Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time visiting my sister Tatsia and brother-in-law Mark for thanksgiving at their new home in Sun River, Oregon. Here are some highlights:

We played a lot of Wii

I made some mashed potatoesHere's the three cooks (my mom, my sister and me!)

Ruby wasn't a big fan of the animatronic Santa Just Cute!

We hung with Jason and Hannibal

Auntie Tatsia read Ruby a book
Isn't she precious?

There wasn't much snow but we went up to the mountain and found some!
The date stamp on these photos is wrong - anyone know how to take it off?

Thanksgiving was wonderful - can't wait till next year!

Twilight

I'm finally getting around to posting my thoughts on our crazy midnight movie going madness that was Twilight. I had a great time but I think what made it so great was the sheer craziness of attending a midnight showing of a teeny-bopper movie with about twenty friends. While the screaming and giggling from the preteens at various points during the movie was annoying, it also made the fact that I was at a midnight showing real. Twilight itself was cute but I definitely need to see it again as I kind of feel like it was all a dream.

The worst part of it all was that while I got home around 2:30am from the movie, I didn't fall asleep until 6:00 am and only for a half hour. I've never suffered from insomnia but the little taste I've been getting of it lately has not been fun. But, I bet that won't stop me from going to the next midnight showing when New Moon comes out.

Roseola

That is what Ruby has. It started Friday with a super high fever that just came out of nowhere. And now the fever has broken and she has a rash all over her body. She has definitely been a trooper - the best sick baby I've ever seen. Its transmitted through saliva, and since we all know how much Ruby is drooling these days, that could mean that everyone around has been infected. Luckily, people over 3 years old usually never get it. So, sorry to all you moms whose children have interacted with Ruby in the last week or so. If you child gets a high fever you know who to blame.

Crawling

Yup! Ruby is finally crawling! It's still a slow crawl so my life isn't turned upside down quite yet. Isn't this picture adorable? She was coming to get me (and the camera). I'm so proud of my baby girl!

Hyper

Yesterday one of Nathan's 16 year old brothers (he's a twin) came over with his girlfriend for dinner and games. It was really fun but it made me realize how not a teenager I am anymore. Elisha, Jesse's girlfriend, was adorable and was really excited about the lightning storm and she ended up saying something to the effect of "I am so hyper right now!" I was like, "whoa, how long has it been since I was "hyper"?" I'm pretty sure in junior high and high school I said that phrase often. I have memories of trying to drink as much Mountain Dew as possible to get even more hyper and stay up all night with my friends. Now I just look back on those times and think, "why didn't I sleep when I could? Now all I want to do is sleep."

So I'm not sure when the last time was that I considered myself "hyper" but it has not been in at least the last five years or so. If getting older doesn't take it out of you then being a parent certainly does - I have no extra energy to be hyper with.

At least I'm ok with not being hyper - I'll settle for genuinely content and peaceful any day.

Great Expectations

It was really amazing to usher in the announcement of the new president with life group on Tuesday night. We just finished praying for the leaders of our nation when we were told to turn on the tv to see our new president giving his acceptance speech. Since then I've been struck by the urge to pray for our leaders, especially Obama. He has a hard road ahead and such great expectations from the American people.

But I think that is what worries me as well. On Sunday night Dan spoke on the Political Elephant in the church and reminded us that our hope is not in the president or the government. Our hope is in God! So when I see people on tv crying with joy with the news of Obama's win, when I see Oprah wearing a "Hope Won" shirt for her election special, when I read remarks of "now everything is different" - I worry. People are entitled to their optimism - I'm optimistic too. I look forward to the change that will come from new leadership, but I feel like I'm also being realistic about it. Obama has huge challenges ahead of him- a $5.6 trillion deficit, an economy in the slumps, a war in Iraq to get out of, terrorists in Afghanistan to go after, a health care system in crisis... So, yes, there will be change. But it won't come quickly, not the way our bureaucratic government works. I hope people understand that but more than that I hope they turn to Jesus as their saviour and not expect a man to do what only Jesus can.

We Voted!

Yes, I did ask a poll worker to take a photo of Ruby and I in front of the polling booth. Dorky, yes. But I had to capture the memory. I hope I can teach Ruby the importance of being an informed and active citizen and it starts now.

One observation from today: why don't they require i.d. to vote? I asked if they would like to see my license as I stepped up to sign in and they said, "no, we'll take your word for it" and gave a little laugh. That's fine- I'm all for trusting people- but in this day of voter fraud scares wouldn't you think that showing i.d. would be a basic fraud prevention method? I mean I could have said I was anyone and be hitting up all the polling places placing fraudulent votes for whomever I wanted. Sure, it's highly unlikely, but I'm sure it's been done. Oh well.

Happy Election Day everyone!