Steve Faehner's Surprise (Almost) 40th Bday Weekend (Click on picture to enlarge)

Hollie did a fantastic job of pulling off a surprise birthday celebration weekend for Steve who is (almost) turning 40 (in December). It was wonderful to be with these old friends again and to see our kids enjoying each other as well. It was a memorable weekend for sure!

Sabrina learns to ski

We tried once at the end of last summer, but she got her courage up to try again this weekend at the river for Steve's 40th bday party. She popped right up this time! Notice Nate's (not so) encouraging comments?!

May 09 / Haiti Mission Trip

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The Disgruntled Graduate

Nate was not a happy camper when he arrived at preschool and had to wear a graduation cap and gown for the ceremony which he absolutely refused to participate in (other than being a "line leader" while each other child performed their own individual songs). Oh well. The middle picture is how I'll remember that day!

Nate's 5th Bday

Nate had a fishing birthday party with his friends/family on the weekend, followed by breakfast in bed, Chuck E. Cheese, and Chick-Fil-A on his actual bday, along with cupcakes at school, and a steak dinner at home at his request the day after.

Spring Break in Florida

40th bday celebrations in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our day started out with GREEN egg omlettes (with green spinach too) and ended on a sweet note with the kids making cloverleaf cookies. Hope everyone had a HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

The kids try skiing for the first time at WISP near Deep Creek Lake, Md

Kids learn to ski

We took the kids to WISP near Deep Creek Lake on Sunday to learn to ski - they had lessons 1/2 day then tried out their skills on a few different hills. They had a blast!

Football fans on Superbowl Sunday

On a warm February day, Dave took the kids fishing.

My not-so-Filipino kids in their traditional Filipino shirt ("barong tagalog") and dress for International day at church

February 2009

December 2008

We went ice skating on Saturday night with the Rooneys and Turners at Reston Town Center.

One of our family traditions at Christmas time is to decorate a gingerbread thing...house, tree...this year it was a train!

Sabrina & I went to see the Nutcracker at the Weinberg Center in Frederick, this is a childhood tradition of mine and Sabrina's 5th year going.

Joseph's Tree

The Turners gave us a tree to plant in honor of their son Joseph's dedication to the Lord. We look forward to watching Joseph and his tree grow!

Christmas comes to the Tejeda Family

Our friends, the Tejedas, told us they don't really decorate for Christmas or put up a tree, so we played ELVES brought Christmas to them instead! The kids had a ball and the Tejedas were so surprised!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

DRUMM FAMILY

Our family's favorite show is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which recently came to the area to build a house for a family with an autistic child. Together with our friends Ashley & Joshua Rooney, we were able to see some of the process and even one of the designers, Didiayer Snider. The kids had a ball and took home tee shirts as a memento which they now wear for our weekly viewing of the show. Sabrina's pink shirt is hard to read but says "Move that bus!" The show is scheduled to air in January - it is the DRUMM FAMILY in Chambersburg, PA. Watch for us in the crowd when the teachers are being interviewed, we were standing right next to them.

Cutting our Christmas Tree Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving 2008

My family from Columbus (Ryans and Chuctas) came to spend about 5 days with us over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Pictures:

Nate, the Grouchy Pilgrim

Gram & Grandad

Kids ready for football and pumpkin pie!

Sabrina's 8th Bday Japanese Tea Party/Sleepover

On the way to Mt. St. Helens

Nate was severely disappointed that we did not get to go down IN to the volcano. Then when I told him we had to go back to Portland to catch our flight which was in 3 hours, he ran around telling people that the volcano was coming in 3 minutes. Crazy boy.