Is anyone there??

I'm just wondering if anyone actually reads the posts that I write and spend so much time on. :) If you read this, will you please post a comment so I can see who is interested in what's going on! :) Thanks!

Happy Turkey Day!!

I know it's a little late...but just wanted to share about our fun Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated down at the Koegle's house in Camarillo and my parents and the "newlyweds" were able to go too. We had a great time watching football, playing with the kids, eating, hanging out and catching up, playing football, eating, playing charades and Pictionary and eating some more. I swear, Michelle, my mother-in-law, feels a definite need for everyone to gain at least 5 pounds before leaving her home. :) But we do love to eat all the goodies she puts out. We had a great time and here are some pictures from that day.
What a pretty spread for all to enjoy!

Doesn't Michelle do a beautiful job on the decorating? I think so!

Look at the pretty apple pie my mom and I made:

Katy and I being silly...

Cole hamming it up for the camera...

Some awesome action shots of the football game


Good form Mikey!

Beau & Brian being dorks for the camera...

All of us enjoying the holiday and getting ready to play charades!!


After playing charades until 1:00 a.m., we finally decided to hit the sack. Bev, Lindsay and I were a little crazy, but we got up at 4:45 and got ready very quickly and quietly and went shopping at the Thousand Oaks mall at 5:45 a.m. I've never done the whole "Day after Thanksgiving Early Bird Sale" thing, but I thought it would be fun to try this year. We had a great time and really did get a bunch of awesome deals on presents. And I would just like to brag a bit...I have (almost) all my Christmas shopping done and everything I've bought is already wrapped and under the tree ready to roll for Christmas! :) I'm very proud of myself. Last year I vowed I would not wait until the week before to start my shopping and be wrapping for hours and hours on Christmas Eve. And I followed through!! :) Yay for me. Now I'm able to start helping my mom with all of her Christmas present shopping. My house is totally decorated and all my holiday stuff is out and I've got the Christmas music channel on in the background at all times. I really do love Christmas time and I'm hoping that Cole will realize that it isn't about getting presents, it's about giving, and it's not about food and hulla-baloo, it's about spending quality time with our families and really remembering the whole reason for the season, Jesus Christ! Praise God for sending his Son to us...what a powerful event in the history of man.

Other news from the Koegle household...

- Yes, it is official, we have our house on the market. We actually put it up for sale about 5 weeks ago and I keep forgetting to blog about it. If you know of anyone in the market for a really cute townhome...send them our way. Please pray that the Lord's will is done in this situation, as it is very hard to just "wait it out" and work through the situation and stress of "selling" the home.

- Hallelujah...this last Friday was my last day working with Justin. About 3 weeks ago, I let them know that I have a couple of other options that are looking pretty good and that I am done watching him. This is going to be SUCH a huge relief off of my shoulders. Most of you know that I did not enjoy watching him, as he was a really hard child to work with. It was truly getting to me and Mike really encouraged me to pursue other options in order for me to be more happy. So...with that said, we are just praying that the Lord will make it very clear for what He has in store for me and for our family.

- Mike is rounding out the last couple of weeks of school (CSUN) and is doing wonderfully as usual. Please pray that the Lord will keep him motivated to finish out the semester with a bang and to just get to the end. :)

- Cole is doing really well these days. He's constantly learning more and more words, which just astounds me most of the time. I have a child that I can actually communicate with...it's totally cool! :) Once I was done decorating the house w/ all the Christmas stuff, I showed Cole what he could and couldn't touch. His favorite new phrase is, "Don't touch decorations." And you can truly tell what he is saying. It really is the cutest thing ever. He just babbles to me everywhere we go telling me about the cars, the trucks, the motos, the cows, the horses, the moon, the birds, the ducks, the coots, daddy, grandma, Pop Pop, Grammy (Ranny), Auntie Emilie, Brice, Sean, and many more friends. He is a total crack up. :) God is so good for what he gives us! :)

GO BUCKS!!

The Koegle Family certainly had a great time watching the Ohio State Buckeyes BEAT the Michigan Wolverines. They won 42-39 in a very close game and here are some pictures that showcase just how big of fans we all are...maybe a bit overboard at times, but too much fun!

Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Villaflor!!!

Okay, okay...I know it's been over two weeks since the wedding. I've been waiting until we have access to their proofs so everyone can see how incredible the whole wedding was!!! I, of course, did not have a camera and would not have had time to take pictures anyway. :) The link to the pictures is www.paigephotography.com. Click on "Info", then "Clients Viewing", then "Online Viewing & Ordering." Then you need to enter in my parents' email address: saddlenride@sbcglobal.net to access the page. Their set of pics is the first one on the page. Click on that and enjoy!! There are so many beautiful pictures that I know Em & Brice are gonna have a HARD time picking for their album.

The wedding went BEAUTIFULLY!!! I was so proud to be a part of it and so joyful to watch my best friend and sister marry the man of her dreams. Emilie looked GORGEOUS in her wedding gown and Brice looked SO handsome all done up!!! The ceremony was filled with smiles and tears. Emilie prerecorded herself singing a surprise song for Brice..."Come What May" from Moulin Rouge. It was unbelievable and Brice cried...hard. It was so cool to watch the two of them and also to watch my dad walk Emilie down the aisle!! :) Then Emilie and Brice had pre-recorded "The Prayer" together for the unity session & communion. I'm not sure if there was a dry eye in the place. John Dunkin did a wonderful job as the pastor and did a great ceremony. After the ceremony, the bridal party and some family took some pictures, then I drove the bride and groom and photographer down to the beach for their romantic shots. Totally awesome pics.

