Easter Weekend Part 2

We hope you and your families enjoyed your Easter! Our Easter morning started off with the Little Miss being excited about finding her Easter basket and then we listened to the Jesus Storybook Bible's account of finding that Jesus had risen from the tomb (side note: that is the best bible for young kids!). We also made Resurrection Rolls for breakfast before church and the Little Miss had fun comparing the "disappearing" marshmallow to Jesus' resurrection.
After church we headed to the annual Sanders/Gosser family Easter celebration, my favorite tradition at this time of year. Mr. Wagner and I both started going to the Gossers for the holiday when we were in college so we've continued to carry on that tradition (as long as they will have us!). Seth and Anna Marie always host a wonderful holiday meal and plan a fun Easter egg hunt for kids and adults alike.
Of course, one thing that hasn't changed since college is that Mr. Wagner doesn't exactly play fair. In college, my now Mr. Wagner (and a few other college guys who were official members in "Jodi's Badside Club") would move the egg that had my name on it. Every time I got close they would move it! This year my dear Mr. Wagner helped hide the eggs and made sure to hide mine in a spot that was above my eye level and reach. Love that man but regardless of what he may say, he is very mischievous!

Easter Weekend Part 1

We are enjoying a weekend of activities as we celebrate Easter. In my mind, Easter very closely rivals Christmas as my favorite holiday. I simply love this time of year. Now if only the weather would warm up and dry out!

The Little Miss and Yours Truly had a good time coloring Easter eggs yesterday. We skipped the store-bought egg dying kits and used what we already had on hand, regular food coloring as well as concentrated food coloring paste (the kind you can buy in the cake decorating aisle as most craft stores). Mix some of the coloring with 1 TBS of vinegar and 1/2 cup of room temperature water and viola! We used both regular white eggs as well as a few brown, farm fresh eggs. I really liked the way the farm eggs turned deeper/darker colors.

Today we took advantage of the (short-lived) nice weather and enjoyed the annual Easter egg hunt and lunch at a local country club that some of our good friends co-own. The Little Miss was not sure of the Easter bunny that arrived though she showed some growth in that at least there were no tears this year! Bunny aside, the Little Miss had a great time hunting for the candy and toy-filled eggs. She also enjoyed the lunch afterwards at her own table with other five year old girls. The girls were adorable all dressed up! (Speaking of dressed up, as you all have heard this mama loves holiday dresses. The dress above is a hand-me-down thanks to her cousins).

By His Wounds We Are Healed

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

We are remembering Jesus today, reflecting on all that He suffered for us so that we are forgiven and can have eternal life with Him. Isn't it amazing to think that Jesus loves us so much that He died for each one of us?! Our names were written upon the wounds that He suffered, including His hands that were pieced and nailed to the cross. Our sins were nailed to the cross right along with Jesus. By His wounds, we are healed. All He asks of us is that we believe and confess in faith.

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

(Romans 10:9-10)

Idea for using markers to help children visualize Christ dying for each of us comes from Celebrated Families

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the West Coast Wagners! We hope your day has been pinch-free and full of all things green.

Our day started off with green yogurt, green milk and green eggs. We have friends coming over shortly for dinner and are going to enjoy broccoli and cheese soup (naturally green), green salad, green rice krispy treats, green limeade, and green milkshakes. I think we've had enough artificial food coloring to last for awhile.

