Crazy Love Gamble-Style

This picture was taken at a time in my life where I thought I was ready for kids. It was about 16 years ago. I made the decision to become a nanny for these two little beauties. They became my heart. This is Taylor & Lauren. They also set me strait and made me realize I had a lot of living to do before I settled down and had kids. They taught me a lot of parenting lessons I use today, as well as lessons of what NOT to do. This evening I got to see Lauren & her mom. It is so wonderful to see her all grown up. It's also a little sad, a continuous reminder of how quickly kids grow up. When I was pregnant with Ava I couldn't help but wonder if having Taylor & Lauren in my life was my preparation for having little girls in my future, or my constellation for never getting girls of my own. Even though the kids' mom tried to scare me to death over stories of the evils of teenage girls, I am so happy with the way things worked out. I couldn't be more grateful. We are...

We had a really nice weekend. Friday I got to have Bayli, my sister even brought her over and we all played Ticket to Ride. Saturday I made a run for it and had a quick overnight girls trip with Billy, my sister & my mom away at the new mountain house. We had about 24 hours of girl time. We got to go to the little local bar and shoot some pool. We had a lovely dinner together, danced and mostly just laughed and had a wonderful time. It was heaven. I missed my babies, it was so nice to come back home to them. On Sunday we went to a beautiful wedding. I'm so happy for the bride & groom, I love weddings : ) John has been working all weekend on our yard. It looks wonderful!!! It is so nice to see him be able to relax for 3 whole days in a row, even if "relaxing" actually means working his butt off all weekend beautifying our house. (He loves doing it, thank goodness!) The cutest thing? Ava loves to help him. She follows him all over the place, chattering away the w...

I am so excited. Anxiously awaiting word about a baby that seemed to be coming last night. This is one of my favorite people, Rhi. Could she be more beautiful??? Her husband Matt took these wonderful pictures. Can't wait to hear if another adorable little boy is joining their family or a sweet little girl... The suspense is killing me!!! We have finally reached that point where I am actually glad they didn't find out the sex of the baby. Either way, I couldn't be happier for their family.

Once upon a time there were 3 friends, quite inseparable. Krissy, Billy & I had such fun together growing up. I could tell you stories but I'm afraid our children might read this some day. : ) Krissy moved away several years back. Billy & I were devastated. It is sad having her live so far away. We stay in touch over the phone but that is about it, and it truly isn't enough. We have nine children between the 3 of us and it is so important to us that they know each other. Phone calls between us moms doesn't accomplish that at all. Well the good news is Krissy is here for a visit, the better news is it is not just a quick visit, but the entire summer!! Yay!! Amelie So last night we all headed over to Krissy's house and got all the kids together to play together, and play they did! Christian All the kids had such a great time! They LOVED this bouncy thing filled with balls that you could attempt to throw in the basketball hoop in th...

Norah is really breaking out with personality! Ok, that is sort of a lie. But she is getting more fun. She smiles a lot and even laughs if you REALLY work for it. Ava begs to hold her all the time. It's pretty cute. Watching Ava make her laugh is just about the most awesome thing ever! I love the way Norah watches everything Ava does and just eats it up if she gives her attention. She is probably just inventorying everything naughty to emulate later, but whatever. For now I will choose to think that they just really love each other! And that makes me happy : )

We are super happy for my Mom & John, she has her beach house and now he has his ski house. We feel spoiled just knowing them : ) Ava was super excited to go check out the new digs. On the way up she saw Mount Hood and says "Is that the mountain house?? I want to go to the very top and slide down!!" When she saw all the snow she screamed "It's just like Christmas!!" I think she may be right, this is sort of like Christmas! Here is a little photo tour: Bathroom on the main floor: Loft area: Looking down from the loft: Brace yourselves, here it is, my DREAM kitchen: There's even a little apartment below you could rent out or fill with friends and family: Ava took this: and I took this: Ava was pretty excited about the whole thing. We played, finger painted, built forts... Auntie She loved all the camping chairs that are acting as furniture before the real stuff arrives. She couldn't stop talking about camping. Norah set up shop in the closet, it...

Grandpa's health recently took a turn for the worse. He had a pill that burst in his throat and then aspirated in his lungs, causing him pneumonia. We decided it was time to get hospice involved. He just wasn't comfortable at all and we knew they could ease some of that pain and discomfort. I still believe he is going to live a lot longer but he really wasn't looking so good there for awhile. They warned us at one point he wouldn't make it through the night. Once hospice got involved he has had a bit of an upswing. His health has stabilized and he seems much more comfortable. This whole process really got me thinking about how Ava is going to take it when he does go. She has grown quite close to him since he moved here. We tend to visit him a couple times a week and she asks about seeing him pretty much every day. I decided to explain to her that grandpa is very old and he is sick and he is likely to die pretty soon. She was shocked. She was really sad but I explaine...