Do you have any....? Go Fish!

Brian and I have recently decided to eat more fish. Although it's more expensive, it is a lot healthier. We are looking for some good prices and more importantly, good recipes for fish. We pretty much like any fish and tonight we are trying Tilapia for the first time. I'm so excited to try out this new recipe from my friend Liz. I sure can use some more ideas and your favorite kind of fish. We're steering away from too much breading but feel free to share your favorite recipe even if it includes being breaded. We are on our way to becoming much healthier and our kids are on board as well as they like salads and fish too. This is a summer of "firsts" and so we're trying out fish (home cooked) for the first time. YEAH!

So give me all of your fish ideas....so I can say "FISH FISH I GOT MY WISH!" :-D

I have a BLOG?

I actually forgot that I had a blogspot blog! I was reading some updates on a blog of a friend this morning and remembered that I had one too....how weird is that?!? I actually had to try to remember & find what my blog name was. I've decided that the name of my blog is not very catchy or cute....so I'm taking a vote or suggestions of what you all think it should be. Also, can I just change the name or would I have to start a whole new blog? I'm not sure.

So much has happened in the last 15 months since my last update, that I'm really not sure where to begin.

Micaela is almost 10 and has FINALLY decided to get her ears pierced...LOL! I just kept teasing her about it because I would get such an elevated reaction. But she saw some cute earrings the other day on another girl and decided it was time. She just finished the 4th grade with outstanding grades and effort. She is an A-mazing big sister and wonderful daughter that is always....well, usually always...willing to help. She's really looking forward to these long summer days that she's been promised but we're waiting on the weather....haha!

William (Liam) turned 2 in April and is the CUTEST baby EVER! He makes me laugh every day and is adored by all who see him. He is a true love bug although he doesn't really like to cuddle. He's always ready with hugs and kisses. He is a true BOY who loves to run and play and get dirty. He loves tractors, cars, airplanes, and trains. His long curly hair and big brown eyes are what usually save him from getting into too many time outs :-) He loves and adores his Sissy and always misses her when she's gone to school or at a friends house. He's brave and adventurous, as is Micaela, and that makes for some fun family activities and memories.

Brian and I are both going to school, although we have taken the summer off. Brian is studying Mechanical Engineering and I am going to Major in Marine Geology and get my teaching certificate. School has been an amazing and wonderful adventure that has made us want to experience so many more things. This summer we are training (with the help of our personal trainer, Evelena Powlison) for a 60 mile hike in August. Since January I have lost almost 25 lbs and Evelena is now helping us with muscle strength and toning. We have been going on walks nearly every day and hikes on Saturdays. We are also looking forward to traveling to the Oregon Caves, Malheur Wildlife Refuge, Ape Caves, Mt. Rainier, learning Rock Climbing, bike riding, and eventually being strong enough to start doing P90X. We are so excited to learn everything we can and have our family right there learning with us. Our kids are amazing and love to learn and we are really looking forward to all of our adventures with them.

I will do my best to keep things updated on here and I will not forget....I mean, I will remember, that I have a BLOG! I'm not the best story teller, but at least it will be fun to do some journaling on here and hear from everyone else too.

Until Tomorrow......

Sae! :-D

Where Does The Time Go?

I can't believe it's been 7 months since I updated my Blog! Sorry Y'all. I've had several requests to get this done & I either didn't have time or didn't remember. ALOT has happened. 1st of all, we had a really great summer. We visited with family, made strawberry jam, went camping...all of the fun stuff of summer. We also celebrated Mic's 8th b'day. This was an awesome milestone since she got to be baptized on Sept 12th. It was a great day. The day was SUPER busy. We had a primary activity in the morning, followed by a soccer game, then off to her baptism & finally back to the house for a big party & BBQ. It was great.

