Reflections

What a decade it has been! The most defining and action packed of our lives so far. A quick recap~

2001: Greg graduates from UPS and moves to San Diego
2002: Emily visits Julie in San Diego and meets Greg, then graduates from ASU
2003: Emily moves to San Diego, we both get jobs at TSRI, Greg begins applying to Medical School, we get engaged
2004: We get married, Greg is accepted into Medical School, we move to Kansas City, and travel to South Africa
2005: Greg studies, Emily works, we have a lot of fun
2006: We find out we're moving to Florida, we find out we're pregnant, and we move to Florida. Greg works hard in the hospitals, Emily relaxes at the beach and grows a baby. And sometimes works.
2007: Ella is born! Greg begins applying to residencies, does externships in Portland, Denver and Tucson, interviews for residency programs. Emily learns the value of earplugs.
2008: Greg matches St. Joe's in Phoenix, and OHSU in Portland. We move to Phoenix. We find out we're pregnant! Ella learns to walk and talk. Greg works really hard and long hours.
2009: Quinn is born! We move to Portland. Greg works really hard, but not as long hours. Ella starts school.

We truly live a charmed life, with so much to be thankful for, living in this unfair and unpredictable world. I think I speak for all four of us by saying I hope the next decade is as fulfilling, exciting and happy as the last (but with fewer bills from the moving company!).

Happy New Year, friends and family!

So much fun...

...I just can't resist a blog dump.

We also went sledding on Christmas in Denver on Greg's childhood sledding hill, but only took our video camera. Ella found her wild side and went down by herself on her tummy about 10 times in a row.

Breckenridge

For four days before Christmas, we were lucky enough to visit Breckenridge, CO. Greg got in a couple days of skiing with his Dad and Gill, and the girls and I played in the snow and walked around town with Granny. The highlight was sledding with Ellie in fresh snow on the 23rd. So much fun, I highly recommend it!

Crawling!

Psych! Maybe next month...

Slumber Party

We had a great visit with the Freises last weekend. The three girls missed the memo about actually slumbering, but we had so much fun opening Christmas presents, having birthday cupcakes and candles for a very special almost-2-year old, and play, play, playing. Amazing how good company makes a gloomy, gray weekend speed by! Miss you guys, thanks for making the trip!

8 for 8

My mom has we 3 girls, Sarah has 2 girls, I have 2 girls, and now Becky is expecting a...GIRL! Yes, we Beckman/Jeffries women are a rare, amazing-female-offspring-producing breed. Thank god, cause what the heck would we do with a boy at this point? I am so excited to have another niece and baby cousin for Ella, Quinn, Maggie and Zoe~ but mostly thrilled for Becky and Gavin to live in the light of their baby girl!

Christmas Party

Decorating her Christmas Tree frame.

I thought these figures and cards to recognize patterns were so cool...wonder if I could make something similar? Maybe after Christmas...

Clapping after caroling with Pastor Ben. She had so much fun singing and dancing, it was adorable. Actually, all the kids had a blast, as you can see in the video below.

Christmas Party Boogie

Remembering

I wanted to document her characters, in her own words:

(L to R): Happy Guy (Grumpy Guy (see below) made him very happy, so he's happy), Farmer Girl (grows carrots and corn and other delicious vegetables), Bike Girl, Shopping Girl (buys lollipops and teddy bears wearing diapers from the shops in the town), Candy Selling Girl (sells candy hearts), Grandpa (the old Grandpa made this guy into a new grandpa).

(L to R): Grumpy Guy (He has itchy arms), ? (I'll have to ask her in the morning who this girl is, although I know she says it is a boy), Pooper Guy (no direct quotes for him, but he was her first character, always sitting on a toilet...pooping), Money Girl (She buys money with her money), and Rain Girl (splashes in the puddles in her boots when it rains).

Griswold Christmas

"We're kicking off our fun old fashioned family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols."