December 2018

During December we spent every weekend outdoors! We have taken the kids sledding several times.


We had a fire out at Ochoco Reservoir with Brian and his family.


The Sunday before Christmas we gave gifts to John's grandparents and opened gifts from them and Auntie Bec and Uncle Steve.

On Christmas Eve we spent the evening at John and Laurie's. We made our own pizzas and the kids frosted sugar cookies. We gave them our gifts to them and opened gifts from them.

We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas morning watching the kids open gifts. John and I didn't exchange gifts because we spent some pretty pennies on our new office (which we LOVE).  Sweet Colby went with Grandma Peggy after school before Christmas and bought us all gifts though so we opened those. We also bought our family a air hockey table, which we all have a lot of fun playing together.

After cleaning up, we took the kids sledding behind the Ranger on the ranch and built snowmen. Then headed over to my parents for the evening.


We went sledding again with Brian, Marnae, Ethan, Jace, Nathan, Shiara, Owen, and Zeeta on the 27th and had a good time hanging out back at our house.


On the 29th, John and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary! We first went shopping for a chandelier in Bend and then we rented a beautiful cabin out at Pronghorn. We had dinner out there which was SO tasty! I looked up anniversary questions and we took turns answering funny and serious questions about life. It was a lot of fun relaxing and being with my best friend. It's such a blessing to be content with where we're at in life. We love our home, town, jobs, and living life together!!

Fall 2018 (Sep-Nov)

Colby went off to Kindergarten! 😪👏🏼🙏🏼 I’m so grateful for my healthy boy who loves to learn and gets to attend Elementary School now. You can bet your bottom dollar this Momma will fervently being praying for his safety every. single. day.



I coached Colby's U6 Soccer team. 


Maelee started Tap/Ballet at Legacy Dance Studio. 


We celebrated John's birthday 

Riley and his girlfriend Ali took Colby and Maelee to the Pumpkin Patch. 


We went to our Ward Trunk or Treat party dressed up as "The Incredibles" family. On Halloween we went around to the shops in town and then met Dallas, Kristy, & Bryson to trick or treat around their neighborhood. 


We celebrated my birthday over at my parents house. 

Cannon Beach

Making Summer count...up to our very last week before Colby starts Kindergarten.

We had fun creating in the sand, eating way too much @brucescandykitchen , buying the stickiest marshmallows EVER for s’mores, and hanging out with G-Pa!

Colby has been waiting months to visit the Tillamook Creamery. Factories/production lines have fascinated him since he was a toddler. Seeing Colby’s excitement was the best part..

She's THREE!!

Dear Maelee Kate,

My Momma heart explodes with emotions just thinking about you turning three tomorrow. My eyes well up with tears, for the time goes by too quickly. You are our "Sweet and Sassy Girl". The sassy moments can make the days seem slow, but your sweet and energetic moments quickly fill us with forgiveness. 

The greatest lesson I have learned from your Dad is that emotions are healthy and it's ok to feel other than happy 100% of the time. I will keep teaching you how to express your emotions in a healthy way and let you will know that you have worth and are loved no matter what.

I am deeply greatly you are forever my daughter. You and the people in our lives are precious to me. Things I can buy, keeping a clean home, exercising, my phone, work, etc. will never be as important.

Mae Mae, you LOVE your doggy Waffles. Your prayers always go something like this, "Thank you for my Waffles, and my Colby, and my Daddy..and my Waffles, and my Mommy and My Waffles..."  

You and Colby have become good buddies annnnnd sibling rivalry is strong these days (we are working on that), but wherever Colby is...you want to be too. Someday, you will be a wonderful big sister, I can already see you wanting to help take care of a baby. 

You're quick to encourage, and comfort. You are in the "I can do it by myself" stage, but learning to ask for help too. 

You are wonderful at self-entertaining...you love pretending to cook and play with your doll house. You are a goofball who gets in the silliest moods and uses a funny voice (I need to record that!). You make us laugh, a lot. 

Here are some answers you gave me when I asked the following: 

What is your name? Maelee Morgan

How old are you? 6

Who is your best friend? Blakely 

What makes you happy? 

What song do you love? Give Said the Little Stream

What is your favorite...

Color: Pink 

Toy?

Food? Spaghetti 

Animal? A noodle (We pretend they are horses...and we were swimming when I asked her)

Movie? Boss Baby and Trolls 

Book? My Goodnight Book (We got this book at Joan Shippen's, it's from the 70's) 

Maelee, I love to ask you if you are my baby. You always reply, "I not a baby! I Maelee!" But, you will always be my baby girl and I will never forget the beautiful experience I had bringing you into this world. I love you to the mountains and back and the moon and back. 

Stay Strong Little One.

Real Estate

When my Mom told me she was going back to working solo instead of with a work partner, she told me she was going to need an assistant. I jumped from on that and asked her if I could be her assistant. I didn't necessarily want to work full-time, but I wanted to do something to get myself out of the house a little bit and projects I could find satisfaction in.

It's not that I don't get satisfaction out of Motherhood, but John once put things into perspective perfectly. Careers provide projects that have a start and finish. Parenting contains work that never ends. There will always be hair that needs washed, teeth that need brushed, bodies that need fed, and souls that need to be loved. 

After about three months, she was encouraging me to get my license. I still had it in my mind that I would just be doing assistant work for her, but I would get my license so I could legally do more for her. I studied for months and finally took the test and passed at the very end of July!! Marnae decided to get hers as well and we could form, "The Powell Team". It's interesting how things progress and turn out to be big blessings! 

I have sold two homes and helped a couple buy a home all here in Prineville. :) 

Utah

On Memorial Day we took off and drove to Utah for John to work a week at HQ and to celebrate Grace's High School graduation.

Colby Graduates Pre-School

Colby finished up his second year of Pre-School. He's really enjoyed his school, teachers, and the friends he's made. We are so proud of all he's accomplished, and more importantly, the character he's developed.