Christmas Favorites...

I love everything about Christmas time! It is one of those times of year that brings so much joy and happiness to my life. Most importantly, it is when we get to celebrate the gift of Jesus! Although it can often be overlooked by presents, lights, snow, cookies, etc, I am forever grateful for Jesus' birth. Here are a few of my favorite things about the holiday season...

Baking Cookies: I love to eat AND bake Christmas cookies. A few of my favorites include caramels, fudge, and traditional sugar cookies.

Wrapping Presents: I have loved wrapping presents since I was very young. I love turning on Christmas music, sitting on the floor, and wrapping presents!

Christmas Cards: This might possibly be my favorite. I love putting together a Christmas card and letter to send out, addressing the letter, mailing the letter, and then in return I LOVE receiving Christmas cards. 1 o' clock mail couldn't come soon enough the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Decorations: We are one of those families who decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. If I could keep x-mas decorations up all year... I would!! They are so cozy and cute!! :)

My new favorite place...

I have always had a passion for decorations/home decor. Whether its decorating our home, shopping at home decor stores, looking through model homes at the decor, etc... I LOVE IT!! As of one month ago, Coeur d' Alene got the most amazing home decor store. The name... REAL DEALS. It is a franchise so you may have heard of it, but if not... you need to find the one nearest to you! All "Real Deal" stores may look a little different, but they all are quaint, inspiring, inexpensive, and only open two days a week. :) Go to www.realdeals.net to check it out!

Fall Family Photos

A puppy at his best...

If any of you don't know... my husband is the ultimate "project man". Every month when his dad comes to town, they come up with creative projects to make or fun "fix-its" to find around the house. Aaron and the garage have become very good friends over the past year. Last weekend we thought it would be nice to make Cooper a luxury dog bed. After one try and a destroyed bed we moved to a more solid material (canvas). Once again, 8 hours passed and bed # 2 was destroyed and in shreds. After two tries of the same bed, we decided to take his bed from inside and put it in his kennel outside. Cooper only needed one afternoon to tear his third bed into shreds and chunks. I think we have finally learned our lesson... Cooper will be getting NO bed outside in his kennel! Oh the joys of having a 7 month old puppy!

A puppy in trouble and bed # 1 destroyed!

Just moments before bed # 2 was destroyed!

* Bed # 3 not pictured!! :)

A wedding weekend in California!

In September we had the honor of attending Aaron's high school best friend's wedding in California. Aaron and Nate have been and continue to be best friends since high school. Aaron was honored to be the only groomsmen that was not a family member. Although it was a quick trip, it was a joy to see Nate and Rachel get married!

Aaron & Nate

The Drake & Torres Family

Cooper is 6 months!

Thought it might be nice to have an updated/recent picture of Cooper. He is getting so big, becoming so much smarter, getting much more energy, and growing very fast!

Gardening at its best!

On August 25th, we celebrated a year since Aaron's mom had passed away from Lymphoma. The past year has been extremely hard not having her around, but we have been able to celebrate her in a variety of different ways. One of Jane's favorite hobbies was gardening! Aaron has taken it upon himself to carry on her love and joy for gardening! By looking at our yard, I think he has done an incredible job of carrying on her legacy. We thank God for Jane each and every day and our yard is an incredible reminder of the joy she brought to our lives as well as so many others.

Re-cap of the summer in one blog post!

We have had one BUSY summer, therefore I have not had time to post any of our summer happenings. Without making this too long of a post, I will try and re-cap our summer in one post. The beginning of summer was much slower paced than the end of our summer. We were able to enjoy two wonderful weeks at the family cabin on Hayden, hang out with friends, be a part of a close friend's wedding, celebrate our 2nd anniversary, and make a quick weekend trip to Seattle. Then the end of July came and our schedule was packed. We had the opportunity to go to North and South Carolina with my parents, our dear friends Brice, Julie, Will, Jan, and Carroll. We got to experience "their side" of the United States. We were able to see many historical places, spend time at the "warm" beach, take a helicopter ride over Myrtle Beach, and spend a few days at a gorgeous mountain cabin. After coming back from 1.5 weeks there, we had one day at home before we drove 20 hours south to Visalia (Aaron's hometown). Not only did we drive the whole way, but we had Cooper in the back seat. He gets the award for the best traveler. He slept the whole time and never made a peep. Who knows if we will make that drive again, but we enjoyed it much more than we would have thought going into the drive. :) All together its been a great summer, but we hope to take a few more weeks next summer to relax! :)

The "Carolina" travelers!

Wine tasting at the Biltmore Estates in N.Carolina

A nice visit to Idaho from the Drake side + Tamara & Brett

Celebrating two wonderful years with my amazing husband!

A great week at the cabin with my family

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Carter!

Father's Day at the Mariner's game!

Thank you Dad for...