The reception started off with a bang as everyone was introduced to some rockin' music. And then out came Beau and me to "Ice, Ice Baby" which I decided to rap out and dance to the entire first verse. I was AWESOME!!! I had everyone laughing hysterically and Mike said that he's never seen me that outgoing. The reception was certainly off the hizzy!!! We all had SO much fun dancing and partying!!

To Emilie and Brice...CONGRATULATIONS on a long thing coming and we are SO happy for the two of you. We were so honored to be a part of your wedding and wish you the best marriage ever!! We are glad you're back from Hawaii and enjoyed your honeymoon and here's to a lifetime of memories as The Koegles and The Villaflors!! :) We love you!

P.S. When you are looking at the pics from the wedding...check out the "Getting Ready" pics and at the bottom of the page, there is the best picture of me that has ever been taken. I look like a stinkin' celebrity!! :) Yay!

Happy Halloweenie!!

Happy Halloween to all! Here are a few pics from Halloween. The first one is Cole and Faith at the retirement home I took him to, thanks to the suggestion of Faith's mama, Jody. We had a blast going from person to person saying hi and getting a little candy too! Then we headed over to Grace for the Fall Festival and had a ton of fun!! We worshipped with everyone in the worship center and then headed out to the cars for Trunk or Treat. We manned a car for the 3rd or 4th year in a row and had a great time!! Here are Brice and Mike and Cole in the car.

And here are Nate, Becky, Colin & Samantha manning their car.

And here's a picture of Emilie and Brice as Kate and Jack from Lost :)

Weekend Update...A Play, A Shower, and A Birthday!

Yay...what a fun weekend I've had. While Mike was away in Mexico for his missions trip at Rancho Sordo Mundo, I was super busy having fun this weekend. Friday night, I had dinner w/ my family up at Mom & Dad's house. Saturday, I had my hair done by my buddy Tammy who does such a wonderful job!! Saturday afternoon, Kristal came over and we decorated a beautiful cake for Debra & Nate's couples baby shower. Kristal - again, thank you for including me in doing the cake and I'm so glad we were able to catch up while you were here!!! Here's a picture of our masterpiece!!


Then Saturday night, thanks to Tinna and James (Cuz Brian, Linds, and Addison were sick) I was able to go with my family to the Canyon Theatre Guild and take in the Halloween play "Terror by Gaslight." It was really fun and a great chance to see something spooky! :)

On Sunday afternoon, I attended the Baby shower, which was SO fun!! It was awesome seeing some of the guys eating baby food and gagging and watching John & Nate "chugging" soda out of a bottle! SO funny. After that, I headed over to the Precht household and celebrated Kyle's birthday with everyone. It was a costume party and Cole wore his super cool, Flash costume and I went as a birder...I know, I know...totally dorky, but I thought it was pretty funny! We had TASTY food and had a ton of fun!!! :) Here's a picture of Cole in his costume before we went...

Lombardi's Ranch...Here we Come!

It's that time of the year again, when we all head over to the Pumpkin Patch!! Last year, we took Cole and he had fun, but didn't really understand what in the world was happening. This time, he pointed out and said to me, "Mama...punkins, mama, choo-choo, mama...rocks, mama....horseys!!" He was quite excited. My mom and I took Cole and Justin during the afternoon and it was nice because there wasn't a TON of people there like last year or every weekend, I'm sure! :) Here are a few pictures from our adventure!! :) Cole did have a little fall in the petting zoo and truly "ate it" ... he had hay, dirt and goat poop in his mouth and stuck under his lips. SAD TIMES...pretty sad, but true.. He was pretty bummed, but got over it quickly and his nose is almost totally healed up.

Bridal Shower for Emilie!

On Saturday, October 7th, Michelle (my mother-in-law) and Jody hosted a BEAUTIFUL bridal shower for Emilie. There was tasty croissant sandwiches, hot quiche, a gorgeous fresh fruit platter, cheese and crackers, punch, tea & coffee. Plus, my mom made an ADORABLE bridal shower cake that was so yummy!! Michelle had arranged two AMAZING bouquets for the tables and had everything decorated so nicely. We played a few games, really enjoyed each other's company while eating outside in Jody's backyard overlooking the Robinson Ranch golf course, and just had a great time. Thank you to Michelle, Jody and Lori for putting on such an incredible shower for Emilie...I know it meant a lot to her and it meant a ton for me to see how many people just adore my amazing sister! :) Here are a few pictures from the shower!

Roses are red...wait, pink and white...

Here are some awesome pictures I took of some flowers in my parent's backyard with the rain drops still on them!!

Backyard Days...

Here are a couple of pics from this Sunday up at my parent's house. It was a gorgeous overcast day and Cole had fun stomping in the puddles in the backyard. Thankfully he didn't get too dirty!! :) But I guess that's being a boy, right?! He's pretty darn cute, huh? Here is Cole playing with one of his favorite things in the world...a ball! :)




And here is Cole playing with Grandma's BIG ants...always exploring and seeing how things are put together...




And here's Cole posing for the camera...

Cole's New Hair Cut...Finally!

So I was finally able to cut Cole's hair, as he was DESPERATE for a trim, and I do think he looks great if you ask me! :) Here's a before picture...



And here's a couple of after pictures...