Now, off to find that pot o' gold at the end of a rainbow.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. This was the first year that we can remember in a LONG time where we were home for the holiday and while we did miss being with extended family, it was really nice to have a quiet weekend at home. We took advantage of the sunshine on Saturday and went on a family walk/bike ride, ate plenty of smoked turkey and chocolate peppermint brownies (resulting in Mr. Wagner and I each needing to go on an afternoon run to attempt to burn off a few of the extra calories), and enjoyed worshipping together at the Christmas Eve service. Christmas morning started off with Mr. Wagner reading to the Little Miss about Jesus' birth, present opening, cinnamon roll eating and relaxing before we joined the Booth family on an outing to find snow (we found a few patches but nothing sled-worthy). One of my favorite memories of the weekend relates to our new tradition of singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus; the Little Miss had been talking for days about how she wanted to sing to Jesus and add a birthday candle to our cinnamon rolls. Being the mindful mom that I always am, I of course completely forgot the plan until that night. She didn't waver for a bit though and went right ahead and made a birthday "cupcake" for Jesus out of her new Lincoln Logs. My heart melted at sharing the moment singing with our girl as she remembered Jesus as only a childlike faith can. Next year I'll do my best to remember the candle in the rolls but for this year, it was perfect!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Dress(es) 2011

If you'll remember from prior years one holiday tradition Yours Truly is taking advantage of while our girl is young involves finding just the right Christmas dress. This adventure is one that we often start early (to be more specific, this year's dress was actually purchased on clearance the day after Christmas 2010).

I love how the forest green color looks against the Little Miss' light complexion and dark hair. She likes the shiny taffeta, sparkle, soft velvet trim and bows. We had an adorable pair of gold ballet slipper style shoes to complement the dress but apparently our girl does not yet know one sometimes has to sacrifice comfort for fashion; she complained that they hurt so we stuck with basic black (can't blame her).

One dress was not enough as the Little Miss also ended up receiving a sweet hand-me-down silk dress from her cousins. The red, black and white was perfect for our Nutcracker outing.

Another tradition my good friend Joani and I both enjoy this time of year is to photograph our girls together in their Christmas dresses. We were able to get a few pictures of them last weekend during our annual Christmas caroling dinner party at the Curtis house.

Love these two girls! They sure had a good time playing. Joani also made our girl's day when she gave her super cute cutouts of all the Nutcracker characters. Pretty much one of the more creative gifts ever (not to mention the patience all that detailed cutting would require). Did I mention that Joani also quilts, sews, scrapbooks, crafts, decorates cakes, enjoys cooking, decorating her home and is a terrific mom and talented chemical engineer?! She seriously amazes me. I may not come close to her in artistic or intellectual talents but I have rubbed off on her with my Christmas and Easter dress hunt addiction. Her daughter Allison is actually wearing one of our girl's former holiday dresses and we will surely be sharing these other dresses in future years!

Nutcracker 2011

Since we enjoyed the Eugene Ballet Company's production of the Nutcracker so much last year, the Little Miss and I decided to take my aunt to the Oregon Ballet Company's production this year. We went to their opening performance last weekend and had a wonderful time. It was a perfect outing for the Little Miss and her great aunt since they share a love for wooden nutcrackers this time of year (my aunt has a three foot nutcracker in her Christmas decoration collection and our girl likes to pretend he is her prince). I just love watching the Little Miss take in the beauty of the ballerinas and their costumes. My favorite comment of the night was, "Mom, I sure like the Sugar Plum Fairy. She makes me smile." We didn't make the men join us (this year) but Mr. Wagner and my uncle met up with us afterwards for a delicious fondue dinner at the Melting Pot (yum!), a great way to kick off our Christmas celebrations.

Midwest Adventures 2011: Part 1

We had a fun trip involving four states as we visited Mr. Wagner's side of our family over the Thanksgiving holiday. Within the span of one week we flew into Minnesota then headed to Wisconsin where we celebrated Thanksgiving with family. The next day we drove through part of Iowa on our way to Illinois where we spent a couple of days visiting Mr. Wagner's twin bro and his family. Then it was back through Iowa to return to Wisconsin to stay with Gr'pa and Gr'ma for the remainder of the week. Lots of travel but the family time was well worth it!

