Who is that handsome 31 year old???

Isn't he adorable...hard to believe that he is SO much older than me:-)

Aaron turned 31 on Sunday, January 27th. We went golfing at Chambers Bay with my dad and Aaron's dear friend, Aaron. To avoid confusion, we have Aaron P. Qualls and Aaron T. Fields. They have been friends since junior high...you would think that they could come up with shorter nicknames but that's okay. We had a great time and it was actually a beautiful day. If you ever golf Chambers, make sure to be ready to walk...it is over 7 miles long. AND that is if you hit straight:-) Overall it was a wonderful day. Aaron beat me by 4 strokes. For the record, I was winning after nine holes...I should have stopped while I was ahead:-) Aaron and Aaron....

Not bad form...

What an amazing trio...I am so glad that my dad joined us!

What a Gift!

Malia continues to grow. She loved the snow on Monday. Grandma Tommie took her outside to get a picture of her. We are so lucky to have such great family and an adorable daughter!

SNOWBALL!!

We had such a wonderful experience this weekend. We went to Yakima for snowball. This is a baseball tournament that is obviously covered in snow. It was such a memorable time. Everyone had a ton to drink and I even ended up playing in the tournament even though it was all men. We lost (Uh...got creamed) but had more fun than any other team. We had the saying...MVP drinks for free. The MVP was the first person to touch home plate. Good times. (For the record...only two people touched home...IN THREE BASEBALL GAMES.)
One of the best things about this weekend was that my girlfriends from college came out. Brenda and Carrie live over in Yakima area and Becky lives in Seattle but happened to be over for a visit...how random is that? This is four of our fab five...pretty amazing. It brought a tear to my eye because Brenda and I almost brawled with a chick in the bar. It reminded me of college...we lived together and ALWAYS had each others back.
This is my uncle Rich, brother Chad, and cousin Cory. It was about 10 a.m. and I think that they were still drunk from the night before. :-)
This is a pic of my cousin, Cory and I. He is Malia's godfather and one of my best friends. His nickname is Doozer from when we were kids but he lets me get away with calling him that still. My brother created an elaborate lie that we were all celebrating Cory's new company called Doozer's Dozers. I think it was supposed to be construction. The plan was for the family to come together to get Cory a lady for the night. He was the only single person in our group (out of about 20 people!). The ironic part is that Cory is not looking for the one night fling...he wants a lasting relationship. He is an amazing guy and I know God has good things in store for him! We are only 4 months apart and the babies of the cousins (there are nine cousins...within about 10 years!)

Here is a pic of Quallsie, myself, and my brother. We had such a great time together...it was an experience I won't soon forget. Only about 360 days until the next snowball tourney!!!!

Old Friends Are Good For the Soul...

Today I was lucky enough to have lunch with a dear friend of mine. I came to a pretty important realization...she has been my friend for over 25 years. What a powerful moment for me. She has seen me through pretty much every phase of my life. We talked for hours at a lunch that was long overdue. I realized that I had done most of the talking and felt guilty at first. But then I remembered that she had stolen my paint set in third grade...it is a rather long story. But see, that is the idea...old friends always have a story. More importantly I knew that there would be a lunch or dinner or drinks in our future where she might do most of the talking. I walked away from that lunch feeling so incredibly lucky. Here is to all of you...may you have many old friends with stories that are good for your soul.

Happy New Year!

We had a fabulous New Years. We actually went out for one of the first times in years. We went to the casino and then rang in the New Year at my best friend's house. BUT literally by about 12:30 we were home and ready for bed. Having a baby that wakes up between 5:30-6 (and STILL does not sleep through the night most nights) can kind of take the fun out of partying it up! We hope everyone had an amazing New Years and that 2008 brings all that you could ever want.

This last weekend we had the joy of having my godkids. I adore Andre and Jasmyne as if they were my own. Jazz is 12 and such a huge help. She is going through middle school and doing a great job of dealing with that drama. I truly think going back to middle school would be my idea of hell. Andre will be 6 this month and is such a hoot. He is seriously one of the funniest kids that I have ever met. We have a routine when they stay with us...donuts in the morning. Not the best routine when it comes to trying to lose weight...but something they will always remember. When Andre was born, we were all in shock because he had red hair. His father is blonde and my best friend has dark hair. We like to think God gave him my hair color:-)

Speaking of God's gifts...Malia such a kick. We think that she is brilliant:-) She says things like: mama, daddy, no (she says that a lot!), doggy, birdie, bee bo (belly button), paci (pacifier), and so much more! Her new thing is her favorite t.v. show, Hip Hop Harry. It is a rapping bear that has hip hop dancing. It is on Discovery Kids and a really great show...the first 10 times. Then it is really annoying! :-) I liked the Wiggles but Malia and Aaron vetoed me. When Malia wants to watch Hip Hop Harry, she grabs the remote and says Bop. I don't know why it's Bop...but it is awfully cute! Malia also has a new thing about bedtime. We read stories at bedtime and then when she starts to get sleepy, we ask if it is time for night night. If she is ready, she waves bye bye! It is adorable! We lay her in the crib and she waves goodnight. This is a new thing and I am under no illusion that it will last forever...but it is great for now!

Malia's auntie Robin (that I used to work with at Skyline) sent her the best book for Christmas. It is called On the Night You Were Born and it is tied as my favorite (my all time favorite is God Gave Us You). The opening lines in the book are so touching that I thought I would share.

On the night you were born,

the moon smiled with such wonder

that the stars peeked in to see you

and the night wind whispered

"Life will never be the same."

Because there had never been anyone like you...

ever in the world.

What a powerful thought. As you can guess...I cannot read this book without crying. Happy New Year to everyone...and remember that there has never been anyone like you.