The Snow of 2009!

Being it our first Christmas in Virginia, I was wondering to myself if we were going to have a white Christmas. Well, I've stopped wondering...

You ready for this Marshall?

Can you see Mitch and Marshall standing in a blurry of snow?


Once Mitch finished digging this car out he moved on to the next. Looks like a good time in the snow if you ask me. Don't ask him, though.

You have to agree; it's starting to look a lot more like Christmas.

Fire Station

I teach a joy school type preschool with my friend Stacey (who is A-MAZ-ING, Marshall always leaves her home excited, and yearning to learn more. Me? Not so amazing. At my house they both usually cry at least once. BUT one time they didn't, that was a great day. It built my self esteem up. Anyways.) We took a field trip to our neighborhood fire station. That particular week I had taught Marshall and Paige about community helpers. We thought it would be fun and imformative for the kids to take a tour of a fire station. The firemen and woman there were awesome! They gave us a very friendly tour. We checked out the truck, fire men tools, wore their gear, it was fun!

We look like some real winners.

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

Saturday, 8 a.m., day after Black Friday. Do you know what time it is? I'll tell you what time it is. It's time for the Emericks to find the, no not just the, THE, like THEE - Christmas tree. Mitch and I love having a REAL Christmas tree. The smell, the pine needles, the quirky bare spots...We Love Real trees. Sure, we love those fake ones too. Anything Christmas we love. But for now, we love going out as a little family - shortly after we've recovered from gorging ourselves with Thanksgiving delights and together picking, The Emerick Family Christmas Tree.
Since we've been married Mitch has always wanted to cut down his own tree. Little Marshall thought that sounded like a pretty good idea! Since their two of them are the toughest guys around that I know of, I agreed to their ploy. We drove about an hour and half in some direction that our GPS told us to go, and found this magical Christmas tree farm. They gave us an ax and a rope and told us to have at it. So we did. It was so much fun - not to mention the scenery was gorgeous! We wandered around a forest of trees until we found the perfect tree. Definition? Okay.
The perfect tree = not to big, not to small, strong piney scent, green needles, full, lots of strong little branches (obviously for hanging ornaments on) and hardly any bare spots.
We found it! Mitch and Marshall got down on their hands and knees and sawed that tree down - "TIMBER!" and then they drug it back to the barn. There we had warm apple cider before we loaded it onto our car and drove back home. Good idea Mitch!

Fifty-five Hats! Yeah for us!

Thanks to the help of many amazing and super talented women from my ward we were able to donate fifty-five hats to the Women's shelter in Dumphries. It amazed me how they all jumped on the wagon and quickly turned my meager, 12 amateur looking hats into fifty-five covetous hats. Couldn't have done it without them!
Here are a few pictures of the end results!




Doesn't it amaze you how generous people can be? It amazes me how willing people are to help. So many times we only notice the turmoil around us screaming chaos and misery through the media. Yet, if you can take a step back to look at those closest to you, you'll see compassionate mothers, loving fathers, supportive friends, and teachable children. When people are given the opportunity to let their light shine they often emit such a light that transcends beyond all expectations. From my experiences I have found that people willing serve and contribute to their community when given the opportunity. They're consistently and quietly serving; going unnoticed in their daily routines. People genuinely want the world to be a better place. They creatively find ways to build others up and leave imprints of compassion as they go.

Happy Halloween!

