All geared up...

So Syrah was referred to the Orthodontist some time ago because she has a pretty significant under bite. After reviewing Syrah's bite and xrays and consulting with her dentist; they decided that due to the fact under bite was getting worse quickly; it was time to act. Syrah will have headgear (which she will wear mostly at night) and will have an expander; this process should last about a year.

Syrah started a few weeks ago with getting expander to make some extra room in her mouth for the equipment that was installed today (who says this about someones mouth??).

This is what was put in her mouth today - each day we use a special key to turn the expander!

Side view of the head gear the rubber bands attach to the large piece of metal in her mouth (see above!).

Other then the fact that she is having to learn how to talk with all that in her mouth; you would hardly know that it was in her mouth!!

Phase two is expected to start in five to sever years!

Once every five years...

Last weekend my grandma, mom and our family all had a huge garage sale! We have been storing stuff up well before our move in March and taking loads over to Grandma's house (she has been so kind to give up her garage). It was a lot of work, marking, sorting, organizing and setting up, but we all had a successful weekend.

We had her entire driveway, landing strips and yard covered.


My brother and his wife came to help set up and tear down on Sunday. My cousin Zachary surprised us and showed up Saturday afternoon to help and we didn't even know he was coming - it was so great to have all of their help!

It was fun for the girls to be able to get ride of some of the stuff they don't use anymore and they both made some spending money for Hawaii.

Day two it rained pretty good before we set up, but the weather held out all day and everything that was left was hauled off to the goodwill - that was probably the best part - it went to a good place and it didn't come home with us!!

We meet some some really nice people and it was really fun to spend some time with my Grandma and Mom.

I say every five years because garage sales are a ton of work and my grandma does this every year (with a bunch of friends); we will see if it really is five years before we do this again!!

A Special Bird House

Several years ago I told my Grandpa Steve how much I liked the two bird houses he had in his back yard; they were so unique and they always seemed to occupy a family of birds. He told me that he made them himself and although I knew he was a talanted artist; I had no idea he also had the talent of creating and building all kinds of fun projects, including the bird houses. Shortly after that time, he made one for us and we promptly found the perfect place for it and it became the home to a family of birds within a week. When we left that home there was no way I could leave it behind and it was winter and the birds were no longer there; so we took it down. For the last several years, we have had no place to hang it, but with our new home it has been on the top of my list. Last week, Billy took the old nest out (which was quite the creation) and hung the birdhouse for me. I am so pleased and hopefully (maybe not this year since it is late in the season) will be watching some birds find this as thier home. I wish my Grandpa was here to see it hanging outside our first home.

Not one, not two, not three but FOUR

Sadie has lost FOUR teeth in three weeks. Three of which she lost in a week!

She all ready had one tooth gone... look at all those gaps!

An Amazing Story...Written by Christ

Okay everyone, this is officially Bill's first entry in the family blog. It should only be appropriate that it is baseball related!! I want to share a story with you about Josh Hamilton. He is a Major League Baseball player that carries with him an amazing story of ultimate trials and tribulation.

I started following him as a player only because of his high baseball statistics for this season and found so much more. Now I follow him because of the great respect I have for him. He acknowledges his love of life, baseball, and more importantly...GOD. Instead of rambling, I am attaching a video below of an interview given by Jim Rome.



Also, here is an article from The Dallas Morning News that tells the story much better than I can do here. The link to the news story is:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/012708dnspowebrangersz.218a1b6.html

How great is our God!! What an inspirational story this guy brings, giving credit to our Lord and Savior.

Signing off of my first post...Billy!!

Sadie's Cobbler...

Saturday Sadie made her first (not her last) cobbler. I myself have never made cobbler; so this was something new for all of us. We LOVE raspberries and got a great deal at the local store on an entire crate of them.

Sadie and Syrah both help in the kitchen from time to time, but Sadie hasn't done any cooking on her own, but we are going to start working on that as she is getting to the age that is capable of baking and cooking. Sadie had a ton of fun making this cobbler and it turned out SOOOOO YUMMY!!!

