Welcome Baby Lincoln!!

My brother Brian and his wife, Andrea had a baby! Well, ok, Andrea had the baby and Brian facebooked me during it. But you get the drift. :) Andrea was a week over due and so they had her go in on Monday morning, December 12, 2010 to start her labor. Part way through the day they decided that he was going to be too big of a baby for her to deliver on her own. So late that night, Lincoln Kurokawa Tingey came into this world weighing 9 1/2 pounds!!!
We are so excited for Brian and Andrea and their new baby boy. Brandon and I went up on Tuesday night after I worked at the basketball game at Viewmont to meet our new nephew. Andrea looked great, the baby was beautiful and Brian had just taken one final. He had three more to go this week. Not the best timing. :) Brian and Andrea, we love you!! Good job, you two make one cute chunk of a baby!!!

Brandon and I with our new nephew!

The new mom!

Proud Dad! (Can't believe my baby brother is a dad!!!)

Baby Lincoln

Party On!

This weekend was definately filled with parties. We had a party for Brandon on Friday night for his graduation. I spent the day making chili. My mom and I went to get Laura, Liz and Luke after school. Laura had an entry in the Science Fair, so we stopped at their school and the kids showed my mom and I where their classrooms are. We got someone to let us into the gym so we could see Laura's project. She did research on our reactions to good smells and bad smells and what our facial reactions would be. She did such a good job!! Lilly auditioned for the school play, so my mom went and picked her up later in the evening, while I got things going at the party. We had a lot of fun at Tara's and the night ended with a fantastic dance party in her living room!!! Yay Eden!

Saturday morning, Lilly, Laura and I went and helped out at my cousin's dance recital. She runs a dance studio and so the girls got paid to help backstage with the dancers. It was definately hectic and we were glad to have grabbed hot chocolate and doughnuts on our way!! After the recital, I showed them where I work and then we went and cashed their checks. Brandon took the twins to lunch at McDonalds and we all arrived back home at about the same time and spent the afternoon relaxing and napping. The kids got to experience the "Santa Party" later that night. By tradition, we get together as a family to eat and at some point Santa Claus ("I know him!") shows up! He plays the piano and we sing a-long and also did the "Santa Sumo". Luke could not contain his excitement and Lilly and Laura got right into the action. It took Liz a minute to process and decide what she thought of it all. In the end, all four sat on his lap, vowed to do a few things like make their beds and got presents. B and I had to leave a little early to go out to his work Christmas party. We lasted about an hour before we decided we missed the kids and wanted to go home. It was fun to eat and spend time with his co-workers. The party was at a club down town and the food was amazing and there was live music. I was especially excited to wear my glitzy outfit. I think we both had fun getting decked out for it.

The twins turn 7 this week and we are really excited for their birthday. Luke keeps letting me know how many more days until his birthday. Liz is very excited to be taking cookies to her class for her Birthday. We had a fun and crazy weekend. When Brandon got home Sunday night from dropping off the kids, I had cleaned, showered and was in pj's. I think we were both asleep before 9 p.m. After this week of work I have two weeks off. I am looking forward to the time off. Weget to have the kids for Christmas Eve and Morning this year and for the last half of their break. We are all very excited!! But who isn't excited for time off from school???

Congratulations Brandon!!!

On Friday, December 10, 2010 Brandon graduated with his Master's Degree. That morning we went to his Hooding Ceremony at Weber State University. The ceremony was small and intimate. It lasted about 30 minutes and those who spoke at it did such an amazing job. They commented on how all the sacrifice are worth it, and how far those graduates will go in life. The closing speaker referred to Randy Pausch,the book he wrote, and how the things in life he regretted were not his embarrassing moments nor his failures, but the opportunities he had not grabbed onto and gone for.






Brandon has worked very hard over the past decade to come to this point in his life, he has made a lot of sacrifices and worked very hard. He had to run into work after the ceremony and so I spent the day with my mom getting ready for his party that night. We had an open house for him at his sister, Tara's. It was fun to be with family and recognize Brandon for all his hard work. He's an amazing man. Brandon, we are all so very proud of you!

You may wanna sit down...

So this was a hectic weekend to say the least. I have been working the sporting events at Viewmont High School for the past couple of years and Basketball season has started up. I had my first game on Friday, so B took Laura and the twins out to dinner. Golden Corral seems to be the restaurant of choice and Liz runs straight for the ribs every time. However, for the second time now, there were no ribs!!!! The world is ending! Lilly had her Christmas dance on Friday and she sent me a picture of her and she looked stunning! She has such a great style!! By the time B and I both got home Friday night, we crashed.


For those of you who know me well, you may want to sit down for this...READY???? On Saturday I woke up at 6:15 a.m. (yes, a.m.). I don't believe in getting up that early. Brandon claims that it is the best time of day; I feel that is up for debate. I went to pick up Lilly at 7 a.m. as she was participating in a Temple activity with our young men/women group doing Baptisms and going out to breakfast. We had hot chocolate on our way to drop her off at the church. I had every intention of heading straight home to go back to bed but then Brandon needed the camera at work and somehow I later got roped into going to Kohl's with my mom, not that I am complaining about that, I got a smashing new outfit out of it! When I finally got to lie down, Lilly was ready to come home! Oh-well, so much for a nap. Lilly and I went to lunch at Chili's before I took her home. It was fun to go out to lunch with her. She got ribs. I checked in with her and she was able to hide them from Liz. I'm thinking we will need to make ribs for dinner soon for our Elizabeth!



Saturday was Brandon's last day working at the hospital for the semester and so he came home early and we both got in a quick nap before going off to the Sandall Christmas party!! His students gave him a really nice gift basket. He has really enjoyed teaching and is looking forward to next semester. The Sandall Christmas party was a lot of fun. It was fun to meet some of Brandon's family that I had yet to meet. There was this massive blow-up slide for the kids, ping pong and when I couldn't find Brandon, I discovered they were showing the movie "Elf" in the other room. Some of us enjoy "It's a Wonderful Life" but my B goes for "Elf". We sang songs and opened presents and ate way too much food. My two salads were a hit! (Thank you Bowman's!) We missed having the kids with us at the party and so did everyone else but we look forward to having them this coming weekend.

Again, another blessing was shown our way at the party with some much needed items. Maybe I should stop being amazed at the love and blessings received. We are getting excited for Friday when Brandon graduates, I don't think it has hit him yet, but I am so very proud of him!!

Turkey day and beginings of Christmas

Here they are, as promised. Brandon and I on Turkey Day at Gramsy's and pictures of us putting up the tree. Luke had so much fun with his dad getting it all organized and put together. I'm not sure how Brandon felt about putting the lights on, but he did a fantastic job!!! Brandon wrapped up his Masters Project that weekend and I was beginning to forget what color our dinning room table was! It is still black, in case anyone was wondering. :)

I have a lot of fun cooking with Lilly and Laura in the kitchen and love that Luke and Liz like to join in and help me out. Liz is getting really good at setting the table! The kids have taken to my brother Paul and Brad (my non-biological brother). He loves to help them make a mess and then leave me with the mess. UGH. Apparently he is shaving that awful beard for Brandon's party....but not for our wedding. Hmmmm.....But Laura and I did get his beard in pig tails the last time we were over! HA!

We are getting excited for Christmas and all the upcoming parties and seeing friends. I am going to the Sandall Christmas party for my first time this year and am very excited. It is so odd to think that this time last year, B and I were being set up on a blind date. Who would have thought this is where we would be????