Inspiration.....

Thank you Grandma Debi for this little piece of encouragement.....

The Concert

When the house lights dimmed
and the concert was about to begin,
the mother returned to her seat and
discovered that her child was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and
spotlights focused on the impressive
Steinway on stage.

To her horror, the mother saw her
little boy sitting at the keyboard,
innocently picking out
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

At that moment, the great piano
master made his entrance, quickly
moved to the piano and whispered
in the boy's ear ...
'Don't quit ... Keep playing.'

Then, leaning over , Paderewski
reached down with his left hand and
began filling in a base part.
Soon his right arm reached
around to the other side of the child
and he added a running obbligato.

Together, the old master and the
young novice transformed what
could have been a frightening
situation into a wonderfully
creative experience.

The audience was so mesmerized
that they couldn't recall what else
the great master played.
Only the classic,
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Perhaps that's the way it is with God.
What we can accomplish on our own
is hardly noteworthy. We try our
best, but the results aren't always
graceful flowing music. However,
with the hand of the Master, our
life's work can truly be beautiful.

The next time you set out to
accomplish great feats,
listen carefully. You may hear
the voice of the Master whispering
in your ear,
'Don't quit ... Keep playing!'
May you feel His arms around you
and know that His hands are there,
helping you turn your feeble attempts
into true masterpieces.
Remember, God doesn't seem
to call the equipped. Rather ...
He equips the 'called.'

Toothless @ the Hills

Finally after months of anticipation Madison's second front tooth came out. As many of you know that thing just kept hanging on. So tonight we are all going to sleep in anticipation of the tooth fairy coming for a visit. Madison is already planning a trip to the dollar store tomorrow...I guess she has not learned about the saying "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Being an Auntie.....

I love being an Auntie. I laugh because when it comes to other peoples kids I dont do so well. (volunteering in a classroom is not my gift you would say). When it comes to my nieces and nephews I am in love. I was not part of a large family growing up. My family lived far away from us and we saw them on our summer vacations.
The people who know me know that in my twenties I united with my birth family. I now have 10 nieces and nephews (and two more on the way!). Plus I have my cousin Sasha's kids who call me auntie as well (I love it!).
Hannah and Joshua - who live in california and I dont get to see often, but who have sweet spirts.
McKenzie who loves animals, loves to talk, and is so caring, creative. She is wonderful with Emma.
Cailten who is gonna kick some butt in sports and take the fashion world by storm.
Hunter who is so caring, lived with us for awhile, comes and visits me every summer and goes to camp, who is honest, very smart, and really is so sweet to Emma and Madison.
Izzy so gifted in sports, is a mother hen, loves to talk
Patience who is so funny, has the best attitude, loves her auntie
Olivia so loveable, so unique, creative, loves to cook (and the food channel), loves to have fun, enjoys life.
Jayden is a ball full of energy, has a contagious laugh, loves life, gets excited about everything, comes and visits his auntie often.
Dakota sweet lil girl. I got to be there when you were born, help with your first bath, happy, and sweet.
JJ full of enegy, watch out world he is gonna do something amazing, no matter what mood I am in when he opens the door and says "Hi Auntie Allison, I'm so glad to see you, wanna see what I did today" it melts your heart and makes it smile.
Ava what can I say she is the sweetest princess I know. So lady like, and that girl has a wonderful sense of humor.
I am excited that I have two more (nieces or nephews) comming in March 2009!
I feel a great responsibility to my neices and nephews. They will always know I would be there in a jiffy if they needed me. My house is always open (lol many of them stay with me sometimes multiple kids at once). I love it!!! I think there is nothing better than being an auntie.

Weekend at Grandma Pinkies and Grandad Hills

The girls and I took a little trip to spend the weekend with Grandad and Pinkie. We went to a wonderful bakery in Black Diamond. Madison loved the blueberry muffins. Sayra and I enjoyed looking around at a few shops while Grandad took the girls to the park. We then went home to rest so that we could go to Chuckee Cheese. This is one of my girls favorite pastimes (as well as their dad). It was fun. My parents came and spend the night on Saturday. The girls went to church with Pinkie and Grandad and I went to visit my brother and attend his church. Grandad braved driving the girls and I home (along with my nephew we picked up along the way).

Trip to Lake Tyee Cabin (2nd year)

For three days we (me, my kids, sister Nelly, her two kids, and lil sis crystal and her daughter)went to Lake Tyee to hang out at the cabin. My mother in law owns the cabin and has been so wonderful in letting us use it each year. The above picture is all the kids in the bathroom brushing their teeth. Sooo cute sharing tooth paste and talking about their plans for the day.

We went to the pool seven times in our three days. It was so much fun playing in the pool. Madison is a little fish, Emma is still unsure, Izzy is the boss, patience loves to float, and Olivia spends more time under water then above.

The girls brought their bikes. This is patience (Nelly's three year old daughter) she was showing me her new "trick".

They parked all their bikes together biggest to smallest. Its a big deal in this clan who is the oldest.


Emma and P in the pool.

Our constant games of UNO...I believe the rules change from game to game however no one will ever admit that. Lots of laughs.

Patience and Emma in the loft. They thought they were hot stuff because they could touch the ceiling. They were jumping on the bed and watching "Care Bear" movies.

Little sis, Crystal, reading "People" magazine. When we get together someone always brings the gossip magazine so we can catch-up. This article was on the Pitt-Jolee twins. We gotta find some drama in other people lives that over shadow our own mom drama.

Emma and P helping each other across the road. So cute, they are best buddies. Last year they had a few spats but they are three now and way more mature.


The FROG HUNTERS. The girls spent much of their time searching for these small baby frogs all over the lake.

So whenever we get together we have crab. One of the uncles works for a seafood plant and so we get free crab legs. Melt some butter and we were all over that.

Our little cabin.

Our kitchen that our kids call the "one butt" kitchen. Only one mommy's butt can be in there at a time.
I hope that we can continue this tradition each year. There are no cell phones, TV, or Internet so we all get quality time with each other. We have so much fun, telling stories, cooking, swimming, slumber party, movies, playing games, and nature. Eight girls in a cabin!

Visitors from Floridia

Gregg's relatives came to visit from Florida last week. We went to Auburn to visit everyone and celebrate Sayra's Birthday. We then met everyone later that week in La Conner for lunch. It was nice to catch up and reunite.