My 2011 Reading Challenge Update

Photo from Flickr.com

At the beginning of this year I challenged myself to read 50 books. I didn't hit 50 books this year and thought I did way better than last year but then I made this list and realized I didn't do well at all!! Especially when you consider that I read less than last what I had last year and had a LOT more time to read them in. Oh dear!! I really thought I did better but I guess I let time get away from me more than I realized. I still have a LONG list of books I'd like to read and a pile in my room that I have to get through, so if nothing else I at least have a place to start for next year's goal. I still have to get over my fear of the library but I will be continuing to work on reaching a goal of 50 books in one year, apparently I need to focus a little harder though. So instead of being excited for what I accomplished, like I thought I was going to be, I'm going to reset my goal for 2012. Maybe having a baby and more down time will help me focus a little better.

Here are the books I read this year:

1. The Appeal
2. The Lucky One
3. The Associate
4. Dear John
5. The Candy Shop War
6. The Madonnas of Leningrad
7. The Midnight Hour
8. Heat Wave
9. My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life
10. The Makeover of James Orville
11. Last Shot
12. Black Ice
13. Leven Thumps and The Gateway to Foo
14. Leven Thumps and Whispered Secret
15. Leven Thumps and The Eyes of the Want
16. Leven Thumps and The Wrath of Ezra
17. Leven Thumps and The Ruins of Alder
18. A Time to Dance
19. Never too Late
20. Jungle Dogs
21. Night and Day
22. We Were the Mulvaneys
23. Inkheart

Next year I WILL do better. I really thought I had this time around and am so shocked that I just read these few. I know I can do this though. I just have to remember to keep going when I'm done with a book. Sometimes I like to stop and take a break but those breaks turn into a few weeks without reading and although it's not a HUGE deal if I don't read I really should be making sure that if I'm not reading that I'm also not wasting my time doing something less productive, which I usually am. Time to unplug a little more and make more of my time count. I hope anyone else who challenged themselves to this did a lot better than I did.

Again, wish me luck!!!

Christmas 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS
from
The Vreeken Family

Here are just some of the highlights from our Christmas activities. We had a great time together this year. It was hard to not be with family but we did have a good time with each other and with our friends. This Christmas was a lot of fun for us because of the kids and we are excited for more Christmas' to come. We are so grateful for our family and for all they did for us this year. We could not ask for more loving grandparents/parents. We are truly blessed and appreciate so much everyone who loves are cares so much for us. We love you all. Merry Christmas!!!

We to see Santa on Christmas Eve. Colby did great but right at the end he got a little scared. I love this picture SO much!! Both kids faces make me laugh.
I'll get some of the "professional" pictures added soon.

Colby found a balloon at the movie theater and LOVED it. He had a great time playing and was a little relieved to not be sitting on Santa's lap anymore.

Setting up for Christmas. It was so weird to do it for the kids this year and not have our parents do it for us. This has been my first Christmas where I've done everything like this and this was probably one of the biggest changes for me. It wasn't bad but it was a change. It'll be fun getting the hang of this. I hope I can do as good as our mom's have always done for us.

Colby opening presents. He was much more timed than I thought he'd be. I think it was because we woke him up a little earlier than he's used to. Hopefully next year he'll be just as excited as Riann was.

Riann opening presents. She was so fun to watch. There just weren't enough for her to open. She was so grateful foe each one and she loved telling everyone about them later that day. It was really fun to watch her this year. I can't wait for next year.

Paul was Santa's helper. He got to pass out all of the presents to the kids and I was able to catch a few photos of him opening a few of his. He was just as excited as the kids for Christmas morning. I love being around him on Christmas because he gets just as giddy as they do. It's really a lot of fun for me.

After church we sat down and took a few pictures. Both kids got new Christmas outfits and they were SO cute in them. I'm grateful that everyone has patience with me and lets me get pictures of us together when we try to match every now and then for the different holidays.

I love my family so much and I'm so grateful we got the chance to celebrate the beautiful Christmas season together this year. We are just now establishing our traditions and I'm so excited for the many fun years we'll have together before the kids are grown. It's times like these that make all of the hard days worth it and it's nice to have the small reminders for why we're here. We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas too and can't wait to see what the New Year brings.

