Thanksgiving

Well, I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of Thanksgiving related things, but I guess since I'm most thankful for Megan, I got lots of pictures of her.

Grandma and Megan

Here's Megan in the closet underneath the stairs. It's her own little playhouse.

Other things I'm grateful for:

Josh - I count my blessings everyday that he is my husband. I am so lucky to be so in love with him and know he feels the same about me.

Sisters - My best friends that I can count on for anything, laugh with about the silliest things and cry for when they are feeling sad.

Danielle - My new friend when I wasn't even looking. She's a lot like me and we get along really well. I wish we lived closer together because I think we'd see a lot more of eachother. Might be good for our husbands that we don't. That's another thing, our husbands get along!

My parents - Always there for me for anything I need. I think we actually have a friendship now and not just a parent/child relationship. They all love Megan so much and do so much for her. She is one lucky little granddaughter. My dad is also a big reason why I'm in school. Without him I wouldn't be able to do it - and Teresa just as much. Thank you.

School - I am so grateful to have finally found something that I love to do and think I'm good at. I love going, I look forward to going and I can't wait to graduate and start my career doing something that I love.

My house - We are so blessed to have our own home when so many people are losing theirs. While we feel a little cramped at times, it's our home. It's the home that we brought Megan to for the very first time and also the one we shared by ourselves for a brief time before she came! It is a work in progress and we love it.

My job - While it isn't ideal and I don't make a whole lot of money, it is still a job and that's something a lot of people can't say they have right now. On top of that, they treat us well. That was a big shocker to me.

Wedding Tag

My friend posted their story on their blog. It's pretty cute, you should read it too!

1. Where did you and your husband meet?
Through mutual friends.
2. How long before you kissed?
We had two first kisses. :( All of my answers will refer to our 2nd time around. In that case, it was after our first date.
4. How long from the time you met until you were engaged?
Okay also a little confusing. We met for the first time in 1999 I think. We started really dating in 2003.
5. How did he propose?
He wasn't feeling well but he planned a trip to the beach. He wanted to propose right away so we had the weekend to celebrate. He basically pulled out the ring and said, Well? It wasn't the most fantastic of stories but I was so excited, I may not have remembered anything more than that!
6. Did he pick out the ring or did you?
We picked out the ring together. But I had no idea when he was going to buy it.
7. Do you still like the ring?
Yes I love it so much!
8. Where was your wedding and reception?
The McMinnville Grand Ballroom
9. How many bridesmaids did you have and who was your maid of honor?
3 - all of my sisters and Stacy was my maid of honor.
10. What color were your bridesmaid dresses?
A plum color.
11. What was your bouquet made of?
White roses and some icicle type of filler
12. Who gave you away?
My dads
13. Did you cry during your wedding?
Yep! I cried when I was saying my vows. Overwhelmed with happiness! I still cry thinking about how much I love him!
14. What style was your dress?
A halter style with full skirt. It was very pretty and very economical! I found it at a great sale!
16. Who caught your bouquet?
I can't even remember!
17. What flavor was your cake?
Vanilla and Chocolate
18. Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?Nicely. I think No, we were very nice to eachother.
19. What was "your song" that you danced to at your wedding?
George Strait "Cross My Heart" - Josh picked it!
20. What did you serve your guests to eat?
Chicken, shrimp, I think some pasta, I can't remember the details! It was good though!
21. What did your friends do to decorate your car?
Nothing, we were leaving with my dad who was taking us to the airport to spend the night to catch our early flight in the morning.
22. What was your favorite wedding gift?
I'm not sure if we really had a favorite. We were very lucky to recieve all that we got.
23. What was the worst wedding gift you got?
I think everyone pretty much shopped from our registry to there wasn't much not to like.
24. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We went to Puerto Vallarta the next day and stay for 10 days. It was awesome!
25. Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding?
A few things I may have done differently but there wasn't anything that I look back on and really regret. It was such a wonderful night and we'll always remember it.....even though it went so fast that it was a blur! Actually I take that back, I really regret my choice in photographers. I still haven't had prints made because even thinking about it disapoints me so much I get sick to my stomach. To all future wedders - you get what you pay for!

Daddy's Birthday

Josh's birthday was on Friday, no you didn't miss it, he prefers that it goes unnoticed. That said, I planned a private getaway to the beach just for Josh, Megan and me. We finally got around to using our timeshare credits that we have and we were very pleased with the results! It was a great place, 3 pools, rec centers, right on the water. We got a 2 bedroom, 2 bath room with a full kitchen and family room. It was really nice. We can't wait to go back or try a different resort.

Here is the view from our room.

The view from the family room.
Megan checking out the pool sized bath tub!

The family room from the kitchen.

2nd bedroom where Megan slept.

Family room

View into the master bedroom. We are spoiled when we get a king size bed. When Megan woke up at 5:15, she came into bed with us. We barely noticed her. :)

From the hallway.

Another view of the family room.

Another view from the back patio. It had a BBQ and everything

Before we left, Megan and I made a cake for Josh so she was very excited when we actually got to eat it! She had been singing Happy Birthday to Josh all day and we finally got it on video.

