The Gates Family

sharing my REAL heart and my experiences in the amazon.....

2011-07-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

My family and friends that read our family blog know that I typically keep you updated on the latest activities of the Gates Family. We may have gone on a fun trip or one of my kids had a birthday party and I'm keeping you informed. I can tend to be a more private person. I usually share the funny things that happened that week, but very rarely do I share my heart and what I am really thinking. I don't know why, but maybe it's because I don't want people to know the real me. I now feel compelled by God to share with you my REAL heart. I was just about to set my blog to private, but I want everyone to see what God is doing in my life. So, come with me as I take you on my journey that I experienced in the amazon.

I returned one week ago today from the jungles of the Amazon with a ministry called Ray of Hope. This past week has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. I wake up and feel like there is fog over me. My husband said to me, "Your body is here, but you are somewhere else." I don't know what to do about that. My heart is still in Brazil. I want it to be here, but I'm not. I feel completely lost as I am trying to find my place here. While I was in Brazil, I felt I had a purpose. I was feeding people. I was clothing people. We were giving medicine to children who were suffering. But, even more importantly than that, I was telling people about Jesus. We weren't just saving them from starvation or illnesses, we were telling them that Christ has SAVED them ETERNALLY. That is way more exciting than anything temporary! I think of all the organizations out there that send out food and clothes to the poor, but without the message of Jesus and that he DIED for us and wants a personal RELATIONSHIP with us, then what's the point? Yes, of course it's a good thing in the sense that you are helping them with their basic needs, but what people need is a savior. And I do know that I am HERE for a reason. My ministry right now is my husband and children. I get that completely and my desire is to invest in them. But, I feel like I want to do even more. How can I be invested in my family, but also help people in other countries?

Below is a picture of an Indian tribe that we met with. They had become "christians" 4 months ago. I put Christians in quotes because anyone can call themselves that, but when I use the word "christian," I mean that they had put their faith in Jesus and wanted HIM to be the center of their lives and family. When I walked up and met the tribe, I stood there completely stunned at their living conditions. It was a woman who was raising 3 boys on her own. They weren't her biological children. She adopted each of them knowing full well she couldn't feed them, but she could atleast give them a mother's love. They lived pretty far back in the jungle with no house, no food, maybe one shirt each person, and that is it. They basically had NOTHING.

The whole village met together from their various homes since they knew that our team was coming. They could hardly contain their excitement as we walked up to greet them. They were starving for God's word and truth. Our translater, Gloria introduced our team and then, when she said that my dad was a pastor, the entire village gasped. It was the most interesting thing. It was like they were meeting the most famous person on earth. But, the reason they gasped was not because of my dad, but because they were beyond thrilled that he was going to teach them more about Christ. I was so completely humbled because here I am- with church, bible studies, unlimited sermons online, the Bible at my fingertips, and do I get this excited about learning more about God? This tribe had had a personal relationship with Jesus for 4 months now, and their dependance and faith they had was FAR greater than my faith and I have known the Lord now for 23 years now. The woman with the 3 adopted children said she would pray each day that somehow the Lord would provide some food for her kids. They have one hammock and the rest of them sleep on the ground under some sticks with a plastic tarp over it. I got an email from Gloria (our translater and on Ray of Hope staff) and she told me to pray for this village because their area got so much rain this past week. Yes, that would mean that and she and her children are now sleeping in the mud. This tribal woman NEVER said to us - now that she has Christ in her life, things are easy. She said through sobs, "This life is HARD. Every day is HARD." But HE meets her where she's at. He meets her in the middle of the jungle in the Amazon and comforts her. James 4:8 says, "Come near to God, and He will come near to you." He never tells us that if we come near to Him, He will make our lives easier. But, He says He will come NEAR to us!

The past 2 weeks, I can say I have experienced Him drawing near to me. Words can't even begin to express my excitement over His closeness. In some ways I feel like a baby christian. I am spiritually starving. This past week, when my kids go down for their naps, I find myself literally running upstairs to read my Bible and have intimate time with the ONE who loved me so unconditionally that HE died for ME. The feeling of Him drawing close to me and showing HIMSELF to me is overwhelming.

Here is the picture of the woman's house. They sleep here, on the ground. Having children, I can't even imagine putting them down to sleep outside on the ground. Oh, and it gets dark around 6:30 there. So, not only do they sleep on the ground, it's pitch black. (although our jungle guide did teach us how to make a torch, so maybe they do that. either way, it is HARD!)

Here's the amazing thing though... I have had lots of conversations in my life with friends or acquaintences about God. People ask, "If your God is so great, then why are people dying of illesses or starvation? Why would such a good God let that happen?" I never knew how to answer that question. I didn't know. And even though I still don't completely know that answer, what I do know is that we unfortunately live in a world that is full of sin. And watching this woman and her boys, it was like someone slapped me across the face. She wasn't saying everyday, "I'm not going to believe in a God that would have me live here under a tarp. I'm not going to believe in a God that would watch my boys go without food!" She PRAISES Him for what she does have. When someone brings them a fish, she rejoices. She doesn't just worship some god out there, but a REAL God, a God that has shown Himself to her. And not only that, she asked my sister Kelly to teach their tribe a worship song so they could praise Him with music. This is the song that Kelly taught them in portuguese:

Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness

Opened my eyes, Let me see

Beauty that made my heart adore you, hope of a life spent with you

Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You're my God

You're altogether Lovely

Altogether Worthy

Altogether wonderful to me

So, after a week of amazing experiences, I realized how poor I am in my faith. I never trusted Him like I should. I never had the faith that this woman has. I never get as excited about studying God's word like this tribe did. I have everything I could possibly imagine. I have the greatest husband in the world, 2 amazing and healthy children, a great house, family that are my best friends, but a walk with God that was poor. So, as I left this village and walked back to our boat, I felt the Lord tugging on my heart.

The very next day, we went to a village called Peru Peru. Our team all had different roles. My dad would meet with the pastors and encourage them as they were trying to teach their people. My one sister helped with the teens. My other sister talked with the moms. Myself and several other team members did crafts and games with the kids.

As we were doing crafts with the kids, My friend Mary Katherine noticed a little boy who did not look well. He had no strength at all and was barely moving. At one point, he passed out and they rushed him over to Ed, (the Dr. on our team) who had set up a clinic at that village. The mother was there and said that she had not been able to feed him since Friday. It was Tuesday. Stephen, ( in the green shirt and also on our team, from Ireland with a fantastic accent) sat next to this little guy and wiped his face over and over. He sat with him and just kept talking to him, knowing that he couldn't respond. They fed him 2 bowls of pasta and some orange juice. My sister, Megan also sat with him and after a long while, they got one little smile out of him. Seeing this, The Lord again took my heart and tugged on it again.

After this, I didn't want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to go back to my hammock on the boat and be alone with the Lord. I wept as I realized what a selfish brat I really am. I KNOW full well that there are children dying everyday due to starvation. What am I doing about that? I KNOW full well that there are 147 MILLION orphans out there with no one to fight for them. What am I going to do about that? I call myself a christian, but are people seeing me sacrifice my STUFF and WANTS for them? Are people seeing an overwhelming LOVE of Christ IN me pouring out FOR them? Some might think I'm being too hard on myself, and maybe I am, but what I want is to change. I heard a man who I deeply respect say, "We are living in a glass bowl. We do not live in reality. We know there are poor out there, but because we don't see it on a daily basis, we forget and we live our normal lives."

I read a book recently where it gave this hypothetical situation- Say you pull into your driveway and you see a child laying on your door step. She is weak, starving, no clothes, no parents, and has no one to help her. Would you open your door, step over her, go back into your house and go on about your regular activities? No. I don't know of any soul who would do that. Any one of us would pick her up, call 911, give her food and clean water, give her clothes, hug her and tell her that everything was going to be ok. I would give her my bed and whatever she wanted or needed to know that she was being cared for. The bible talks about giving to the poor, widows, and orphans countless times. I read it over and over, yet I don't give nearly what I could give. I don't want to be like the man in James who looks in the mirror, and then when he walks away, he immediately forgets what he looks like? My heart's desire is follow HIM, and not have my focus be on things that make me happy temporarily.

It was then that I realized, I have been living in sin for years and hardly recognizing it. I have had many seasons in my life where I put Him first and was dilligently following Him, and felt a closeness to Him. But I have noticed a distance with Him in the past years. I have begged Him to show Himself to me, but He remained silent. Why was He not showing himself to me? What am I doing wrong? Why does He feel so far? Why am I not bursting with excitement each morning to spend time with Him? I am not living in sin?! I am a good wife and mom. I go to Bible study and have my quiet time with Him and read my Bible. What is the problem? I realized what my problem was when I saw this boy starving. My love for material posessions has overtaken me. It has overtaken me to the point where I would rather make myself happy and have that quick "high" on a purchase, then give it to someone else who needs it. I was finding myself ravenous for that next trendy thing for my wardrobe or my house. The Lord laid on my heart the idols that I have put before Him. Mathew 6:21 says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

And can I just say, that I put that verse in there because it is all about your HEART. I was excited because people were starting to contact me to decorate their house. I was thrilled for this new hobby in my life. but I was literally laying awake stressing over things I bought or didn't buy for a client. I was trying to figure out where that chair would go best. Honestly, it was starting to consume me. My life was lacking peace in a HUGE way. My heart was on stuff, shopping, and material comforts, and therefore my sin was completely disconnecting me from the Lord. Someone else could be an interior designer and have really nice things and have their heart completely on the Lord, therefore for them, they are not sinning. I cannot stress enough, that the ONLY person I am talking about in this blog post is ME. I am not looking at other people, thinking, "Well. I know they are wealthy. They could give more money away to the needy." And if I were to think that for even a second, my prayer is that I will stop that train of thought because I could never ever point a finger at anyone else because I am as selfish as they come.

While I was in the jungles and seeing these people starving or hurting, I wanted to give them everything I owned. I wanted to give them the shirt off my back. Why did I want that? Was it because I saw poverty first hand and not just read about it in the newspaper? Do I have to be on a mission's trip to want to help the poor? Why don't I want to give away my excess money while I'm at home. Is it because I won't get the reward of their thankfullness and gratitude? Is it because I won't get the reward of seeing that little boy or girl's face when I give them a toy? Do I really want to send my money away to World Vision or Compassion and not get the pat on the back for giving it to them? I asked myself all of these questions a million times while I was there and while I've been home. UGH......Even on a mission's trip where I think I am doing this great act, I am still making it about ME. It was like I was seeing my sin on a whole new level. This missions trip is not about me. It is not about doing something good for someone else because of they way it makes me feel. It is not about our team. It is not about Ray of Hope. It is not even about the poor who we are going to serve. It is all about God. I am just now at age 30 really getting that for the first time. It has everything to do with feeding and clothing these people THROUGH our sacrifice and LOVE, so that they may see the sacrifice and love of CHRIST and know that HE died for them. He desperately wants a relationship with them, and all of us. And that is why we go.

Again, the Lord tugs on my heart and I know that He is breaking me. I have been so emotional this week because of so many things. When I think of the beautiful people in Brazil that I miss, I start crying. When I think of their needs and their poverty, I start crying. When I think of how I deserve NOTHING and yet, God loves me anyway, I start crying. When I am in the car listening to my music and worshiping Him, I start crying. And my mom couldn't have said it better. She told me that I was also crying because God was doing a revival in my soul. I basically have been crying all week, and some of it has been because I have felt a heaviness, but mostly it's because I feel a peace and joy that only God can give.

A few of us made a house visit for a woman who just had a baby 4 weeks ago, her husband, and their 3 beautiful boys. They had a two bedroom house that seemed like the Ritz Carlton compared to the other homes we saw. I went in with Redi (our translater), Nick, Candace, Ed, (our awesome dr) and his wife, Jea. Ed examined the family and gave them medicine as needed. When it was the woman's turn to see the Dr, she handed me the baby. I melted, and I mean melted. I seriously would have just packed that sweet thing right up in my suitcase if I could. This family was a blessing and they shared with us some of their challenges. The mom told us that she didn't have enough breast milk for the baby. (and they don't have formula obviously)She said he was hungry and cries all the time. Again, I couldn't even imagine it. She cannot feed her child. I couldn't help but think of when I felt so horribly guilty for switching from breast milk to formula with emmett. WHO FREAKING CARES? I mean, I lost sleep over this?? Atleast I could feed him! Oh, my problems are so small. Here is the little sweetness. Pray for this mother and family. Pray that the Lord will provide the milk and the food for her children.

While I was visiting this house, some of our team went down the way to do another house visit. The water had risen and was filling the whole house. When they would get out of their hammocks and step onto the floor, they would step into about 2 feet of water. And it wasn't just the water, but snakes, alligators, and other creatures were coming in. I wasn't there to see this particular house. Honestly, I'm not sure I could have handled it at this point. And all I can do is pray for these families.

Ok, last story I promise. I have a million that I could share and maybe one of these days, I can blog about each amazing experience so I will never forget. This picture below is of my dad and a man who is in his mid 80's. I know, right? Is he not scrumptiously adorable?? The other guy I'm talking about....... not my dad. Ha. Although, I must admit, my dad is pretty darn cute as well.

