If there’s a crisis you don’t freeze. You move forward. You get the rest of us to move forward. Because you’ve seen worse. You’ve survived worse. And you know we’ll survive too. You say you’re dark and twisty. It’s not a flaw. It’s a strength. It makes you who you are. -Derek, Grey’s Anatomy

Match and I headed up to the Oregon coast to see my family last week. We wanted to get out of town and clear our heads, and also see my parents. I think mostly we just wanted to escape. We broke the trip up into two days, with Match fishing along the way. I enjoyed taking pictures of him, sight seeing with Monkey, and re-reading Catching Fire.

Doesn’t Match look so cute in his waders? I think they’re adorable.

Monkey and I walked across the famous sundial bridge in Redding while Match fished in the river below.

We spent the night in a hotel in Mt. Shasta, and then spent the next day fishing some more before arriving in town that night.

Once we crossed the border into Oregon we saw the manbulance and I couldn’t help but crack up.

My mom and I cautiously tiptoed around each other, not quite sure how to be. I think she was expecting me to fall to pieces; I was determined to stay strong. It was not an easy visit for either of us. More on that later.

The first day Match and I went to the beach. It was a hard day for both of us. I think we both couldn’t stop focusing on who wasn’t there with us. Neither of us expected our next trip up to Oregon to be without Roo.

We did do two things specifically for Roo on the trip. The first was planting a tree in Roo’s honor-a gift from Geeky and her husband. We planted it at my parents house, so she will always have a special place at Gamma and Popa’s house.

The second was to for me to explain the amazing gift that my sweet friends gave us for Roo, and to present the grandparents with their scrolls with Roo’s star coordinates.

The grandparents all loved the star, and were blown away by the thoughtfulness of my friends. Match’s mom then surprised me with a gift as well. It is a lotus flower necklace that symbolizes rebirth, fertility, and rising up from the darkness within. It was so thoughtful and I love it.

But the theme of our trip wasn’t on dwelling, but on moving forward. We can’t live in the past, or be stuck in that dark and twisted place, crying over what we’ve lost, and what will never be. All we can do is count every single amazing blessing that we have and be so so grateful for that.

Dr. Leonard Green: What’s new with you?
Rachel: Um… I got TiVo!
Dr. Leonard Green: What’s TiVo?
Phoebe: It’s slang for pregnant. -Friends

Match and I had this grand plan to not tell people about Roo until the doctor confirmed our pregnancy. Well that scheme lasted all of four days until we were both just about to burst. So we agreed that we would only tell our parents and siblings, and then wait for the doctor for everyone else.

I wanted to do something creative, and it was Match who came up with the idea. We took two old tshirts and some puff paint and got to creating.

Mine said Baby on Board with a little arrow pointing to my belly and Match insisted his should say Who’s Your Daddy? We were both wearing the shirts when we called our parents and had them use the Skype web conferencing services with us.

In typical Mom fashion, my mom couldn’t get her side of the video to work, so we could hear her but not see her. I guess the wording on our shirts appeared backwards on her screen, and I could hear her saying, “What’s your shirt say? It’s backwards. What’s that…baby?” Then she screamed at the top of her lungs when she realized what it said. I wish we could have seen her reaction, and I made sure to tease her for it. By the time she got her video working the moment was over, but I still got to see her and my Pops grinning. They’re both so excited to be grandparents for the third time (my brother has two toddlers).

Then it came time to tell the in-laws. This I was so excited for because they will be first time grandparents. They did get the video working right away, but they also had the problem with the image being backwards. My mother in-law was so cute because I think she was afraid it was a joke, or that she’d misread it because she said tentatively, “Are you…are you pregnant?” And then when I nodded and said yes, she clapped her hands and I could see tears in her eyes.

Here’s my mom still trying to figure out the Skype on the “darn computer” she calls it.

and here’s my overjoyed in-laws. I love that I was able to catch that reaction. I know the sunglasses make them look ridiculous, but I like to hide faces when I can. But you had to see that grin!

After we were done talking to our parents, we decided we’d better tell our siblings. This was mostly because my mother-in-law was so anxious for us to tell her daughter that I was afraid she would do it. She had a hard enough time when we said she couldn’t tell her sisters until our doctor’s visit. It’s been killing her these past few weeks, and I know exactly how she feels.

So for the siblings, they didn’t want to skype and neither my brother nor Match’s sis understood why we were pestering them. So I said I was emailing them a picture of the house and to call me as soon as they got it. This is the picture they got instead, and it had our phones blowing up quick!

We had such a blast telling our immediate family. I love that we were able to capture moments of it on camera. Ideally we would have been there in person, but this was the next best thing. The next morning both our moms had emailed us bubbly emails about how excited they were. They each have unique nicknames they want to be called, which I think is so cute. I loved telling the family in our own special way. Next up…how we told our friends!

Pete: (To Berg) We’re having a surprise housewarming party for Johnny and Sharon.
Germ: I don’t have the address.
Pete: Well, meet me at the party and I’ll give it to you there. -Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place

The first Saturday of this month, Match and I hosted an open housewarming party. Our house was meant to be filled with people. It felt so warm and cozy, surrounded by our loved ones. The house was full of laughter, little ones running around playing, and most of all, love.

