A season of...birthdays!

Christmas time is quite busy around here and not just because of the holidays. We have a few birthdays to celebrate as well! Mom and Jen's birthdays are just a few days before Christmas so this year we all went to our favorite restaurant in Seattle, Palisade. We had a delicious meal, as always!


Jen with her birthday dessert


Mom enjoying her birthday dinner with dad :)


Me, grandma and Jen


Nick and I


The traditional pic at Palisade, in front of the tree!

Crafting Weekend

A few girlfriends and I went to Reardan (Spokane area) for a fun filled weekend of crafting! It was such a nice and relaxing getaway and it gave us all time to work on any projects that we had. I worked on scrapbooking, Christmas ornaments, needlepoint, and punch needle!


We rented the most adorable house which was built strictly for retreats and crafting parties!


The crafting room downstairs. It had 10 tables with lamps and plug-ins, sewing machines, copiers, craft supplies and much more to accommodate our needs!


A picture out a book! So beautiful!


Me, Jen and Jill at the Buggy Barn (the local, and quite famous, quilt shop)


Jill with her completed quilt...what an amazing project!


All of Jen's beautiful things!

Thanksgiving

Keeping up with a tradition we have had for many years now, we went over to have dinner with Megan and Amy the night before Thanksgiving. We used to have dinner at their parents house but this year we tried something new and went to Amy and Ben's house! Megan made a yummy taco soup, Amy made cornbread, and I brought dessert.

We had a great time and ended up playing a rousing game of girl vs. guy Catch Phrase...the girls won of course :) We also got to spend some time with adorable Mr. Dylan before he went off to bed! What a handsome guy!


All decked out in his Coug gear!

We had a nice and quiet Thanksgiving dinner at mom and dads house. Jen and I hosted and were in charge of all the fixin's :) We had grandma and Nan over and we had a good time eating, chatting and playing cards.


Best ever pumpkin pie!


Chloe was trying to get in on the card action with her poker face

Fall updates

Boy things have quickly spiraled out of control these past few months. We have had to deal with some pretty heavy issues in the family and are looking for some much needed "happy times."

Some good things have happened, however. My mom and I took a great trip down to Arizona to visit family and soak up some sun. We stayed a few days in a hotel and a couple days at my cousin Cathy's house. We had such a great time and both mom and I truly LOVE Arizona. It is such a beautiful place, in such a different regard than Washington.

Nick has been busy working on his Master's degree and school has kept him busy with meetings, report cards and committees. He loves his job but it takes a mighty toll on him!

For the Children's Hospital Guild I am in, we held our annual shopping bus trip (going to Molbak's and Bellevue Square) and had a great time. I ended up working on the bus serving drinks, selling raffle tickets, and preparing food. It was actually a lot of fun but I am so sore from trying to balance myself on a bus all day! Overall the three buses were able to pull together $12,000 to send down to Seattle Children's! We were so happy and grateful that everyone helped us out!

Well, its Thanksgiving week. I will try to get better about posting more updated blogs and I will hopefully have some pictures of the festivities coming up. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Girls Weekend in Winthrop

I was scheduled to go out of town on Friday, about an hour after I learned of my poor Maude. I was set to stay in town to help out with arrangements but my family told me to go as there wasnt any reason to sit at home and sulk. So....Bridget, Heather, Angela and I went over to Winthrop for the weekend to have our girls weekend. We had a blast shopping, laughing, eating, lounging and hot tubbing! I was glad that I ended up going, it really helped take my mind off of things.


Our awesome resort right on the river, the River Run Inn


The river running right on the back of the property


Bridget and I having fun shopping!


Angela, Heather and I having fun in the room



Thanks for a great weekend girls, it really helped get my mind off things and I appreciated all of your loving support! :)

Rest in Peace

Sad news to report today. I lost my grandmother this morning. After much suffering the last few months she finally passed and I know that she is now in heaven looking down on us. We love you Maude, you gave us many happy memories and we will always keep you in our prayers. We appreciate all that you have given and shared with us. You will live in my heart forever. We all love you and miss you very much.

Concert and the big 3-0

The day before my birthday party we went with the Hammers and the Bryans to go and see Knut Bell. We have never seen him in concert before so that was a lot of fun. He played great music and even Dylan got his picture taken with Knut!




After a fun night we got up early the next morning and got ready for the big birthday bash at mom and dads. Dad barbequed up an amazing salmon and we had all sorts of yummy sides and drinks. Luckily the weather held out for us as the forcast called for rain all day. We had plenty of sunshine and even got to play some badminton! Thanks so much to everyone who attended and made my day so special!

Milestones

This summer has brought a couple of big milestones! We celebrated our one year anniversary and I turned the big 3-0! Wow how time is flying...I can hardly believe the end of summer is near. Nick is definitely not ready for his break to be over!

We celebrated our anniversary in Priest Lake, Idaho with the Hurd family. We had a nice relaxing time on the lake and were able to take a drive around the lake on our anniversary and enjoy a dinner at Hill's. We returned with a litte cake celebration put on by Martha :) We enjoyed catching some rays, some rest, and good company.


Enjoying the water!


Svetlio jumping into the canal


This was one of the highlights from our trip...while Nick and I were in the middle of the lake on our jet ski's, not more than 50 feet in front of us was a moose and her calf swimming across the lake. It was such an awesome sight!

After returning from Idaho it was time for me to come to the reality that I was heading into my thirties...I ended up having a great birthday. Nick took me to The Cliffhouse for dinner and he gave me a beautiful set of diamond earrings. We also went out to dinner with my parents and grandmother to Sakura. I was spoiled with gifts there too :) The day ended with a call from my sister which completely made my day. She had sent me a beautiful bracelet that she had designed and made in India. It resembles on that my mom gave me many years ago. She bought one for herself and had them inscribed. She will be leaving India this weekend and is off to another adventure in Spain.

