Friday, December 19, 2008

Bella's Preschool Program

Yesterday Arabella had her Christmas preschool program. 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.

Concentrating so hard...









Bella
eating goodies with her friends Amelia, Lauren & Laney




p.s. if you have a facebook account you can watch a video of her singing one of the songs at the program. I still can't make my video's small enough to fit on blogger.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Happy Birthday Dean!

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.

Man they look so old!

I'm not sure if it is the recent bout of babies being born all around me, or the fact that Kathy did a fantastic job with their hair...but when I got our family pictures back this weekend I couldn't help notice how old my kids are starting to look. So grown up, so mature, and so beautiful. Now if only they could act that way too.... :)

A Do Over

Remember "do overs?" As a kid whenever something didn't turn out the way I wanted I would call a do over. Miss the ball completely in kick ball in front of the cutest guy in 7th grade? Call a do over. Kill your little sister because she wore your brand new shirt (and get in trouble so that you can't go to the 8th grade dance)...call a do over.
Well my wedding pictures need a do over. The day was really hot, I was heavier than I had ever been, and we didn't think paying a professional was worth the money (a lesson I would love to call a do over on). So when Tiffany asked if I wanted any pictures of Dean and I taken at our recent family photo shoot I told her that I would love to have one romantic one to hang in our bedroom (in the spot where I would hang a wedding picture). She did a fantastic job of creating a do over for me...

Family Pictures 2008

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

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Alissa's qualifications

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..."

Goodbye stupid clearwire!!

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.

Welcome Baby Lily!

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!

Monday, December 8, 2008

IWI Work Party

Last Thursday night we had our annual IWI work party. We had a catered meal at Country Gentleman and enjoyed spending non-work time with some of the employees that make our company run. 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 timeInteresting things I learned at the IWI work party this year. Dave Adams has worked for IWI for 24 years. Mary was a close second at 20 years exactly. Can you believe they have put up with our family business that long?? Boris, Viktor, and Sergey all started out as installers and Boris couldn't even speak english when he started (I had no clue, he is so easy to talk to now). All of our salesmen start with "D" except Boris...Doug, Dale, Dave & Dean. I wonder if it's a theme with Dad? All of his boys except Chris and Greg start with "D" too....Dean and I also got the chance to go the Spokane Branch work dinner. We met the two salesmen we have up there (Tom and Luis) and ate dinner with them and David and Jamie at the Melting Pot. It was so fun and we had such a good time. The kids loved playing at Dave and Jamie's house while we were out, but couldn't wait to hit the waterslide and pool at the hotel.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last Monday night we went shopping for our Christmas Tree. Up until last year we would go to a U-Cut Christmas Tree farm and cut down our beautiful tree. It would take all day (the farm was almost an hour away), we would freeze our toes off, and when we got home we'd all be exhausted from the long day. It was so much fun though. The tree farm went out of business two years ago, and now we are reduced to buying our tree from a lot. Last year we drove all over trying to find the perfect tree. It wasn't an all day experience, but it did take over an hour, and we all got out at every lot so we were cold and tired when we got home. This year was different. The first lot we drove up to didn't look to promising so I sent Dean to scout it out first. He is the picky one after all. He looked at 2 trees and decided the first one he saw was a good one. The kids were watching a movie in the back of the car and didn't want to get out, and besides, it seemed waayyy to easy to find a tree so quickly. So when Dean motioned for me, I told the kids they didn't have to get out. After a two minute discussion we both agreed it was a good tree. Dean paid the guy, we threw it in the back of the truck and we were off. The whole process took all of 10 minutes and the kids didn't even get out of the car. How pathetic!! We went to McDonalds for ice cream cones before we headed home and decorated our tree. In the end our tree looks beautiful and everyone is happy. But what happened to our great adventure and tradition? It seems so sad to say goodbye to it and hello to this new 10 min tradition instead. Maybe next year we'll try a Griswold family tradition and follow the Greenstreets into the mountains.


I just realized I only have a "before" picture of our tree. I'll go take an "after" and post it later.