ANYWAY.....My dad was teaching some of the men, and this man walked 3 hours to hear him speak, and then 3 hours home. IN THE 95 DEGREE WEATHER AND IN HIS 80'S!! For real? He was so excited to hear teaching about God! Do I get that excited to go to church on Sunday? Would I be that excited about church that I would walk 3 hours in the heat? Probably not. I mean, there is even that occasional time that I won't go to church because I am tired from the night before. Every time I turned around, I was amazed that these people had nothing, yet they were so rich in their faith. My husband said it so perfectly when he said to me the other day, "we are a victim of our abundance." SO TRUE! So, as a conclusion of my trip... I am experiencing God in ways I never imagined. Every single day, amazing things are happening as HE is showing himself to me through studying His word and through song. I can honestly say that right now, I am not desiring much. Each morning when I wake up, I am pleading with HIM that He will keep my passion on Him and not on earthly things. But, the part of where I am struggling is, what does this look like? How do I live in this wealthy area of the world and be a PART of this world, but not OF it. Right now, my feelings are still so raw that I dont want to go in stores. I don't want read my design blogs that I used to. I dont want to spend lots of time online finding that adorable coordinating outfit for my kids when they get their pictures done. I have ZERO desire to do my home blog that I used to love doing. I dont even want to go into the grocery store and look at the 50 different kinds of peanut butter that we have to choose from. I am struggling because none of these things are bad or wrong. I just don't want them to replace my desire for God. I am desperate to find a balance. I want to sacrific my desires and give to people who need it, but I also want to go out to dinner with family, or go to the mall with a friend, and not feel guilty. I also know that guilt doesn't come from the Lord, but conviction does. So, maybe as I continue to process, He can help me find balance and what works for our family.

I'm impressed if you read this whole thing as I've rambled and probably not made much sense. I am still sorting it all out. This was the first day I could even think about blogging about my trip. My mind is overflowing and I can hardly turn it off. I prayed before I started writing that motives would be entirely pure and my intentions of this post are so clear- I am not trying to sound self righteous, preachy, make anyone feel guilty, or be a complete DOWNER. That is so NOT the point. The point is that I want to tell people about my relationship with Jesus and that they too can have that.

Some reading this may be solid in their walk with God. Some may be walking with Him, but hurting beyond belief. Some may think of God as a complete foreign object. Some may believe in Him, but feel a distance from Him. Some may believe in Him, but only talk about Him if they have to go to confession or go to church on Easter or Christmas. And, some may not believe in Him altogether. My prayer for you is that you will ask Him to open your eyes to the truth. Ask Him to show Himself to you. Ask Him to be your ALL and be the center of your life. He says He will meet you where you are at. Again, "Come near to God, and He will come near to you."

Going Private

2011-04-06T06:17:00.001-07:00

Hey Friends! I am taking my blog private, so let me know if you read and I'll put you on the invite list. Just leave a comment, facebook me, or send me an email. :) Thanks, Katie

2 years ago today

2011-03-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight as Brad and I are getting ready for bed, we are praying together and Brad is praising God for our blessings and our children. It then occurred to me that exactly 2 years ago to the day was when Emmett had to go to Fairfax Hospital because the doctors thought he could have M.R.S.A. I then looked up my old blog post on it and just started crying seeing his little body in the hospital bed in that mini gown! My poor baby had to go through all of those tests just to find out that what he had was a birth mark. That was such a terrifying time for us.

We are so beyond thankful for this little guy. He just started telling me that he loves me. When goes to bed, He says, "I ya you." Be still my heart. The post of him in the hospital is here. Thankyou Lord for my 2 beautiful blessings. Here are a few recent pics of my sweet "turkey" as his daddy likes to call him.

Florida Getaway

2011-03-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

Megan and I took a quick 4 day trip to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It's the sweetest little beach town. It's not built up, just a gorgeous beach and some adorable restaurants and shops. Like I said before, the lack of sun really starts to get to me after a while. And I run out of things to do with my kids. I just want to be outside! Brad encouraged me to go somewhere warm for a few days. I truly do have a great and understanding man......well, and a great mom for watching my kiddos monday and friday while brad was at work. Thanks mom.

Dinner at Riverside Grill.

Riverside Hotel

So, New Smyrna is an hour from Orlando. I really just couldn't be that close to disney world and not go? Unfortunately, Megan doesn't quite share my love for amusement parks. :) Actually, she did say that she would go with me, but we ended up just doing a dinner at a Disney restaurant and then went to downtown disney afterwards.

A dragon made out of legos

Our cute little coffee shack that we would go to each morning. I REALLY wish we had one of these in northern virginia!

a few nice days.......

2011-02-26T21:05:00.000-08:00

Last week there was a day that was in the mid 70's. It was the BEST! It's amazing how much the weather affects my mood. It really does. We enjoyed the weather with some fun outings with friends.

We had a picnic and the kids were so into it. So were the moms. Can you tell? Hahaha I love that P and J are on their phones.

I was in such a good mood with the weather, that I had a fabulous beyond fabulous idea to go out to dinner to a local pizza joint with all of our neighbors. Have you tried finding a table that will accomodate 6 adults and 8 children? Let me just say that I am pretty sure the restaurant broke out into applaud when we left. :)

We went to baskin robbins after dinner......

Last weekend we headed over to sport and bounce with good friends to celebrate their daughter's bday!! Maryn, being the classic 1st born was nervous to go down the slides, but emmett went down all of them by himself and loved every minute of it.

Mar and Caroline looking in the funny mirrors

Buds

Ok, Im not gonna lie. I had as much fun as the kids did.

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T20:36:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you had a fabulous Valentine Hearts Day, as Maryn would say! The kids and I woke up to this sweet display from my sweet! Every year, Brad and I always celebrate Valentines day on the 13th. Brad had my sister coming over to babysit and he was taking me out for the whole evening and it was a surprise. I was super excited, but then he came down with an awful cold and fever. Poor baby spent most of yesterday in bed with chills. So, of course we didn't go out, and we have it postponed for 2 weekends from now. Ugh....the suspense. :) Yesterday, Maryn, Emmett, and I made heart shaped cookies and decorated them. The kids had soooooo much fun!
I think Emmett liked them?Maryn had a Valentine party at school, so here she is making valentine cards for all the kids in her class! She thought this was so fun.

Valentine kisses

Nothing says, "I love you" more to me than brad painting a room, rearranging furniture with me, or hanging up pictures. I'm actually being serious. He will always do something if I ask him, but painting the back wall of our bedroom this weekend was a big task and a great valentines gift. I'm excited to show you our finished results! There was a LOT of taping and a LOT of math involved.

Today, for actual Valentines Day, we went down to the neighbors house for more decorating cookies! I don't even want to know how much sugar my children consumed today. Here are 3 of them. Do you think they are on a sugar high?

a work of artMaryn's cookies that she made for brad. She surprised him when he got home from work. Look at all the sprinkles! gross.

Love these guys!

Happy Valentine's day everyone!

lots of photos

2011-02-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

My kids continue to keep me entertained!! Maryn and Emmett like to make their hair crazy in the tub. Pretty soon I can show them the "George Washington." I was recovering a chair and a few of the staples need hammering. Maryn quickly went downstairs to get Pat, her handy manny hammer. She and daddy made a great team.

I don't want Murph to feel left out. He keeps us entertained too. (If you count opening ketchup packets all over my white rug like he did this weekend) Even though he drives me completely crazy, the kids love him. seriously love him. Here is murph giving e some smooches.

Emmett goes to soccer lessons. He loves it. He and his buddy, Max do it together while Mar is in preschool. Alot of the time, he's not paying attention to the coach and is running down to the end of the gym to do who knows what, but he still loves it and he is WORN out at the end of the class. And let's be honest, that was my goal!

E looking pretty freaking adoable in the Italia soccer jersey I picked up for him in Venice.

This is a typical evening. Brad gets home around a little before 5. We do dinner, play, bath, Toy Story, then bed. Yes, Toy Story was in the night routine. We of course don't do this every night, but the kids have been enjoying getting in Maryn's bed and watching Toy Story on the computer together. It's a chance for Brad and I to clean the kitchen and talk with no interruptions. :)

Mar and I enjoying a tea party in the living room.

My brother and his wife brought over their baby, Will to meet the kids! We all knew that the kids would be all over him, so they wanted to wait til he was 6 weeks for the kids to meet him. Maryn has never been so thrilled. She got to hold him and give him his bottle! Tonight when she was going to bed, she said, "I think baby Will is the sweetest baby I ever met." Awwww.

I love this pic!

Super bowl get together! The girls being silly.

Hmmmm.......most people say Maryn gets her silly side from me. I am not so sure about that considering that the real GOOF in our family is Brad. Not everyone knows that about him, but seriously he is crazy and one of the goofiest people I have ever known. EXAMPLE: A couple weeks ago I turn on my phone and the picture that comes up on the background of my phone is Brad's nostril. Yes, you know you are in for life if he leaves a crazy pic on your phone.
okay, just another example: This is new years eve and he asked brent to take a picture of us and make it look like he is balancing his champaigne on his nose. seriously? Thanks B for keeping our family laughing.
the girls watching Toy Story 3 for only the billionth time in the basement while I was upstairs "watching" the super bowl.

Making corn bread to go with the chili. Yum.

My Quotable Kid

2011-01-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

The kids have been extra funny lately. For Christmas, my sister bought me a book called, "My Quotable Kid." I feel like I am pulling that book out every 5 seconds to write down the funny things that the kids have done or said.

A couple weeks ago, Maryn was playing with emmett on my bed and making him say the different parts of his face. "Emmett, this is your mouth. Can you say mouth?" Emmett would say it and then they would move on. When they got to nose, Mar says, "Emmett, this is your nose. Can you say nose? You have a little baby nose and mommy has a HUUUUUGE nose!" Little does she know that I am actually really self conscious of my nose and always have been. But, I must admit, it was pretty funny.

Then yesterday she was trying to do something and said, "daddy. I am frustrated. I am trying to get the butterflies back in the elephants trunk and I can't do it, AND, I mean, I'm a pretty smart gir?l!"

She is such a sweetie pie. My most favorite times with her is at night. She always asks me to just lay with her and snuggle. You got it baby girl!

I had to discipline emmett yesterday for something and then for the next 10 minutes, I hear him moaning, "I want daddddddyyyy!!!!!!" Give me a freakin break. I have to say though that that boy tugs on my heart strings like none other. I can hardly stand it sometimes. I beg him for kisses and he says "no!" and then runs away because he thinks it's funny and knows that I will chase after him.

I just finished this book called "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman (a MUST read by the way) Anyway, she was saying that her son wrote her a letter when he was about 6 or 7 saying that he would live with her forever. So when he got married, she read the letter to everyone and she had held on to that letter for all of those years. He was her baby boy and she wanted him to stay that way forever. Of course, I was laying there in bed crying like a big baby not wanting emmett to leave me. But then I was ok when I remember that he's not even 2 yet. ha.
There are so many days that I wish they were older so our family could do this or that, but I KNOW they will grow up so ridiculously fast and I will be missing these years. They are the sweetest.

Brad's trip to the Amazon

2011-01-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

Brad got into today from Brazil. He was gone for almost 9 days!! And let me tell you, I am lost without this man! He had a fabulous and amazing week. It was so great to hear all of the stories about what God is doing in the villages there. Brad went to Brazil along with my dad and my sister, Kelly. My dad spoke to the pastors of the villages. One of the pastors actually traveled by canoe for 12 days, just so that he could get the training he needed from my dad. Seriously? That is amazing. These people are so eager to hear about Christ. It is truly amazing.

Brad of course loved the kids. Here are 2 boys that he especially bonded with.......they are SO adorable!!! I want those cute litle faces to live here!

The kids there are absolutely stunning!!

Brad was quite the soccer player in his day. :) He played in high school and college, so he had a blast playing everyday with the guys there.

Here is a picture of Brad giving his story about how he came to know Jesus Christ in a personal way. The man to his left is Milton and he was one of the translaters.

I went to Brazil this past June and one of the villages we went to, we saw this woman below with cerebral palsy. My blog post to brazil is here.

Ray of Hope bought her a wheel chair and she was beyond excited. She is in her thirties and has been in this hammock now for years. I can't even imagine. I love this picture of brad helping her. She is so happy!

Look at that smile.

Do you remember my baby?? The mom asked me if I wanted her and I absolutely fell in love with her. If I could, we would adopt her. But, I looked into the adoption agency and it's impossible. But, hopefully either brad or I will be able to go once a year and check in on her. She is so big now!! She was 4 months when I was there and now she is 10 months and standing! Brad brought her toys and held her and played with her. My heart breaks for her. I really wish I could be her mom.

Here she is with brad!

Brad brought her some little toys and she really liked this pink stuffed animal.

Oh, and she also had a sister who was in the pic of my brazil blog post. She was three years old and the mom actually found a brazilian who wanted to take her. What an amazing experience he had! I am really hoping to go again in June, but not sure yet if it will all work out. Pray for the people here.

love this child.

2011-01-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics of my new nephew, Will. He is absolutely the most scruptious little thing you have ever seen! Brad and I went over there the other day and I enjoyed getting snuggles with the little guy.

seriously......

a few posts in one

2011-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

I have been so lazy with the blogging. Sorry! The Gates family is going a mile a minute and hardly have time to take a shower, let along a blog post. But, the kids are napping so it's good timing. :) My brother and his wife had the most perfect, sweetest little baby on December 28th. William "Will" Michael Minter. I am so serious- this child is freaking adorable!! And it's a weird feeling because I am a first time aunt. I love him so much. Look how happy he is with me?? :) My sister Kelly did a conference called Deeper Still before Christmas. The speakers were Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, Priscilla Schirer, and our very own Kelly Minter!!!! There were 13,000 women there and they all did a fabulous job. So excited for my sister as she pursues the speaking. We are so proud of her! I wasn't able to be there, but my parents were both there.

My mom and dad with Kel and Kay Arthur.

Kel, Beth, April, and Mom

We were able to have our annual Christmas Eve candle light service in our new church building. SO exciting!!! Maryn and Caroline just had a little bit of fun. ;)

Mom and Dad

Emmett with his vest and tie. It was the cutest thing ever.

Christmas Eve back at my parents house for dinner

Christmas morning. Maryn was so excited to open presents. Don't worry- these are not all for her. Brad and I decided to not go as crazy as we did last year. Last year, she got so many presents that it was way overload and we tried to take a step back this year. Because there are so many aunts and uncles, and only 2 kids, my kids make out pretty nicely on Christmas morning.

