So many changes

Rae Ann had her baby yesterday morning! No official name yet, so we're all waiting patiently. The birth went well-Mom told me Rae Ann's a real trooper for having her at home. I was able to take Stella by yesterday to meet the new little girl. Stella wouldn't stop kissing and hugging (and at times smothering) the baby. She cried like crazy when Mom pulled her off of the baby.

Yesterday was a seriously crazy day!

[STOP. If you don't want to read all of this, you can jump down to the summarization part and get the Cliff Notes.]

I woke up at 3:30am from Mom's phone call telling me that Rae Ann was in active labor. I drove out to North Portland to pick up the bean and then drove us both back to Clackamas in Mom's truck (what a treat that monster is) where we slept for maybe two hours. Uncle Tim came by just before 8am to relieve me so I could go to work. I gave my two weeks notice at work, which almost broke my heart. I'm so tired of retail, but I love the people I work with, so it's with mixed feelings that I'm leaving Starbucks. After work I rushed back to my apartment, changed, and headed to a job interview, the second in two days, although not for the same job. One job would be from home, the second would be...well, it's just so confusing and too much information to put into words right now. Needless to say, one would be super convenient (scheduling assistant to a mutual/annuity fund wholesaler) and one would be, well, a normal job (document handler at a fabrication shop). Oh, I guess I do have the words.

After the interview, I raced back to my parents house and relieved Tim from caring for Stella. She and I played for a few hours and then I drove us back to Tom and Rae Ann's to meet the baby. Nate met us there and we all hung around for a few minutes. Mom had been there all night and all day helping with the birth and then cleaning everything once the baby was born. Nate and I left from Tom and Rae Ann's to drive up to La Center, WA, to sign the renter's agreement so that we could move into our house on Saturday. We sat around and chatted with Dave and Tiffani (friends and landlords) for awhile, took care of business, and then headed out around 10pm. AND THEN, we sat in traffic on I5 for like an hour! Sooooo irritating.

Finally we made it home. and here I am this morning battling the same allergies that got to me last night in La Center. So, to summarize:
1. there's a new kid around
2. I gave my notice at Starbucks-my last day is June 12th
3. Nate and I are moving on Saturday
4. I'll be starting a new job on the 13th of June

...and that's THAT!

Silly photos were supposed to post with the last blog. Gosh.

Did you know it's illegal to remove pine cones from the national forest? I didn't...Dad made Mom and I drive outside of the perimeter to pick up massive pine cones, but when we got back to Suzi's in Visalia, we found a tiny green pine cone in the trunk of the car, taken from the Sequoia park...Oh Dad.















And way down there at the bottom, Uncle Lonnies beautiful car...

Some pictures from California

Pretty quickly after Grandad died, we all scrambled to pull together our individual travel arrangements. I was a lucky girl to be able to go to Visalia at all, and even luckier to be on the same flight as Mom and Dad. The pictures are from the Portland airport, at the beginning of the trip...





The weather in Visalia was so nice! Hot, but wonderful. And Suzi has the greatest, most bestest pool ever that we were able to take total advantage of! Mom dove in after one of her morning jogs.



I took some pictures of the Powell's house to show Nate when I got home so that he'd be familiar with it when we go back for Christmas in December. Karina jumped right in to help...



We had lasagna for dinner one night and Karina dumped it all down her shirt...She stuck her clothes in the washer and came out wearing shorts for a shirt and a shirt for shorts, a really winning combination!

Tom's B-day Party from May 6th

The title pretty much says it all! Grandad passed away on May 5th, so it was nice to celebrate a birthday at take our minds from the next week's plans of a funeral and memorial service. We all got together at the Peil's house and barbequed in the back yard. The weather was perfect! And the food...oh so good.

The Peil's House that I Want to Call New, But It's Not Because They've Lived There For Awhile Now...

Our new house!

It's just so exciting! Nate and I are moving into a house in Clackamas on the weekend of June 3rd. It's beautiful and we're just so...well, excited!!!

Here are some pics of the place:









We'll be moving in the weekend of June 3rd.

Don't worry, we'll have a get together when we're all settled!

