up there but nothing fell while we were there. It was just beautiful up there and was sooo relaxing. It amazes me that I continue to fall in love with my husband every day. I didn't think I could love him more than I did on our wedding day, but I do. He has been the best and I appreciate him so much!

Thanksgiving in Ephrata

Thanksgiving this year we were not able to head south to be with the families so we headed northeast up to Ephrata, Washington, the home of the Hepners. Our good friends Michael and Kristen invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them and Kristen's family. We had an amazing time! We did everything from shoot pumpkins, play Wii with Kristen's nephews, go to Wal-Mart, cook a turkey underground, and have awesome fellowship. We also visited Leavenworth for the day. It was all decorated for Christmas. Such a cute little town! We seriously loved every minute and felt so blessed by their hospitality. Here are a few photos from our adventure!!