Our 2011 Christmas Letter

Hello again from the Vreeken family!!! This last year has been a crazy one but we are still going strong and so happy to be together. We have had many changes over the last 12 months and are grateful for the opportunity to grow and see how the Lord directs our lives each and every day. Here are just a few of the highlights we’ve wanted to share with you from our 2011 year.

Paul – This year Paul had a great time being back in school. He loves his automotive classes and has had an interesting time with his other ones. School keeps him super busy but he is doing a great job working hard. We are hoping that he should be able to graduate this coming July and we are very excited to see the end in sight. This August he also hired as an “intern” with the Wackerli Auto Group in Idaho Falls and has been working specifically with Audi/Volkswagen. He loves his job and is excited to continue this direction as a career. We are very excited about this job. He has already been offered a position to stay on now that his internship is over and they would like him to continue working after graduation. This job has been a huge blessing to us and we are so happy that Paul gets to do something he loves. He has started his certification training with Audi and has attended a few classes in California. He will continue his training through the next few years as he advances as he works towards his Master Tech certification.

Cheris – This year Cheris has been working hard from home and playing with the kids. She enjoys the extra time she gets with the kids and they have a great time playing together. They’ve had many adventures and can’t wait for the chance to get back outside and do more this summer. She had been working with other moms in our area doing a “Joy School” like preschool with the kids and they all really enjoy it.

Riann – This year Riann turned three. She has had a great time playing with friends at the splash park, the pool and everywhere in between. She also got to enjoy lots of time with cousins this year on our various trip to Salt Lake City for Colby’s doctor’s appointments and on our big summer vacation. She has had a great time and has grown so much over the last year. She’s got a lot of spunk and will chat with you over just about anything. She LOVES being a big sister and still enjoys introducing Colby to anyone who is near her. She is very excited to start preschool on campus this next year at “daddy’s school” and we are already trying to plan fun adventures for this summer.

Colby – This year Colby turned one and has had so many mile stones. For those of you who don’t know about Colby’s start, at the beginning of last year we learned that Colby had a breathing condition called Laryngomalacia (LM). The “short” explanation is that this is a rare condition concerning the breathing (and eating) of a child, sleep apnea, choking, acid reflux, along with other complications. It can be mild to severe and kids are supposed to outgrow it however sometimes surgery and/or monitors are required. Unfortunately Colby was one of those ones who had to endure surgery. He did great through the whole thing and has recovered quickly. He has grown so much since the beginning of the year and we hope that by his 18 month check up we’ll learn that he is in the clear and out grown both his LM and his sleep apnea. He is getting to be such a big boy and is so fun to be around. He’s one of the most patient babies we have ever met and has a smile that lights up your day. He’s finally got some teeth coming in (after 10+ months of working on them) and he loves using them on all of the new foods he now gets to try.

This September we also found out that we are expecting baby #3 and couldn’t be more excited. It was a bit of a surprise but we know that it’s meant to be and we can’t wait to meet our new little one. We should find out at the very beginning of January what we’re having. We wish we could share the news with everyone now but unfortunately we ALL have to wait until after the New Year. You’ll just have to watch Facebook or our family blog, paulandcheris.blogspot.com, for more information. This baby is due in May and we can’t wait to meet him/her (Riann swears it’s a boy though).

We are so grateful for this last year and all of the lessons we’ve learned. We’ve felt so much love and support from our friends and family and we are so grateful for all of you in our lives. We are so blessed and we are grateful that we get these last two months each year to reflect on our many blessings and all that we’ve been given. Thank you all for helping us have an amazing 2011. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2012. Merry Christmas everyone and have a great New Year!!

With Love,

Paul, Cheris, Riann, Colby and Baby #3

Jesse and Meagan Zornes - 12.17.2011

This last weekend my brother Jesse was married to his sweet fiance Meagan Modrell in the Los Angeles Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so happy to attend. It was a long dive and a short stay but we all had a great time. We are so excited to have Meagan in the family. She is a great companion to Jesse and we are so glad to see them both so happy.