Charlie Anthony

Little Charles Anthony Martin was born March 22, 2006, in the wee early morning hours. We've been waiting for this moment for forever it seems; at least for two, almost three, years. Tiffani and Dave are so excited, litterally glowing! And we're thrilled along with them, looking forward to watching Charlie grow up. Honestly, it seems like practically everyone I know is having babies! I counted nine pregnant women I know. That's just nuts.

Dave, the proud dad! (For those of you who don't know, he's the guy that introduced Nate and I back in high school and then again during college.)

Cranium anyone?

We had our friends Brent Hiebert and Lindsay Marsh over a few weeks ago (I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile now...sorry!) for dinner, drinks, and games. Brent taught Nate how to make margaritas, to my total delight:) We ended the night playing Cranium Conga (thanks again, Les and Adam!). No one really understood the rules (most of us were a little to foggy to pay too much attention), but I think we all had fun.





Just to let you know, Lindsay's not wasted in this picture--I just caught her at a bad time:)

This time last year

Graduation from Trinity Western University! I can hardly believe it's been a year already--time has indeed flown by. Nate and I have been married 8 months already, Linsea and Ken ten months, Rae Ann and Tom, Leslie and Adam, David and Tiffani, Jeff and Necia, all married 2, almost 3, years...It's amazing!

Truth be told, I miss Canada and my little basement apartment (Rent: $176 USD per month, utilities included--those were the good ol' days). Fall and winter make me want to visit Fort Langley...good times.

Not to be neglected...

I didn't want to forget these photos from the Banks family Christmas...I know, I know, it's March, but, hey, my computer was broken. So, this is how I'm resolving it, by overwhelming my blog with piles of pictures from months and months ago!

Here we have Nate's brothers, Ricky and Stephen. I never really got a good family picture, or any family picture, for that matter. But, anyway, this is before we opened presents. It was such an interesting Christmas; the first time I didn't spend Christmas Day with my family, and the first time Nate didn't spend Christmas Eve with his family. We are so blessed, though--both sides of the family were flexible and wanting to work with us to find the best time to celebrate. Nate and I are so lucky that our families live in the same town, within ten minutes of each other. That worked well when we were dating, when Nate was working at my parent's house, and now for family get togethers on major holidays! And our parents get along so well! That, too, is a major blessing! I'm just one lucky, lucky girl...



Pretty much the only pictures I have that have both Nate and I in them are self-portraits, and I realize that very likely you all are sick of the repetitive angles, but I have such a handsome man and I have to show him off!



We gave Karen and Rick a starter album of some wedding photos. As the years go on, we'll be able to fill the book, which I look very forward to...what we gave them is slim pickin's compared to all there is. But they were excited nonetheless!



Nate's a geek.

Pro Wedding Pictures

I have so much catching up to do! Over the months I've been planning out all sorts of photo entries for this blog, but it hasn't been until now that I've been able to follow through with any of my ideas. They aren't fantastic ideas accompanied by incredible witticism, but I want to share them nonetheless. So here's to another entry!

Probably my favorite picture of Nate and I during the wedding...Dad (with help from innumerable amazing people) built this fantastic deck under the big tree in my parent's backyard. It has a pinwheel shape to it and when we surrounded it with flowers and greenery it was magnificent! The wedding party stood on it during the (4 minute) ceremony. And after the ceremony, when the sun was down and all the candles were lit and the white lights were turned on, it simply glowed.



Mom and I while I was getting ready. I love this photo of the two of us!



The bridesmaids and I taking a break during the photo shoot. It was stinkin' hot outside! The girls had huge umbrellas they were able to stand under and the owner of the house where we were getting ready brought out a couple oversized fans. I stood in front of one of them for awhile holding up my dress--the air flow was so refreshing and wonderful:)



Nate and his brothers, Stephen and Ricky. Fancy-shmanzy men.



Getting ready...

...And More.

My mother-in-law, Karen, and her brother Raymond.



Parents-in-law, Rick and Karen. They provided a fantastic rehersal dinner the night before the wedding, and they were so supportive while we prepared for the wedding, helping when and wherever possible.



Nate and I.



The flower girls and I.



My mom and Dad.