Days with the Dorans

November always makes me think of my dear Grandpa Jonasen. Gosh, I miss him! He was the most sensitive and wise man I have ever known and I still think of him so often. I treasure the fact that I have video (about 7 years worth now) of people from our family reflecting on what they are thankful for each November. I love hearing his voice- and what he was always most thankful for (aside from God) was family. I am so blessed to have children who get along. Now, don't get me wrong, there are days when Jeff and I look at each other and want to scream- but on the whole- we've been blessed with kids who love each other- make each other laugh and love to play with each other. Two Sundays ago, there was a children's message at church and the kids got hard candy leaves and as a family activity we were supposed to "share" our blessings (aka candy leaves). When we put our blessings in a pile- there sure were a lot. Joe and Al did a great job with this and I was so happy t...

We had a great weekend! On Saturday we went to Ford Field and actually got to see the Broncos beat Illinois! It was awesome! But because I'm me, the highlight wasn't the awesome game, but the great reunion I had with my favorite college roommate - Dr. Stewart!! (Yes!! Congrats friend!) I was thrilled that they were able to stay with us and so were the kids... that is after Ali Jane emerged from her room. (I think that she was up there for a good half hour since she is afraid of new people... especially boys.) It didn't take her long to warm up to them and by the end of the night Courtney (Jason's amazing girlfriend and hopefully future wife!! Get a move on!) was reading Al a night-time story... Or was Al reading to her? Jason had fun with the other two babies as well and luckily Pele' didn't actually eat him! We're doing pretty well - 2 out-of-town guests in a month and no lawsuits! :-) After the bar, the game, dinner at Fishbones with friends and playin...

I would say that I'm not one to talk politics or religion but it seems I have spoken about religion somewhat on this blog- and since it's a diary of sorts... why not go ahead and write about the other taboo. I must say that personally I am glad with the outcome of the election, (o.k so now you know who I voted for) but I also must say that had John McCain won, I wouldn't have been filled with the hatred and ugliness that I've seen from so many people. I've been thinking about it a lot over the last two weeks and it simply amazes me. While I am truly inspired by Obama and agree with many of his policies, I know that he is a human and I don't put my faith in humans but in God. I think that many people thought that because I am a Christian, I am a Republican. Well, I am not. I look at the issues that matter most to me, do my homework and have thus far always split my ballot during election times. What upset me most about this election (and still has me worried...

Halloween has always been such a great holiday! It is such fun to dress up and pretend to be someone (or something) else for a night- Not to mention the added bonus of all that candy! My folks came over so that my mom could hand out candy while Jeff (& my dad) and I took the kids door to door for candy. They had a great time and weren't as shy as last year. For those of you who don't know, My Nan lives at the end of our street in Indepen- dence Village and she and her friends gather in the lobby and pass out candy to all the kids. Talk about hitting the jackpot! You can get to 40 people in the matter of minutes... that is, you could if you weren't afraid of them (ahem- Ali Jane). Al stayed by my leg much of the time- perhaps remembering the man with the scary mask from last year. Zach on the other hand couldn't get enough! He was bold and held out his hand to his elders- almost demanding candy! They got such a kick out of him- especially when he went back for mor...

I consider myself a pretty intense Christian in that I believe in God and start every day thinking and thanking Him for the blessings in my life- health, amazing marriage, happy children- even my barking dogs. I've been through a lot in my life and have had many talks with God- some of them on my knees- sometimes through screams and other times I've just sat and paused and thought- Can I hear him? Am I doing the right thing? Last Tuesday Jeff had hockey and at 7:00 Zach started screaming. One thing about my boys (notice I said boys- not girl) is that they are incredibly laid back- don't cry much and go with the flow, so when my Zachy started screaming, I worried. The first thing I did was strip him down to see if there was anything that could be on his body that was causing him pain... nothing- I could see in his mouth and he wasn't choking. (He actually has quite amazing lung power!) Walking- rocking-singing- reciting the words to his favorite stories- nothing worke...

Carving pumpkins is mom's job in our house! I remember when I was younger planning out what I wanted my pumpking to look like, drawing it carefully on the pumpkin and following the lines to carve it... Not anymore- now it's as simple as Joe saying, "I don't want a scary one mom- I want a happy one." (Not surprised- he's as tender as his name-sake) and Ali Jane saying-"I want mine scary mom, I want mine scary!" I didn't get to carving Zach's because Jeff was off to hockey- so we just gutted the pumpkins and everyone had fun feeling the pumpkin guts! And Cobi Jones (#2 dog) had fun licking the pumpkin when no one was looking- some things never change.

One of the coolest things about the holidays is when my kids recieve a package from Grandma. Jeff's mom is amazing! I hate that we live so far away. Each holiday she sends the kids a package of cool things to get them into the spirit of the holiday. It's hard to capture the excitement of getting a package in the mail- but this is my attempt to. They had cool yummy treats including Grandma's homemade cookies! (YUM)- clothes for Zachy and our personal favorite... these super cool glasses. Later in the night, the big kids and I went to Meijer to get some last minute things for my kids at school. Many people were smiling at Ali Jane and I thought it was so sweet- then I looked down at her and realized she was wearing the latest fashions from Grandma- all I could do was smile. So sweet!