The weather has been HOT! We have been in the mid 90's all week which makes for an awful nights sleep. My mom and I booked our trip to Arizona in October so we are definitely looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather will be nice but not too hot. Nick is still having issues with his back but hopes that a visit to a back specialist in September will give him much needed relief.

I will be having a birthday party this weekend with my friends so I will be sure to post pictures from that as well as the Knut Bell concert we are going to on Saturday. Our busy summer is still going stong!

Long Lost Summer

Where in the world is summer? This weather is unbelievable for the end of June! We have been bundled up in sweaters and jeans for far too long now...bring on the sun! We have had a few (and I mean FEW) nice sunny days to enjoy and boy has it made this start of summer busy!

We took a weekend trip to Port Angeles to help Svetlio celebrate his high school graduation. Martha and Dave hosted a very nice party on Saturday night and we also met up with Nicks family and a friend of his from school. We had a busy weekend there but enjoyed seeing everyone.


Congratulations Svetlio! We are so proud of you!!

We also made a super quick trip over to Winthrop over Memorial Day weekend. We only went for a day trip to visit some friends who were staying at the KOA. We had a nice time shopping, going to Sun Mountain and visiting friends.


Nice little family portrait....

This past weekend we were excited to be a part of Mikey and Jen's wedding celebration. They were married at Hidden Meadows in Snohomish, a beautiful setting! The ceremony was super quick which made more time for the fun festivities! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Darrah!



Father's Day was also this weekend and we celebrated with a brunch at Randy's Pier 61 in Anacortes. We had a yummy feast! We missed a call from Jen in the morning but she called in the evening. She has arrived in India and is having a fabulous time. She has been traveling through the Himilayas, Kashmir and Dharmasala so far. She has found a few people to travel with and she is having the trip of a lifetime.

I have yet another busy weekend coming up but I am also super excited about it. I am going to Spokane with Jen to see her sister and her family. We already have a massage scheduled for Friday when we arrive ;) We are hoping to find some sunshine over on the eastern part of the state! The start of "summer" has been busy so far and we have plenty more on the books coming up in the next few weeks! Bring it on! (Sun that is) :)

Its a dog's life

We took Annie out to Bayview State Park for some play time while the sun was shining. She was having a blast trying to catch the ball with the "chuck-it." The last picture is hilarious...she looks like a flying squirrel!

Spring updates

Hello all! Again, we have fallen short of keeping up with this blog...we are trying, we promise! We have been getting a bit busier with the start of Spring so here are a few things that are going on...

One exciting thing is that Nick started his Master's program in February. Well, maybe not too exciting for him but it will definitely be worth it in the end. He is overwhelmed with homework but he is getting through it just fine. His summer break will be a nice opportunity to get a lot done.

Also in February we went to go see the Harlem Globetrotters. We got excellent courtside seats and had a great time watching them do all of their tricks.


Being silly with the net


Charles Barkley look-a-like


Chatting it up with the crowd

Nick had his Spring Break during the last weekend in March so we used the opportunity to go to Ocean Shores for a few days. We had a nice time but just like the last time we went, the weather was TERRIBLE! Well, it was actually kind of fun going out into the worst wind and rain storm that we had ever seen and we even drove out onto the beach during 75mph winds! We managed to sneak a few pictures in despite the freezing rain pelting our faces!


Blowing away in the wind


Managing a smile through the frozen rain


The day we left...of course it was nicer!

Despite the weather we still had fun going through town, getting salt water taffy and hanging out in the casino. We played in a poker tournament and showed all the locals how it was done :)

When we came home it was Easter so we had a nice visit with Jamie and Chris who stopped by that morning. We went to Max Dales for brunch and Nick's aunt and uncle were able to join us which was so nice. We had a great time there and then went back at my parents house. We also visited with my grandmother who has been in a care facility for a few weeks now. We are praying that she will be coming home soon.

Great things have been happening to our siblings as well...Jen bought her ticket to India for June 4th and will be traveling through for 2 or 3 months until her next stop, Spain. She is super excited and I hope that she has a great time. She is still in South Korea teaching children English. Also, Joel and Christie WON a trip to Ireland on St. Patty's Day! How amazing, we are so happy for them and wish them a great trip. Sam just started school again and has been producing some amazing artwork which will definitely take her somewhere great.

Well, thats all for now. We hope everyone is doing well and we hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

A new year, a new beginning

We have started of 2010 fresh off our honeymoon and ready to start our lives together. Although we have been married for a few months now, the honeymoon was our first big trip together and it feels like we are now officially off to married life!

Fiji was simply AMAZING. It was above and beyond what we imagined and was absolutely the most beautiful place we have ever seen. The sites, the people, the activities....all were unbelieveable.


Enjoying the sand between our toes!


The welcome sign as you get off the catamaran


We kayaked around our island...it only took about 20 minutes!


So beautiful! And not crowded!


Enjoying the games and music after dinner


The beautiful infinity pool


Masters of the Kava Ceremony... :)


Our charming little "bure #7"

We had a great time and it was hard to come back. The weather was so warm and we definitely had a hard time coming back to the cold!

We hope that 2010 will be a great year! We started it off with a New Year's poker tournament at the Pratt's and had a lot of fun! Nick celebrated his birthday on Jan. 8th and the very next day, Amy and Ben had their baby boy, Dylan. He is such a sweet baby and we are so happy for them!