Also, this year we decided to do half the amount of presents (only for the adults, not the kids), so that we could give the other half to the kids in Brazil. Brad is going in 2 weeks to Brazil and visiting all the villages that I visited in July. I have 4 suitcases full of paper, coloring books, sticker, crayons, dolls, stuffed animals, clothes, and TOYS!! I cannot wait to see the pics of their sweet faces when they receive the presents.

Maryn is OBSESSED with Beauty and the Beast right now, so this present was a big hit. Thanks Grammy!

One of Kel's best friends, Mary-Katherine (all the kids call her Kacky) flew in on Christmas Day. Her fam celebrates on Christmas Eve so it worked out perfectly! They had fun playing with Mar.

My grandma ("Bammom") flew in along with my aunt and cousin for the week. SO fun having my fam here.

My sister in law's family came to Nova from Norfolk for Christmas. We were all waiting for baby Will to arrive. Megen's brother, Patrick was so good with the kids. He did rocket with them forever and Brad and I were very appreciative for his enless hours of playing with them. :)

Kelly and Kacky would say, "MARYN SANDWHICH!!!!!!!" and hug her. she thought this was hysterical and then Emmett had to be squeezed in as well. AGAIN..........We REALLY appreciated all of the babysitters. There was always someone to watch and play with the kids, so brad and I had a few too many lunch dates and shopping. It was heaven.

Maryn's favorite toy was the leapster 2 video game.

Emmett's favorite was his new slide.

I hope all of you had a splendid Christmas!!

maryn's christmas concert

2010-12-17T08:01:00.001-08:00

Maryn had her Christmas concert at pre-school the other day. Oh my gosh, it was adorable!! All of the parents were seated and the kids came walking down the aisles ringing their bells. They sang songs with all the hand movements and they did such a great job!

Emmett was SO excited to watch sissy sing! At one point, brad and I were talking and emmett ran up on the stage and he and maryn gave eachother the biggest hug. it was a distraction, but also kind of the cutest thing ever. Maryn yells to the audience, "This is my brother!!!"

She was so excited to show everyone her daddy!

Maryn with her teachers, Mrs. B and Mrs. R. LOVE them!

playing around with my camera

2010-12-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

My friend Meredith and I were talking the other day how we have these really nice cameras that we don't know how to use!! I have learned a little bit here and there and I am constantly messing around with the settings. The other day, emmett woke up early from his nap and I thought the lighting was nice outside, so I took the kids out to our back field and snapped some pics of them. I thought some of them turned out cute. :)

My sister in law taught me that if you just put your camera out in front without looking in the view finder, it will some times give you an "artsy" look....like with half the face cut off. ha. It's true though! Some of my best pics are ones where I am not trying to center it.

I love this one of emmett in front of the tree. such a sweet baby.

Luckily, it doesn't matter if I am a good photographer or not. I have cute subjects. :)

An Italian 30th Birthday

2010-12-03T10:01:00.001-08:00

A few years ago I went to Italy and fell in love. We went to several different cities, but Florence was my favorite. So, for my 3oth birthday, I decided to go back. I went with my mom, my 2 sisters, and 3 amazing family friends. Needless to say, we had a ball. The picture below is in Florence. Can you see why I love it? Me and my sisters!! We were so bummed out sister in law, Megen couldn't come with us, but she is too far along in her pregnancy to travel. :(

These are all the gold stores on the Ponte Vecchio. So beautiful in the evening.

We hired a driver to take us out to Tuscany for the day. After seeing it, I couldn't believe we didn't do it last time. It was absolutely amazing. This is one of the little towns in Tuscany called Siena. This is San Gimignano and it was actually my favorite.

The country side.

Our driver made reservations at a vinyard for us to have lunch and a wine tasting. We had no idea what to expect and it was above and beyond our expectations. We pulled up to a vinyard and our host, Luigi came out to greet us. He walked us in and opened up these 2 doors to a private room with the most beautiful table set for all of us. His mother who is 87 makes all of the food for everyone. We started with the meat and cheeses. Next up was Ribollita (a Tuscan soup), then lasagna, and biscotti for dessert. He paired a wine with each. I am not really a wine person, but I thought it was interesting as he showed us how to hold our glass, swirl it, etc.

This was the most incredible day and everyones favorite I am pretty sure.

The next day was my birthday and the girls took me to Il Latini in Florence to celebrate. Oh my gosh....the food was incredible and there was so much of it! It was definitely a birthday to remember!!

They turned off the lights and all the waiters sang to me and brought me desserts. It was a pretty special bday. :)

Off to Venice!

The Rialto Bridge

Meg and I

A fabulous trip with fabulous people! Loved every minute!

TONS of halloween pics!!!

2010-11-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

As the kids get older, halloween gets more and more fun. Every year, we go trick or treating with our neighbors, but this year we decided to have a chili cook off to start the evening. What a great idea that was! We had so much fun trying all the different chilis and yummy food. The weather could not have been better! Do you see the pirate? He was the only other nerdy parent who dressed up along with me! the 3 amigos

Meg and I don't mess around.

My little buddy.

the cutest little hamburger!

buds!

Pop Pop and Tiana. She was supposed to be a hot dog, but since she dressed up in the hot dog costume for like 5 other halloween events, she asked if she could be Tiana from princess in the frog.

The trick or treaters ready for candy! in this pic we are missing... emmett, xavier, max, and petra, and Kellan.

Because all day I kept saying, "Maryn! We're gonna go trick or treating tonight," we would get to each house and she would say, "trick or treating!" so cute.

Murphy as an icecream sundae! Can you tell I like food? All of my family is dressed up as dinner!

Gotta love this pic of Maryn and Lars. It looks like she is blowing him off and he's bummed. love it

me and jessi

Such a fun night with fun friends!

latest events

2010-10-31T00:28:00.000-07:00

It is crazy around here! One thing after the next and I love it. :) Lauren and Daniel just had an engagement party and we all had a great time! The kids had a ball running wild in the backyard and chasing each other. It was a fun time of celebration, friends, and yummy food. Maryn, Emmett, and Sam spent most of the time moving this goal post from one location to the next. They were having a blast. Sam is the ring bear and he and maryn even practiced for the soon to be bride and groom! Maryn got some leaves together and pretended they were flowers and showed lauren how she would delicately toss them out of her basket. nice.

We just celebrated my good friend, Erik's 30th birthday. I met him when I was 12 years old! Now 4 kids later..... Crazy. The birthday was at his parents house and Elisa and I were remembering all of the birthdays that have taken place at that house. Even my sweet 16 was there! Very fun memories. love these two....very very special friends of mine. While the adults were off eating and chatting, Maryn, Jaklin, and Asher played rock band. Maryn was the lead singer with jak on the drums and asher on the guitar. It was beatles songs playing and maryn would just sing any thing she wanted into the mic. They were terrible, but also very entertaining!

On Thursday Maryn had her Halloween parade at school. Make sure you notice 3 year old Hannah Montana.

Here is faith and Ava! 2 of my good friend's little girls sporting their costumes.TRUNK OR TREAT! So fun!! Every year our church does trunk or treat and it's so great. The kids went from car to car getting their candy. They had tons of carnival rides, pop corn, cotton candy, hot apple cider, coloring stations, and tons of other goodies! Here is maryn with her friend, Jack. They are in sunday school together and mar is always telling me how Jack helps her with puzzles at church. adorable. In case you are wondering what jack is, he is Jack Black from Nacho Libre.

The cutest hamburger and hot dog there ever was!

Megs dressed up like a grandma. "Auntie is a grandma? That is hilarious!"

The sunset was amazing

Maryn thought that this was just like the tea cups at disney world.

So excited for halloween tomorrow and our chili cook-off with neighbors!

zoboomafoo!

2010-10-23T19:39:00.001-07:00

Do any of you have kids that watch zoboomafoo? Maryn is obsessed! And that is putting it mildly! She watches probably about 4 zoboomafoo episodes a day and would watch way more if I let her. She loves the Kratt brothers, (the guys that do the show. ) Every night when I put her to sleep, she gets 2 stories. And she is so over books. I now make up stories and have to come up with 2 new ones every night. The first story always has to be about her best friends, Reagan and Avery. Then, the second story has to be about Chris and Martin Kratt from zoboomafoo. This has been going on for months now people! Anyway, the other day, maryn told me that for Christmas, she wanted to meet the Kratt Brothers! Today she got her wish! They were in DC or a big festival. Brad, Mar, Emmett, and I headed downtown for a day of fun. :)

At the festival, they had all sorts of fun stuff for kids. Coloring stations, stickers, food, crafts, (the kids made bird feeders) science demonstrations (which of course mar loved.) Here is brad and e with the sid, the science kid. We woke mar up this morning and told her that we had a suprise for her. The whole drive, she was saying, "Ohh I just have to know! What is my surprise?!!) Here she is with Martin Kratt. Hardly anyone was at their booth. Maybe no one recognized them since the show is so old and they dont really look the same as they did when they filmed it, or we are the only ones that actually watch zoboomafoo. Who knows. Anyway, when maryn saw them, she goes, "oh my goodness. It's the crap brudders." (which is how she says Kratt brothers and it is hysterical!" )

With Chris Kratt!! He asked maryn what her favorite animal was and she said, "A Leaping Lemur!!" There really were no people there, so he they spent lots of time talking with us and they were so nice.

At Potbellys for lunch.

little punk.

After lunch, we walked over to the American History museum. The kids had a blast. They had tons of trains, horses, movies, old cars, etc. They have renovated that museum and it is so awesome. Here is emmett by the cars. Oh, and are you wondering what he spilled on his shirt? That would be DROOL. The child has never stopped drooling since he was born. We are hoping this goes away before he starts dating. That could be a potential turn off.

When I saw this picture, I thought how this basically sums up my life. Maryn looking pretty and wanting to pose for the picture and be the center of attention and emmett off acting crazy:). Mar wanted me to get a pic of her in front of the car and as I take it, Emmett goes running by as fast as he can. This is my life. He is nuts. Notice the rope in front of the car? Yeah, 2 seconds later, emmett went behind the rope and was trying to get in the car. Surprised we didn't get kicked out.

He then started doing summersaults. Oh that child.

Over all I would say it was a great day and Meeting Kris and Martin Kratt was right up there with meeting Belle and Cinderella!!

Fall

2010-10-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

I love Virginia in the fall. Last weekend we went to go visit Nana in Charlottesville and had a wonderful day with her! Brad's best friend, Aaron and his family joined us and it was so fun to catch up with them. Gloria made her famous stuffed shells with her homemade Italian sauce. Oh my, it is so good. Lauren turned 29 a few weeks ago and had quite the birthday present! A diamond ring. :) Yay for Lauren and Daniel. Maryn is the flower girls and practices all the time. It's hilarious.

Lauren's inner circle

On Friday we enjoyed a gorgeous day at Cox Farm. I love that place. Here is Emmett and grammy enjoying a walk.

Emmett loved the slides. It was so fun watching him!

Eating apples and drinking apple cidar.

This slide is no joke. We all went down together which was fun.

The whole fam

Daddy and Mar

Megen with her adorable baby bump. New Minter baby coming Christmas 2010!! We are just a tad excited. :)
The next day, our family enjoyed our good friend, Marshall's football game. So cute! The kids loved it and Emmett really took to Marshall's grandpa. He didn't want me at all and wanted Mr. Fox to hold him the whole time.
seriously? How adorable is this?

and she loved it!

2010-09-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Maryn started preschool last week! I was excited for this milestone, but also a little nervous because Maryn is my extremely cautious and clingy first born. I wasn't sure how she would do. She was the child who they would have to call me down from the church service because she was screaming bloody murder. And I mean every.single.week. She is very nervous about new situations, but we have talked about preschool for a long time now. The day before it started, we had an open house where we could go to her classroom and explore, plus meet her teachers. That was a fabulous idea. I stayed with her through the open house and she immediately loved her teachers. Actually, one of her teachers names is Mrs. Bell and Maryn said, "I cannot believe my teacher is a real live princess!!" Yes, I did have to explain to her that it was not "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. That did not go over very well.

I walked her in to her classroom the first day and she ran over to her teacher to give her a hug. That was a great sign! Then she ran back to me and told me to have a great day! She said to Emmett, "Are you gonna miss me big boy? I am gonna miss you." Actually, it was that day that I realized what a security Emmett is for Maryn. They do absolutely everything together, so she seemed a little nervous to go do something without him.

I was so good. I did not cry. Well, not in the classroom anyway. Of course I called brad instantly to tell him how things went. When I went to tell him about Maryn telling Emmett she would miss him.....well, thats when the tears came. ;)

Maryn was so brave and waved to us as we left the classroom. When we picked her up she said that she "LOVED preschool. It was AWESOME!" Ha. The kid cracks me up. She and emmett were SOOO happy to reunite. I must say, it's those little moments as a mom that make your heart absolutely melt. Sometimes I look back at them in the car and they are holding hands. I die. (Oh, but they can totally fight like cats and dogs too! :)

Here is Mary Bear on her first day!

Do you think she will be the class clown? Huh. The funny thing is she asks me to make these faces. I never ever have to ask her for a goofy shot.

Preschool was a success!

Gates Disney Trip 2010

2010-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

It doesn't matter how old I get. I will always love Disney World. It is such a special place for Brad and I. We went there on our honeymoon and for our 5 year anniversary. We are big kids and just love it there. So, you can imagine how special it was for us to take our kids. Here we are right after we checked into the Polynesian Village. I really liked our resort especially because of it's very convenient monorail ride to Magic Kingdom. Maryn and Emmett at the Tusker House for a Character breakfast in Animal Kingdom. Emmett looooved the characters so much!

Before eating at Tusker House

So, Here is Auntie getting Maryn all dolled up to go to Cinderella's Castle for dinner. This was my favorite night. Maryn got all dressed up and then we went to the castle for a beautiful dinner and all of the princesses were there! Cinderella greeted us when we entered the castle and she was so sweet because there was no one behind us, so she took such a long time talking to Maryn about everything.