Fall Colors

Josh was hunting last weekend and got back on Tuesday, a bit early. I thought it would be a nice surprise if we did some work on the leaf issue we have going on in the back yard. He has a machine that sucks, chips, vacuums and blows but unfortunately I couldn't get my weenie arm to start it. So all we got were "before" pictures, bunch of piles and no "after" pictures.

The many faces of Megan. Who knew asking her to play in the leaves would tick her off so much!

Lesly Update

Kathy and Glen were notified today that since Lesly's treatment is considered Phase II (clinical study), the insurance company will not pay for ANY of her care. They don't have any other options right now as the tumor is growing very quickly. Maybe we can try to have another fundraiser for them. They still have an account at WAMU under the name Lesly Foster if anyone can help. It's just been one thing after another for them. I'll keep everyone posted.

Christmas is Coming...Hint...Hint

News About Lesly

Lesly and her parents went to Seattle this week for scheduled scans and tests. They decided awhile back that they would get Lesly's primary care in Seattle. I guess there is a doctor up there that is a little more knowledgeable of Lesly's condition. We found out on Monday night that the scans have shown that the tumor is growing back. I'm not sure which tumor, as she has had 4-5 now. The most recent one was removed on Valentine's Day this year. It was an especially difficult recovery process for her that time. I'm not sure what this all means, we haven't gotten a whole lot of information at this time. They are still in Seattle at least for the next 3 weeks. I'm not sure what that means for Kathy, if she is going to have to come back to go to work or if she is going to have to take more time off - probably unpaid.

Lesly, Kathy and Glen need all of the positive energy sent her way as possible.

I'm In Love With a Soldier

As most of you know, Josh served in the Iraq War in 2003-2004. Josh and I knew each other before he was deployed, before he ever enlisted. In fact I think it was back in 1999 that we met. From the first time I saw him, I think my heart was in love. I wish I could say that it was love at first sight and we lived happily ever after, but I can't. My head fought it because I had so much else going on. I met him right after an emotional break up and I just wasn't ready to think about moving on. Unfortunately for me, I missed out on a lot of time with him. We saw each other when our friends got together and every time I did, my heart ached. I knew there was something about him and I knew I had strong feelings for him.

Eventually I moved to Arizona in 2001 and we lost touch. I heard that he enlisted that Summer. I moved back to Oregon in March 2002 and we still did not have any contact besides being in the same place at the same time with mutual friends. I always tried to talk to him but he's really good at giving the cold shoulder! Anyway, towards the end of 2002 Josh got word that he was going to deploy in the beginning of 2003. In January we all got together to say goodbye to him. He didn't actually deploy for a couple of more weeks but I didn't hear from him again until probably that Spring.

I kept wondering and waiting to see if I would hear from him. Finally, one day at work an email popped up from him. It was an email letting everyone know that he was okay. I was so excited to hear from him. I wrote him back and he actually wrote me back again. At first, I still didn't think that I had a chance with him so I was just trying to be a friend and chat. Of course that eventually changed and I knew that I was falling for him "all over again" as if I'd ever stopped. Over the next few months we talked over email. It was devastating not to hear from him at least once a day. And then if I didn't hear from him for days I got really worried and longed for an email with his name to pop up in my inbox. He always did get back to me though. I started sending him cards in the mail as well. I thought, who doesn't like getting real mail? Josh's favorite color is yellow and so I went to the store and bought yellow stationery. All of the letters I wrote to him came on yellow paper and in a yellow envelope. It was my way of saying, "You've got mail from Kristie," without him having to get close enough to read it. Later on, he told me it was always nice to see letters waiting on his bunk for him. I tried to write him as much as I could, even if I had nothing to say. I knew anything from home would be a welcome change.

Over the months, our friendship grew and we were talking more and more. Then November came and I knew so did his birthday. I think that was the first package I sent to him. Then Christmas came along after that and I sent another package, enough for him and his friends with all sorts of cookies and treats. I had a couple of my friends help donate treats and one even helped with the postage. It ended up being a pretty big box! One of my coworkers even brought in her FoodSaver because we thought it would stay fresh longer. I thought it would take weeks to get there but I think it made it there in only a week or so. An early Christmas treat.

In January of 2004 I was laid off from my job. With that went my internet access. My stomach actually ached realizing that I would not be able to check my email every 3 minutes. I didn't have internet at my apartment at the time so every day I would go to the library to check my email. One day, I saw him in my inbox and was shocked to find out that he was home on leave! It said that he had been home for a week and had been resting at home before letting anyone know he was back. I was so excited! And then it hit me that just because he was home, didn’t mean that he would have time for me. I think by that night I gathered enough courage to call him and see if he wanted to do something. I can’t remember if I called him and he said, “I was just about to call you,” or if it was the other way around. Nevertheless, I was even more excited to find out he was thinking about me too. We decided that he would pick me up at my apartment and we would go to a movie in Sherwood. We saw 50 First Dates and then went back to my house. We talked forever. I definitely didn’t want him to leave and I don’t think he wanted to either. Eventually he did though. But at the door he kissed me goodbye. And then we kissed again for about 5 minutes. :)

I saw him one more time before he left. I knew that I was in love with him and there was no denying it. Fortunately his deployment was ending in May and so I didn’t have to wait too much longer for him to come home permanently but it was the longest 8 weeks or so ever in my life!

