Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing all our family and friends a Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. The picture below is of me and my brothers with Santa. It has to be one of my favorite photos. I believe this was taken in 1976 or 1977. It's a classic!

Today, we spent some time with my mom's side of the family celebrating an early Christmas. It is always nice getting together with them and catching up. Some pictures to soon follow.

Happy Birthday to my brothers!!

Wishing my brothers a very happy 34th birthday! Love you guys!

Brycen's Pop Warner scrimmage game

On 8/20/09, my nephew Brycen had his first Pop Warner scrimmage game. They have been practicing every night and every Saturday in sweltering heat for two weeks. Brycen did very well playing Center despite having a bronchial infection. The team didn't fare so well though and lost their scrimmage. Let's hope they can get it together for their first game on 8/29 and let's hope for some much cooler weather!

Brycen in uniform

Brycen coming in for a drink...man, was it hot. There was a breeze but it felt like a hairdryer blowing on you. Yuck!

If you look carefully you can see Brycen in center position.

My hubby while we are waiting for B's scrimmage game.

Joe and Piper. She loves her Joey!

Joe with Piper and Caitlyn. We will miss these girls. They were leaving the following day to live with their dad in Wyoming. : (

Keri and the girls

And me with the girls. Christmas can't come soon enough as it will be the next time we see them.

Frenectomy- huh?

I had a Frenectomy on my labial frenum this afternoon which is the removal of the band connecting the lip to the gum in front of the teeth. Apparantly, this small band is causing receding of my gums so it has become a necessary procedure to undergo. It was quick and done with a laser so no bleeding. It's a bit painful tonight but luckily my dentist gave me some generic hydrocodone to ease the pain.

I'd take a picture but the gaping hole is pretty disgusting. So, I'm sitting here very relaxed with a damp cotton roll in my mouth. I'm thinking it's time to catch some ZZZ's.

25lb 5K Boot Camp Challenge

A few weeks ago I participated in a Boot Camp Chicks challenge. It was a 5K carrying 25 lb of rock in your backpack. There were five stops along the way where you would drop 5 lbs. Surprisingly it was alot of fun. Thanks Kim for a fun challenge.

Fathers and Daughters

This is a picture of me and my dad. It's been a little over four years since he passed away. Father's Day made me think back on our relationship and how complex it was for the both of us. I always knew he loved me and would do anything for me but it was so difficult for him to show me any affection and tell me he loved me. In turn I had the same issues toward him. It was a circle that didn't seem to break until his last few years of living.

So, if I can give any piece of advice to father's that have daughters it's to spend some quality time with them and make sure you tell them you love them and never quit telling them so. It can make all the difference in the world.

Congrats to my brother and new sis-in-law Keri on their marriage. We celebrated their wedding with tons of family and friends last Friday night. It was a bit warm for an outside party but fun was had by all. Here are some shots from the evening.

The newlyweds

Joe and Piper

Caitlyn wearing a new hat.

Brycen sporting two new hats....yes, they were food covers. Suppose it wasn't too sanitary having these on their heads. Oops.

The Stehower siblings...Mom, Uncle Tom and Uncle Jeff

Me and my beautiful niece Sophia.

12 of 12 IV: May 2009

It's the 12 of May which means you get 12 shots from my day. The concept brought to you by Chad Darnell, click here to see all the posts for this month.

7:00am - We didn't have to be at work until the afternoon since we were going to the Student of the Month celebration for our Niece Piper so I ventured out on a bike ride using Joe's bike. I wanted to try his out since it had gears. It as pretty challenging but fun.

9:30am - Joe waiting for the Student of the Month festivities to begin.

9:40am - Piper and a friend dancing to the cotton-eye-joe. The school staff was getting the kids all hyped up. It was alot of fun.

9:45am - Piper doing the SOTM run. They take a run around the room giving the students and parents high fives. They really make this a fun event for the kids & it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement. Congrats Miss Piperella!!!!

9:45am - My nephew Brycen apparantly not too happy to have his ole Auntie snapping his picture in front of his friends. He's just lucky I didn't call him "pumpkin". Lol.

10:45am - At our favorite place, AJ's for some tea before heading to the office.

5:15pm - We were at Fry's grocery looking for some OrangeAde but alas they were all out. Just our luck especially when it's a good deal.

5:30pm - Watching the Neely's cook up some goodies on the Food Network.

6:00pm - A few scrapbooks that will be put in the mail this week to one lucky buyer. I've been in cleaning out mode since we are moving in two months. It's nice to make a little money with some things that have been sitting in the closet.

6:30pm - What I'm currently reading...very addicting series of books. I never thought I'd enjoy reading about vampires and werewolves.

7:15pm - The Biggest Loser finale. Three hours is a bit much. They could've had this done in an hour and I wasted three hours of my time watching my least favorite person win it all. : (

9:00 pm - Our boxes waiting to be filled with our important belongings.

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mom

Happy Mother's Day mom! I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful, smart and beautiful mother.

2 Summits in one day- yay for me!

Today was the Boot Camp Chicks 4 Summit Challenge. We were to do Piestwa Peak, Lookout Mountain, North Mountain and Shaw Butte in one day in any order. I opted to do 2 Summit's since hiking is brand new to me. Kim, my Boot Camp instructor suggested N. Mtn and Shaw Butte and hiked along with me. Here are some photos from the morning hikes. A big thanks to Kim for all the support!!!!

6:00am: the rough part of the N. Mtn hike and the start of our day.

6:30am: Sunrise, the start of a beautiful day!

Adriane (a fellow Boot Camper) and me at the top of Summit 1

The most driven person I've met in a long time. You rock Kim!

Here we are at the top of Summit 2 - Shaw Butte

Ecstatic that I made it to the top of the 2nd summit!

12 of 12 IV: February 2009

It's 12 of 12 of February. This fun concept was the brainchild of Chad Darnell. To find out more about it click here. Now on to my day...

7:00am - Ready for work

7:05am - My hubby ready for work. It was a glasses kind of day.


7:15am - In the car. Like my new scarf? It was given to me by my Uncle's Fiancee, Kathy and I love it!

9:00am - My messy desk. My office it quite the controversary because they built it larger than the others in our building and my title doesn't warrant the large office. It's been quite the talk amongst my co-workers- lucky me!

10:00am - My cell phone. I'm up for renewel and have the opportunity for a new phone. I just can't decide what to opt for, a Blackberry or another LG Env. Decisions!

10:30am - On my weekly client conference call...so much fun- not!

10:30am - My heater. It is freezing in my office. See, it's not so great. People really need to get over it!

11:45am - My car parked in our carpool spot. We were on our way to Wally World and AJ's for a caffeine jolt!

11:50am - The LOML at Wally World. He needed more floss.

12:30pm - Yes, some passion fruit tea from AJ's!

4:00pm - A little scratcher fun. Let's hope for some luck.

6:30pm - Veggies and Chicken for dinner.