Here is Cinderella showing Maryn her two mice friends, Gus and Jaques. So sweet!!

Maryn's favorite princess is Belle, so she was really excited!

Mar and Emmett on the tea cups. This was a favorite.

Playing on the beach at our resort. The kids really enjoyed the beach and pool.

Going to dinner at the Grand Floridian

Waiting for the fireworks!

Headed to Animal Kingdom with pop pop and grammy

My dad and Maryn rode the Dino ride over and over while my mom and I hit up some roller coasters.

On the dino ride, you can push a button to make your seat tilt or go up and down. My dad would pretend like he was scared so Mar would keep hitting the button. She would laugh hysterically . It was so funny.

Grammy and Pop Pop with the kids

It was so helpful having my parents and Megan there. It would have been hard to do it without them. If emmett was fussy or needed to go to bed, my parents would take over. I really appreciated their help. They watched the kids so that Brad and I could go out on a nice date and my dad would stay back while emmett napped so we could go lay out by the pool. Disney World is the greatest.

and the minter deep creek lake tradition continues

2010-08-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Growing up our family went to the beach every single year. Then a few years back, we decided to try out deep creek lake for a change of pace. Our family is pretty "outdoorsy" and we love hiking, swimming, fishing (well not so much fishing for me), canoeing, etc. So, one week at Deep Creek in the mountains....we were sold. I still LOOOVE the beach though. This vacation is just a better fit for us all. I love that it was so cool there. At home it was in the 90's and just way too hot for me. At deep creek, every day was 75 degrees and gorgeous. We really enjoyed our time.

Kelly's best friend, April came along and she is hilarious so we enjoyed our little comedian on the trip. April would also fix a fabulous breakfast every morning for everyone. My sister Kelly would get up with the kids every morning and feed them so I could sleep in. THANKYOU AGAIN KELLY! Brad stayed home cause he couldn't take the time off from work. So, having everyone there to help out with the kids was awesome.

So, here's our week in a nut shell:

Nature walk though shallow falls with the whole fam
Tell emmett to quit whining
lakeside creamery every single night as we were the house next door
smore's on the grill. Maryn looooved that.
Maryn and Emmett dancing in the living room to my brother playing his guitar
Tell emmett to stop whining!
Antiquing with my mom and sister in law
painting on the deck with maryn
bubbles with the kids
Tell emmett again to quit with the whining
late night conversation and tea on the deck after the kids went to bed
hot tub in the afternoon
taking the kayak out for ride around the lake
wiggles watching
watching emmett enjoy his very first ice cream cone
and when his ice cream was finished, he whined and I told him to stop
emmett making his silly face on command. so funny.
movies and kettle corn at night

Did you catch that theme? Emmett discovered whining on that trip. Thankfully, that phase has passed thank the Lord. :)

Emmett is OBSESSED with uncle. When emmett sees david, he runs to him with his arms open and gives him the biggest hug. It really is the sweetest. David was laying out on the rocks and emmett would just cuddle with him.

Yes, there are puffed sleeves on e's shirt. Emmett's room was freezing so I put one of maryns shirts on him. :)

It seems every time some one ran out to pick up something from the grocery store, they came back with either candy or some toy for the kids. Mimi got maryn this Ariel while she was out. :)

So, yes, it is always a good time at deep creek.

WHAT???? We are going to have a cousin around here?

2010-08-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

That's right! We are very excited in this house! I am going to be an auntie and Maryn and Emmett will be the big cousins. My brother and his wife, Megen are expecting a baby BOY late December/ early Jan. Maryn is absolutely thrilled about this news!! She prays for the baby all the time. Although, I must say that she is a tad disappointed that Mimi and Uncle have decided not to call the baby "Alice." That is maryn's favorite name ever. :)

My sister in law is one of the most talented interior decorators I know, so I will most certainly be posting pics of the nursery when it's finished. :) Yay for cousins!

check out my sister's bible study

2010-08-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

My sister, Kelly Minter has 2 Bible studies right now....No Other God's and then her new Ruth study. They are awesome. Beth Moore just finished teaching Kelly's Ruth study online. Check here to see what Beth Moore said about my sister! If you need a great study to do with some of your girlfriends, these are amazing. :) I'm a tad proud of her.

RBC carnival and Auntie's family dinner

2010-07-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Our church had their annual carnival on Friday night. (Our very last carnival at this building as we will be moving to a new campus in August. Very excited, but also kind of emotional about the move. sniff.) The carnival was a total blast except for the fact that it was about a THOUSAND degrees outside. They had pony rides which the kids loved. Mar loved the pony rides. "Aaaaah this pony is so cute and soft!"

Mommy and Mar

Hmmmm.....Maryn was not so sure about this. A ferris wheel, but miss cautious had to check it out first. Once she saw her two best buds get on, she went for it.

The ferris wheel was her favorite part of the night!! But, when I put her to bed that night, she said, "I was a little scared at first, but then I liked it!"

He so does NOT like walking in the grass

Yummy snow cones

Emmett cracked up at the mist tent

There was a fire truck there and kids could take tours and put on the nasty helmets.

Tonight we had Auntie's family birthday dinner where every single year my mom slaves all day and makes a huge asian feast. Stir fry, egg rolls, rice, green beans, all completed with dipping sauces and then carrot cake for dessert.

Me and B

Yummy fried goodness. My mom's egg rolls are honestly the best I have ever had!

I love this picture of the two clowns.

Karen who is our pseudo sister came along for the family extravaganza.

Maryn and Pop Pop

Happy Birthday Auntie! We love you!

Brad being innapropriate. Huh.....that's odd.

Potty Trained!

2010-07-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post is probably way more than you wanted to know about Maryn's potty training. BUT.....I know that I will never getting around to putting it in her baby book. So here goes:

We started potty training the other day. Saturday morning to be exact. My friends told me to do it while Brad was home because it would be too much to be chasing after emmett, and trying to potty train Mar at the same time.

So, when she woke up that morning, I told her she was a big girl now and she wasn't going to wear diapers anymore. Suprisingly, she was into the idea. Abought 6 months ago, I would mention the potty and she would run in the other room and seemed absolutely terrified about the whole process. I talked about it with some of my closest girlfriend who have older children. These are my friends that Brad and I refer to as my "go to moms." I seriously ask their advice on everything! My friend Denise, (who is one of the greatest moms I know) told me that I should wait til Mar turned 3, and then go for it and don't turn back. I promised myself that I would wait til she was 3. Don't get me wrong though- I think it is awesome if kids can do it before then. I just knew that for Maryn, she was not ready any earlier.

She got it within the first day. Even by that night, she would come to me and tell me that she needed to use the potty. The next day, I seriously would ask her every 5 minutes if she needed to use the potty. She finally turned to me and said, "Mommy. I will tell you when I have to go!" It was then when I realized how annoying that must have been for me to be in her face all day. She said it nicely, but also to the point! ha.

She had 2 accidents the first day and one the second. She hasn't had anymore since then. So, I am crossing my fingers. I was seriously dreading the whole process, but she was ready and she just got it. I am so proud of her. Another funny thing is, when I come into the bathroom with her, she says, "Mommy. Do you mind leaving? I would really like my privacy." So funny, and she totally got that from our neighbor down the street. It was hilarious. In reward for potty training, we took her to PetSmart to buy a fish. She was pumped!! I mean, we are talking soooo excited. We go to the pet store all the time to look at the fish, but she couldn't believe that we got to take one home with us!

Look at her face!

Showing us her fish food.

She picked out the gravel. First she picked out hot pink, and then when we were close to the check out counter, she said, "ya know what? I think I want purple instead. I'll be right back." Here she is on her way back. Whew....that was a close one.

Here she is watching dad set up his new home. She named the fish, "Pop." She wanted to name the fish Alice, but we told her that it was a boy fish. And since one of her favorite boys is pop pop, she named it 'pop' for short.

My new home blog

2010-07-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends,

So, I have decided to start a home blog. I get about 10 home design magazines a month so I am constantly reading about all the new fun home trends. I read all about what are the hot colors right now, the cool brands to look for, the fun new fabrics, etc.

Anyway, I like to keep my home updated, but if you buy designer it's just going to be too expensive. So, after I do my research, I find different places where I can get it for cheaper. Anyway, my blog will be to show you where you can get that stuff for cheaper. Also, I will keep you updated on the new things for my own home. We are changing up some rooms, so I'll post pics of that too. Hope you enjoy! It's "Katie's home blog" to the right!

Brazil part 2

2010-07-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

I have adjusted back to my normal life. We wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, and then off to do pool, playdate, or whatever. I am sure this feeling will end, but I still long to get back to Brazil and minister to the people there. If I could, I would jump on a plane with my fam and finish off the summer there. I'll start off with some of the happy moments we had on our trip!

Here we are on our crocodile hunt. SO FUN. I loved it. Milton (who is an official amazon guide) took us out. We got on the little boat at around 11pm or so. It was pitch black and he would shine a bright light out on the water. All of the crocodile eyes would be glowing red in response to the light. It was really fun and creepy at the same time. We had to be really quiet and then Milton would reach in the water and pull them into the boat. I was the biggest baby and the only one who didn't want to hold one. I ran to the very back of the boat. This is Sally and I in the back. :) Of course I didn't bring my camera, so I borrowed this one from Ed. I'll post some pics of the baby crocs and post them later. Each day, Megan and I would grab a blow pop and head up to our hammocks as we were boating to our next village. We would either read or just sit and talk with the breeze as we boated down the amazon. It was so relaxing.

This was one of the harder villages for me. Most of the kids at each village were pretty friendly and would sit in your lap in a matter of minutes. But, this particular village was very reserved. I could hardly get the kids to smile and they seemed really cautious. Before I left home, I got together alot of toys that my kids don't play with anymore. I had a whole suitcase full of toys. So, I thought this was a good time to pull them out. :) Here I am putting a necklace on a little girl. Kids started coming from everywhere. I handed out cars, baby dolls, jewelry, mickeys, and minnies. It was so neat. After that, I got some smiles. And honestly, the kids there really have nothing. They play with eachother, but really nothing to play with. I know we shouldn't beat ourselves up for living where we do and having nice things, but I couldn't help but feel a little sick when I thought of my kids playroom. They don't even play with half of it. They were so thankful and I even got some hugs from them!!

I gave this cute little guy some cars. He wouldn't smile for the camera but he played with them all night. He was so proud of his new cars and he was showing everyone. So, in my last post, I talked about Kelly playing the guitar for the woman with cerebral palsy. My friend Ed sent out this pic and it just really captured the moment. Even still, looking at Kelly's face here makes me tear up. She played and played, but could not get the words out.

Here is Ed, our doctor on the boat. Ed is a ears, nose, and throat doctor who owns his own practice in Reston. He was awesome. At each village, he would set up a clinic so people could come and see him. Many of the people had never seen a doctor before. He had a translator with him and after examining them, he would write up a prescription. Then Jera (who was also on the trip with us and she is in her first year of medical school) would take the prescription and gather the medicine Ed brought. She would meet with the patient and tell them how much and when to take the medication. Most of the time, I was doing crafts and games with the kids. But on this day, there were more people than Ed could even see and they needed extra help. I would write down their names and ages, and then take their blood pressure and pulse. I really enjoyed doing it. The people were so sweet.

Here is a picture of people making barbeque skewers. This is what many people do for work. They cut down trees in the jungle and for every 1,000 skewers they make 3 rais, which is $1.50 american money.

What is truly amazing is at this village, they started a green pepper plantation. Before they would make the skewers like everyone else. They barely had enough money to feed their village. But, Ray of Hope let them borrow money to start the plantation. They are paying them back and that money will go towards another project. They take these peppers to Manaus and sell them for a good amount of money. What a blessing from the Lord. Here is the pastor and his family showing us their peppers. :) They prayed and held up the peppers to the Lord as they prayed. It was an amazing thing to see. They are so thankful for what God has done for their family and village. April and Julee took the peppers and spelled out hope, dream, future.

My Baptism

2010-07-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a 30 second video of Megan and I getting baptized. Check out our Indian audience that decided to come down from their village and watch! It's funny!

http://vimeo.com/12951751

Brazil Part 1

2010-06-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

As I sit down to write about my about my journey to Brazil, I feel overwhelmed because I could never possibly express every amazing experience that I had. It was truly the most incredible week I have ever had, and my life will be forever changed. Here is Megan and I on our way to Manuas Brazil. Here I am thinking that I cannot wait to see all of those children and I am excited to help make some changes, but little did I know that the people there would actually change me. The night we arrived in Manaus, we stayed in a hotel and the next morning we went into town to buy our hammocks. Here I am relaxing in my hammock. I actually loved it! I slept like a baby. :)

Here is Megs, my dad, me, and Kel at the Center. This is a place that Ray of Hope is building for people to stay. It is huge with lots of rooms and my dad could go there in the future to train the village pastors there.

So, this house has so much meaning. When my dad and sisters went to Brazil last year, they came across a woman who had 5 children and her husband had recently died because he was struck by lightening. Then shortly after, the river started to rise and her entire house was flooded. So, she lost her husband and then her home. Last year, my sisters were telling me how sad she was and how she cried during their visit. So, my dad spent $3000 to buy her a new home. And he was so excited to see it this year! When the woman came out of her home and saw my dad, she gave him the biggest hug. We were all crying. :) She had no idea that we were coming. Then she ran back into her home and pulled out a letter that she had wrote for my dad when her house was built. The translator read it to us and it was words of someone who was so beyond grateful. And I couldn't help but feel a little convicted as I have so much and there are times that I don't feel grateful. It was an amazing day.

The sunsets every night were incredible. We enjoyed being on the boat eating dinner while we traveled to the next village.

Here are some of the people on our team. I loved them all. Each person brought a different gift and it was amazing to see how we all worked together to glorify the Lord.

