I am officially bowing out of the blogging world for a time. There are just too many other things pulling my direction- (namely one Chinese princess begging for my time ;)), Colombian boys to enjoy, car pools to drive, Bible Studies to prepare, flowers to plant, walks to take, books to read, projects to finish (story of my life)...

I will keep the page and try every so often to post some picts of our family. But at least now that I've said "NO" to the blog voices inside my head, I will rid it of the unnecessary guilt for not posting. Now at least I will walk past the computer and have no "to do" list there!

If you need me or want picts or want to know what's going on in our lives, CALL ME! (or email!) Love you all- Gretchen

This One's for Elly (and her mom!)

Mia and I went shopping last week. That is, in our garage. You see, when I get "the urge" to spend $ on cute little girl clothes for this Chinese princess, all I have to do is take a walk out to my garage. I pick one of about 12 huge bins, labeled with her size, and go to town. Thanks to Elly (who sends me all of her girls' hand-me-downs), I need to spend on average $0. for her clothing budget. Oh man, does Kenton love it. I think he's even willing to trade all that garage space for such a small clothing bill! :) We found this DARLING handmade robe, made by Elly's mom. I'm sure her kids (white hair, blue eyes) looked a little different in it. We love you, Elly! Thanks for all the goods!

Bye Bye Brown Tooth!

PTL! Samuel's "brown tooth" has gone to the tooth fairy's castle!!! We have been waiting since he was about 3 years old, when he bumped that tooth on something. Eventually, it turned brown and looked nasty. The dentist told us to wait it out. I could barely stand it. Well, it FINALLY started to wiggle just a little. Samuel unfortunately let his brother "feel" how loose it was. Last week, in the back of the car, we heard the blood curdling scream. Isaac succeeded in the extraction just like every big brother dreams of. Samuel (who is unbelievably the BEST at screaming loud at the sight of blood) was a little bumbed, though. After all, that was the last hold out for him to be a "real" pirate. Now he just has to "fake it".

Just when I was going to give up...

Just when I was about to sign off from blogging forever...
Maybe if I promise myself to post every month. Ha. I just don't see how you all do it! I find NO TIME to sit down at the computer. Anyway, now I have a few great things to post, so here goes:

Here is a picture of our fun last weekend. We hosted two teenage boys (Timothy & Jamil) from the country of Uganda. They are from the Matsiko Children's Choir which is touring the United States this year. SUCH FUN! Although they ate chicken like it was going out of style (I think where they're from it isn't out of style, just out of reach...), and graham crackers by the box, these kids were such a wonderful inspiration for our family. Most of the choir are "true orphans" with no living parents at all. Unbelievable stories. I asked Jamir, the 17 yr. old, where the choir lives since many have no parents. He said they all moved into the pastor's house. (Imagine 30 children!) I then asked how many children could fit into our 2000 SF home. (Kenton and I discuss this VERY regularily...) He looked around and repied, "Oh. Probably about a hundred and fifty..." He was totally serious. I said, "Do you mean a hundred and fifteen (like that makes any difference)?" He said, "no. a hundred and fifty." OKAY, LORD...I'm getting the picture! I'm just imagining all that chicken!

chicks weekend.

I can't believe how fast these 2 weeks have flown by! Last weekend I spent 4 days at a "girlfriends retreat" in Spokane. I have 3 of the dearest friends from college, Kristina, Margie, and Elly. Go NPU Vikings! We all used to be on the North Park dance team together. (Okay, just kidding) We get together about once every couple of years and pick up right where we left off. We spent 4 days of sitting and talking, sitting and talking, sitting and talking. These girls are such a blessing in my life! We discuss things WAY TOO IN DEPTH, get stomach workouts from all the laughing & Kristina even treated us to massages (I mean she paid :)). Oh I feel refreshed! :) Two accomplishments for the weekend: talked a lot and got out of the house to go to TJ Maxx. We accomplished both! Here's to being forty-something.... (well, not quite, but awfully close!)

Thanks, Megan!

Thanks, Megan for the new bloglook! This girl is so thoughtful. Megan is my good friend, not to mention our fabulous youth pastor! She must know me pretty well, seeing that every single item in my personal wardrobe is brown or green. We are very excited because she and her family are in the process of adopting from Guatemala. We need another brownbean in the mix! I'm adding Megan's blog to our sidebar, because you all need to be praying for their family. They are getting so close to picking up their son, Max, from Guatemala. Unfortunately, as so many times with adoption, there have been a few hiccups. We are a praying for a speedy process from here on out.

Queen Latifah

As Mia and I were tooling around in the car today, we were listening to this song (hope you can hear it...) She says, "mom, is this Queen Latifah?" I almost wiped out in the car laughing so hard. Granted, we had just seen "hairspray", but where in the world????

are you ready for some bbbbbbbbasketball?

Both boys are both part of the Upward basketball program at a local church. It is hilarious and awesome all in the same breath. I first got that maternal internal worried gut when they BOTH wanted to play, seeing that "physical skills development" is sometimes an issue with our firstborn ;) Inspired only by Troy on "High School Musical", Isaac thought, "yeah. I'm pretty much as good as Troy. I want to do this." I love that about him. :) (Of course, Samuel had tuned into someone a little more obscure to emulate: Michael Jordan) The Upward program is a Christian program that is totally about encouraging and teaching great skills. Sat. p.m. we walk into the gym, the bass is pumping from a huge sound system..."Y'all ready for this?", the 9 year old cheerleaders are cheering, the announcer is announcing his name, and yeah, I thought for a minute "he IS as good as Troy." I LOVE IT!

A few words sum this up....

THREE DOLLARS at Target!!!!!!!!!! (Jon, no comments about Jon Benet...)

Just as promised...

Here we are, just as promised, 13 days later... :) Here are a few picts from our overnight trip to Portland. It was such a great family time. We took the Amtrak train (such a blast & so relaxing!) early in the morning on January 1. (Our official "Christmas vacation" began Monday, the 31st, after the pastor was finished preaching through the holidays!) We got into downtown Portland just in time for Dim Sum in Chinatown. (Here's a shout out to all you Anthony Bourdain fans out there...) We had an awesome stay at the downtown Embassy Suites (where else is there?) thanks to our Hilton Honors points (a free night makes it even more fun than ever. Thanks, Paris!). This will definitely be something we will do again. It's not Maui, but our kids thought it was just as good. Warm pool, movies in the room, huge awesome breakfast, and free "snacks" at night. ;) Anyone care to join us the next time?