Once he was home, I still had some work to do in convincing him that I had to be his girlfriend. But since then it HAS been happily ever after. I can honestly say that he became my best friend through our long distance email and we got to know each other again over that time.

4 years later, we own a wonderful home and have a beautiful little girl. He has made me the happiest woman alive. I have never known a man with such honor and integrity. He loves his family and he does everything to take care of not only his wife and daughter, but his parents and anyone else that needs him. He works very hard and sometimes spreads himself really thin but he wouldn’t have it any other way. His first priority is to take care of the people that he loves.

As a medic, he’s known as Doc. A lot of who he is came from the Army but I also know that a lot of what the Army teaches, he already knew and practiced. They didn’t have a lot of work to do with him. He was already a Great Man. His soldiers love and respect him and they know that he cares about them and their well-being. He also knows how to say, “Suck it up.” He probably wishes he could say that to me more often.

As a son, he’s known as Raph. He does everything he can to make sure that his parents are taken care of, even if it means time away from us or time he doesn’t get for himself. He cuts wood, does repairs and helps his dad with projects around their house.

As a brother, he is known as Uncle Josh. He loves his sisters and their families. He even travels with a toddler to Nome to build a deck for one of their friends! She was generous enough to pay for our trip of course. He builds planes, “lifts” you by your head, tickles, wrestles and takes being jumped on.

At home, he’s known as Dada. It’s as much a term of endearment coming from me as it is from Megan. He does so much for us that I wouldn’t even know where to start without him. He does things that I don’t even know he does. He helps me with the laundry and changing diapers. He even dusts! And then he does just about everything outside!

As a veteran, he is known as Sgt. VanValkenburg. He is so humble, he doesn’t like to be seen out in his uniform. The reason for that is because people aren’t shy anymore about thanking him for his service, which is wonderful. Then I have to pretend I have something in my eye because it makes me so proud of him. He is so humble that he has been awarded medals that he doesn’t even tell me about. As a veteran, he has earned and deserves military benefits but won’t accept them because he knows there are others that need it a lot more than he does.

As my husband, he is known as the love of my life, the wonderful father of my children and My Hero.

Family Night

We've been so busy around here with my school, work, Josh's work and hunting that we don't seem to get much if any family time together. Josh was in Salem most of the day and I asked if we could go do something together tonight. Megan and I had major cabin fever with all of the rain today so it was so nice to get out of the house. We decided to take a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. The last time we went was for her Mommy and Daddy birthday celebration last year. After you look at these pictures, you'll have to take a look back at that post. She has gotten so big and she did a lot of the same things tonight as she did back then so you can really tell.

http://vandarling.blogspot.com/2007/10/just-mom-and-dad-this-time.html

Now this is the funny part! Megan saw Chuck E. Cheese - which she can clearly say - from across the room. Once we caught up to him, it seemed like she was so excited to see him.

But once he turned around, it was not so exciting. Her legs tightened around you and she would shake her head and say, "No, no, no!"

But then once there was distance between them, she was all excited again. She would wave, blow kisses and yell, "There he is!" Silly girl.

It was so nice to be able to spend some time with eachother as a family. I'm sure we are all missing it!

Dear Megan (In 20 Years)

Dear Megan,

Last night we elected the first African American President in the history of our country. Last night we elected a President based on his ability to lead and not the color of his skin. Someday you will understand how monumental that is. I did not vote for him because he was black, I voted for him because he stands for what I stand for and I am proud to say that he is our President. Until today, I can honestly say that I never really thought about how much of an impact his election would have from a race perspective. But here is what has dawned on me. 40 years ago, Martin Luther King was murdered because he was black and he was fighting for equal opportunity and today we elected a black man as our country's leader. That is amazing. Look what we have done today! Look how far our country has come! I really was unsure about the outcome of this election, I don't think I ever truly believed that his race would be overlooked. But it was and I am so happy for you and and what that means for your future. I hope that your future will be full of equal opportunity for you as a woman and everyone as an American citizen. We can now believe that anything is possible! Maybe.....hopefully - you will see the first woman elected President as well. We came pretty close to that this year too!

I love you so much Megan. Anything is possible for you!

Love, Mama

Megan's 2 Year Old Picture

We finally got around to getting Megan's 2 year old pictures taken. She had lots of cute poses but we only got one. If anyone is interested.....we went to Portrait Innovations and got a bunch of pictures for only $9.95 with no sitting fee or membership required. You do have to say no to the upsell about 10 times but it's worth it!

Just Arrived (LATE) to the Bandwagon

I finally splurged ($4.79 at Fred Meyer) on Twilight. Now I can relate to all of you fanatics!!