This was another very emotional day for me. We visited a village with a woman who was 32 and had cerebral palsy. She didn't own a wheelchair and her mother was in her 60's and not strong enough to pick her up. So, she has spent most of her life in that hammock. Im not sure she had ever heard music before, but my sister, Kelly came in with her guitar. The girl was glowing. Kelly got only a few words out and couldn't continue because of her tears. She just kept playing though. Kelly was actually singing a song that she wrote talking about the trials we go through here on earth, but the Lord is our portion and He is all we need. It was almost like Kelly wrote that song just for her. This was the most moving day for me for sure.

I brought about 75 prints of our family photo to give out to the children. They loved seeing pictures! Emmett was practically famous because they had never seen a red headed baby before! Here is Redi showing her a picture of our fam. She loved it! Oh, and then I cried again.

My dad baptized megan and I in the river. Yes, it's true. I had never been baptized before. I was always too nervous to get up in front of church and give my testimony. But, I think it was because the Lord wanted me to get baptized in the amazon. A whole Indian tribe came down to watch and it was amazing!!

So, this is another story that tugs on my heart. Right after we met the woman with cerebral palsy, we walked into the jungle a little ways more and visited a woman with her 2 children. Some of the people on the team warned me that I maybe shouldn't go back to meet them because the mother has asked them before if anyone wanted her 4 month old baby girl. They all knew that I had a heart for children and it would be hard for me knowing that this mother wanted to give her child up. Its not that she didn't love her. She just wanted a better life for her. (Atleast that's what some of the staff members were telling me) Of course I didn't listen to anyone and I went anyway. This baby was breathtaking. I fell in love with her and she kept smiling at me. If I could have, I would have taken her home with me. Her home environment was awful and it was one of the more poor villages. The Dr. who was on our team examined her and said she most likely had worms and you could see fleas in her hair. Anyway, here is the little beauty with Gloria. (Gloria is on staff with Ray of Hope)

This is where the baby lived with her mom and sister.

I have more to write. These were just some of the experiences we came across. It was an amazing week and I am seeing the Lord do such a work.

a crazy week

2010-06-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Summers are just packed full of fun activities and I love it. This past week especially was crazy with parties.

Lars and Maryn kissin on the tire swing...... best buds!

VERY into her show she was watching!

At baby jack's 1st birthday party

at my cousin's graduation party. maryn and maya had fun in the pool!

erica's 35th birthday party

at the pool with bekah.

we are working on emmett's tan. ;)

my next post will be about brazil! I leave on Friday!!

age 3

2010-06-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

I came across pictures of me on my 3rd birthday. And since Maryn is 3, I thought I would compare. We actually look nothing alike!

lately

2010-06-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

For some reason, this week especially I sat back and really realized the amazing friendships the Lord has blessed me with. Some friends go way back, and some I have made just in the past few years. I am thankful for them all. On Saturday, we had Elisa's baby shower for her baby boy to come! Elisa and I were actually in the nursery together at Reston Bible Church MANY MANY years ago! :) That was actually 30 years ago to be exact. (I feel old!) Anyway, it is just so neat because now we are in a bible study together with our husbands and we get together about once a week so our little girls can play together. (they are 5 days apart) It's just so special! These are my bible study girls. I have been in a bible study with these women and their husbands since before I was even pregnant with Maryn. I think it's been a little over 4 years. I LOVE this group. We have all walked with eachother through every trial and praise. I am enjoying my journey with them.

Denise, Me, Erica, Lauren, and Karen. Some of my bff's. :)

Oh, and had to throw this in there: Denise and I took our kids to the museum of natural history and it was awesome!! they just opened up a new butterfly exhibit. You have to get tickets, but they let about 10 people in at a time inside the glass room and there are butterflies everywhere!! Maryn was beside herself. We had a really fun time.

this past week............

2010-06-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brad and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary!! And when I say "celebrated" I mean we cleaned out the garage. No, seriously. We spent close to 7 hours organizing and cleaning. (we celebrated last weekend which is why we didn't really do anything yesterday) I was so excited though, because while we going through tons of old boxes of papers, receipts, and old letters, I found something that brought me to tears. When Brad proposed, he took me downtown and we walked around the tidal basin (that's where we had our first date). He gave me the most amazing poem called, "A girl as this." He spent months working on it. Once we moved into our first house, I couldn't find it. Brad never saved it to his computer or put it on a disc or anything, so I thought it was gone for good. But, we found it yesterday!!!! And on our anniversary! I was so happy. He is the best ever and I am so thankful for him.

Here is a cute one of Maryn and Maya. My aunt had a going away party for my cousin who is moving to Italy so all of the family was there and I just love getting to see everyone.
My sister came into town for only 2 days, because she had a speaking date. I was bummed it was so quick, but better than nothing. We had so much fun with her and maryn just loves hanging with aunt kelly. We went to anthropologie one night and the girls were trying on everything.

The other night my parents neighborhood had an Ashburn summer kickoff. SO FUN!!! I loved it. BOTH of my kids stayed up until 10 and I couldn't believe how good emmett was. Only 3 hours past his bedtime. They had all of the local food vendors. The kids had pizza and icecream and they were loving life.

Me and my big boy

cute! Maryn and I on the ride

family shot

emmett was pumped because he had just had his first snow cone

watching fireworks.

Emmett at15 months

2010-05-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Long gone are the days where Emmett was my quiet and easy baby. He just recently decided to get into everything he possibly can. He has turned into a little monkey. Every time I run upstairs and come back down, he is on top of the coffee table. Noooooo! I loved how he would just sit there quietly and play with his toys. He still is very sweet though, so I am thankful for that! Alot of times, he and maryn will be playing on the floor and then he will come over to me and throw his arms around me, give me the biggest hug, and then go back to playing. It melts me everytime.

He can say a couple words. His favorite is "no." awesome right?? He likes to play patty cake and say, "yay!" I love that. It is so cute. The other day he was taking a bath and he always stands up and I tell him to sit down. He looked at me and said, "no down!!" He is getting a little bit more fiesty than he used to be.

I took him to the Dr. this past week for his 15 month appt. He is still in the 90% for height, but he is so skinny! He is in the 20th percent for weight. But, maybe that's because he hardly eats anything!! He is still not walking yet, but I think he is close. He stands on his own and cruises everywhere with furniture, but he wont just take a step! He and maryn both were in the 10% of kids who weren't walking by 15 months. lazy! ha.

Here he is with Maryn's pacifier. He likes to put it in his mouth, chew on it, and then spit it out.

I cannot get enough of this sweet boy. He is SO cute and I just squeeze him all day!

I'm wishing it were Friday so I could live the weekend over again.

2010-05-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

I had the BEST weekend!! It started celebrating my friend's 30th birthdays, Megan and Meredith. Their parents reserved a room at yummy Wildfire in Tysons Galleria. It was fabulous and a great celebration for both girls. Meet baby Beckett. This is Megan's newest and yes, he is THIS CUTE!!

As soon as I left the party, I headed straight to Brian and Peyton's house and the 4 of us headed downtown for the remainder of the weekend. We were technically celebrated me and Brad's 7 years of marriage, and who better to celebrate your anniversary than with good friends?? We had a blast. We got 2 rooms at the Ritz Carlton in Georgetown. At first we split up and Peyton and I shopped for a few hours. Then we all met back up at the hotel to shower and get ready to go out for the night. We ate dinner here. Brian knows all the good restaurants in the city and of course, he didn't let us down. I love gnocchi. It is one of my most favorite Italian dishes and the one at Al Tiramisu was the best I have had yet. We were so ridiculously full, but then we all went and saw a movie afterward and it didn't stop Peyton and I from getting a large tub of popcorn. :) There was a lot of eating over the weekend. The next morning we woke up at 10!! That was awesome! Then we all went and got brunch. The weekend was amazing and I am hoping we make this a more frequent thing!

Brad and I at Starbucks on M street

Shopping with P

Happy 7 years!

Leaving the Ritz for a night on the town!

my meal. ha! I like to take pics of my food

The next morning before brunch

We got home late Sunday afternoon and quickly cleaned up because we were having a LOST finale party. We ate MORE and I seriously was so full. We made homemade pizza with the most amazing homemade Italian sauce, salad, lauren's homemade salsa, banana pudding, and lots of fun appetizers. The food was almost as delicious as Sawyer. Hee. Sorry, but I have a little bit of a crush on him. Jordan appetizer that she brought. Pear slices with pancetta crisps, goat cheese, and honey drizzled on top. OH MY GOSH. Amazingness.

Gearing up for the finale. It was so good, minus the last 10 minutes which I thought sucked big time. Oh well.

me, lauren, and megs

Oh, and a special thanks to Jessi for taking Maryn for the whole evening so we could watch in peace! :)

the big red car

2010-05-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Maryn got this car last year for Christmas and Emmett wants to get in it everyday. It has been such a hit toy! When E gets in, he starts turning the wheel and he gets this really serious face and it's so funny. The other day both kids were in the car and maryn was making silly faces and driving them around with her feet and emmett was about to die laughing. He thinks she is the funniest person ever. I have to admit, for a 3 year old, she is pretty funny. ;)

Maryn's birthday party

2010-05-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

We had maryn's 3rd birthday party this past Sunday. We had a great time, although the beginning was a little rough. She woke up from her nap right when people were starting to come. I dont really know what i was thinking. maryn is NOT a morning person and is pretty clingy post nap. So, the first hour she was in a bad mood, but then something clicked and she decided to be the life of the party. Brad and I sometimes can't get over how moody she is. oh well!

The kids all seemed to have a good time. All of the girls were dressed up like princesses and they were so adorable. We set up the moon bounce in the backyard and brad grilled burgers and hot dogs. It was fun to see everyone.

Uncle and Mimi....the world's cutest couple
Mimi made maryn's princess cupcakes.

our family

I wonder about these two.....

Caroline, Mar, Avery, and Reagan

Thanks everyone for coming. When I put her to bed that night, she said, "mommy. thanks for my princess party." It was really sweet.

Mother's Day & Emmett's baby dedication

2010-05-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday night at our church, Emmett had his baby dedication. It's a time where we promise to God and our church body that we will raise Emmett up for the Lord. It was such a special and emotional (for me, anyway) time. They had the sweetest slide show of all of the kid's pictures. At the very end of the dedications, my dad always gets up on stage and says a prayer for all of the kids. My dad grabbed emmett and made sure everyone knew that was his grandson. It was sweet. He is a very proud pop pop! :) And believe it or not, we did not take a single picture that night! I did video tape it though.

On to Mother's day.........Im sure Meg will appreciate this picture. Maryn didn't want to eat her dinner as usual. So, Auntie said, "Ok Mar. This is Auntie's food. you better not eat it." So, then she would pretend to eat and maryn would grab the fork and put it in her mouth and then laugh hysterically. It was so funny! Emmett and pop pop bonding

We also celebrated my dad and maryn's birthdays since they are only a few days apart . All of the "kids" made dinner. Brad grilled steaks. My sister made twice baked potatos and a fabulous salad. Megen made dessert. It was delicious!

I love watching these two together. Emmett loves his daddy!!

So, these were the first pics we took before Brad decided to be serious. I always roll my eyes at him, but I really love that he is silly and he knows that. :) He keeps our marriage so fun.

My sweet girl on mother's day!

THE CUTEST BOY IN THE WORLD!!!!!

My mom bought the kids a new kitchen and they played with it for hours. She also got all of the food, cups, plates, a pizza that cuts, etc. They were in heaven.

Emmett would not leave that kitchen

Grammy and Mar

Mar's big girl room

2010-05-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

We switched Mar to her big girl bed a couple of months ago and i forgot to put pics of her room up. I kinda wanted to re-paint her room, but then the more I thought about it, I do like the paint in her room. And I am not sure brad would have been too excited about painting it again. I love her bed. And I got that sweet little end table at Homegoods for CHEAP which is always nice. :)

One thing I really love about Pottery Barn kids is that their colors are always the same. I bought that green rocker before Maryn was born and then I just recently bought that comforter and it's the exact green. Their pastels never change so you can keep getting matching stuff as they get older.

amanda carver designs

2010-05-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Amanda started a blog about design on a budget. It's so fun. Check it out! It's on the right of my blog. She has always had a creative eye for putting things together. And since not everyone can buy custom drapes and designer furniture, she shows you where you can find stuff for cheaper. She asked me to be her "guest blogger." ha! :) I too, have lots of stuff that I have either found for cheap or have refinished. I told her about my latest purchase for emmett's room and she wanted to me post it so that she could then post it on her blog.

These prints are from Etsy. You can find them here. The prints are 10x10 in size and they are $10 each. My sister in law actually bought me these prints for emmett's room. She told me that you can email the lady that sells them and she will customize the prints to what colors and letters you want. It just happens that the pics on display are also emmett's room colors.....charcoal and orange. But you can do any color. I was so excited that megen gave me these. I then went to Michael's and found frames. Now, frames can get pricey, especially when you get a mat with it. I found really nice wood frames with a mat on sale for $5.99. They were on sale for a reason though. The color of the wood was absolutely AWFUL. It was sort of a diahrea-ish color if you like that sort of thing. So, I bought the frames and then Brad spray painted them for me in white. It's like $2 a can and we actually already had it. Make sure you get high gloss when you are doing frames. The final result:

overall a fabulous weekend!

2010-05-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Friday night a bunch of us girls went to Sweetwater to celebrate my good friend, Denise's birthday. I felt bad for our waitress. We were there for 4.5 hours. Ooops. :) I just love Denise and she is one of my best friends. We had the best night of laughter and the yummiest food! Saturday night we went out with our favorite Spiers to get some Tony's pizza and then icecream at Nathans. Maryn had a ball as usual and I would have except that Emmett was fussing the whole night. He hates to sit in high chairs at restaurants and it is a little annoying. But, his attitude changed when he got some icecream. By the way, it was the best icecream. I got Cherry with a chocolate dip. Oh my gosh.....

