We had a very merry Christmas

We spent Christmas in Utah and it was great!!. It makes it hard to come home. We were spoiled by Dad/Grandpa and Mom/Grandma as usual. It was so fun to relax and spend time with family. We were all able to be there together, meaning the WHOLE family, which was nice after not being able to for so many years. Skiing=great, chilling=great, Eating=really great, pounce=really great, happy kids=extra great. We are excited for the New Year to see where that will take us. Best wishes to you all!.. Love the Reeds

Christmas Shoes (the song)

Today we were driving in the car to drop off some presents to some friends of our before we head out of town on Friday. We have been listening to Christmas music nonstop in the car. The song Christmas Shoes came on, the one where the little boy is buying his dying mother some shoes so she can look beautiful incase she meets Jesus on Christmas eve. I have heard this song many many times and it still chokes me up a tad. I said to my kids "Listen to the words of this song. The little boy's mommy is dying on Christmas and he doesn't have enough money to buy her some pretty shoes incase she meets Jesus tonight." I got chocked up even explaining it to my kids. So the song went on and when it eneded we were all quiet. I thought the moment had passed as the next song came on the radio. Then Lauren says "Hey mom, You know that song we just listend to? It made me feel sad, I cried a little, no... I cried a lot." I turned around to see her eyes totally filled with tears and tears streaming down her cheeks. I said " Honey, it's ok don't feel to sad." Really,,,, don't feel sad I tell her when I can hardly hold it together. We talked about it a little more and she kept crying. Lauren then says "MOM I don't want you to die ever!" Then she started sobbing, she could not even look at me. Then Lauren says "Mom.. I love you" then Landon says Mom I love you, then I say with tears rolling down my cheeks "I love you both so much, you have no idea. It was such a sweet moment of joy and love for all of us. I was so happy that I was able to witness Lauren feel something so moving. We have been working on gratitude in our family. I am so greatful to have my beautful family who are healthy and blessed beyond our needs. Merry Christmas, It really feels great this year!!

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There was a little birdie...

We have a big wreath on our front door that a little bird has taken a liking to. We didn't know about this until the day that I whipped the door open and scared myself and the bird and it flew passed my head and into the kitchen. I went to the neighbors and borrowed a fishing net and the neighbor kids came to help out. After about 10 minutes we had the birdie back outside. He does come back to visit often. There is a thump on the door throughout the day













Morgan loved every second of this treat!










Lauren made Landon a bow tie and a name tag to be our server for the night. They took our "orders" and made a snack tray with beverages too. It was very cute and sweet ,however, it was a ploy to stay up a little longer. How could we resist such service though?

Goofballs

So,, today I am a little less sick then the very sick I have been the last 2 days. I was sure I had the Flu even with the 2 Flu shots I already got. I knew something was happening Fri night, then Saturday afternoon it exploded. Tim and I were going to go Christmas shopping and to a movie. We got a sitter that the kids ADORE! We went to Costco then to the movie "New Moon". By the time the movie was over I could barely get up out of the chair. I was FREEZING and shaking like crazy. The walk to the car was so painful. I shook the whole way home and then climbed into bed, at 6:30. We had to bag the rest of the night. That night was terrible sweating and freezing all night. Sunday=terrible also. Today the body aches are down to soreness but My throat is ripping in pain. I think I actually have Strep. The worst case ever! Maybe I had the Flu and Strep. That is kinda what it felt like with a killer fever, but I was freezing and a WOW headache and so on.. That all lead up to today where the kids are still out of school but Tim had to work so in their boredom Lauren and Landon came up with this silly game that I loved but could not laugh at because it hurts to bad.

(this was supposed to post yesterday with a video but it would not download so today I feel a little better yet I still have a way sore throat. It looks like I have 2 ping pong balls in my neck)

The Dunes. Zillah style!!

There is a bunch of dirt piles near our house that many different kids have worked on and it finally took shape. I took the kids for a little while. Lauren is a fearless natural. Landon did really well but didn't last long. But, it was to dang cold.

