Annual Girls' Christmas Party

(LtoR: (front) Carrie Bremer, Amy Paulson-Wearne, Sofia Voz (back) Andrea Roetter-Whiteman, Lynnette Page-Holstein, Kelly Hauck (soon to be Legg), Sarah Curtis, and Me)

Almost every year (I think except 1) my group of high school girlfriends has gotten together during the holidays. It is always a fun time to catch up, eat good food, and do a white elephant gift exchange. And the last couple of years, it has been the talk on who is either getting married or having a baby that year! It's so fun, and I sure do love you girls!!

Gattens+Reunion=PARTY

Hope, ID

Why exactly does the Gatten gang know how to party?

First of all, we do it in one the most beautiful places on earth.

We do crazy things from a young age...and it's encouraged.

(hence the two year old sledding by himself,

getting in on a snow ball fight (and yes, Papa was hucking snow at people with the shovel),

and having his face painted with Gunner's 4th and Nana's 60th birthday cake frosting.)

we keep doing crazy things well into adulthood.

schweitzer

We don't need anything more than sparkling cider to get people's shirts off, chest bumping, dancing, stuffing our cheeks with marshmallows, orange-in-the-neck passing and anything else you can imagine.

Dusty doing poofy puff contest sumo style

Team Japan: Won the gold at the "Gatten Olympics"

Andrew gettin' low during the limbo!

new year

Jon and Brynne

In the midst of craziness, we take time for our artistic sides with craft time. :)

Also, what other family rings in the new year by having all ages running barfoot, through the snow, to jump in ICE COLD water in the middle of the night?!

Brynne

A.J.

the faces say it all.

Nikell and Hayliann

Jon

Brett, A.J., Dusty, Wyatt, Tim and Brynne (a few of the many who dove in!)

Emma
this is all aside from the cribbage, basketball, chess, racquetball and anything-else-you-can-imagine tournaments, swimming, outdoor hot tubbing, skiing at schweitzer, good food, movie nights and all sorts of fun...oh, and with 40 people.

Yeah, we know how to party. :)

WELCOME 2010!!

OUR little creatures were stirring...

We had Christmas Eve and Christmas '09 with just the 4 of us.

We made hors de ouvres and read Luke 2,

Opened one present,
(they're always PJ's :)
then watched Polar Express with the kids and then It's a Wonderful Life.
On Christmas morning we finished presents.
Jay with his tool set from Santa:
Cade with his "Cars" cars and Dora backpack from Grammie.

Cade with his Lightening McQueen trike from Santa (doing his tough, race car face):

then we made homemade Sherry waffles. MMMMMmmmm!!

It was a beautiful, sunny day with no snow. But BITTER. :)

Also in the Christmas mix for Brynne: dryer, double stroller, new jeans, ironman watch, and new coat from Marmie, cactus from A.J. , cutco knife from mom

Jon: suitcases, travel gear, GC for new casual clothes, shirt, buck knife from steve

Cade: helmet, pjs and silver cup from grammie, $ from papa and nana

Jay: movies, learning ball, silver cup, $ from papa and nana

Aside from work and ward parties, nice dinners, and presents, the best part of the season was giving to our friends and family, receiving cards from everyone, and reflecting on the birth of our Savior. That is what it is all about!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Peak Nursery

I just wanted ot do a quick post about the place that drew me to Peak! It was so fun making friends, getting to know and love others' children and spend many hours in this place. It taught me a lot about myself and how to be a better mom. :)

This is my nursery boss, Jeanette. She is now one of my closest friends.

Front Page...but time to turn it!

The instructors and trainers at Peak Health and Wellness made the cover of the press' business journal! (I am on the back right with the hula hoop....don't ask. :)

For having fallen in my lap, this career development has been a great opportunity and very rewarding for me. It has instilled a new passion in me: helping people live healthier lives and being a part of it. It is something I have always loved personally, but to rally around others is inspiring.

Sadly, I decided to resign my current child care and instructor positions right before this issue came out.

which brings me to my next point....

JON got a NEW JOB with ZOLL MEDICAL!

He is the territory manager for northern Idaho, Washington and Alaska selling high end medical equipment (resuscitation products, AED's, etc.) to pre-hospitals (EMS, fire stations...) Yes, it is a tough position to acquire and yes, that means quite a bit of travel. But it is flexible and he will be home every long weekend at least.

We are SUPER excited and blessed to have an upgrade in this economy. He currently still owns his Unishippers franchise as well.

So, now we are trying to reduce the craziness in our lives and be able to focus on quality time when we are together. (the nursery position especially was busy!)

It's looking likely that I'll be able to weasle my way into a couple classes at Liberty Lake Athletic Club as a group fitness instructor (it's close to our house and linked to Peak) but for now, we are supporting Daddy and enjoying eachother...and it feels good!

Life is full of suprises.

WALKER WHAT??!

So, it's true. The meatball has been walking for 2 weeks now. He just turned 11 months. :)

Thanksgiving Partay

We took a quick trip to Vacouver, WA to spend Thanksgiving day with Brandon and Kelly's families (Jon's brother and sister). We enjoyed Brandon's birthday, A thanksgiving morning 3 mile turkey trot, good food, and black friday shopping!
(Below: Kelly, Brandon, Brynne and Jon)

Jay loves Emma!
Aunt Kelly did crafts with all of the cousins. :) They painted and glued feathers on foam turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for and put in into a pilgrim ship.
We then rushed back to enjoy ANOTHER BIG dinner with Brynne's family. We have so many now we have to rent out the church gym! It was a fun night of food, games and fun.
(Below: two of Brynne's favorites...homemade orange rolls and her mom's lemon jello salad.!)
Grandpa Leo Lee, Helen, and Leo's sister Aunt Maryann
We also had the rare occurance of all of the Gatten siblings together! This was because of this little miracle, Gage. He got blessed on the Sunday after TG...the same Sunday that Spike gave his missionary homecoming talk. It was amazing!!
We have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.