Sunday we celebrated Jaklin's 3rd birthday. Jaklin was born just 5 days before Maryn and she is the daughter of one of my childhood best buds. It was such a special day. They had a pony there and all of the kids took turns riding in the front yard. Maryn loved petting the pony, but she didn't want to ride it. She was too scared. But Emmett......OH my Emmett! He went absolutely NUTS over that pony! It was hysterical! Erik video taped the whole thing, so as soon as I get it, I will post it. The whole ride he laughed so hard. Then when I took him off, he burst into tears. It was so cute seeing him on that horse!

friends

my two absolute most favorite boys ever.....

great weekend!

so it turns out that our devil dog can do something right

2010-04-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

Murphy Murphy Murhpy. My friends know that I love my dog, but he can seriously drive me crazy. His bark is enough to kill a person, he pees when he gets excited, he is 5 years old and still destroys my stuff, he snatches food out of the kids hands, he quite frequently poops out money. (only 1 dollar bills luckily but still!!) Ya know that movie, "Marley and Me?" yeah, Murphy will be the star in the sequel to that movie. BUT....he is doing one thing right.......

We moved Mar to her big girl bed a few weeks ago and the transition at first was a nightmare to say the least. She would cry and say she was lonely. So, now I leave her door open and guess who jumps up there to keep her company? Yep, the spawn of satan himself. Maryn is beside herself that Murph keeps her company. I guess he is good for something after all. :)

He LOVES all of her mickey friends. Every once in a while before bedtime, I will let mar watch a dora on the computer in her bed. She thinks is so awesome when she gets to do this. Anyway, Murph watched the whole show with her. He sometimes jumps down, but the past few nights he has cuddled with her the whole night! She is in heaven with some company.

a perfect day for the zoo

2010-04-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a ridiculously beautiful day in the mid 70's. So, I hopped in my car, drove about 5 houses down and picked up Jessi and her kiddos, made a quick stop at panera for bagels, put on a veggie tales movie and off we went downtown for a perfect day at the zoo. Emmett stayed with his grammy. :)

Larsy and Mar......enjoying their popsicle.

she is such a lady....so feminine and graceful

we ran into peyton!

this was maryn's favorite.

friends. These two really love eachother. It warms my heart.

Meet my new best friend, Bekah.

2010-04-11T01:31:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago, My friend Michelle came to me and told me that her daughter, Bekah wanted to start being my mother's helper. Bekah does the puppets at church on Sunday mornings for all of the pre-school aged children. So, she has gotten to know Maryn pretty well through that. Of course I was excited about the help, but I had absolutely no idea HOW amazing it would be. She comes over once or twice a week for about 3 or 4 hours. She will be 12 soon and just loves playing with kids. And the beautiful part is she is home-schooled, so she comes in the morning from about 9:30 to 1:00 and then Mar takes a nap. Her mom also picks her up, in case Emmett is napping which is great.

Maryn has been so busy lately and it has been really hard to keep up with her. Bekah is AWESOME. When she gets here, they go straight to the basement and I won't even see them for an hour or so. Then they come upstairs and do crafts, play-dough, play outside on the deck, etc. She takes emmett too. It is amazing how many things I can get done while Mar is being entertained.

2 days ago when Bekah was here, I decided I didn't feel like doing any chores. I sat on my bed with a cup of coffee and my latest People magazine. Then I took a nap! I love her.

Maryn absolutely adores "Miss Bekah."
Miss Bekah pushing emmett on the swings. He may love her as much as Maryn.

Now that I have her, I am wondering how I got anything done before. She is the sweetest girl. She won't let me pay her any more than $5 a visit. yes, I know. I beg her to let me pay her more, but she won't take it. She told me she just loves playing with Maryn and Emmett and would do it for free. She actually told me the other day that she couldn't even sleep the night before because she was so excited to come hang out with the kids. seriously.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

The Gates Family had a great day celebrating the Lord today. We went to church this morning and I loved seeing all the kids in their Easter clothes. seriously adorable. And I know of two kids who were pretty spoiled today. Maryn and Emmett woke up to 2 very fabulous Easter baskets if I do say so myself. :)

Then, when we got to church, Mimi and Uncle also had Easter baskets for both of the kids. Then, Maryn went to Sunday school and her teacher had a bag of jelly beans for her. Then we got to my mom's house, and my parents had wrapped presents for her. Is it Christmas? I certainly didn't get this treatment when I was kid. I mean, we got awesome Easter baskets, but presents? Anyway, it was a good day for the kids.

After church, we headed to my parent's house for Easter dinner. My mom made such a delicious meal and then we had a Easter egg hunt for Mar. But then "somebody" decided to throw a fit because I would not let her have any more skittles and we had to end the night a little early. Oh well, atleast the first part of the day was good. :)

Here are my sweeties before church. Family picture at mom and dad's house.

This pic pretty much sums it up.

Baltimore Aquarium

2010-03-27T19:53:00.001-07:00

Friday night we went to the Baltimore Aquarium with some of our good friends. They have a special rate on Fridays for 3 months each year. They charge $8 a person and kids under 3 are free. We payed the extra few dollars for the dolphin show. That was a HIT! Maryn loved the dolphin show. She sat there and had the biggest grin on her face the whole time. She has talked about it non stop to me. After the dolphin show, we went through the whole aquarium and it was so fun to watch the girls faces. Maryn loved everything except for the octopus. She was not a fan of that. :) Her exact words were, "ewwww that's gross."

Here is Brad and Brent and the girls before we ate dinner. Can you tell someone was happy to be there?? Auntie stayed back with Emmett.

We went last year too with the Speiers and here is a picture of Maryn seeing a shark for the first time!

Here are the girls last year.......

The girls this year.......

CUTE.....

The Dolphin Show!!

Mommy and Maryn looking at the dolphins through the glass

Silly Julie

me and my girl

a european adventure

2010-03-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Brad and I returned a few days ago from a fabulous vacation. I love Europe. That is no secret. I love love love love it. I love the cobblestone streets, the millions of coffee and pastry shops, the history. I love it all. We decided to go to Paris for a few days and then off to Prague for 5. So, yes, we were gone for a total of 8 days and my parents stayed with our kiddos. They did great of course. What cracked me up is my mom even went to playdates with Maryn! On Monday, she met up with my friends Peyton and Jessi to go see Mr. Don at Chic fil A. Then later on in the week, she took Maryn to frying pan park with some other friends. Hilarious! My parents are THE BEST EVER. Maryn got to sleep in between grammy and pop pop the entire time we were away, and naps too!! She was spoiled, but she had fun and I knew that she felt safe and happy while her parents were away. and emmett of course, couldn't care less. He's obsessed with my mom. Anyway, we had the greatest time! We went with our good friends, Joey and Nicole.

First stop: Paris. A.MA.ZING. I loved Paris so much. It was such a beautiful and romantic city. We did all the major sights, but my favorite was the arc de triomphe. One night we ate dinner on the Champs Elysees and that was another favorite. The Eiffel Tower.

Notre Dame. This was really incredible. Inside was so beautiful.

Onto Prague. Words can't describe this city. People told me it was so amazing, and I have always wanted to go. I went knowing that I would love it, but knew that it could still never compare to Florence. (my favorite city) I wouldn't say I liked Prague more, but definitely equally as much. If you ever get the chance to go to Europe, make Prague a priortity. It was so incredible.

Brad and I at the top of the city

Walking on the Charles Bridge

Shopping in Wenceslas Square

Walking to the Prague Castle

At the John Lennon Wall

Taken from the Charles Bridge at night.

Prague was just so different. We went to two restaurants that were old wine cellars underground and the whole place was lit only by candle light. It was just so cool, nothing like it here. such a cool city!!

beyond blessed

2010-03-08T19:42:00.001-08:00

I left on Friday afternoon for our Reston Bible Church ladies retreat. It was AWESOME! I don't know if many of you know my sister, Kelly. She lives in Nashville and is a Christian songwriter, singer, author, speaker. She has been traveling more and more speaking for women's events. Anyway, she was the speaker and I was absolutely blown away. The Lord used this weekend to bless me in ways I couldn't have ever imagined. Kelly spoke on the book of Ruth. If I were to tell you all that I learned, it would be pages and pages. When I got home, Brad asked me all that I learned and I told him it would take me all night, so he asked me to tell him the top 3 things that I took away from the weekend. I will just tell you one of the top things. We talked alot over the weekend what exactly are the things that keeping us from having an intimate walk with Christ. The Lord showed me clearly what those things were. I want to give Him everything, not just some things. It was a sweet time with the Lord and with friends. I roomed with 3 of my best friends ever and I'm pretty sure we reverted to high school sleepovers. We stayed up late talking and I appreciated so much the fact that we could talk without any kid interruptions. Those are things I took for granted before I had children. :) Anyway, the whole weekend was amazing. I almost didn't get to go because Maryn and Emmett had croup and I have never seen those 2 so sick. They were both doing better by Friday and I still thought maybe I should stay home since they weren't 100%, but brad insisted that I go. I serioulsy love my husband so much.

Pics from the weekend. Me and my BFFMy roomies for the weekend....total blast with these girls
Me and Denise. I have known Denise now for 10 years. We have always been good friends, but we have grown so close in the past year. She has become one of my closest all time favorite friends. Me and Karen. Love her.

Erik Palmer led worship and of course it was fabulous.

good friends

Me, April, and megs

The Minter sisters

enjoying outside

A year ago

2010-02-26T20:02:00.000-08:00

Brad and I try and take about 20 minutes each night to pray together as a couple after we put the kids down for bed. It's a really sweet time that I look forward to with my husband where we can share together and pray for whatever is going on with our lives. We always pray for our kids. When it was my turn to pray, the words just wouldn't come out. Instead, I ended up just bursting into tears. Of course he had no idea why I was crying. But, it's Emmett's actual birthday and I didn't even know how to thank the Lord for him. My love for both my kids is sometimes so overwhelming that when I am thanking God for them, I just end up in tears. Anyway, Brad had to wrap up our prayer. :)

The year has gone by so fast, it is ridiculous. Brad and I were talking about the last year with the kids and we were remember how we thought it would be impossible to love another child as much as we love Maryn. Turns out it's possible. :) We love Emmett so very much and he brings me so much joy. Happy birthday little buddy.

On the day of Emmett's birth

12 months

silly pics from the last few weeks

2010-02-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Emmett has had some firsts this week. The other day we turned his carseat around facing forward. He was SOOOO happy! He just couldn't stop smiling, like "what have you guys been doing to me all this time??" And now, he gets to watch Mickey with Maryn which he obviously thinks is fabulous...... We also gave Emmett whole milk today for the first time! (thanks peyton ;)) It was freezing cold, but he chugged it anyway. Emmett also recently got his first tooth! There is only one so when he gives me his big goofy grin, I can't help but smile.

Emmett is definitely my super laid back, ever so chill kid. Maryn is my silly one who is always trying to figure out new ways to make Emmett laugh. But lately Emmett has been doing a little cheesing himself. He does this funny face and it cracks me up every time!

Maryn hates cheese. (I know, she is crazy) Lately, she has even been picking the cheese off pizza. I wish she liked cheese because it's such a fast nutritious snack. But no. Anyway, yesterday she asked for a string cheese and I was excited because I thought she was giving it another try. No, she wanted it for the top of her play-dough. Valentine's Day landed on a Sunday, so in Maryn's sunday school class, they made Valentines for the moms and dads. I see all of the children filing out of class with their valentines. All of them looked exactly the same. It was a big purple heart with lots of little foam hearts distributed evenly flat on the paper. Then, Maryn came out with hers. It looked nothing like any of the other ones. I asked Maryn in the car why hers looked different and she told me that she wanted her hearts to be stacked like she was making a castle. Anyway, Julie and I were laughing. It was so funny. I wish I had a picture of what they were supposed to look like! Anyway, this is SO her!

Emmett's birthday party

2010-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

We had a little birthday party for Emmett on Saturday. I don't know why, but I wanted it small and intimate. Hope he doesn't realize later in life that we had this huge 1st birthday bash for maryn, and we had a small little party for Emmett. :) I mean, let's be honest. They have no clue at this age. We decided that we would just have family and a few of Emmett's buddies that he sees on almost a daily basis. It was a really fun and sweet celebration for Emmett. Although, the first hour of the party he was napping! ha!Here is Emmett with Mimi and Uncle. Yes, just uncle. Maryn thinks that his actual name. She has absolutely no clue that David's name is David. It's just uncle to her. Mimi and Emmett have such a sweet little bond. He just lights up when he sees her, and no one can make him laugh like her! I think I may need to make a collage of pictures of these 3 silly girls. I have more than I can count!

Proud Parents......

The sweetest

The goody bags. And let me tell you, they were filled with some serious goods! ;)

Mimi made Emmett a train cake. It was amazing.

Me with my sweet and precious gift.

Emmett's actual birthday is Saturday, February 27, but we had his party a week early. He is the sweetest and happiest baby. I think if I had any more love for my 2 sweeties, I may actually burst. :) Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!

Pics from this week

2010-02-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

Maryn...so into her baby these days. This is her baby, "baby crew." She named her after my friend Erica's baby. She feeds her, changes her, and puts her down for naps. What makes me laugh is she will go into her room, turn off the light, and sing to her baby. She sings so softly and gently strokes her baby's head, and then chucks her baby over the railings of her crib. Maryn doesn't have a crib for her baby, so she uses hers. It is just so funny how she is will be so gentle, but since she is too short to put her baby down on the mattress, she has to throw her over the side. definitely cracks me up!

side note...brad and I went to Tysons the other night and bought maryn a big girl bed finally! We bought this bed. ( We got the Catalina bed in white) I can't wait to put it up! watching a show together.

LOVE THIS. Maryn wanted to feed emmett his bottle. he loves her.

Caroline came over the other day. Funny girls.

Maryn loves her some "Pate."

