I got this in an email from a friend and thought I would pass this on:

Twas the month before Christmas When all through our land, Not a Christian was praying Nor taking a stand. See the PC Police had taken away, The reason for Christmas - no one could say. The children were told by their schools not to sing, About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things. It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say December 25th is just a " Holiday ". Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it! CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod Something was changing, something quite odd. As Targets were hanging their trees upside down At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found. At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears. Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty Are words that were used to intimidate me. At the top of the agenda, there arose such a clatter To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter. And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace. The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded The reason for the season, stopped before it started. So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree" Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me. Choose your words carefully, choose what you say Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday ! * * * DO NOT BE ASHAMED TO PASS THIS ON !!!!!

I"M DONE!!!!! Finally

I Graduated from college!!!!!!!!!! After many years and many frustrations and setbacks I am finally done. I have a bachelors degree in Social Sciences. Graduation was Dec. 13 and we were going to go to Pullman, WSU's main campus so I could walk but the weather was really bad in Pullman and the surrounding region so we were not able to go. That was very frustrating but we went up to my parents house and had our own little celebration. Now I'm on the hunt for a new job.

Dandelions in December

You know you live in Washington State when moss grows on the sidewalks and your daughter finds dandelions in December! Katelynn and I went to Jon's school and as we were walking across the still very green lawn she said "hey mom there's a flower" and what do you know...there was more than one. Anyways, the point of this is for someone who grew up in Idaho where it has been know to snow on the 4th of July, flowers and green grass in December are just unheard of. If you look close enough at the pictures you will see a little yellow on Katelynn's nose from smelling the dandelion.

Just another fun day in the life of Katelynn and her momma~

Trimming the Tree!!

Before Katelynn went down for her nap I told her that when she wakes up we are going to decorate for Christmas and she got excited, I then said we were going to put up the tree and she got excited, I told her she could help and she got excited, I then told her that we were going to decorate the hoouse and that she could help and she got excited! When she came down stairs after her nap I had the tree out (fake, I know real is better) and boxes of decorations and she was of course so excited but we had to wait till Sarah got back, she had gone to get her hair cut.

She loved helping with the ormnaments and it didn't take any time for her to learn how to hook them on the tree and we got through the process with no broken bulbs!

For that finishing touch you know we had to have her put the star on. She was loving all the fun!

Thanks and Giving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
Isn't this a wonderful time of year?! It makes me appreciate what I have and realize I really do have a lot of blessings. These pictures show just two of the little blessings that Jon and I have received.











Katelynn's has just discovered how fun it is to brush my hair and wants to do it all the time
now.
The other night for family home evening we made turkeys out of construction paper and Katelynn was really getting into it. Glue was going everywhere!













When we pulled out all of the baby stuff for Lauren, Katelynn decided that she wasn't too big to fit in the car seat. Every once and a while she will climb into it and hide.


I sure love my little sweeties!
~Sarah

Sleepless nights and SUPER MOM

So, Lauren has decided that her fussy time is between 10pm and 1am which means that just when Jon and I are headed to bed she is wide awake and usually crying. Jon has work early every morning so I am up with her until she settles down which by the time she is asleep makes for a really long day. Sometimes I feel like SUPER MOM, lots to do in a day and some how it gets done although I'm not quite sure how.

When I get ready in the mornings Katelynn is my little shadow. The other morning she snatched my lipstick off the counter and put some on before I knew what was happening...she is getting started at an early age. She is a two year old going on fourteen, I am in for it aren't I?!

And last but not least, my two sweeties side by side :) Katleynn is so proud to be a big sister, she tells everyone in the store, library, or wherever we are that she has a baby sister. It makes me happy to know that these two little sweeties are my kids.

~Sarah

Cutest bunnies in the world!

Have you ever seen such cute bunny slippers?! Of course the baby makes them so much cuter :)

I just happened to snap this photo at the right moment because she gave a little smile...even if it was in her sleep it is just perfect.

So far Jon has been the one posting everything but I have a few minutes and thought I should add my two cents...(30 min. later ) just kidding about having some time, two kids keep you busy...(another 30 min. later)...so, with the way things are going you might not hear from me too often, ha, ha!

Just want you to all know that I am so proud of my two little girls and my hubby. My kiddos are both darling and as for Jon, well he is just handsome. I really couldn't have made it through labor and delivery without him. The only thing that seemed to help through the contractions was to hold onto Jon's fingers and squeeze as hard as I could. It was the least I could do to let him know how I was feeling. A few times during delivery I told him it was his turn and time to switch places, that got a chuckle from the nurses. He said he would pass...really, I wish there was a way to give men just a little taste of what it feels like to have a baby, the pain and the joy.