To some, Halloween is just another holiday that comes and goes leaving behind a sugar buzz and pumpkin seeds. But not for me! Well, yes, definitely yes to the sugar buzz but not to the nonchalant coming and going. Halloween is anything but casual to me. It's a holiday I look forward to with great anticipation. It's occurs in October which welcomes the fall with brightly colored leaves, musky air, witches and spooks and cooler temperatures. I love this time of the year. It's the spring board for the rest of the year. I love the rest of the year! November's just great because I keep telling myself it's too early to start listening to Christmas music and then, half way thru the month when I can't take the anticipation any longer I break out Mariah Carey's Christmas album and jam out to "All I want for Christmas is yoooOOOu BABY!" I over indulge in a hefty Thanksgiving dinner with family and can't wait to wake up the next day to decorate for Christmas! December is my favorite Holliday. Yes, I consider the whole month a holiday, AND it's my favorite. First is starts off with my birthday, who doesn't love a birthday? Then it's Christmas cheer, and Joy to the World the rest of the month. Everyone seems to be more thoughtful and giving. We remember our Savior and our families. I love it. I love it! I love it!
So what did we do to exasperate my Halloween holiday this year? Well, we started off with a visit to the Cox's pumpkin patch. I sure wish that my camera was working. It died as I tried to snap the first memory. I would love to have shown you a picture of Marshall worming his finger through the pig pen to try and poke one of the 14 piglets sleeping in the corner. An even better picture would have been to show you his and Mitch's face as we rode on the hay wagon being pulled by the reliable old tractor or sliding down one of the many slides they had there. Marshall must have slid down each slide at least twice! You would have died in laughter if I were to show you the picture with Marshall's arm slung casually around a goat's shoulders as he fed him goat's food and then walked around the pen like best buds. Feeding the cows was the highlight. If my camera worked you would have seen us smiling and laughing as the cows tongues stretched inches past their lips making every effort to squeeze through the gate, trying to lick up the cow's food we purchased and tried sharing between all twenty of them. We swatted away bees as we gulped down fresh apple cider and then picked out three perfect pumpkins to take home. Too bad my camera stinks, and you get no visuals.
We also attended our ward "Spooktacular", which was fun. Marshall enjoyed the parade of costumes. We didn't stay for the candy, but what he doesn't know wont hurt him - or go to my hips.
We went to a nursing home with some of our friends and handed out homemade Halloween cards and had the kids hand them out in their costumes for FHE. The kids did great - it can be intimidating, but they really warmed up to the idea and had a great time passing out their art work. I think that the people their enjoyed the visit. I know I had a great time and will do it again next year.
Where my in-laws live in Pennsylvania they have trick-or-treating on the Thursday before Halloween. Since Mitch had to go out of town, Marshall and I drove up for a visit to 1) show off Marshall in his costume and 2) have him go trick-or-treating with his aunt Jenna. It was a great visit. We all had fun trick-or-treating with Jenna and her friends. It's a nice area and lots of people were out trick-or-treating. Marshall got some really great candy.
On Halloween night we all three stayed home, ate hot dogs and chips and handed out candy. We played hide and seek in the dark a million times. Marshall gives himself away every time though. He will quietly hide, and whomever is "IT" will count to ten, then say,"Hmmmm, I wonder where Marshall could be?" What does Marshall say? "I'm hiding under the table!" or "...in the closet" or "...behind the couch!"
The only picture I took of our Halloween Extravagnza is of Marshall in his adorable Buzz Lightyear costume at the Emerick's. Enjoy!

Putting things into action!

During our transition from Utah to Virginia, I stayed at my in-laws house with Marshall while Mitch wrapped things up in Utah. While I was there I attended their regional stake conference. It was a particularly special conference because President Monson spoke to them via satellite. His talk was so touching and inspiring. He spoke on service and shared tender personal experiences. He attributed much of how he learned to serve, from his mother. Sharing that she always found little ways to lighten the burdens of others. And it's obvious to everyone who has ever heard President Monson speak that he has a heart of gold. I met him one when I was a little girl. I sang at the tabernacle with other primary children from our stake for a general program being held there. He waved and said hello to several of the children before he left the stage, and I can still remember how special I felt when he spoke to me.
During his talk at stake conference He encouraged the saints in that area to find little ways to serve others. While he was speaking I couldn't help but think of Marshall. I want him to grow up to be as compassionate as President Monson. Which means I better start setting a good example. Ugh! Yeah, that's what it means. So while I was listening to this talk I tried to think of little things that I could do to contribute and serve my community. One of my ideas was to donate crocheted hats to a needed organization. This seemed like a good idea. Except for two small details: One. I don't know an organization that is in need. And two. I don't know how to crochet. So I thought I would find a needed organization like a battered woman's shelter and oh yeah, learn to crochet and then learn to crochet hats.
So that's what I did.
The reason why I am blogging about this? Well, because I can't crochet that well. The shelter that I found said that they could use as many hats as we could give them. I've made twelve. So I am encouraging my friends and family who read this (all three of you!) to help me out. IF you are interested. I am donating the hats (crocheted, knitted, sewed, whatever! In various sizes: baby to 18 years old) to the Battered Woman's Shelter in Dumphries on Oct. 27th. If I can learn to crochet a hat, anybody can learn to crochet a hat! Thanks!

Nationals VS Dodgers

We love going to Baseball games. It's true. I hate watching sports on TV. I hate having sports on TV at all in my house. It's just noise and I can't follow it. BUT I love attending sporting events in person! How could you not have fun cheering with the crowds, dancing to the music, eating the five hundred dollar hot dog with the two hundred dollar soda, listening to Mitch explain the game to Marshall, while sitting under the bright lights?




Go Washington Nationals!

A day at Virginia Beach!

What makes the perfect Saturday?
We woke up Saturday morning, at 8:30 (the perfect time to sleep in)...no plans for the day. "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" (Sounds like the perfect set up for a day trip to me!)
By 9:30 we were in the car headed for a three hour drive south to Virginia Beach. There were no crowds. The weather was warm, but overcast (no sun burns...I'm okay with that!)

We had ice cream on the board walk. Marshall really enjoyed it.