• providing for our family
• being a man of God who loves your family unconditionally
• supporting me in all that I do!
• being a hard worker, but being willing to put down work if it involves family
• having a great sense of humor
• still treating me like your "little girl"!
• all of your hugs and kisses
• showing Aaron and I what it means to be an incredible husband, dad, and "pops"
• being a great listener
• putting up with two "high-maintenance" ladies in your life!
• being the best dad in the world!

Justin met us for the game!

We spent the weekend at the Brice and Julie's before heading to the game!

Our "new" car!

I think we may have beat the world record for the quickest time it took to sell an old car and buy a new car. We placed our car on the lot and 5 hours later it was sold. After going to bed that night, we woke up in the morning, went to the bank, and bought our new car by 11 a.m the next morning!! Right after purchasing our car we drove to Seattle. The drive was smooth and very enjoyable after having bought a new car. :) We are happy car owners!

Our "new" 2005 GMC Envoy

A beautiful weekend at the lake...

Our weekend at the lake involved dad, Glen, and Aaron working hard to paint the boat house, mom and I watching the boys and keeping them busy, Dylan and Seth being busy playing by the water, and Cooper enjoying every minute of "dog heaven"!

The cutest nephews in the world!

Aaron and his dad relaxing on the boat

The newly painted boathouse!

Cooper was in dog heaven!

Cooper has a new friend!

Last week we had a "dog party" at our house. Ryan and Ali brought Lola, Kurt and Les brought Eko, and of course Cooper was here ready to play with his new friends! Kurt and Les just got Eko a few weeks before us. All of us "newlyweds" are in a new stage of life of having puppies! Cooper and Eko had lots of fun together. :) Cooper is growing bigger and getting smarter by the day.

Blessed to be an Aunt!

This weekend we were able to spend it doing two wonderful things: going to the cabin for the first time this spring and spending the weekend with my nephews! Dylan and Seth are a complete joy to be around. They loved meeting Cooper for the first time and they definitely wore him out!

Dylan fell in love with Cooper!

My adorable nephews!

Cooper's first trip to the cabin!

A childhood dream has come true...

From the time Aaron was 6 years old, he has always wanted a puppy. Although his parents were never thrilled with the idea, he went to great measures to let them know just how desperate he was for a pup. He used his imaginary leash to walk the dog around the neighborhood and he even mowed a grassy patch that said "dog" in his front lawn. Still.... no dog was granted for Aaron. He started out wanting a Golden Retriever, then it changed to a pug in his middle school years, and from high school on he wanted a yellow lab. Today, May 5, 2010, Aaron's childhood dream came true. Cooper joined our family.

After driving two and a half hours to pick up Cooper and a few poop and potty accidents in the car ride, he is safe and sound in the Drake house. It brings me joy just knowing how happy and how long my wonderful husband has waited for this little Cooper!

Right before his first bath!

The adventures of picking out "Cooper"!

The weekend finally arrived! It was not just a normal weekend, but it was the weekend that Aaron has awaited for 24 years. We drove 6 hours (round trip) to pick out our first puppy. For the past 3 months I have had to hear Aaron practice calling our dog.... "Come here Cooper!" during random parts of the day (while sitting in the hot tub, lying in bed, sitting on the couch, etc). After waiting many months (and years), we picked out our first Yellow Lab whose name will be Cooper. Although we didn't get to bring him home, he will soon be a member of our family on May 5th.

COOPER!

A vacation only two miles away...

After coming home from 5 days away with friends and family, my wonderful husband surprised me with a night at the CDA resort, dinner and breakfast included, an hour massage, and a night to spend time just the two of us. :) I am blessed!

Roommates Reunion

After almost two years of living apart, the "roomies" got to spend a weekend together in Wenatchee. Kelsey was an incredible hostess and it was a joy to be together. These girls are a gift from God. With all of us living in different parts of Washington and Idaho, being married, and seeing each other very rarely, it was a very treasured weekend!

Remember when...

- we use to have wrestling matches in our basement

- we had a pet moose living outside our house

- we had Sunday dinners and all took time to share about our week

- we would have dance parties in our dorms and house

- we all got to be a part of eachother's weddings

- we took our yearly Christmas card pictures

A birthday weekend in Ellensburg!

On the weekend of March 14th, our whole family spent the weekend in Ellensburg celebrating mom's birthday and Deb's birthday. It was great to be together for the weekend! The weather was great and so was the company. :) Thank you mom for being such an encouragement to me every day, for being an example of what it looks like to be an incredible mother and grandmother, for raising an incredible family, for showing your unconditional love every day, and for being the best mom in the world!

Project Complete!

After 6 months of living in our new home, we finally have every room complete!! The latest addition was turning my "craft making sign room" into our office. There is still a little bit of work to do, but we both love having another room to relax in, watch tv, sit on the computer, and enjoy time with family and friends.