OUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE & 2009

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2009 TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
ERIC AND I WANT TO TELL THE BOYS WE LOVE THEM VERY VERY VERY MUCH, OUR LIFE AND WORLD REVOLVE AROUND YOU TWO, AND WE LOVE YOU BOTH UNCONDITIONALLY. WE LOOK FORWARD TO 2009..THE YEAR WE MARRY AND BECOME AN "OFFICIAL" FAMILY.
WE HAD ONE OF GAVIN'S BEST FRIENDS MOM PASS AWAY THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ALOT ABOUT IT AT OUR HOUSE. TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOMEONE GAVIN'S AGE HAS TO BE WITHOUT A MOM, HOW TO TALK TO HIS FRIEND AND NOT UPSET HIM, AND JUST BASICALLY UNDERSTANDING.
THEIR IS TIMES THAT WE ALL LEAVE THE HOUSE OR ONE ANOTHER AND ARE MAD. OUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTION IS TO NEVER GO TO BED MAD AT EACH OTHER, NEVER FORGET TO SAY I LOVE YOU BEFORE WE LEAVE AND ALWAYS LET EACH OTHER KNOW WE NEED AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER NO MATTER HOW MAD OR IRRITATED WE ARE AT EACH OTHER.............. THAT IS A HARD THING TO DO BOTH AT THE BOY'S AGE AND ERIC AND MINES AGE. SO REMEMBER.... TELL EACH OTHER YOU LUV ONE ANOTHER AND NEVER LEAVE MAD. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN ITS SOMEONES TIME TO LEAVE..CHERISH EVERY MOMENT YOU HAVE. TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ....WE LOVE YOU ALL AND APPRECIATE ALL THAT EVERYONE DOES FOR THE FOUR OF US.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas...A Fun 4 days with Family

Eric And Jayden...Hitting the sledding hill.


The Cousins- Jake-Beckham and Gavin

GAVIN IN 3 FT of Snow at Grandma and Grandpas

Gavin and Jayden -Jayden got the chance to enjoy

Uncle Eric and Aunty Rachel's favorite store CABELAS!

Well... the holiday season is passed. We had a really fun time!! We left Yakima on Xmas eve day when Eric got off work and headed over to Idaho to be with my Mom and Dad, Kevin, Ryan and Kyle and their families, and Grandma Alice.
We were so excited to have Grandma with us this Holiday season, it made it alomst a perfect christmas. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Kevin's kids with us, and Kodi. We have never had a Xmas without Kodi, but this year he was with his mom... so you won't see any pictures of Kodi with the family.

I was sooooooo excited to get to see Jayden and baby Ashlee. Jayden is 3 and getting to be such a BIG boy!! He is going to be our ring bearer in the wedding, and Ashlee one of three flower girls. Kyle's boys Beckham and Jake have also grown a ton since we last saw them Christmas day was so much fun having us all together, laughing, and talking. Mom and Dad have over three ft of snow right now... it was incredible how much snow had fallen. Eric, Gavin and I got to take Jayden out for his first time ever sledding!! It was so much fun, and I got some pretty cute pics. We went to Mission park.. a place that brought back alot of memories for me, as that was the first park I ever took Gavin sledding at. Jayden thought it was great... with his Lightening McQueen coat we bought him, and matching hat and gloves. Little Ashlee lovvvvvves her uncle Eric... as you can see from the pics, she stuck to him big time... and Iam pretty sure the feeling was mutual. It was pretty sweet. Like I said we missed Hailey and Hunter VERY VERY VERY much and hope their xmas was good and filled with Joy, and hope they will be back in Washington soon with their Daddy...WHERE THEY BELONG. And as for our Kodi.. hopefully things will be different as we round the corner to the New Year, and a new parenting plan. We are trying soooo hard to make thing easy for Kodi, and per his request hopefully this new parenting plan will be just the thing to bring more consistency into his little life, and help him see where his home TRULY is....but unfortunately Kodi has to be the one to realize this. All we can do is hope and pray things will get better..until then we will continue to do what we are doing, loving him and accepting his choices.

!

GRANDMA ALICE AND ASHLEE..ROCKING AWAY
UNCLE ERIC AND ASHLEE...PRESENTS... YIPPPPEEEE

SUNDAY-SLEDDING-SNOW-AND A SOAKING WET ERIC!!

OK, SO WE FINALLY GOT A BIG SNOW.

A GOOD 6-7 INCHES OF THE WHITE STUFF FELL ON TOP OF WHAT WE ALREADY HAD.
DECIDING TO TAKE A BREAK FROM THE WII, THE BOYS SUITED UP, AND AWAY WE WENT TO THE SLED HILL!!!
THE BOYS WERE FLYING OVER JUMPS...BAILING OFF HEAD FIRST , GOING SUPER FAST AND HEADING BACK UP THE STEEP HILL TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN! (AKA BEING BOYS )
THE BEST PART WAS PROBABLY ERIC DECIDING HE HAD TO "SHOW THOSE BOYS HOW TO DO IT"
SO HERE ARE THE PICS.....