We made quick work out of some buffalo wings. Okay, so really I took the picture because I didn't want my BBQ smeared face in any pictures. yum!

You know, Mitch and I lived in Hawaii for a little over two years. We would go to the beach together quite often. In all of those trips we never looked at each other and said, "I want to bury you in the sand." Somehow, now that we have a three year old boy, I end up to my neck in sand. It was awesome. I think everyone should have "Be buried in the sand" on their life to-do list.

We played in the ocean. Wrote our names in the sand. Chased after the seagulls. Played tag with the waves. Swear we saw two dolphins in the distance. And walked around the pier.
Marshall fell asleep on the way back home. What more could you ask for?

I like to make junk. You know, useless random things that only I find aesthetically devised for my personal home display. Here are a few things that I have done this past summer.
I learned to crochet. Yep. Kind of. Well, actually I learned to make hats. I can crochet hats.

I had/have this brilliant idea to find a way to contribute to my community. I thought that I would learn to make hats, then donate them to a battered women's shelter. If anyone wants to help out - I'd love the help. I am thinking of donating them towards the end of October. Email or facebook me if you want to donate hats.

This lamp is one of my favorite things that I've done for my house this summer. My mother-in-law gave me these old lamps; they were originally a blue and mauve colored. I wish I had taken a before picture. I took my obsession with modge podge out on them. I choose a color and design scrape book paper that went with my house design. I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

I made this a little over a year ago. I really like the vinyl lettering. I think the possibilities are endless. That makes me happy. My mother-in-law asked me to help create some things for her super saturday in November. I'm going to teach this and the family name plaque pictured below.

You know when you have a a picture in your mind of how you want a project to turn out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This turned out exactly how I have pictured it. I was thrilled!

Marshall turned three! Can you believe it?!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Marshall! Happy Birthday to you!

I am sure that every mother feels her child is special. Every mother should. I want you to know, I know that Marshall is special. As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to be a wife and mother. I wanted to marry a wonderful man who I loved like crazy. I wanted to spend my life making big healthy babies and raising them in a home filled with love and security. The day I found out I was pregnant was on December 5, 2005 in Laie, HI -on my twenty-third birthday! I felt sick...not like you think. I had an agonizing sore throat and my eyes were disgustingly pink and gooey - yes, gooey. I woke up that morning and as a birthday present to myself I skipped class, called in sick to work and made myself an appointment at BYU-Hawaii's Health Clinic to see a doctor. At the doctor's office I was asked when the date of my last period was...calculating the math I realized I was about a week late for my period. They administered three test to me. All three came back positive. I had pink eye, strep throat and I was pregnant. A birthday that should have been tainted with misery and illness became the greatest day in my entire life! I received the best present that day. I got exactly what I wanted - to be a mother. I came home that afternoon on such a natural high. I paced around our studio apartment waiting for the second Mitch would walk through the door. I couldn't wait to share the news. When the moment finally arrived I handed him a white paper bag; in it were my prescriptions. As he took them out I said this one is for my ugly pink eye, this is for my sore throat, and without explanation he examined the bottle of prenatal pills. He read the label and said,"What are these for?" I told him I was pregnant! His reaction made the moment that much more special. His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face! His energy encompassed the entire room. We then hugged each other and life finally felt like it started.
Now, to explain where we were exactly when our life began. We were poor, busy students, still trying to figure out what we wanted for our future. Mitch and I were both juniors in college getting ready to finish our last year at BYU-Hawaii. Mitch and I both had to pay for our own education. We worked our way through school, received pell grants and took out students loans to cover all of our bases. It was incredibly tough for us. At times it was frightening to not know if we had enough to cover all of our living expenses for the school year. We worked hard in school too. I think we were like most students. Most every student hopes that the burden of time and the obligations of financial debt they are pouring into their education will easily provide them with the keys to open all the doors of opportunities for their future. At moments you believe enough in yourself to commit to another semester and another student loan. All in hopes that it was eventually - somewhere down the road brighten your future. Realistically for us, this unplanned pregnancy added an additional stress. Even though we were so excited to welcome this baby into our family. The thought of inviting him into our still undecided future was daunting. I don't know why am telling you this in so much detail. l think I am saying all this because this is why I know that Marshall is special. Throughout my pregnancy, in quiet moments I would feel this overwhelming assurance speak to me. I can't describe it. It would bring tears to my eyes and a warmth that spread throughout my entire body. I was assured over and over again that this pregnancy happened exactly when it was suppose to happen and that the baby I was carrying was indeed special.
To this day I still feel the assurance that all things happen for a reason and that Marshall is so special. I believe he could change the world!
Marshall surprises me on a daily basis. I can't believe that he turned three! We celebrated his birthday by going bowling at Fort Belvoir with Nana & Pap Hepner, Gram and Pap, Aunt Trisha and Jenna. We then came back home to our apartment for pizza, cupcake & ice cream, games and presents! It was such a fun day! We love Marshall - He is the Life of our party!