One of my greatest accomplishments was coaching Mic's soccer team. I didn't have a clue about soccer, but they were going to cancel her team if they didn't find a coach. So I volunteered. I learned SO much. Mic was already signed up for a soccer summer camp & the coaches were so awesome. They let me ask so many questions & also gave good references of where to find more info. I read books, pamphlets, ordered lesson movies from Netflix and watched soccer games on TV. I really wanted to be a good coach, so I was really doing my research. I ended up with an AMAZING asst. coach who really knew the game. He was so helpful & taught me a lot. The girls were even more AMAZING & truly loved being there. Our team was just AWESOME! We were a U9 team of 10 girls and our name was The Destroyers. We won about 2/3rds of our games & the girls especially loved the after-game snacks :-) I was sad to see the season end but I'm anxious to get started again next year. They did ask me if I wanted to be the Soccer Coordinator, but i turned it down. Right now I just want to coach. Since I really want to get my Teaching Degree and can't got to school right now, this really filled my desire for teaching.

Mic's getting anxious to start soccer as well. She's signed up in Basketball right now & enjoys it but would rather be playing soccer :-D it's her passion.

On the 1st of Sept. we moved to Aurora and are renting from Matt & Ev. We really love our new home and our new ward at church. We miss Canby like CRAZY but we seem to be adjusting here as well. We're not overly thrilled about the school, but we're doing the best we can. Mic's had a hard time adjusting to all the new people, teachers & programs. but we're slowly integrating & learning how to work with everyone & everything.

William (Liam) is doing GREAT! He's almost 10 months now & learning like crazy. He's doing the army crawl but would much rather be walking. He's pulling himself up to a standing position as much as possible. If the chair will slide across the floor then he walks with it. He's already said a few words. his 1st word was Bye Bye as he waved. He also says Mama, Dada, Off & of course SCREAMS when he doesn't get his own way. He has 6 teeth now & loves chewing on everything. I entered him into a baby contest on Live with Regis & Kelly so be sure to vote for him on March 1st. ;-)

In October we took our annual family vacation to Wildlife Safari in Roseburg. We stayed in a fun hotel with a pool, went to the Safari, 4 covered bridges, 2 museums, 2 parks, a town festival and Build & Grow at Lowe's. It was a super fun vacation & I would definitely recommend Wildlife Safari. Even if you're just going to make it a day trip. So many animals and you get to drive around at your own pace. They also have their "Village" that you can walk around. They have a cafe, gift shop & lots of other animals to walk around & look at, including a petting zoo. We had a great time.

Our holidays were totally awesome. No drama & no stress. I made sure of it. I just stayed relaxed & then so did everyone else. We went to lots of parties, saw lots of family and I even learned how to make a quilt. ;-)

Brian & I are doing well. He's looking for new work that pays better & has a better working environment. If you hear of anything just let us know. I'm blessed to be a stay at home mom but I do have a couple of clients for my Home Care business. If you know of anyone looking for home care, cleaning, transportation, etc., feel free to give them my number. We're making friends & enjoying our callings (jobs) at church. Brian teaches the 14 yr old class in Sunday School & I'm the music leader in Primary. He's also a Ward Missionary & I also get to work with the 8 & 9 yr old girls for Activity Days.

We celebrated our 13th anniversary in January and we're more in love than ever. We're looking forward to eternity together.

We have fun plans for 2010 and so I hope to keep this updated more often. Sorry about the long wait. I hope you're all doing well & that your families are safe & sound. Let us know how you are
doing and if there is anything we can do for you. We also LOVE having people over to dinner or movies. Just let us know when you're available.

~Sae :-D

p.s. We also got a dog name Myah. She's Border Collie/German Shepherd. She's the same age as Liam and it's fun having another "baby" in the house. It's been a fun learning experience. We've been able to watch Dog whisperer & learn fun ways to keep her "calm-submissive" ;-) She's really a great dog. Very obedient, loving and, my favorite part, she chases cats :-P

May & some of June

I can't believe that William's 2 months old already! Time's really flying by. We are all so in love with him and enjoying every moment. Even interupted sleep isn't too bad because I know I get to hold him. He's so wonderful and we're all so grateful for him.