How can you resist this? It was so good that when it came out of the oven I forgot to snap a picture of the final product. She is excited to make it again and also to try new recipes... if anyone has a dessert bread recipe to share or a pie recipe to share we would love to have it!

Raspberry Cobbler recipe:

3/4 c. sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. water

6 1/2 c. raspberries, rinsed and drained dry

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. milk

In a shallow 2 quart casserole dish, mix 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, water and 6 cups raspberries. In separate bowl, mix soda, baking powder and flour. In second bowl, beat butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until creamy. Add milk and flour mixture; stir until moistened.

Drop batter in 8 equal spoonfuls, slightly apart, onto the raspberries. Bake in 400 degree oven until batter is a deep golden brown and berries are bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

recipe complements of cooks.com

Family Pictures

Here are a couple of the family pictures that we snapped at the park.

Jeremiah's Visit (Day 5)

Saturday we went to the zoo, it was very quite there, very few people and we felt like we had some amazing encounters with some of the animals.

The Jaguar was up and pacing; we sat here for a long time as this beautiful cat paced along the windows. It is amazing to think the only thing between the kids and that Jaguar is that sheet of glass.

I will have to dig out the past pictures, but this picture has become a tradition when Jeremiah is visiting.

The kids all were able to feed the birds; we were pretty lucky because they had all just had lunch and we were informed they may not be that hungry, but this little one landed on Jeremiah's stick right away!

Sadie had to be much more patient for a bird to get to her - she was overjoyed when this little one landed on her stick.

This is the first time Syrah has done this one her own; the birds can be a little intimidating and so often she will get "help", but this time she was able to do it and was very pleased to have the experience.

Sunday we all went to church and then Billy took Jeremiah to the airport; the visit went very fast and Jeremiah is growing and changing even faster... we are grateful for the time we have and look forward to times in the near future.

Jeremiah's Visit (Day 4)

Friday was a quite day around the house and we went over to a local park to try and grab some shots of the kids.

This "was" as posed picture until a family of ducks came flying out from behind some shrubs, it took us all by surprise!

A walk in the park

Friday night we went to the Aquasox game; here is Syrah with Webbly the mascot.

At the end of the game they had some songs while they were setting up for the fireworks. Sadie really had a great time doing the chicken dance and here you can see that everyone (including Grandma) enjoying YMCA!

Jeremiah's Visit (Day 3)

Thursday we went down to the Science center; it has been a long while since I was there last and I had forgotten how much there is to see and do.

All three of the kids are blowing bubbles on the bubble maker.

Jeremiah rode the suspended bike.

As you can see from the smile on his face, he had a great time.

We went through the butterfly house (which was AMAZING) I wish I had written down some of the names, but I was too busy taking pictures. This is a HUGE moth (probably the size of my hand all the way open); I have never seen anything like it and I was amazed at it's beauty. I could do an entire posting with just butterfly pictures from that day!

At the end of the day we walked down to the Seattle Center fountain!

Jeremiah's Visit (Day 2)

On Wednesday Billy and Jeremiah had the entire day together down town. They went to the Seattle Underground Tour (first time for both of them) and the Experiance Music Project.

Outside the Underground Tour; which was the biggest hit of the day.

Jeremiah inside the EMP!

The EMP has a great sections that allows you to play different instruments as if you are in the band; both Jeremiah and Billy loved that section.

Jeremiah's Visit (Day 1)

We were blessed to have Jeremiah here with us for a short time this summer (five days went way to fast). He arrived on Tuesday and we all went to the beach to put our feet in the sand and enjoy some of the beautiful sun.

Jeremiah and Billy!

Sadie and Jeremiah enjoying the water.

I love this shot of Jeremiah, he was walking this boardwalk with the ferry behind him; the tide was on it's way in. It was so awesome for Billy and I to sit back and watch all three of the kids together. It was one of those moments that you really sit back and try to take it all in; what a blessing these kids our to our lives and how much we value and love them.

Before we left the beach we all walked the fishing pier. Daddy and his kids!! It was a beautiful day to all be together again!

More photos of Jeremiah's time here in the days ahead...