AND ERIC..


BEFORE--------------AND AFTER.... HAHAHA
YEAH HE SHOWED UM HOW TO DO IT....A FACE PLANT THAT IS!!!!!!!!!!

CHRISTMAS IN NACHES (5 DAYS EARLY)

WELL... WE CELEBRATED OUR XMAS AS A FAMILY TODAY....SATURDAY.
KODI WILL BE WITH HIS MOM THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, SO SANTA CAME TO OUR HOUSE EARLY!
THE BOYS GOT SOOOO MUCH STUFF..AND ARE SPOILED ROTTEN!! BUT THAT MAKES ME HAPPY!!! THEIR BIG PRESENT FOR THE TWO OF THEM WAS THEIR "NINTENDO Wii".
THEY WERE SOOOOO EXCITED AND HAVE BEEN GLUED TO IT! GAVIN ALSO GOT A NEW IPOD CHROMATIC, A NEW STEREO FOR HIS ROOM, A NEW CELL PHONE (THE CHOCOLATE LG) ITUNES GIFT CARDS AND SOME OTHER FUN THINGS. KODI SCORED WITH A COUPLE NEW Wii GAMES, A REMOTE CONTROL CAR, STAR WARS LEGOS, MARTIAN MATTER AND OTHER COOL THINGS. ALL IN ALL THEY WERE BOTH VERY HAPPY, AND GOT MOST OF WHAT WAS ON THEIR LISTS THIS YEAR. I MYSELF GOT A LAMP I WANTED, AND THE BOYS GOT ERIC A NEW GPS CASE, A NEW BLIND BAG, A CASE OF HIS FAVORITE CANDY, NEW WATCH AND A NEW SLING FOR HIS GUN, CUSTOM MADE; LEATHER WITH HIS NAME ON IT. AND I CAN'T FORGET PINKY...SHE GOT A STOCKING WITH DOGGY TREATS IN IT... THAT KEPT HER BUSY FOR A LONNNNG TIME TRYING TO GET THEM OUT!!!
WE WILL BE GOING TO IDAHO WED. TO CELEBRATE WITH THE REST OF THE FAMILY.
MERRY XMAS!!!!

OK....So Iam not that BIG of a Scrooge!!!!

OK OK.. so a couple posts ago I was kinda Ba-humbug on this time of year.
I guess I was more venting then anything... HAHAHAHA.
This isn't my favorite time of year..but I have to say today is the 9Th of December and I have ALL of my shopping done! YES ALL!!!

That makes things a little more tolerable I suppose. Things have still been SUPER crazy around here. Gavin is boxing 4 days a week(which isn't to bad because as you all know the kid is always in some kind of sport) Eric is still working mad hours......Which makes it hard to do things at the house, and Kodi.. welllll hes just Kodi... not much going on with him... just playing, being 9, and scouts every Tuesday.

Eric and I are starting to wrap up our hunting season. We spent the last weekend elk hunting. No site or sound of Elk but the Bucks were running crazy...and Iam embarrassed to say.. YES I MISSED ANOTHER BIG BUCK! I was sad to see the elk season come to a close for us for the year. We still have another weekend or two of deer season though.. and still some Washington tags to fill.
Iam starting to wonder if I will go skunked this year with deer... (it scares me to think about it)

This weekend when we went up elk hunting we also were "Tree hunting".... I mean looking for our Xmas tree. For $5 you can buy a cutting permit from the forest service and that entitles you to cut down a tree of your choice!
So as we hunted.. we also looked for the perfect tree! This year Eric was on his game... he brought THE CHAIN SAW!!!!! I guess he decided he didn't want to spend an hour using a hacksaw to get a tree down. (Been their, done that before) besides then he doesn't get quite as annoyed when I change my mind after he gets it cut down. HAHAHA
And naturally.. since he had the chain saw, I was perfectly content with the first one we cut down.
We brought it home.. trimmed it a bit, and then put it in the tree stand. I can't make things to easy for him... so after we got it in the house, and set in the stand.. i asked him to take it back out and trim it more!! Being the SWEET ,LOVING, COOPERATIVE , husband to be that he is.... he did it...(with a few small grumbles).
So.... soon it was perfect and Gavin and Kodi were decorating away.
I like things perfect.. and when it comes to decorating the tree I kind of have to let go, and let them do it. If I had it my way I would move every ornament they put on so things were evenly distributed and spaced, perfectly.. ( I know anal)
But.. I have learned a little to let go...it makes them happy to do it themselves...... those two are so proud of their tree!!!!!!

WHO'S 9 TODAY???

9 YEARS AGO A VERY SPECIAL BOY WAS BORN........................
DAKOTA RICHARD VOSS.


YEP TODAY IS OUR KODI'S BDAY.
UNFORTUNATELY WE WON'T GET TO SEE HIM, BECAUSE IT IS HIS MOMS YEAR....BUT WE WANT TO WISH HIM A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

LOVE,
DAD, MAMMA RACH, AND GAV