We've done a lot of fun things this last month. We:

Welcomed William with a GREAT babyshower. It was hosted by my amazing cousin Dori. Thanks Dori!



Amy's amazing Train cake for William!

Ev and Liam kicking back after his baby shower.

William's (Liam) baby blessing. 4 out of 8 in this pic are named William. Isn't that funny? :-) L to R: Uncle T, Bill Knowlden, Daddy w/William, Grandpa Leder, Uncle Bil Morrill, Cousin Bill Leder, Bishop Porter.

Nana & Liam

Liam sleeping after a rough day at church :-)

William in the gorgeous blessing gown that Nana made.

Liam being reverent at Samuel's baptism

Aislyn, Samuel & Micaela at Samuel's baptism

Me with gorgeous Rebecca.

3 pretty ladies. Sara, Julia & Bec. Notice Bil in the background being silly :-)

Samuel with Mom & Dad (Bec & Andrew)

Samuel w/Nana & Grandpa

Happy Family @ Samuel's baptism

We celebrated Memorial Day Weekend with Rebecca & Julia's families. It was so nice and a much needed vacation for Brian. We started out with shopping in Cottage Grove and back to Julia's for pizza for dinner. Then on Memorial Day we had a picnic and horse rides at Bec's new horse boarding barn. It was so gorgeous that day and we all had a nice and relaxing time.
Bec leading Mic on Jackie

TJ playing in the field of grass

Tristan on his favorite ride!

All the kids playing in the pond. Mic had her reservations about it though

Everyone Kickin' back

Mic finally got in the water and loved it.

Me & my sleeping beauties

It was Bec's b'day too so we sang her the birthday song and gave her the human birthday card. You just say "happy birthday" :-)

Me and B. What a beautiful couple! :-)

The cousins: Samuel, William, Lilian, Tristan, Micaela, Savannah, Georgia, TJ & Aislyn.

Sisters at the farm. Bec, Julia, Me

Mic @ swim lessons given to all 2nd graders in the school district. She loved it which was a HUGE accomplishment since she's terrified of water.

Graduated from swimmer's 1 class. YEAH!

Liam's 1st fishing trip. The whole day was free fishing. You didn't need a license. We went to Promatory Park and fished in Small Fry Lake. It's a lake stocked just for kids. It was so so so much fun. We had a blast! We caught 8 fish between our two families and we look forward to our dinner together of fish and chips :-) This day was put on by Clackamas County Fish and Wildlife. They had a hot dog lunch provided and activities, aside from fishing, for the kids. It was a great day! Great memories with Great friends!

Mic's 1st fishing trip too.

Fishing Lesson from Uncle BJ (Bill Knowlden)

Fishing lesson from Uncle BJ

Daddy helping Mic

Mic's 1st fish. YEAH!

Fish Art provided by Clackamas County Fish and WildLife Dept.

Mic, Kyle, Shaylee with the fish

Mic, Kyle, Shaylee, Isaac with our fish

Mom and Mic fishing together

Best Buds Michelle & Me

Best Buds BJ & B

What a GREAT day!

These pics are from the Grad Party for Daro and Taryn and there friends Matthew and Sebastiao (Ev's foreign exchange student). It was so much fun and there was tons of food and I ate WAY too much and made myself sick. But it was worth it. :-)

Ev & Me

Taryn & Ev

Emma & Mic

Taryn & her Mommy Mel & Liam

The BEST cake on earth! I don't even like cake but when they do the frosting out of cheesecake I'll eat way too much! It was sooooo...GOOD!

One of the baskets I made for the guests of honor for there cards that people brought. The frame had their pics and their names around the edge. It actually turned out totally cute but the pic's not that great. It was fun making them and they were very affordable. Everything from the dollar tree! My favorite store!

Daro with Grandpa

Nana with Taryn