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Today is Dean's birthday...he is the big 3-6. Every year his birthday kind of gets looked over because of the time of year it falls on, 
but it doesn't mean that he isn't important to us. I have to find a working scanner to post pictures of him from when he was a kid, so these ones of him a bit older will have to do for your entertaining pleasure.
Now...since he never reads my blog, I get to say whatever I want about him without worrying what his reaction will be, so here goes.I love my husband. It hasn't always been easy to love him. (Unfortunately I married someone who is just like me). But I love him now more than I have ever loved him before. There are days and times when I wonder what I got myself into, marrying someone who has an opinion about everything and that opinion is always the right one. But as he gets older I see a wiser, more mature, more amazing man emerging. I don't think Dean has ever really tried to see his own potential. I think he has gotten by on amazing raw talent for a very long time. But as he gets older and life becomes more challenging he is starting to open up to a world that requires more out of him than just raw talent.
I'm not going to post a wonderful sappy "I love my husband" post, because after all, this blog is for me and my fading memory, not for other people. If I posted a pretend "life is wonderful" post about how wonderful Dean is and how he walks on water and heals the blind, you might be fooled but I wouldn't be. He has faults, I have faults, and those faults make our marriage something we have to work really hard to succeed at. But I will say this. Heavenly Father knew exactly what he was doing when he put us together. Dean has taught me so much about who I am. He has made me a calmer, more relaxed and thoughtful person. 
He has pushed me to find peace within myself. I love him because he tries very hard to be the man I see. I want him to know that he is my best friend and he has worked very hard to become so. I love him for being a quiet leader in my life and for the huge heart he is showing towards others as he learns how service fills his life. I am excited to see where life takes him, and grateful I was the one chosen to come along for the ride.
Last week we went to a local park and got our family pictures taken. They turned out so cute! Thanks so much to Tiffany Parrish who did a fabulous job of not only getting us out of the cold fast (we were done in 30 minutes!!) but of taking awesome pictures that captured my children perfectly!! You can check out her website at tiffanyparrishphotography.com.I'm having a hard time choosing a family picture to blow up and put in the living room. Care to weigh in and tell me what you think??Family Pic. Option 1 
Family Pic. Option 2
Tonight Alissa asked me how old I was when I got married. Here is our conversation:
A:"Mom, how old were you when you got married?"
M:"24"
A:"So I will have to wait until I'm 24 to get married too" (notice it wasn't a question...)
M:"Yep"
A:"And I'll have to wait until I find a boy"
M:"Yes"
A:"That's going to be hard" (I had to really bite my tongue to keep from laughing at that)
M: "You think so? Actually the hard part for you will be telling all the boys no. You're so amazing that everyone will want you to be their wife"
A: "Really?"
M: "Of course!"
A: "I guess he should be at least as pretty as I am"
M: "That's a good place to start. But he will also need to be very smart, because you are extremely smart and you won't want to marry someone who can't keep up with you."
(quiet pause as Alissa is clearly contemplating what I'd just said...)
A: (very thoughtfully...) "....So he'll need to be able to read and know what 1+1 is..."
I hate to admit it, but the blame can't be placed entirely on clearwire's shoulders. After all, it can't be their fault that I put up with them for 2 years despite the horrible service I got. And it surely isn't their fault that I waited until the middle of December to finally switch.
Let me make this clear. I can't complain about the customer service I received from Clearwire. They tried, multiple times, to help me find a good signal strength inside my house. Last year when my whole family was here and we had 3 laptops trying to get a wi-fi signal, and Rachel was trying to fix my laptop (which meant trying to download all of my missing drivers), I called customer service and got someone who told me to try a new trick. This is the new trick, which I have been using since last christmas (one whole year mind you).
Just in case you can't tell, that is my modem, sitting in my open window. This was the "trick" I was told to try. So this is what we've done for the past 365 days. Everytime we wanted to get on the internet we had to open the window and stick the modem outside. Then we would sit right next to it and browse email, the internet, etc. In the winter you freeze to death. In the summer we couldn't get on after 9pm because our house would fill up with bugs. And if it was ever windy the modem would blow out the window, or dust would fill my house. And if you live in the Tri-Cities you know the wind never blows around here.
So it is with great joy that I say...Goodbye Stupid Clearwire!! Goodbye freezing my bum off, or fighting off mosquitoes. Goodbye wind and dust storms (well at least I can keep my window closed during them now). Hello high priced, ridiculously jacked, but warm and bug free charter hi speed wireless internet. And don't worry, even if I can't get service unless I have to stand on my head and drink water upside down, I am a loyal customer and won't switch to someone new.
Just wanted to let everyone know about my new little niece, Lily Marie. She was born on Dec. 4th, weighing in at 7lbs 4 oz, and 18.5 inches long. 
My sister Andrea had a very very long labor, but luckily both she and Lily are doing well now.
Welcome little Lily...another addition to the woman dominated Dietzen family..
.we can't wait to meet you!
No...I don't mean the holidays. Yes it is that time of year too.
I mean it's that time of year...time to update my blog.
So even though I'd rather be doing this
I'm posting instead.
This year my amazing family agreed to suffer the cold again and participate in the BF Red Cross Turkey Trot. We did it last year for the first time and despite the weather it was tons of fun. I wasn't sure if we were all going to make it (even though 
I'd already paid the $75 family registration fee!!) because Alissa was still fighting a bad cold. Thanksgiving morning Dean offered to stay home with her and Bella, but the kids really wanted to go so we headed out. It was supposed to be 28 degrees at start time, but it was closer to 35...who knew you could be grateful for 35 degree weather?
