Meet Jackson

Meet Jackson our newest addition to the family. He is a 2 1/2 year old poodle who loves to play..I mean 6:00am playtime...He is very cuddly and fun..He's one flaw would be that he barks at everyone including Peter if he hasn't seen him for a couple of hours..He's always used a doggy door to to his business so we are having fun training him. He does have lots of character which is what we wanted...Now if only I could sleep in...

Alex moves on...

Alex's Big Day...onward to middle school...He is so excited but I hate seeing him grow up...

Big Baptism Day

 The day that Anna-Maria's been counted down to for the last year has finally arrived..Her baptism..She has been so excited to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints..She was beautiful...

Anna-Maria's Birthday

 This was Anna-Maria's 8th Birthday..Yes I know it was in February and now I'm blogging it in the middle of March but better late than never.

When her big day came we weren't sure if we would be able to go out and celebrate..It had been snowing for a couple of days and around Seattle that stops everything..The streets don't get ploughed which makes them like a big iceskating rink...But despite all Peter met me half way from my work and home to the local mall for Anna-Maria's present..Piercing the ears...with a little bit of Red Robin afterwards..She was a trooper..

a littel bit of cheese cake to go with the candles..

A couple of days later Grandma and Grandpa braved the Pass and brought Anna-Maria some more goodies..She was spoiled this year from all her grandparents,cousins, and Aunts and Uncles...Happy 8th Birthday Anna-Maria..

Biztown..Alex off to work you go..

 A couple of weeks ago Alex's fifth grade got to go to Biztown..A mini town where the kids are in charge..Mayor,Restaurant,stores, city hall..

 I volunteered for the day too..UPS here I come..Believe it or not the UPS delivery guy was the number one choice for almost every boy in the school..

 The doctor on call checked out Alex to make sure he was healthy..There was a gurny in the room which I was tempted to use a few times in the day..

 Ah..Alex's job..Camera Man...He did a great job..Even zoomed in on their nose..

Overall it was a fun experience..The kids got to learn about different jobs and how to deposit and write checks...Now if only he would write me a check..

Christmas blessings

This is the second year we have had the privelege of going to my parents for Christmas and neither were planned..Last year we came down because Dad was in the hospital with blood clots and this year Mom was recovering from pneumonia. I think they plan it that way...We love going down though cause we get spoiled with love and really good food... 

This year has been a hard one for us as a family with Peter going in and out of jobs and then nothing..And even though it has been hard, we have never been as blessed..We have great friends and family who have shown their love to us in multiple ways especially at Christmas Time..We just want to say Thanks..



Christmas Tree time

 Yep...the tree is always in the same spot..Must be the only spot that works..We headed to our favorite Christmas Tree Farm..Home Depot...With the help of all the family the decorating took about 5 minutes..

This is how Alex and Anna-Maria felt about the whole experience...

Pick your favorite Christmas Pose....

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 I couldn't decide which photo to use for this year's Christmas Card...Please help by picking your favorite...


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A day Downtown Seattle

 Since the kids had a couple of days off for Parent/Teacher conferences we got to spend the day as a family...Off to Seattle we go..I have never done the Christmas displays downtown because of work but I really enjoyed them this  year..First was the Sheraton for their annual Gingerbread houses...

 so yummy looking..just want to rip off a piece..They won't notice..

 Next we headed to the Fairmont Hotel for the Teddybear Suite..So many bears in one small place..even the bathroom had them on the floor, in the sink, etc..

 Pike's Market is always an adventure..always crowded and fun...

Santa delivers everything on the list right?

2nd grade muscial...

Anna-Maria had a great musical Tueday night..She sang loud and clear and played the clave like a professional...

New eyes

Yep..Alex finally needed glasses.....After enough squinting we broke down and had his eyes checked at Costco...A couple of days later the nurse called him in to recheck his eyes from the last test she did..Alex told her that we had a prescription for the new glasses but we were going to wait till his dad had a job..One phone call later from the nurse and Alex got free glasses from a local optometrist. Now he can see the signs on the buildings and words written from afar...He is excited...and handsome...

pumpkin time

Yep..it's Pumpking Carving time...
The kids love the gutts, the parents hate the mess.

Grim Reaper and Scary Face

Mine..an owl...Love Halloween!

Anna-Maria's apartment

Every year the second grade classes on Anna-Maria's school make a high rise for their individual class..Each child decorates a shoe box and writes a story to cordinate and then they are built upon each other..Here is her story..

Once there were two sisters living in an apartment. On Halloween the sisters heard a whooing sound. They opened the door. It was a ghost, but it was our neighbor. " That was not funny."said a sister," but a good costume." "Thanks, nice halloween decorations." said the neighbor. " Best of all nice spiderweb." " That's not a halloween decoration!" screamed Daphne one of the sistes. " Shoo shoo aaah!" "What is it?" " It's a black widow!" "EEE , it's ok." said the neighbor Puck, but Daphne was too scared. "It's ok" said sister Sabrina. "You're right, come on let's go to the store." So they did go to buy more halloween decorations. Then they went home ate dinner. Then went to have fun trick or treating. The end.

Scout hike Ratttlesnake ridge

Alex's first Boy Scout Hike..Be prepared wasn't in his vocabulary..no water,snacks and dressed as warmly as possible for 70 degree weather...Still loved it...

He got out of doing errands with Mom and Dad instead..yahooooo...