Sometimes I Surprise Myself...

Sometimes I surprise myself. The best experiences in my life were the experiences I never planned for. These experiences made my heart jump, my mind twirl and gave my face a perma grin! Once in a while they were the experiences I fought hard to avoid. The ultimate experiences usually have been the - spur of the moment, sure- why not, let's make a memory, hope we don't die, you can't get arrested for this plans. Yesterday I made a, "I think I can...hope I don't pass out....I'm pretty sure I can't die from this" plan. I ran in my very first 5k run! Now, to some of you this is probably not a big deal. For a chubby chick like myself this was big deal. A friend of mine called this past Monday and invited me to run with her Tuesday evening in a 5k run at Bluemont Park in Arlington, VA. Hesitantly, I said I would. I know myself well enough to know that I like trying new things and I am all for challenging myself. Challenges make you a stronger, more useful person...if you live through them.

(Here is our BEFORE picture, L to R Melanie, Cheata, and Anna.)

Can see the look of fear in my eyes? Despite my anxiety of public humiliation, I really was looking forward to trying something I never thought I would ever seriously consider. Sometimes I need to do things that make me feel like I can believe in myself. Sometimes I need to surprise myself. It's fun to say, "Ta dah!"

Ta dah!!! I did it! I ran in at 35 minutes 15 seconds. Ten minutes faster then I thought I would. As you can see from our AFTER picture, I'm red in the face, and sweating like a very obese man. It was a challenge! After the first 10 minutes I thought to myself, "This is not fun, runners are crazy! I'll check this off my bucket list and never do it again." However, when I saw the half way mark I was cheering so loudly for myself that I almost wanted to shed tears out of excitement. The same way I do whenever I watch the, "Move That bus!" moment on Extreme Home Makeover. I couldn't believe myself. I was actually doing it, and I wasn't left in puff of smoke from the other runners like I had previously envisioned. Yes, I walked a couple of times until I got my second wind, then my third and fourth wind.

(Here's a shot of our shoes with our microchip tags. )

Let me tell you, running over that finish line was awesome! I love it when I surprise myself. Runners aren't crazy. Finishing something that you started is the greatest feeling. I know why they do it. It simply feels amazing.

June & July....

Before I divulge the details of June AND July, allow me to first broadcast my love for Virginia. This move was probably the most traumatic - if you will allow me to dramatize to all extents possible, move that the little Emerick family has ever had to make. Yet, I couldn't be any happier. I love our three bedroom apartment with air conditioning - Holla! I love living close to Washington D.C and enjoying all that it offers. I love the lightening bugs that appear at dusk and magically light the trees, bushes, and grass like twinkling Christmas lights. I love the amazing friends that we've met in our new ward. I love that we live in a city where the traffic is unpredictably annoying and yet we can pull off the street and find ourselves secluded in a wilderness park and see deer, eagles, and other naturistic creatures frolicking in their own natural habitats. I love the summer lightening storms who bring rain showers that cool the night and extend an open invitation to snuggle close to the loved ones near. It's amazing. I love, love, love, love it!

With that said.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to for June and July:

1.) Washington D.C.

Trisha (my sister-in-law) came down from Pennsylvania to visit us for the weekend. We rode the metro into D.C. and checked out some of the sites there. My favorite monument was the WWII memorial. The memorial makes a circle and has a pillar representing each state and country that fought on our side during the war. There are also plaques with inspirational freedom quotes. In the center is a large fountain pond that everyone sits around and wades their feet. It's a really cool and beautiful memorial. There is a large plaque that reads: Here we mark the price of freedom. Behind the plaque are hundreds of golden stars represented. It's neat. We also visited the Lincoln Memorial which is just breathtaking. Then we stopped by the Obama's house.

2.) We went took a weekend and drove to Palmyra New York to visit some historical sites. Mitch's old mission president, Brother Kinghorn is currently serving a mission with his wife at the historical sites there. They were kind enough to take us out to lunch. It was fun listening to them reminisce about the mission.

We walked through the Sacred Grove.

We toured the house where Joseph Smith lived with his family. As we were leaving the house Marshall asks me, "Where's Joseph?" We'd talked up these sites the whole week prior that we forgot mention that Joseph wasn't living anymore.

And then of course we saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant. This man was all the way from Springville Utah. He played the part of a Wise Man that came to visit the Savior after his birth.

3.) Canoeing and hiking then more canoeing and hiking. On our anniversary Mitch and I found this great little marina that we now love going to every chance we get. It's so magical. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Marshall keeps his eyes peeled for the wild life. We always see cranes, geese and turtles.

It's no wonder they say, "Virginia is for Lovers!" You can't but fall in love with Virginia!