Max and emmett. This is emmett post hair cut. We now spike it. :)

I mean, they were BOTH wearing orange. I definitely had to take some pictures!

Emmett......no longer my baby. He is going to be 1 year old in a week!

Maryn still asks to get in the bouncer? Oh, and this is big news.....She let me put pants on her yesterday and today!

STUD

a girls weekend

2010-02-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

I woke up Friday morning super antsy because I knew that at noon, Brad was coming home from work so I could head to Richmond to meet up with a bunch of girls for the weekend. My good friend and college roomie was turning 29 and some of her closest friends were taking her to Richmond for the night for shopping, dining, and celebrating. I had never met any of her friends, but the one girl Kim who was planning the whole thing had heard Manda talk about me and thought it would be fun if I came and surprised Amanda at the hotel. (They all live in Lynchburg which is where we also went to school) What a great time we had! I got to Richmond before the rest of them because I wanted to beat the DC traffic. So, I didn't mind killing time here, which is also where we stayed the night.

Amanda was super surprised which was fun!! We headed to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and then brought back lots of cheesecake to our hotel room and indulged for the rest of the evening! The next day we shopped and I so enjoyed each and every girl that was there. They were all so fun and it was so great to spend time with Amanda.

Here is beautiful Amanda with her baby Maclaryn who is 3 months old. She is a doll baby. So, Amanda's friend, Steph had a baby the exact day as Maclaryn. His name is Charlie and I couldn't get over how good the babies were. amazing.

Manda and I The girls at the hotel. Happy Birthday Manda! It was so fun!!

potty training

2010-02-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

I decided last week that I should probably start thinking about potty training considering Maryn will be 3 in May!! Ahhhh. Honestly, the whole idea of it just exhausts me because I feel like I have a million things going on during a day and to throw potty training on top of it all....well, I have been lazy. I hate the idea of being in the grocery store and Mar telling me that she needs to go potty. What do I do? Grab Emmett and Maryn and go running into a disgusting germ filled bathroom so she can go while I am holding a baby? Or, I could get a travel potty and leave whatever store I am in and take her outside to the freezing car and let her go there. That sounds like fun too. ;) I basically haven't felt like dealing with it and have been putting it off, I know.

I still haven't been super consistent, but atleast now when we are home, I have her try and go on the potty. She still won't "go go." But, atleast she is over her fear of the potty. Anyway, she is so funny because if she needs to go, she will tell me that she is going to go "hide", and she will go in her diaper behind the curtain in our family room.

So, the other day, she told me she was going to go hide and I told her I wanted her to try and go on the potty. She didn't want to go on the big potty, (b/c that still scares her) but she said she would go on her little potty. BUT she still wanted to go behind the curtain.....but on the potty. I couldn't help but snap a picture. She didn't hear me do it. I just had to. It was too funny not too......

Any good books you moms have read?? I know there is one about potty training in a day?? or something like that.

sad the weekend is over

2010-02-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend was insane. Northern Virginia got 32 inches of snow!! If I am not mistaken, this is the most snow we have gotten since 1922. We had such a ball. I love being snowed in because I feel like I have permission to lay around in my pajamas, drink hot cocoa, and watch movies. :) My sister, Megan decided to get snowed in with us which was awesome. It was really nice because she played with the kids and helped me feed them, change diapers, etc. It was great having her here. Once we would put the kids to bed, megs and I would stay up late watching movies.

Friday night we made mexican food and had the Speiers over. The snow was coming down and I felt so blessed to have great neighbors nearby to come hang out! The girls played so well together.

Then on Saturday, 4 of our KP farm families met at the Speiers for a chili cook off. yum. That was awesome. Here is a pic of Avery, Amelia, Reagan, and Maryn enjoying their chili at the kids table!
Our deck......During the day on Saturday, Jessi and I were feeling crafty, so she came over while her kids were napping and we made onesies for people we knew that had little babies. It was really fun.

We had fun as a family this weekend. Although it wasn't all laying around. :) I spent 6 hours organizing the toys in the basement!! And I had Brad do a couple household projects. Here are my sweet boys watching a veggie tales together. (emmett loves veggie tales. he cracks up laughing every time)Even murphy knew we were snowed in and decided to be lazyThe Speiers came back over to watch the super bowl! I mean, they might have well spent the night. We spent most of the weekend with them. It was fun!

During half time, I went downstairs to make sure the kids were all still in one piece. :) I thought they were having a tea party, but Avery informed me that they were actually at Panera having a bagel and coffee. (Can you tell that we take them there WAY too often??)

I even noticed that there was a stroller by the table. Maryn told me that she was holding baby emmett and he was eating a bagel with them. As I left to go back upstairs, I hear in Avery and Maryn's little squeaky voices, "Maryn, would you like more coffee?" and Maryn says, "Yes Avery. I would like some." It was like a Hallmark commercial. They are the sweetest friends.Eating super bowl pizza, chips and queso, potato chips and french onion dip, and then cookies for dessert?? We had some very happy girls on our hands.

Maryn thinks Reagan is so cool. Last week, I asked Maryn, "Who makes the plants grow?" She told me, "God makes the plants grow." I asked her, "Who makes the rain fall?" She told me again that God did. BUT......then I asked her, "Who makes the snow fall?" She told me, "Reagan makes the snow fall. Not God. Reagan makes the snow fall because she is big and cool." It was hilarious. Oh, and of course I corrected her on that one, but also agreeing with her that Reagan is cool. :)

A walk in the snow

Maryn's Dora dollhouse was the best thing ever during the snow. It kept her entertained for hours.

I was finding myself taking pics of the girls at night time, and since emmett goes to bed at 5:30, he isn't in many of them. But here is one of him that I took on Saturday. He is such a sweet thing!

some cousin fun

2010-02-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent the day at my cousin, Heather's house. We had the best time. Maryn and Maya got along so well. They were so funny together. They played Dora and went on adventures together through the snowy mountains to get to the singing bridge. (you have to watch DORA) Anyway, they played and helped heather make pizza for lunch.

At one point, heather and I were in the other room and I hear Maya laughing hysterically at something. I go in the dining room to see what they were doing and Maryn had pulled her shirt over her head and was pretending to be an octopus. honestly, the 2 of them together were out of control!!

Here are Heather's twinsies. I've decided I want twins next. :) Zoe is absolute perfection.

girl cousins!!!

the sweetest ever??

elliott

Thanks for a great day Heather!! Love you.

emmett looks like his mama

2010-01-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

When Maryn was born, all I heard was how much she looked like her daddy. And I will admit, she definitely favors the Alessi side of the family. But, I think Emmett looks like the Minters. And I found a baby picture of me today and I am about 18 months or so. If you cover up both of our eyes in these pics, we have the exact same nose and mouth. I think we look alike! :)

pants are no pretty

2010-01-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

"Pants are no pretty." This is what Maryn tells me every morning when I am getting her dressed. She puts up the biggest fight if I want her to wear pants. She wants to wear a skirt, tights, dressy shoes, and a bow to match. I have been learning with Maryn that I MUST pick my battles with her. And what she wears each day is not one of them. She is truly the girliest girl I have ever met. What 2 year old tells their mom that pants are no pretty? Now, the good thing is that she will wear leggings because she thinks they are decorative tights. And it kills me to see her wearing her white Easter shoes in the dead of winter, but whatever. And don't think that we don't go to the grocery store with maryn in full dress. We are talking tu tu, wings, tights, sparkle shoes, and crown. And she will tell perfect strangers, "wook at my tights. I look so butiful."
When we go to the mall, sometimes I will tell her that she can pick out a small toy at the Disney store. But, lately she has been asking me if she can get a pair of shoes instead. She is so funny. So, I had maryn gather her shoes up because i wanted to know how many pairs she had. I think the final count was 16 and we are missing a few pairs in this pic. She just loves shoes!!At the mall. People will ask me if we are going to get her pictures done. "Oh no. This is just an average day." :)a few of her dress up shoesmy mom bought her a tinkerbell outfit the other day. you could say she liked it alright.

Here we are at the house. And we weren't even going anywhere that day. We were just at home doing nothing and she wanted to put on her outfit that grammy bought her! It's so funny to me to see the different personalities in each child. When I was a kid, I remember liking to play barbies and dolls for sure, but more than anything, I loved building tree forts with my brother in the backyard. Or we would go down to the creek and "fish." Or we would play kickball outside with all the neighborhood kids til my parents absolutely forced us to come in. I can't even picture maryn playing kickball because it could potentially dirty up her nice, clean, white tights. ha. but, that's ok! A girly girl is ok with me.

a fun weekend

2010-01-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

On Friday night, Brad and I went out with one of our favorite couples, Brian and Peyton. We went to Central. It was awesome. Peyton and I both ordered and then split. We ordered the fried chicken and lobster, and we had the most amazing appetizers. If you live in the area, it's a really fun place to go! YUM!

love her

Saturday night was Jessi's surprise party! The 5 couples in our neighborhood dinner had a nice little party for her. It was a fun time celebrating Jessi with all of her friends.

Me, Jessi, Julie, and Sarah.....girls in the KP farms dinner club. :) We are missing Roberta in this pic. I don't know how that happened.

Avery loves baby emmett

Max, reagan, maryn, avery, and emmett

Reagan, Camryn, and Maryn

A few of the ladies at the party

yay! happy 30th birthday jessi!

my new lense

2010-01-19T19:22:00.001-08:00

For Christmas, my friend Lauren gave me the lens that I had really been wanting for my camera. (canon 50mm) It is amazing. Today, I really had fun with it. I mean, i've already used it tons indoors, but today was so beautiful and a picture with natural light is always going to turn out better. So, I took the kids up to the playground and they were great sports. :) cutie pants

I dont think he could be any happier??

miss personality

This morning, my friend Jillian came over for me to take a few pics of her kids. Yeah......let me just say that that was the EASIEST thing ever considering her kids are freaking adorable. this is Savannah. I know....ridiculously cute. I only got a handful of pics of preston because he was all over the place, I could hardly get him to stand in one spot! oh well, the few I did get him were super cute!

not only is she adorable, she is the sweetest thing. she just stares up at you and smiles.

check out that smirk! oh my heartbreaker......

Thanks Lauren for the new lens!! I love it and it is getting lots of use!!

a little humbled......

2010-01-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

Brad and I are starting our very first parenting class on Sunday night. Every spring, a couple in our church offers a parenting class for whoever wants to take it. It's a 12 week study on what the Bible says about child rearing. I remember before I had kids, they would make the announcement about the parenting class at church and in my head, my prideful self would say, "I would never take that class. I don't need anyone else telling me how to raise my kids thank you very much!" Oh wow. Did I have so much to learn!! Now, I am practically running to the class and may get there 20 minutes early so I can get some one on one counsel!

So, if we just had Emmett, I probably wouldn't think I needed the class. But doesn't the Lord have a way of refining us? My sweet maryn can be....hmmm how do I say this nicely?? A bit difficult maybe? No, really. She can be super sweet and really is a love, but she is extremely strong willed and loves to challenge me on every last thing. The Lord has really used her to humble me in so many ways. Now, I love that she is fiesty and full of personality. I absolutely LOVE that and honestly wouldn't change that about her, even if it meant being easier for me. I want each of my kids to have their own unique personalities, but this is when the raising part comes in. As much as mar wants to be the boss and control every aspect, unfortunately for her, Brad and I are the boss. :)

Maryn takes after her mama. I was a really challenging child and gave my parents so much grief I know! I mean, just to paint you a picture: When I was 3 years old in nursery school, I locked my entire class out of the house because the teacher made me mad. the whole class had to go the house next door to call my dad at work. (since of couse they didn't have cell phones then) My dad then had to drive from work to the house and persuade me to open the door. yes, at age 3. And my dad was the pastor of our church! I'm sure that was so embarrassing on his part. (sorry dad)

In the first grade, a girl in my class made me mad, so I beat her up and got sent home from school. Honestly, I would just die if one of my kids did that, but I was so strong willed and hated people to correct me for anything or tell me what to do. (I actually still hate to be corrected) I watch Maryn sometimes and it's like looking in the mirror. but I turned out relatively normal I guess?? Hopefully, she will grow up to be a strong woman that loves the Lord. That is all I can hope for. I want her to use her strong willed nature for good.

I just need the Lord to give me grace and guidance during this time in making the right decisions for my kids. I so badly want to make right choices and be the best mom that I can be because I seriously love my kids more than life itself.

To give you some insight as to what go through on a daily basis: A couple days ago, Maryn was playing with one of emmett's new Christmas toys that spins and lights up. She kept putting her hand one of the spinning discs and it was making a clicking sound. I told her I didn't want her to break it and asked her to stop. I looked her right in the eye and said, "I do NOT want to see YOUR hand on that one more time." She knew I meant business and she knows what happens when she disobeys me. She said, "Ok mommy." For a second, I was like, "wow? she obeyed me? nice! we are making some progress." Then she goes upstairs and comes back down holding her daisy duck stuffed animal. She turns on emmett's toy and places Daisy's hand on the spinning disc. She said, "Daisy's hand do it. No maryn's hand do it." HONESTLY people! That is so something I would have done! Oh man, we have our work cut out for us!

If you think of us, pray that we will make the right choices as parents. It's a good thing she is cute.....

Christmas Day

2010-01-01T20:42:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning! We had to wake the kids at around 8:30 to get over to my parents house. Yeah, they weren't fans of that. If you know me well, you know my kids really like to sleep in. Here they are watching a cartoon trying to wake up while brad and I load the car. Maryn got Minnie Mouse as a Christmas present and insisted bringing her over to grammy and pop pop's house. It's as big as her!

Maryn got a new guitar for Christmas. She was SO excited! Kelly taught her how to "play."

Sweet emmett....he was sick on Christmas. He didn't feel well at all and was not his usual smiley self. He only smiled a couple times....broke my heart.

Christmas Chaos. Santa was good to all of us this year. :) I got lots of fun stuff, but the one thing I really wanted was a treadmill and Brad came through.