We first arrived at Gr'pa and Gr'ma's house the night before Thanksgiving and got to enjoy a short visit with Mr. Wagner's sister and her daughter before they returned to CO the day after Thanksgiving. It has been awhile since we had gotten to see them so the Little Miss had a great time getting reacquainted with her seven year-old cousin Savannah.
For the Thanksgiving feast we were also joined by Mr. Wagner's Aunt Donna and her son Ken's family as well as Great Gr'ma Wagner and Great Gr'pa Maves (the Little Miss insists he is just "Gr'pa Maves"). Mr. Wagner's family has a tradition of gathering to share what each person is thankful for and I will never forget what our girl said; she announced to everyone that she was thankful for (Great) "Gr'pa Maves". It was wonderful to see his glowing smile in response. You see, our girl still remembers visiting Gr'pa Maves over a year ago and has talked of him regularly since, having always held a special place in her heart for him.

So Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families from the West Coast Wagners! We sure are thankful for our wonderful family, friends and for all that God has given us.

We are having fun with Mr. Wagner's side of our family. We missed getting a family picture today but did get a lot of pictures of the Little Miss playing outside at Grandpa and Grandma's after our yummy meal. Great food, and most of all, great company.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day!

'Tis (Almost) The Season

Yes, this year I turned into one of THEM. You know, one of THOSE people who starts listening to Christmas music even before Thanksgiving. Not to mention {gasp!} putting up Christmas decorations early, oh my! There you have it folks, the first step in my recovery. I admitted it.

In my defense it was Mr. Wagner who came up with the idea. For the first time EVER he was actually looking forward to setting up our (fake) Christmas tree (side note: Yours Truly much prefers a real tree but my allergies don't agree). Out of the blue, he suggested we get out our decorations this weekend. Really?! Where did that come from?

I was certain that an alien had taken over my dear hubby's body but later learned that he had been in a store where there were decorations and Christmas music playing so it put him in the mood. I was certainly not going to let the opportunity slip by so quickly took him up on the offer (plus, I knew it would be a very fleeting thought and soon he would remember how much he dislikes setting up our tree). Up came the Christmas decorations, tree and interior lights on Saturday (even the West Coast Wagners are not silly enough to put outside lights up early lest our neighbors know that we are one of THEM). Please don't unfriend me, it (most likely) won't happen again.

We then continued with the winter welcoming festivities today joining good friends on an outing to a local "mountain" (not exactly a mountain but the highest peak around here) where we played in the snow. The Little Miss had a blast sledding with her daddy and playing with her good friends Allison and Logan. I'll let Joani write more about the day; we both agreed that we need to make these snow outings more regularly. Such fun!

'Tis (almost) the season!

Friendship

I was reminded (again) this past weekend how blessed I am to have a great group of close girlfriends, many of whom I have known since my college days, and are now more like family than friends. I spent last weekend in beautiful Central Oregon with six of these women on our second annual "Ladies Getaway" (Jennifer, Janelle, Joani, Lisa, Erin, and Anna Marie). We were also joined by two of my other favorite women who happen to live in Bend (Sam and Sharon). I must say, women's retreats at church are fun but it's even better when you are together with many of your closest friends! Let's just say there was a LOT of (non-stop)chatting as well as giggling, eating, praying, crying (good tears of course!), and shopping. We had a fruit-filled time listening to messages about finding our identify in Christ and I think each of us were blessed by the weekend. I'm sure hoping that we can keep this tradition alive as I came home feeling refreshed and filled to the brim with love for my great friends! (Maybe next year I'll even remember to take more pictures).

Harvest Carnival 2011

Oh the woes of a five year-old girl...Would it be Rapunzel? The Sugar Plum Fairy? That was the question of the day yesterday. By the time the late afternoon rolled around, the Little Miss made a final decision and landed on Sleeping Beauty (a.k.a., Princess Aurora). This is why Yours Truly has (thus far) avoided buying costumes and is sure thankful for dress-up clothes and hand-me-downs. As in years past, we enjoyed our evening at the Harvest Carnival our church puts on each year. The Little Miss had a lot of fun at the game booths, riding an old fire truck, a draft horse hay wagon ride, holding a guinea pig in the petting zoo, and visiting with her good friends (including Logan the Fireman and Sophie the Fairy below).Of course being the horse girl she is, her favorite part of the carnival was riding "Sparrow" the spotted appaloosa. She was even prepared with her pink sparkly cowboy boots (What? Didn't you know Sleeping Beauty wore cowboy boots?).


