2008 UPDATE

Sorry I haven't updated the site for a while. I'm not even sure if anyone's looking at it. But it will be a great way of journaling none-the-less. :-) Christmas was FANTASTIC! Although Brian and I are both unemployed right now, we were and are incredibly blessed. We had so many people helping and so many blessings from everywhere. The Lord is GREAT! We went to lots of parties and get-togethers and ate til are clothes didn't fit anymore. heehee :-D
A few things that happened lately are:
Brian and Dad (aka Grandpa Leder) started to get our closet fixed. It had a lot of mold and dry rot. So we ripped it all out and luckily it was contained in just the closet and not the whole bedroom. We actually discovered it about last April 2007. But it's been a slow process containing the mold and getting the money for supplies. Brian and Dad got all the dry rot out and put in new wood and sheet rock. It smells like a new house. It's so great. It looks so pretty too with the new sheet rock. Now we just need to do the mud and tape and texture and we have a brand new closet. We've been sleeping in the office which isn't too private and now we're ready to move back in to the bedroom. We also ripped up all the carpet in April and have been living on the concrete subfloor. I guess it's not the prettiest but it sure is a lot cleaner than the carpet we had in here. We're going to put all hardwood (laminate) and just do area rugs. It will really cut down on Micaela's allergies. We'll be doing that in the Spring.
Also, I (Sara) started to go back to school. It's pretty fun. I'm only taking a math class right now but I'm glad that I started out slow. Math's pretty tough for me so I needed to focus on just that. Brian's a wonderful tutor and really knows his math. He's stays patient with me and helps A LOT! I'm really having fun with it and my teacher is really good. He's been teaching Math for almost 40 years and still really enjoys it. He's very helpful and willing to stay after class to help too. I'm also starting to train for a 1/2 marathon that's coming up in May. For about the last 4 years I've wanted to do a marathon. It's been a life goal I set and now I get to train for it. I'm doing it with Rebecca. She actually got started on her training in October and I just found out a couple weeks ago. I was so excited and it didn't take much for her to talk me into it. I'm way or should I say "weigh" out of shape. But it's been fun getting into a routine of workouts and walking. Rebecca said that I don't have to run, but I've been practicing a little. I can make it about a block. It's pretty good and my body actually likes it. But my lungs don't. I guess I better get some cardio/pulmonary aerobics going. But I'm really excited about the marathon. It's 13.1 miles exactly 1/2 a marothon. So we'll see how it goes. I'm also playing volleyball on Wed. nights and it's been really nice getting back into that after 12 years. I've always loved it and now I'm finally acting on my dream to play again. It's just for fun right now and maybe I'll join a team in the future. But it's great exercise too.
Brian's considering going to school too and would like to become a CPA. He's always thought about accounting but never had the desire to go to school. But now it's more appealing and becoming a CPA would be more secure. He's still looking for a job so if anyone has any suggestions, we're open.
Micaela's still really loving school and really wants to play soccer. For the next 3 months her school has some after school activities on Tues and Thurs. Her Tues class is about rock climbing and her thurs class is about sports which includes soccer. So it will introduce her to the sport and others too. Ever since she could pick out a ball to play with it's been soccer. She's always noticed anything and everything if it has to do with soccer. So we want to get her in while she's still passionate about it. She has noticed that we don't have jobs right now and she seems to be ok with it. She knows we're looking and that we want to go to school too and she's pretty excited. She's getting so grown up and loves being a girl. She loves nailpolish, hair ribbons, makeup and clothes. It's pretty fun.
So as you can see, we're into a lot of adventures right now. We're still hoping to eventually move to Montana one day, but it may be farther out than we hoped. Plus, we really love Canby and all that comes with it. It will be hard to leave. So for now, Montana will be a distant dream and we'll keep on moving forward. Thanks for all your love, support and prayers. We look forward to hearing from all of you soon.
Love, Sae

Baby Logan Born Dec. 29, 2007

This is a bit late on the posting but I wanted to let everyone know that Baby Logan James was born on Dec. 12, 2007 to Aunt Sherree and Uncle Tony. Logan's arrival came about 11 days early but Mom and Baby are doing GREAT! He was 8lbs 13oz and 21 inches long. We are so excited to have him here and welcome him to the family. He joins Robyn (14), and Natalie (1). Congratulations! :-)

BABY OWEN IS BORN!

Congratulations to our Brother Neil and his wife Kathryn. Owen Robert was born today at 12pm. He's 8lbs 11oz and 21" long. We're very excited and proud to have a new little nephew. Just in time for Christmas. What a great blessing.
---Sae! :-)

December 12, 2007

Christmas is closing in and the excitement is building. Every time there's a new gift under the tree Micaela gets more excited. It's pretty fun. Since she's 6 this year it's even more fun because she's really anticipating the GREAT DAY! We have an Advent calendar that's helping her count down the days. Brian's still looking for a job and just found out that Canby's Washington Mutual decided to go with someone else :-( It was a big bummer but we'll just have to keep looking. My back's getting much stronger and I'll soon start taking shifts at a nursing agency called MSN. It will help at least for now.
I went to a church activity last night for women called Enrichment Night and it was so wonderful. We watched a program by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with special guest Sissel. She is so Angelic! She's not LDS but was invited in to do a program with them. Brian and I looked her up later on YouTube and she's got a few fun things on there. She's got the most crystal clear voice I've ever heard. I'll probably put a link to her on the site as well. www.sissel.net So, thanks to all the women who put on the party last night. It was very memorable.
We're really looking forward to the Leder Family Christmas party on the 22nd. Terrance and Christina will be coming from Tacoma and staying with us for a few days. They're very excited to come see the family. It's been about 5 months since they've been here so it's going to be great to see them. We finally got our Christmas cards ordered from Costco and will be sending those out this week. We were just going to have some prints done and then put them in the cards that I've had in storage since last year. But it was about the same price to order the fancy ones from Costco. So that's coming soon.
I look forward to hearing from all of you and hope you all have a great holiday season. I'll make another post soon.
Love, Sae! :-)

Getting Started

Welcome to my new blog spot! This will be a fun way to stay updated and see my family and our pics. I sure hope that you enjoy it. We are doing really well. Nothing too exciting. Brian's still looking for a job and I'll probably work for a nursing agency while he's looking. I hurt my back in Nov but I'm much better now. Micaela's in 1st grade and loving every minute of it. She's sad that there's weekend or holiday breaks because she just wants to go to school. It's really fun to watch her learn and grow. We've been getting ready for Christmas and put our tree up on Dec 1st. It's simple but beautiful. We were blessed to be able to afford some Christmas lights for the front of our house and we put those up on the 1st as well. It's been fun having Brian home and we seem to get a lot of projects done while he's here. He's a hard worker and once he gets started he wants to finish. It's very motivating. He was a true lifesaver last month when I couldn't get out of bed. Very loving, helpful and a great caregiver. I've been very lucky and blessed lately with all kinds of love and friendship. The Lord is so great and has blessed us in all areas of our lives. I went to my friend Margaret's last night for a Bunco Party and it was a BLAST! It was a Ladies Night and it was so much fun. Margaret's a new friend from here in Canby and we met this summer when I bought some stuff from here off of CraigsList. It's been so fun getting to know her and her family and now her other friends too. There should definitely be a Ladies Night every month. It was something to look forward to and now a great memory. Thanks Margaret! I'll be planning one soon. All-in-all we are doing really well. Planning and preparing and help from others is getting us through. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!