Will You Be Rosie's Valentine?

Ron's business, YSSC, has started a new campaign as an incentive to get kids to sign up for camp. If you sign up before February 14th, you get this fantastic shirt that the lovely model is showing off. I just had to post this little Honey!

On another note, what an amazing week we have celebrated, with the inauguration of Barack Obama! I am excited for this new chapter, and a little apprehensive, as this amazing man has incredibly high expectations on his shoulders. I'm entirely grateful because, when Rosie is an adult, it won't be an amazing triumph to have a minority running for office, but rather, it will be common place. We're on the right road!

On The Run

So, I'm running my 3rd 1/2 marathon tomorrow. But, it's my first post-baby 1/2 marathon.... and everything has stretched and sagged more than I would like. I think thats why God made Spandex... so that we mommies can run with everything still intact. Training for this one has been a really good discipline, and has actually been fun for me. Naturally, as a mom, your needs and plans are the first to be sacrificed. Luckily, Ron has been so great about taking Rosie during the week and on Saturdays so that I can get the long ones in without pushing the jogger. So, here I go! Don't worry, I will be sure that Ron knows what I am wearing tomorrow so that he can give my description to search teams when I don't return.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation. Here are some of the highlights!

It all started with a visit from Great Grandpapa Welch!




Christmas Day was spent in jammies. What a fun day.












Happy Birthday, Ron. You are our hero!




Celebrating the New Year with the Biasells!

Santa's Lap

Yesterday, we took the girls to sit on Santa's lap for the picture that every family MUST have in their album. The pictures speak for themselves. The girls were terrified. My favorite is the one where Rosie is looking at Lucy for reassurance. Erin said that it's like she's saying, "You don't trust this guy either??"
Maybe next year!!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I am going to do it anyway. I LOVE the way that my house looks at Christmas. I'm very grateful that I get to be in charge of the inside decor, and don't have to be involved in hanging the outside lights. I watch Ron outside hanging them every year, and it confirms his incredible wealth of patience. Anyway, back to my decorations... I have the perfect spot for our Nativity that we got for a wedding present. I put it up on top of our entertainment center, and there just happens to be 1 track light that makes the whole thing glow. It's conveniently out of reach of Little Miss R, although, she is not to blame for the serious devastation that has already been experienced by the scene. Somewhere along the way, probably in one of our moves, a Wise Man (I think he was carrying the Frankincense) took a tumble and lost his hands and the gift that he was bearing for the Christ child. Now, we have The 3 Wise Men: one carrying Myhr, one carrying Gold, and one that we affectionately refer to as Stubbs. Rosie received her very own "durable" Nativity set from my mom. It's fit to carry around, drop, and chew on. It's perfect for her. I have these wonderful stockings that my Nana Bordeaux knit. She knit mine way back in 1980, and has knit one for every new member of the family. Rosie received hers last year. We hang our stockings by the chimney with care on the mantel piece that my dad made, and my mom routed. It's beautiful, and matches the one that was hanging in our house in Oakhurst, where I grew up. Our tree, this year, is quite large. Ron had to talk me into it, but once we got it up and put lights on it, I am glad that we went with the taller choice. It's gorgeous. 2 of my favorite parts of the tree this year are the Rafia heart tree topper that was from Ron's tree growing up, and the tree skirt that my Nana Bordeaux made. Take a look!

Did You Know?

Every year, I try hard to protect December..... and every year it gets busier and busier. After arriving home from our fabulous Thanksgiving in Arizona on Sunday night, we hit the ground running on Monday morning, and have not stopped. I will share with you some of the highlights from the last few weeks: We had an amazing Thanksgiving. There were 20 Eckerts in all who gathered in Flagstaff, Arizona. Every second of it was fun. We went to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, laughed tons, ate delicious meals prepared by my amazing sister in laws, Gayle and Ruth, laughed more, talked, and reminisced. I love it when Ron gets together with his brothers. He laughs harder with them than with anyone else. Each family (there are 5) is uniquely different and special. This year happened to be Dave's 50th Birthday, and we got to celebrate in style with Bison Burgers and a clown... no, really, there was a clown. She made special balloon hats for each person, according to their personality. Our family was no exception. Rosie had a flower hat, with a baby pink Poodle to hold. I was the mama pink Poodle, and Ron was a pirate. We had so much fun. Rosie is the 10th Eckert cousin. As you can imagine, her feet hardly touched the floor. She had a great time with her cousins.

I had Learning Record meetings last week, and then watched Lucy on Thursday and Friday so that Erin could meet with her families. Yes, for those of you who don't know... Erin and I work for the same school, and get to share childcare... It's AWESOME! During the weekend, we were invited to the annual Harvest Dinner hosted by our friends, Daren, Danny, and Carrie. Carrie and Daren are incredible cooks and great friends, and it is always an enjoyable time . On Friday and Saturday night, we hosted some of our favorite YSSC staff, took 70 YSSC kids to Disneyland, and collapsed on Sunday. Whew! Sunday night I went to Arrowhead for some time away with the precious gals that I lived with at Westmont. We hardly left the house with all of the talking, laughing, lounging, and snacking that we did. It was perfect!

So now, I am back to the grind, if you can call it that. We have our tree and decorations up, and are relishing in the blessings that God brings us. We are so incredibly blessed!

Rosie packed the essentials and was ready to go to Arizona.

The Birthday Boy, looking less than enthused!

The Eckert Family Thanksgiving

Rosie and Ron enjoy lunch at the Grand Canyon

Rosie held down the fort in style while mom was away!






I wish I had more pictures to show, but have not yet figured out how to download from Ron's "Fancy" Camera... you'll have to settle for my little Canon Powershot!

Sell crazy somewhere else......

Today when I was running along the beach trail, everyone that I passed seemed to be laughing at me. I was confused... although I do tend to run like Phoebe from Friends. When I got home I realized why we were the laughing- stock of the road.... Rosie's little feet were sticking out from under the sunshade of the jogger and she was WEARING TWO DIFFERENT SHOES. Her little mismatched Mary Janes were the only thing that people could see as we passed by. This leads me to my next pondering.... is it that Rosie is SO brilliant at 15 months that she can put on her own shoes, or is it that I am SO crazy that I put 2 different shoes on my daughter's feet? Although she's bright, I do believe it is the latter.