Congrats guys!!! We love you both.

Waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the temple. I think Colby had the best time out of all of us. He was super excited for everyone. He clapped for almost an hour and was generally happy to just be there. I love that kid!!!

They're out!!! It was really fun because they had an actual temple worker come out and announce their "arrival". This is also the bridal party, minus Riann. She was busy having a break down.

The parents and Jesse's grandparents, our grandpa Jones was able to seal them.
I don't know why I didn't get an individual picture of Meagan's parents. I think they're picture was right in the middle of Riann's break down and I didn't make it down to where we were taking pictures in time.

Playing and partying the reception. It was an amazing set up. Riann had such a great time with Meagan's nieces, the other flower girls. She loved that they had matching "black princess dresses and matching necklaces". They were so wonderful to her and let her tag along the whole time they played together. Riann still talks about her "new friends". I'm so glad she had a great time.

Some of the decor and the food. It was all so wonderful!!! I think Paul's favorite part was the chocolate fountain. He went back a few times for seconds and his motto by the end of the night was "if it couldn't be dipped or drizzled in chocolate than it wasn't worth eating." Its a good thing they has so much to dip in the fountain!!!

On our way home Paul came up with this wonderful count down. It perfectly describes our wedding adventure. We had a great time and love these guys so much!!!

5 States,
4 passengers,
3 nights,
2 thousand miles,
all for
1 GREAT wedding!

Happy Birthday Colby!!!!

Right about the time Riann turned one I filtered through her photos and found a photo from each month to celebrate her first year. I wanted to do the same thing with Colby because it's so fun to look back and see how she had "changed" over the time we had spent with her. As I look at Colby's pictures he seems to have changed so much over the year and he really is so different than the day we brought him home. He has grown up so much and it's been so fun to watch him do it all. It is funny because as I would about it week by week or month by month I'd wonder how much he was picking up or what kind of things I could do to help him learn and there were times when I wondered if I was doing enough but then one day it would seem like he'd just understand and it was such a good feeling to watch him develop.

Colby's birthday was on November 1st. When he turned a year old it really didn't seem like he had been with us that long. He has been such a joy to have in our home and we have learned so many lessons from his sweet demeanor and have been so blessed by his patience. We are so grateful that his health is continuing to improve and that he is continuing to grow stronger.

We love this little guy SO much. He really is a angel sent to bless our home and we can't wait for the many birthdays we'll get to celebrate with him over his life time. Love you baby!!!!

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

Happy Birthday little man!!! We love you SOOO much!!!

SEMA - Las Vegas 2011

This year Paul got to attend SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas. I'm a little jealous that Paul got to go without me but it was such a great experience and he got to go do so many fun things while he was there. I might have to have him add more to this post so that you can get a better idea of what a trip to SEMA is actually like but for now I'll just have to post pictures. He truly was a kid in a candy store while he was there. It was fun when he came home and showed us all of his freebee's and the kids loved all of the "toys" he brought home. I forced him to take a camera with him so I could see EVERYTHING. I know he wasn't happy about it but I'm so glad he did. It was so fun to see all of the stuff he was interested in and he said that he wished he could have gotten more or even been in some of the pictures.

These were only a few of the "jewels" Paul got to see while at the SEMA show. Most of them are my favorite pictures but there were SO many too choose from it was hard to choose a select few. I could have gotten out of control trying to show them all. You know me!!

The biggest reason I was jealous that Paul got to go to SEMA is because I knew he would some how find a reason to meet this guy, Chip Foose. He is a car designer and one of the most talented people in the business. I've always been a fan of his but before Paul left he started getting caught up on the show "Over Haulin" from TLC. It was a show I used to watch in high school but it's on Netflix now and we've been watching it non-stop for the last few months. Paul finally got to schedule in a chunk of time to wait in line to see him on one of his last few days in town and was able to get him to sign a shirt and a hat right there in person for him. It would have been fun to have been there to meet him and watch him draw one of his amazing drawings in person. I'm so glad Paul had a great time and that he was able to go. He's really working hard with work and school it was great that he got to take a little time for himself to participate in this with other "kids" from school.