Recent pictures

There has not been much going on here. So I just decided to post some pictures and that's all.:-)




We call this Morgan's "Ride." She does this several times a day.





This last one is a very small local paper but Tim was on the front page so THERE!!
Bragging wife!!

We had a pretty fun Halloween this year. I am not huge fan of Halloween to begin with but this one was pleasant. The kids had fun for several days. There was no school on Thursday or Friday so we were able to do lots of activities each day. I think Lauren has been a ghost 3 different times (by her own choice) which is great because a white sheet is $4 at Walmart. All of my kids have been the Lion. Love that one. Now,, on to Thanksgiving!

I took the kids and a couple of their friends to the Toppenish Fire Station. Our neighbor is a firefighter and said we could come over. It was so fun and Kelley was so nice. We went on a tour through the whole department. The office, kitchen, bunks, garage, everything. Kelley let the kids climb all over everything. He also made up little gift bags with all the little fire safety doo-da's. Right when we were leaving the alarm went off for a beef truck fire so we all ran into the garage and he put on his fire clothes started up the truck and siren and raced off. The kids could hardly believe their eyes. I liked it as much as the kids did. Thanks Kelly!!


This is Kelly leaving the fire station for the call.






We all know that Lauren is totally crazy and FEARLESS. I may have another Daredevil on my hands.

My sweet baby Morgan turned one yesterday! Hard to believe how fast the time goes. We had pizza and cake and icecream and invited a few neighbor friends over for a visit. We had a fun time.

On Monday there was no school here..I'm not sure why, but anyway...Some friends of ours and us went to a local farm/produce store for a fun day in the fall sun. We picked our pumpkins and got some delicious watermelon, corn, squash, and gourds. They have the farm set up for some pretty fun playing also. There is and old old old fashioned corn grinder thing that the kids used to get food for the ducks. They did that for at least an hour. Harvest time here is pretty crazy and some very good eating. Many husbands are our on the farms from 4 am to midnight and the wives stay in the kitchens all day canning their brains out. There really is more food then you can eat. What a blessing that is. Morgan will be turning one in 2 weeks. That is crazy. She is walking all over the place. Crawling is for sissies. Lauren was really sick this week. She had no fever but she was up all night barfing her guts out and was home from school. Morgan also threw up a few times but never really seemed sick. Landon was not sick thank goodness. We are going to the fair tonight. It's a love/hate family activity. Fun for the kids but crazy and dirty. Lauren has her first soccer game tomorrow and is super excited, as am I. Conference will be fun to watch although I wish I was watching/listening from the cabin. My biggest wish is to keep my family from getting sick nonstop like last year. UGH!

The first picture was to funny not to post. Please don't be offended. I was in the kitchen and turned around and saw Lauren doing her best to entertain Morgan. She is an amazing big sister.


Today was supposed to be dreadful taking 3 kids to get flu shots. Lauren is deathly afraid of needles to begin with. We talked through it and Landon said he would go first to show Lauren that it was no big deal and he was real tough. Lauren said "Mom, I want to go first so I can just get it over with." So Lauren ended up going first. I helped her hide her face in a magazine and she hardly flinched. AMAZING! Then Landon, same thing. They were both so brave. Lauren was terrified of watching Morgan get her shot so she plugged her ears and covered her eyes. Morgan only cried for a second. Great... done. We went to Costco for big fat ice cream bars dipped in nuts and frozen yogurt. Delish. Then Tim called and said come up to my office at 5 and we will do something fun. We decided dinner is always fun so we went to a pizza place we had never been before that was SO SO good. So it was a very fun night and much better then expected!


When we went to Tim's office he took us up on the Helipad. The kids think that is pretty fancy. I get a hurty tummy when the kids go by the edge.

Our new church building is moving along quickly but still behind schedule. All the framing has gone up in the last 2 weeks. It is really fun to watch. I can see the roof and steeple peeking up over the school from our back door. It has created a bit of buzz around here because it is such a nice building for the area everyone wants to know about it. Should be interesting. The Mountain at the bottom is Mt. Adams. It is a volcano directly west of here. If you could see past that you would Mt. St. Helen's. Just a fun fact.