Thanks to all who helped with the Harvest Carnival! It is always such a blessing to see such a great turnout from across the community and to watch the light of Christ shine!

Pumpkin Patches 2011

As in years past, my favorite Fall tradition is to visit several local pumpkin patches with our girl. There is just something wonderful about the bright orange pumpkins, tractor rides, and hay bales (not to mention the freshly made hot apple cider and homemade cider doughnuts that several of the farms offer this time of year). We started off the pumpkin patch season by taking advantage of a warm, sunny day and made a family outing to Bauman Farms. It's a bit of a drive from where we live but well worth the time for the beautiful setting and the abundance of harvest festival activities.

The second pumpkin patch visit of the year came with the Little Miss' first school field trip. Yours Truly got to join in this adventure and had a lot of fun riding the school bus with our girl for her very first time. If you recall, I was anxious about the Little Miss starting school but I have to say, it has been such a blessing to see how much she enjoys it. Here she is with a few of her classmates and Mrs. Lang, her teacher (whom she adores). Elle, the other curly-haired girl in the picture is our girl's best school friend, also the daughter of one of my good friends. They have known each other from the time they were babes but their friendship is really blossoming now (I often pick both girls up from school and they don't stop chatting the whole way home!).
Finally, our last trip (thus far) was another family outing to our favorite "tractor ride" farm, Davis Family Farms. The Little Miss looks forward to driving the tractor each year with her daddy during this visit (second only to driving with her Grandpa when we visit Mr. Wagner's family in the Midwest). We met Allison and her dad there (her mom was away at a college reunion) and the girls had a lot of fun searching for the perfect pumpkin (along with their daddies!).



That completes the pumpkin patch outings for this year, at least in Oregon. The Little Miss and Yours Truly are getting ready to board a jet plane to Oklahoma and are hoping to take Papa on at least one pumpkin patch outing while we are there!

5th Birthday Luau

Over a week late but better late than never right?! Our family had a great time celebrating our girl's 5th birthday with close family and friends with a birthday luau. Praise the Lord the weather was perfect for swimming and enjoying the sun. We ate a plate-style Hawaiian dinner and had plenty of tropical-themed activities for the kiddos. They crafted, played "hot" coconut (i.e., hot potato), had hula lessons, a fishy pinata and sugar galore. To those that were able to join, thanks for celebrating with us! To those that live too far away, here are a few pics from the day...

Annual Friends Trip 2011

We just completed our annual close family friends trip with the Booth, Bronson and Curtis families. Unlike recent years past, this year we actually did rough it and decided to spend the weekend camping at Diamond Lake. Having grown up spending countless weekends during both the winter and summer months in the area to camp, fish, water ski and snowmobile, I was excited to share the location with friends. I must admit that going into the weekend I was a bit anxious about everyone having a good time; thankfully those worries were unfounded! The bugs can be annoying but were completely tolerable. My biggest concern was the potential for thunderstorms. We had one that started rumbling over the lake but it blew over quickly...phew!

The view of Diamond Lake and Mt Bailey right from our camp spot

We enjoyed a day outing to Crater Lake National Park, a special location for our family since it's where my dear hubby proposed 6 1/2 years ago (he won points for choosing one of my favorite spots in the world!)

Unfortunately I neglected to get the group picture that I'd fully intended to take. The kiddos stole the show with the camera. It was such a blessing to watch them having so much fun together throughout the weekend: the giggling, chasing, rock skipping, bike riding and playing never stopped! The adults agreed that camping is something we want to keep doing with the kiddos as they grow because the memories will be invaluable.

