Christmas 2008

We sure enjoyed our Christmas with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Mary. They might be from Tucson but they have had no trouble toughing out the cold weather here!

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If you drink enough hot cocoa...

If you drink enough hot cocoa, it will snow! So...

...you'll take a picture of it and it will snow some more.

Then you'll get a snow day and want to build a snowman.

It will be slippery, so you'll go sledding and see a bird.

The bird will be hungry so you will put up a bird feeder with your dad and the dog.

The dog will want to play in the snow some more.

So you'll play in the snow until you get thirsty.


So you'll go in and drink hot cocoa and it will snow again!

Holiday Party

This year we hosted the Staff Holiday Party. We really enjoyed it and feel fortunate that so many folks came. Since it was on Dec 5th, it was an excellent incentive to get the Christmas decor up early! We ate, visited, drank, played the dice/quarters game, ate, drank, did the white elephant thing and ate some more! (I just wish I took more pictures)

Bob takes his position!

Rhonda and some lady she picked up at a bar!

The beautiful Kristen

Jennie gets a keeper!

Amanda sporting her new shades!

Christmas! Off to a great start!

This year Christmas was off to a great start. It began with shopping on the day after Thanksgiving! Can you believe I have never shopped Black Friday before? So I hooked up with some fun teacher friends, Nancy and Kristen, for a not-too-early of a start and I had a ball! A lot was accomplished too! In addition to a good start on shopping, Bob had our lights up on the house early. Thanks, hun!

Next, it's time to get the tree. I love that fresh pine smell!

Brooke picked the "perfect" tree and enjoys her candy cane.

Yes... the tree is done!

A week or so later Brooke and I enjoyed the Sumner Santa Parade with our friend, Kris.

The highlight is always the firetruck with Santa on it! Here it comes...

Wait! Who is driving that truck? It's Kris' brother! We honestly didn't know about it! How funny!

Luckily, we know the right people so Santa slowed down to wave but mommy was too busy laughing to get a better picture.

Brooke was thrilled!

Soon it is gingerbread house time. A brave neighbor, Diana, had folks over to decorate gingerbread houses. Each one unique and beautiful. It was a lot of fun! Thanks, Diana.

Our masterpiece!

All 8 or 9 of them lined up!

We even went to Seattle to check out Stu's new pad ("Father Stu"). We saw

the Westlake Center Tree, Santa and ...

...rode the carousel!

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving spent with family. Everyone contributed and we had a delicious feast!

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When I Grow Up

Today Brooke announced with certainty "Mom, I know what I want to be when I grow up!" I was sure she was going to say the usual ballerina teacher or sommier but no, she went on to say that she would like to be a newspaper delivery person or a doctor. I told her she could certainly do both! Like many discussions we needed to act on these words right away! Luckily, we had a legit delivery since we received some mail that didn't belong to us. Brooke informed me that she needed to deliver it herself and by bike although it was already dark out. So after I was "healed" by this doctor I watched her first delivery to the neighbors, Michael and Lesley. They played along so well and even gave Brooke a tip for a job well done!

Sad news... kinda

Today, Ellie the birthday fish, died. We only had her for one week. She was a cute little black fantail goldfish. I was certain it was going to be tough on Brooke but as Bob suggested we just won't make a big deal of it. So we told Brooke "Ellie got sick last night and died. Should we bury her or flush her?" Brooke said, "Let's flush her but I don't want to watch." Then we discussed whether a fish can get to heaven via a toilet and we opted to call the pet store to see if they had a special place for Ellie. So off to Petco to deliver the coffin and an hour later we were home with a new fish. Meet Joe!

Joe is getting along just fine with his fish friends, Chelea and Kim! He too loves the new colorful cave Brooke purchased with birthday money from Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ouie (Uncle Ted).

Halloween 2008

Here is our little bat! We went trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood down toward cousin Lucy's house. The whole family went including Chinook. Half an hour was enough in the chilly air. As expected, we ate more candy than we gave out!



Our friends and neighbors , Lesley and Michael, visit "Miss Brooke"...

"Chinook needs a costume too." Um.. she's now a pickle!

Here's Brooke as a fairy in 2007 (age 4)...
... and as a cat in 2006 (age 3)

Brooke's 5th birthday!

What a spectacular 5th birthday for Brooke! Ever since we read, Stellaluna, Brooke has decided she wanted to be a bat for Halloween and have a Halloween theme for her birthday party. Thankfully Grammy came to the rescue with a homemade "Bootiful Bat" costume, with bling and all! Brooke also requested a black cat for her birthday cake! Although there was a veto on the black frosting mess she agreed to white frosting with orange and black sprinkles! Oh, and I learned coconut is my friend. It hides all frosting mistakes! So it all worked out. The weather was perfect, we had a fun party with wonderful friends, she got a new goldfish and I must say her cat cake turned out fantastic!

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Autumn fun!

Here are a few things we have been up to this month...

Pumpkin Carving

Making carmel apples...

and eating them of course!

And, of all things, continuous "dog training" for dear Chinook!

Dinner with Lynn and Aaron

Last Saturday night Lynn and Aaron came over for dinner. Bob and Brooke made a great shrimp bisque and homemade focacchia bread. We enjoyed our visit with such genuine friends. Brooke loves her new (pink and flowery) legos from them!

Recipe for Sound Sleep...

You need: 1 book on your chest, 1 pumpkin flashlight (on), 1 seashell, 2 stuffed animals, 1 blanket, 1 box with a fake turtle in it and a very large basket of books at your feet. Put all this on a bed so you can almost stretch out and you have the recipe for a perfect sleep! Don't forget music playing over the sound of a humidifier. (She didn't even awake when the camera flashed)

Another Good Quote

Sometimes I need a reminder to slow down. I liked this quote from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

You can not see your reflection in running water,
but still water.

Hood Canal

Brooke and I spent a sunny weekend at Janina's cabin on Hood Canal. Janina and I have been great friends since high school and now it is so fun to watch our girls grow up together! At the cabin, Brooke, Grace and Olivia collected sea shells, painted and watched for seals swimming by or fish jumping. The girls squealed with delight when we turned rocks at low tide to find little crab scurry about. Once Janina and I got the girls down to bed at night we could visit with a glass of wine and the fire going. That was relaxing but of course we spent plenty of time playing referee to three cute little girls who all have their idea about what to play and how. It was a fun "girls weekend"!

Grace in search of the perfect shell!

...more shell hunting

Olivia's treasure!