Maryn sporting the new gifts from mimi and uncle dave.

Emmett was so excited to see his new teddy aunt Kelly got him.

I think the trampoline was her favorite present

Annual Minter Christmas talent show.......Parker and Kyleigh doing a skit about my Aunt Carol and Uncle Charlie. Hilarious.

Maryn loved the talent show....especially grammy singing and dancing with my aunt carol to "sisters" from White Christmas.

New bike from Grammy and Pop

Kelly leading us in Christmas CarolsThe Johnson Family talent showJust a few of the Minter cousins....I think next year we will ALL be together

Christmas Eve and the DC tree

2010-01-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

Get ready for some pictures! Oh how sad I am that Christmas is over. :( Brad has to go back to work next week and my relatives have gone back home. Back to reality.

My cousin Casey and my aunt carol came in from Atlanta. We had so much fun with them. The night before Christmas Eve, we all went out to dinner and then went downtown to see the tree. It was beautiful. Auntie Lauren babysat Emmett since it was going to be a late night. me and David

Megen and Brad

sisters!

Cousins :)

It looks like the white house is on fire?

My child is nuts...love her.

Back at my parents house after the Christmas Eve Candle light service. 4 generations.

Emmett.....he is 10 months old now and my heart still absolutely melts every time I even look at him. He is the sweetest baby.

Avery, Reagan, and Maryn at the Christmas Eve service!

After the service, we head back to my parents house to make homemade pizza and then we have our Minter white elephant. I won another starbucks gift card this year. yum.

Maryn with Uncle Dave......

After we left my parents house on Christmas Eve, we arrived home and saw 2 presents in the garage for us. Our neighbors (avery and reagan's mom and dad) dropped off gifts for maryn and emmett. Oh my goodness.....Maryn totally freaked out when she opened up her life size Minnie Mouse! She sleeps with her every night and in the morning when I go in to wake her up, she is laying there with arms wrapped around Minnie. She loves her!

Ok, so that wraps up our Christmas Eve!

crazy busy at the Gates home

2009-12-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

Brad and I have had an event every single week night for the past 3 weeks. As much as I love all of the fun holiday parties, I'm kind of exhausted. It will be nice for brad to be home for 2 whole weeks at Christmas and we can relax and just hang out.

This is last week at Maggiano's for my mom's birthday. It was a really fun time with the whole fam. We sat in the back where it overlooks the mall and it SNOWS in the mall (at tysons) at Christmas time. Very fun. :) Thanks to Lauren and Karen for babysitting my munchkins.

Thursday we went to the Chris Tomlin/Christy Nockels concert. Amazing. It was their Christmas tour and simply fabulous. I would have liked to have heard more of Christy though. :( Anyway, my sister got us free tickets since she has connections with the christian music industry...and she got us back stage passes, but i did not want to go. I was totally embarrassed, but my mom really wanted to meet Christ Tomlin. Me, Megen, and Megan were totally humiliated cause we didn't know what to say to him..."uhhhh love your music." So, we got a pic with him cause I figured we could take the pic, say thanks and be on our way. anyway, im never doing that again. :) My mom loved it.

It looks like my arm is linked through his, but its not.

Now, I will say.... I didn't mind chatting it up with her because she is simply adorable and has the most amazing voice you have EVER heard. Wednesday was Brad's holiday work party at the University Club in DC. Because there are only 4 employees, it was a small intimate gathering. Brad's bosses gave everyone kindles! We had such a fun cocktail hour/dinner/dessert. Love his company.

Here is Maryn at the Scherm's holiday neighborhood party. This pic totally cracked me up because we were all singing Christmas Carols and maryn wanted to "read" hers like everyone else.

Maryn and Lars

Maryn with her 3 best friends in the whole entire world!!

cutie pies!

Watching a little veggie tales while the adults socialize

The kids danced all night long to Mr. Brian playing the guitar. It was a great time.

We have the Christmas Spirit

2009-12-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend, Maryn helped me decorate for Christmas. Brad brought in all of my huge Christmas bins from the garage. So far, this Christmas season is SO FUN because I feel like Maryn really understands what is going on. She understands that Jesus was born. (well sort of...we're getting there) She also loves all of the decorations, Christmas trees, lights, and of course Santa. She doesn't want to sit on his lap at the mall, but she is completely fascinated by him. This really cracked me up......The other day the kids and I were at the mall with some friends. We were on the top level of the mall looking down on Santa Clause. There was a long line of children waiting to sit on his lap. Maryn turned to me and asked, "What does Santa Clause do?" I told her that you are supposed to tell him what you want for Christmas. She says, "Oooooohhh, SANTA!!!!!!!! I WANT A BIG GOOFY AND MORE COINS!! I could hardly even stand it. I was laughing so hard. She didn't want to meet him, but she wanted to make sure he knew what she wanted, so she screamed down to him.

Here are my Christmas villages. Maryn loves them. I have been letting her turn the lights on in the houses and she just sits there and stares at them.

This past weekend, we went to the Nguyen's house for the second year in a row to do our family's Christmas picture. Minh is such a good photographer and he has a sweet camera. We had such a good time! I took their family Christmas picture too, and then afterward we all had lunch and the kids played in the snow! So fun.

So, this is one of the family pics we took, but I'm saving our really good one to send out as our official Christmas card photo. :)Love these two!

thanksgiving

2009-12-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was a quiet one this year, and it was great. It was just my parents, kelly, megan, and our family. David and Megen were with meg's parents house in Norfolk. Kelly came home which was so fun. We spent the day eating, watching football, and playing with the kids. For the past 3 years, Brad has been in charge of the turkey and he has it in the deep fryer all day. Um...yeah, it was the best tasting thing ever.
here is emmett and Aunt Kelly Maryn's newest obsession: counting coins. She goes through different stages. There was a period where she carried several toothbrushes wherever she went. She would carry her purse full of toothbrushes! Then she moved onto lipglosses, lotions, etc. Now, it is money. She has a little cup full of coins and she likes to count them and show them to everyone! Aunt Kelly and maryn had a fun time with the coins. I was just happy that someone else was willing to play it with her. I'm a little over it. We do it all day long! (I got her a cash register for Christmas. She is going to be SO excited.)

Me and my sweet boy. best baby on the planet. There is absolutely NO WAY that I will have another child as good as emmett. Have you ever heard of a kid that sleeps (without ever waking up ever) from 5pm to 8am the next morning?? He RULES.

Emmett and Bammom

Grammy and pop pop

love him.

Grammy!

It was a really great Thanksgiving and I am so blessed by the Lord to have the greatest husband in the whole world and the sweetest kids. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

my birthday celebration

2009-11-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

my best friends took me to Maggiano's for my birthday. It's my favorite. We were just a little stuffed when we left. :) I love my friends. Thank you for a special birthday. Julie was there too, but had to leave a little early, so she is not in this pic. :( P and megs

Jessi, me, Megen, and Denise

Julie, Lauren, and Karen

It was a fabulous night of friends and food. What made it EVEN better is that I had a sleep over at my sisters house afterwards and she made me a big breakfast in the morning and we had such a good time hanging out!

concert fun

2009-11-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Maryn has been to her fair share of concerts in her short little life. last week we went to the wiggles again and finding nemo on ice! after the wiggles, we got icecream at McDonalds.

She was way too into the wiggles to smile for the camera

On our way to Ch'ville to see finding nemo

Mickey and Minnie came out in the very beginning. she loved that of course!

On our way home....cutie pie

Halloween!

2009-11-03T04:43:00.000-08:00

Here are all of Maryn's trick or treating friends! (minus Caroline the duck) We actually did have Emmett stay awake until about 7 so he could ride around in the wagon to "trick or treat." He looked so cute, but then starting rubbing his eyes. He typically goes to be anywhere from 5:30 to 6, so he was tuckered out!

As soon as we started trick or treating, we saw a guy with a freaky mask and then after that, Maryn was pretty much done. She kept saying over and over, "Mama, I scared. I want to go home. " So, we went to about 5 houses and this is her pathetic stash of candy! She didn't seem to care though. She was so proud and came running in to show grammy and pop pop her goodies.
Emmett in his mickey costume! He cuddled the whole night with his aunt mimi!

me, lauren, and maryn

pumpkin patch

2009-10-31T08:52:00.001-07:00

I have taken the kids to a pumpkin patch almost every week since they opened. I just love it and so does Maryn. Looks like Emmett is a fan too. :) Maryn was pretty bummed out in this picture cause she realized that her pants look high-watered. It was a sad day.

sweet baby Caleb (Peyton's new baby) enjoying his time at the pumpkin patch!

cutie

best friends

sneaky kid

2009-10-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

So, I have to share a funny story with you. Today Maryn was being really whiney and I told her that she needed to go sit on the stairs and have a time out until she decided to be nice. She normally cries the entire 2 minutes that she sits in time out. (i know....ridiculous) But, today she calmly walked over to the stairs and sat down. (i actually watched her sit down) I walked away to the family room and got on the computer to check my email. After the 2 minutes was up, I called to her from the other room that she could get up. I thought it was odd that she was perfectly quiet the entire 2 minutes. When I didn't hear her say anything, I got up and went over to the stairs. Then I heard noise coming from the basement. Not only did she go downstairs, she turned the tv on and was laying on the couch watching a Mickey!! Can you believe her?? She has some serious guts. She looked at me SO guilty!!! Like I wasn't gonna catch her?? Anyway, of course she got in trouble, but I definitely called brad right afterwards and we had a good laugh about it. :)

disney on ice

2009-10-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Maryn, Avery, and Reagan are VERY good friends and love to play together. But, one of their favorite things to do is watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together. You have never seen more Mickey obsessed kids ever! So, last night, we surprised the girls to go see Disney on ice! Maryn got all dressed up in her Minnie gear and was just so darn cute! The girls had such a blast. Although you would think that the highlight of the night was seeing our children's faces light up, it was not. The highlight was watching the troll from Toy Story fall over on the ice and struggle to get back up. One of the army men (also from toy story) had to pick him up. It was HILARIOUS. It's been a while since I laughed that hard. Julie and I were practically crying. good times for sure.

The girls before the show!
Two super cute Minnie Mouses

Maryn's wedding slide show candidate for sure! :)

monkeys!

Julie and the girls

Brad nicknamed the 3 girls, "the vultures." They couldn't get the popcorn and cotton candy in fast enough!

what we've been up to

2009-10-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a while! But, I am happy to report that we are all well now and doing great! A couple days ago we went to the pumpkin patch with Elisa and Jaklin! Emmett had so muh fun! :) The girls being silly.

Last week we had friends visiting from England. We had so much fun with them! Brad and I took them for a tour of the pentagon and then we had dinner downtown and saw all the monuments.

I thought this was a good shot!

Dinner in Georgetown

This past weekend, my mom and sisters went up to New York for my cousin's wedding. It was amazing. It was really fun too cause Kelly came into town for it, so it was awesome getting to hang out with her! My cousin scott married Dylis who is so fabulous! They made such a stunning couple!The two live in new york city and Dylise is broadway dancer. Let me just say that after seeing them dance, I looked like a fool on the dance floor! Ha!

oh yeah....I dyed my hair brown.

sorry, this blog post is a complete downer

2009-10-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yes. That's right. We are sick. About 2 weeks ago, I was putting Emmett down for bed and he was "fussy." I put the word fussy in quotes because Emmett being fussy is like a sigh here and there. Anyway, he wasn't himself. He woke up later crying and I knew that something was definitely wrong. He was really hot and I took his temperature. 103.8. I called the Dr. and they saw us right away. He had a really bad ear infection. Poor guy. Honestly, if he didn't have a fever, I wouldn't have called the doctor. That's the problem with emmett. He is so good all the time that I don't know if he is hurting. Then there is maryn on the other hand....who LETS YOU KNOW! :)

So, the doc puts emmett on amoxicillin. The next morning he wakes up with a horrible rash all over his body. I take him back in to find out that he is allergic to penicillin.

2 days after that, Maryn wakes up with pink eye in both eyes. So, I take her in. Meanwhile, this whole time, Maryn has been waking up in the middle of the night about 2 to 3 times a night. My kids never wake up in the middle of the night, so if they do, i know something is wrong. I went in there around 2am, to find maryn totally naked. I asked her where her clothes were and she said, "I don't know mommy." It was dark with just the light of her night light, so I put her clothes back on, rocked her for a little while, and then put her back to bed. She woke up 2 hours later crying. I go in and she is naked again. So, I did the same thing. The thing is...she seemed fine! She didn't have a fever or anything. This went on for about 4 nights in a row. Finally, one night I took her downstairs and turned the light on. oh my gosh. I felt like the worst mother ever. Maryn was covered from head to toe in hives. It looked like she had a million mosquito bites. She says, "I itchy mommy." OH MY GOSH! Why did she not tell me this like 4 nights ago?? I felt so horrible, but her room was dark and she seemed completely fine during the day. So, I took her to the doctor AGAIN....and the doctor said something about night hives?? hmmm...that sounded more like "I don't know what is wrong with her, so Im gonna tell you she has night hives." no, Im kidding. I'm just learning to not be quite as trusting as I always was.

Anyway, the kids are now doing well, but I have come down with something. The past few days, I have spent most all day at my parents house. I love my mom. I spent most of the day lying on her couch while she watched the kids, fed them, put them down for naps, etc. She made me homemade chicken noodle soup and brought me hot tea. But yesterday, I could hardly move, so she came over here and spent the whole day. My mom rocks. I am feeling a little bit better today, but still have no energy. My house looks like a toy explosion. Oh yeah, and I am living in my pajamas. :0 The other day, Maryn was a huge help. My mom had left to go home and brad was gonna be home any minute, but emmett needed a bottle. I was about to feed him, but Maryn insisted. (My one and only complaint about emmett: he does not feed himself a bottle) Maryn fed him the whole thing and burped him! it was great.