Dustin and Alanna and their three boys
joined us at the park and did the 1 mile fun walk with Dean and the kids. I was so impressed that they would be willing to do it with us ... it's cold and they were on vacation!
Here comes the good part. I did the 5k last year...my first 5k ever. My only goal was to finish without stopping to walk. No matter how long it took me I just wanted to keep running the whole time. I made it to the end without stopping once, and my time was 36 min and 43 secs. This year I decided that I'd actually train a bit and see if I could beat my time. I started running in Sept to get ready. In October I ran a mock 5k with my sister Rachel in San Diego and had a time of 33:02. I was so shocked...I had shaved 3 minutes and 41 secs off my time. Last week I really pushed hard and ran it in 32:23.
Finally it was race time...I said good bye to my family and headed over to the 5k start line. I had my mp3 player plugged in, my under armour gear on, my gloves, my hat and my running shoes. I actually looked like all the other runners. At first we were running like a herd of cattle, but after a few minutes I found a groove and used the girl in front of me as a pacer. I stayed behind her until mile 2, and then I kicked it up to follow someone who was going a bit faster. I seriously thought I was going to throw up, I knew I was keeping a good pace but I did not think I'd be able to keep it up the whole time. But I kept thinking to myself "this is where atheletes are made...when you want to quit and you don't..."
I finally crossed the finish line and hit stop on my watch...and guess what? My new time was 28:53 secs. YIPPEE!!! I shaved 6 min off my time from last year, and over 3 min off my fastest time last week. I was SO excited. I was jumping up and down and screamed to my family "look at my time!" I'm sure all the "real" runners thought I was on crack, but I didn't care. I was so proud of myself. Thanks to Dustin & Alanna for the wonderful responses. They were so nice to tell me how well I had done (considering they are both runners and Dustin once ran a 5k in 15:57).
I've never considered myself an athlete. I've always just considered myself someone who was given other talents. But this little race taught me something. It made me realize that if I really really want something I can do it. And I did.
I finally downloaded my pictures from last month and realized 
I did have a few pictures from Halloween. This first one has a lot of meaning to me. First, I originally thought I didn't have any pictures of my kids in their costumes but it turns out I did take one. Second, this is the last picture I took of my dad before he had his surgery. It would be 10 days from this date that he would get the call from the UW that they might have a liver for him and he raced to Seattle to get ready. The 10 hour surgery was extremely successful and he is doing amazingly well in his recovery. My mom has started a blog to keep everyone updated on them. You can check it out here: http://www.dietzennews.blogspot.com/
This picture speaks for itself...
Last weekend Dean and I took Myanna and Alissa to see Phantom of the Opera. They love the movie and the soundtrack and were so excited to get to see it live. I think Alissa is still wondering if that was the "real" Phantom and the "real" Christine. They had such a fun time and did so well, I was very impressed with how well they paid attention and didn't get bored. It's over 2 hours long and even Alissa was enthralled the whole time.
The only mishap was when the lady in front of us turned around and "shushed" us because the kids kept opening wrappers on their snacks. Whatever lady! If all you have to complain about when sitting in front of a row of kids at a broadway production is the opening of wrappers I think you could be a little more understanding!!!
We had a very yummy dinner at the Onion afterwards and really enjoyed the whole day. Thanks to David and Jamie for organizing a babysitter for Bella, and to Brooklyn and Madison for making the day more fun for Myanna and Alissa.
I can't believe it's been four years already since we brought Bella home from the hospital. It's gone by so fast and she is such an incredible 
blessing to our family. I never thought I would get pregnant again, but thankfully Heavenly Father had different plans for me and gave us our beautiful angel. She is such a good kid, so easy going and willing to do anything at anytime. She loves her sisters, dancing, dress up, barbie's, polly's, reading, watching barbie movies and playing with her "bff" Emma. She has also decided preschool is pretty awesome and loves all of the new friends she has made there.
Bella used to have the most beautiful blue eyes. They are starting to turn hazel now... :(
One year birthday pictures
Eating my first birthday cake!
At the pumpkin patch on her 2nd birthday
Bella on her 3rd birthday at Chuck E Cheese...she wore pink clothes, wanted a pink barbie cake, got barbies and polly pockets for birthday gifts...
Bella on her birthday this year...we went to Chuck E Cheese, she wore pink, she had a pink barbie cake, she got barbie's and polly pockets for her birthday...do we see a pattern here??
Due to the 2 hour delay her morning preschool class was canceled, but they invited her class to join the afternoon kids to perform all the songs they had worked so hard on. They were so cute and Bella did such a good job. I love her hair in buns, and after bribing her with hershey's kisses, she let me do them. 
The minute we got home she wanted them out though...figures.
We had a white elephant gift exchange - Dean and I "won" a plunger & sanitizing hand soap (unfortunately we DO need both); Darran and Lori stole the christmas lights we picked first; Doug refused to fight for his calculator back (he swore it wasn't the one from his desk even though I flat out admitted stealing it from him); and Chris and Missy actually wanted the used nose & ear trimmer that Viktor initially opened (they had another white elephant gift exchange to go to). All in all it was a fun time