I had so much fun making some of the Christmas decorations for the party. Instead of wine charms I went to the dollar store and got a bunch of wine glasses and painted them with Christmas themes. I decided to keep them for next year, because you know I will be having another Christmas party!

Then I got the idea to paint one of my favorite quotes from the movie Elf. It turned out crooked but I figure that just adds to the charm right?

I also got some inspiration from pinterest, which actually came from this blog. I spray painted old wine bottles, added sticks I found in the driveway, and voila. This little centerpiece was completely free!

You can’t quite tell from the picture but there is glitter on the bottles and they sparkle slightly.

Match’s mom brought us the essential entryway adornment.

Here’s the table with all the goodies.

It cracks me up that no matter the size, everyone always ends up in the kitchen.

Good Couple came and Good Wife showed off her baby bump. Did I mention she’s pregnant with TWINS? First time mama…she is going to be a busy bee!

Monkey says…please someone just throw the ball!

Monkey made us proud by being VERY patient with the boys. I was nervous because he’s not around kids that often but he was so good. Look at him with Moose’s girlfriend’s son. He was loving all the food he dropped. Look at the grin on his face in this picture. Doesn’t he need a little boy best friend? I think so.

Here’s Couple Toddler giving him loves.

Neighbor Couple were also there but I didn’t manage to snap their picture.

At the end of the night, it was just Couple Family (minus Couple baby who stayed home) and us. We curled up on our comfy cabin furniture and visited. Match and Couple toddler had a blast goofing off. Look at the way Match lights up around kids. Is that not the cutest thing?

Watch out, Uncle Match loves to eat baby toes!!

We also had our first family photo in the new house.

It was an awesome house warming and hopefully just the first of many more parties to come.

Oh, Gregory, darling, every bride thinks she wants to cook a Thanksgiving dinner and it always ends up the same. Someone cries, someone is rushed to the emergency room and a perfectly lovely bird gets wasted. Which, if I don’t eat soon, will be me. -Kitty, Dharma & Greg

Since Match had to work on Thanksgiving, we held our dinner on Saturday. It was of course the first Thanksgiving in our new place, but also the very first time I’ve ever hosted a Thanksgiving. It was also the first time we had guests in our house. I was nervous because I’ve never cooked a Thanksgiving meal before, but with a lot of help from my Father in-law, it turned out perfectly. We invited Sassy Family over and we had the house full of family, friends and laughter.

My FIL did the cooking of the bird and one side dish, but the rest of the food I took care of. My mother in-law helped by setting the ambiance, lighting candles and helping me set the table.

I attempted to make a toast at dinner but I got too choked up. All I could get out was that I never imagined our first home to be this nice, and to be able to share it with such great friends and family was more than we could have hoped for.

Match did a great job of entertaining our guests by playing ping pong with Sassy Guy in the garage. He also did all of the dishes because he’s a good hubby.

After dinner we played board games, and then we broke out the wii. It was so funny watching my MIL play with Sassy Kid. My MIL is pretty competitive and Sassy Kid was kicking her butt!

Sassy Kid also took a big interest in our hall closet. She called it Narnia and she made us play in it.

 Sassy Baby entertained us with all kinds of adorable antics, like this, where she found Monkey’s crate.

It was so great having the house full of our loved ones, and watching the little ones run around and play. It makes me so excited for when our future kids will be running around here. I am so thankful for our family and friends, and for my Match. I feel so blessed and grateful for everything we have. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Hal: All right, men. Well, I hope you all learned something today, huh?
Malcolm (to the camera): I learned my dad is capable to doing something cool. I’m not saying violence is cool, but that was cool! I always wondered where we got it from. -Malcolm in the Middle

I’m curled up with my cup of tea for my weekly gab sesh with Impulsive Addict and Seriously Shawn.

There’s still so much to tell you about our trip to Oregon. A lot happens in a week away! Today I’m going to tell you about the things that I learned this trip.

1. Match likes to be comfortable for road trips. Note the buckle.

2. Rainy nights sound amazing in a camp trailer. Waking up to that view is even better.

3. There is nothing quite like kissing in the rain.

4. Four wheeling with your hubby in the rain will get you extremely wet. Hey now! Not like that. Well I don’t know what gets your motor going. I will say that the ATV does vibrate a little.

5. My 8 year old senior dog can keep up with an ATV. We clocked him at around at least 30 MPH!! It was annoying because we were constantly worrying that we’d hit him. It was also damn impressive.

Here’s a little video clip so you can see what it was like. Don’t mind my maniacal laughter. Also this video clip reminds me of Edward running through the trees with Bella. My parent’s woods look a lot like Forks. Except my vampire was spider monkeying on my back while I drove for this particular video.

6. Running all day after a four wheeler will wear a puppy out. So much so that they fall asleep on your slippers and don’t even notice.

7. After all these years I’m still the weird goat girl I was back in middle school 4-H. I guess I will always be part hick.

8. Watching a city boy try to feed goats is funny. They almost pushed him over a couple of times.

9. Initiating my parents into the funny hat club was awesome. I don’t think we’ll stop until every member of our family has one of these! I got my mother in-law an elephant, my mom has a racoon, and my Pops has a buck. We are such dorks!

10. It took moving away for me to truly appreciate how beautiful my hometown is.