Logan (almost 4), Emma (3 years) and Bekah (almost 5) enjoying the morning fire

Allison (2 years) and Bekah always have a good time together

The Bronson Family: Zeke (1 year), Robert, Samantha, Emma and future babe #3

Mr. Wagner sporting his stylin' camping hat. LOVE this man...hat and all.

Annual Family Camping Trip

We enjoyed our annual family camping trip with my brother and sister-in-law last weekend in beautiful central Oregon. The trip started out with a slight mishap as we searched high and low Friday afternoon for a camp spot near the Metolious River like we had planned. We were just a little too late in arriving and found that all the spots were taken. We quickly set forth with a Plan B and drove a few miles south on gravel roads to Round Lake. The lake had gorgeous mountain views but we hit our second mishap; most of the trees near the lake had been burned in a major forest fire a few years ago meaning that there would be no shade for camping. So, back down the gravel road we headed. Just before we were about to give up, Mr. Wagner spotted a perfect, secluded spot surrounded by trees that looked like it had been used by hunters for a deer camp. We finally set up camp and were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend mishap-free!

The Little Miss had great fun camping with her very favorite dog in the world (Sage) and enjoyed the attention of her aunt and uncle, including playing numerous rounds of 'Go Fish' and 'Old Maid'. We even had a refreshing afternoon swim in the lake. Oh, and an extra bonus that came from being in the middle of nowhere? The Little Miss officially mastered the squat.

We missed having Papa and Mimi with us again this year especially since they helped start our annual family camp tradition. We sure hope they can join us next year because the Little Miss is ready for her Papa to teach her how to fish!

Gathering Together Farms

This weekend we made the trek to our very favorite summer restaurant, Gathering Together Farms, for the second time this summer. Yes, it's on a farm and out in the middle of nowhere. Yes, the food is all organic and locally produced. Yes, we saved gas and the planet by riding our bikes for the 20 mile round trip. Yes, we are slightly granola. Yes, we are proud to be Oregonians!

Picture of our whole biking crew courtesy of Joani Curtis: from L-R, Booths, Wagners and Curtis FamiliesThanks to Daddy for pulling the Little Miss the whole way in her Chariot!

Another photo courtesy of Joani Curtis; The Little Miss enjoying the garden outside the restaurant. Truly there were many beautiful flowers (in addition to this fancy dandelion)

March for Babies

We successfully completed the March of Dimes "March for Babies" this weekend and had a great time with our team dedicated in the Little Miss' honor. We were within just dollars of raising our goal of $1,000 so again, thank you to all who supported us!

Mr. Wagner was a good sport and even wore a bright purple t-shirt, chosen for our girl's favorite color. We think he should win Daddy of the Year for that! Our family is planning to form a team again next year so please consider joining us on the walk next Spring and you too can see the infamous purple shirt in person (Oh, are you reading this Mr. Wagner? We sure do love you and think purple just may be your new color).

Post-Blog Update: Great news...now that the totals are coming in, we learned we actually surpassed our fundraising goal and raised $1,009 as a team for the March of Dimes. Thank you to all who donated!

Happy Easter, He is Risen!

Happy Easter from the West Coast Wagners! What a blessing our car ride home from church was today. The Little Miss talked non-stop about her Sunday school lesson, about Jesus dying on the cross and His body being put in the tomb wrapped in cloth. A few days later the angel appeared and said "Do not be afraid" because Jesus was no longer there and had risen! Bekah went on to tell us that since Jesus died for her and she has Him in her heart, she no longer does "bad things" and doesn't need timeouts any more. Needless to say, after a good chuckle we were quick to explain that we all fall short but that we get to have eternal life in heaven with Jesus because He loves us and forgives us for our sins. We all need God's grace (and may even need timeouts!). Aren't children the greatest?

After church we enjoyed our annual Easter supper with the Gossers and Sanders. The kiddos always have fun with an Easter egg hunt after the meal and this is the first year in awhile that we've gotten to do it outside. Love this tradition with dear friends!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter, He is risen indeed!