I am glad Lauren got here safe, my biggest fear was go into labor while in the grocery store or somewhere out of the house with Katelynn. Every night I prayed that it would happen when Jon was at home and it did. It just so happens that two hours previous to going into labor, I was at the hospital taking a tour of the birthing center. I went home from the tour that was from 6-8pm and got in the shower and it all kicked in and before I knew it I was back at the hospital and in lots of pain! Four o'clock Halloween morning Lauren made her appearance. Amazing and painful all at once. My epidural wore off just as it was time to deliver and kicked in right after so there I was in agony and then it was all over and I couldn't move my legs...go figure.

Needless to say Halloween won't be the same anymore with birthday celebrations and such. Funny thing is that Katelynn was born the day before my birthday and now Lauren on Halloween, guess my memory is so bad that my kids had to be born on dates I wouldn't forget.

I am happy being a mom. The blessings are amazing! It has been just over a week since Lauren was born and already she is changing, I forgot how fast that happens. My mother-in-law, Kathy, came to help for a week and I couldn't have done it without her. I didn't get any sleep in the hospital and was exhausted when we came home, Kathy let me get the sleep I needed to start mending and getting back on my feet. She also helped out a lot with Katelynn who is trying to figure out what has just happened to her world. Grandmas are great for spoiling grandchildren :)

Well, until next time. Catch you later :) ~Sarah

The wait is over!

Katelynn meeting her new sister

Katelynn was so cute when she meet Lauren, she was so excited that finally baby Lauren was out of mommy's tummy, the first thing she wanted to do was hold her which she had been practicing.

Now a family of four. This is the new and updated version of the Rogers family 4.0. Taken about 12 hours after birth.

First ever pictures of Lauren Ashley Rogers

Lauren has arrived!!!

Lauren Ashley Rogers was born Oct. 31. She was 7lbs. 9oz. and 19 3/4" long. We got to the hospital last night Oct 30th at about 10pm and Sarah was all druged up and had her water broken and Lauren was born at 4am. Sarah and baby are doing great and I will be posting pictures here soon. Stay tuned.

Cute Katelynn video!!!

Fall pictures on the Columbia River waterfront

Katelynn had been wanting to "go see the duckies" so last Saturday we went down to the Columbia river that seperates Washington and Oregon at Vancouver and Portland and played around in the cold. It got a little chilly. Katelynn loved it she saw her duckies and then proceeded to throw rocks at them! She loves to get out and play and run after her dad

New baby coming soon...hopefully!

So Sarah is done!! That's what she says about being pregnant at least! She is due Nov. 9th but has been having preterm labor for about a month now. She went into the hospital the first time a month ago because she was having contractions every five minutes or so and they gave her a shot to stop them. Contractions have been a constant fixture of her daily life sometimes very painful. The doctors have said that it is just something she has to deal with, this is how her body works! I think after hearing that a few times she's ready to smack someone, preferably not me.

So we're waiting, for what anymore we're not sure since up till now the signs have all been pointing to labor but then, nope go home and just wait it out. Sarah thinks this little baby is going to be a gymnast or something with all the flips and kicks and elbows to the ribs she's been throwing around. Contractions are so much apart of everything now that I don't really take much notice to them anymore, Sarah doesn't much either. I'll come home and ask her if she's been having a lot of contractions and she'll say, "I don't know I probably have been but I haven't been paying attention, they're just going on all the time."

Katelynn we think is excited to have a new baby in the house even if she doesn't exactly know why she's in mommy's tummy or why she hurts mommy. She's been practicing how to hold her. The time time is coming and we are excited we'll keep you posted.

Some cute pictures of Katelynn

When we were moving from Pullman to Vancouver Katelynn decided this was how she was going to travel. She was found wearing her boots and her daddy's hat and just a diaper!









These two pictures were taken over the summer in Vancouver, she is just a camera lover, probably becasue mom and dad have taken thousands of pictures of her!!

Back in the day-Summer of 2004!!

All these pictures were when we were dating, and having been dating for only a few months.
Jon and Sarah in Seattle, I had to show her around, she had never been there before. Outside Pike Place Market.













At Jon's Grandparents house in Baker Oregon just riding in from playing out in there pasture.












Just us at Jon's Family Reunion. Really not doing a whole lot but lookin' good, huh?



































Pictures at Snoqualmie Falls in Seattle.