Halloween 2011

Halloween this year started for us in January. At the beginning of the year Riann fell in LOVE with the new show "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" on PBS. We had watched it EVERY day for the first few weeks of the year when I got the idea to dress the kids up as "Thing 1 and Thing 2". I was SO excited because we were finally getting to do a family theme!! I've been waiting for a while to do something like this and we were finally getting to do something together. When February came around I figured that was a great time to get them little red outfits with Valentine's Day and I started looking. I was able to score some season sell-offs for $1 and $2 and knew it was meant to be when they were at such a great price. After that I held off with the rest of our costume searching until we were a little closer to Halloween. Unfortunately it was a really bad idea to wait so long because Paul ended up being out of town and the kids ended up getting the flu in the middle of the week before Halloween, when I had planned on doing all of my prep and the rest of my shopping. It all worked out okay but the days before Halloween consisted of SUPER late nights and lots of phone calls trying to get everything pinned down.

Getting everything ready. Testing out the hats and costumes to make sure everything is the right size.

I'm really happy with how everything turned out this year and grateful that the kids loved their costumes too. Originally Paul was supposed to be "The Cat" but when he got his schedule for going out of town I had to step in. We found a costume at one of the Halloween boutiques in Idaho Falls for me and the rest of the kids stuff at different craft stores and other locations. Originally I planned on sewing/gluing blue boas to hats and using those for the kids but after trying to put it all together I didn't have enough boas and finding more was impossible. I ended up knitting them hats and they turned out SOOO much better than I ever thought they would.

Playing with the preschool group at the Halloween party. Our friends Emily and Heather did a FANTASTIC job putting it all together. The kids had a GREAT time.

We ended up having a very busy Halloween day but it was still a great day. Colby and I started off the morning by attending the beautiful funeral of a neighbor while Riann went to a friend's house to play. Then we came home to get ready and headed out the door for a "class party" with the preschool group the kids participate in. Then we came home to rest for about an hour and we rushed right back out the door for our Trunk-or-Treat. The kids had a great time out playing with friends and getting candy. Riann LOVED introducing Colby to everyone and she made sure he got just as much candy as she did. She's a fantastic big sister. We had a great day and it was so fun being together.

At the Trunk-or-Treat and other activities of the night. Riann had a blast with Colby. After we played here we stopped up at one of the movie theaters and in a neighborhood in town for more trick-or-treating and fun.

We really with Paul could have been there with us but he had a great time while he was away on "vacation". I'm excited for next year. Hopefully I can talk Riann into doing something as a family again. I know we only have a few years let.

We've got a surprise!!!

This isn't new news to anyone but it's news that needs to be documented. At the end of September Paul and I found out that we are expecting our third little one this coming May. We are VERY excited about the change and addition coming into our lives. We, mostly me, were a little shocked when the test came back positive but so far we have only see blessings from this new adventure and we hope that things continue to progress as well as possible.

We are just past the 16 week mark now and so far my morning sickness hasn't been as bad as I would have expected. I still have really hard days but overall I can't complain when I compare it to the other two kids. We are so excited about this little one and can't wait to learn more about it. Any time I ask Riann what we're having she tells me another boy. She wants another brother. When I ask her what we should name him I get the same answer every time... Colby. All boys should be named Colby and all girls should be named Riann according to her. I love it!! It'll be fun to find out what we're actually having and have her help us with the naming process again. I'm so grateful she was excited about all of this. I was afraid in the beginning that she wouldn't want another baby because Colby just barely got here, or so it seems, but she has been more than happy and loves to tell everyone that "mommy has a baby in her tummy". I'm glad that we waited to tell her, until other people knew... Ha! Colby too seems to almost know what's coming and on the days I struggled in the beginning thinking, it can't be time to have another baby, all I had to do was look at Colby and it seemed like he knew what I was thinking and would always give me a smile that said "Don't worry mom. It'll be okay." It kind of makes me wonder if he already knows who this little one is and he's been waiting for them to get here.

We feel so blessed that the Lord trusts us with another one of his beautiful spirits and can't wait to hold this one when the time comes. This next year is really going to be an adventure!!!