Pictures of the House

Thom looks like he doesn't believe that this is his kitchen? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! It is we signed the paper work today. Below is my bathtub with two good friends Robbie and Stacy. I have so many good friends which alone makes me the luckiest person in the world.

We signed papers for the House

Wow! After a very long wait we did sign papers TODAY on the House! The papers were signed after 5p.m. so we will not get the keys to the house until Monday late afternoon. However it is signed for and I don't care that my eyes won't stay open for pictures!

Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve, my sister hosted a dinner at her home. I did not have my camera but the table was very "Martha", we had turkey, two types of stuffing, and many other dishes. I had to come directly from work so you wouldn't want pics of me anyways:)

Thom, the kids and I stayed at my moms that night. As many of you know we did not buy a tree as our house is currently boxed up in hopes to move into our first home soon. It was fun to stay the night and wake up with them in the morning. Mom and Greg were awake first and opening presents from each other by the time we all joined in. That was fun to see what they gave each other and the excitement. Hollie and Lauren snuggled in, Lauren with me and Hollie wanted to snuggle with Nana. The picture below is when we gave them the cell phones. We have really been playing up that they weren't going to get cell phones until they were at least 20yrs old. Lauren had a breakdown at one point. This was the last picture I got before getting mauled in gratitude by the two of them. They spent a good two hours texting each other and occasionally their cousin or friends. We did get unlimited text package.



Picture of my Mom and Greg, Greg just received some really nice golf clubs.

We had a huge breakfast my mom prepared Italian sausage, eggs, pancakes, Cinnamon rolls. It was fantastic. Then we got ready for the day and headed back to my sisters house to meet up with my dad. Maddy unfortunately we missed she had already headed back to her moms house. My dad gave me a ring from my great grandmother the kids played with Amelia, Hollie snuggled with Papa. We headed back to my Moms for dinner and presents. Below is several pictures of the evening.

Hollie and Nana, she is my true Christmas baby. I don't know if you all remember but her name was going to be Allison. When she was born with the bright red hair and so close to Christmas I had to name her Hollie.

Lauren 11yrs old going on 30 !

Hollie 15 yrs old and Amelia 5years old sitting together. Everyone loves to snuggle with Hollie. I think this was the most calm Amelia had been all day!

My sister and her husband Chris pictured above! Melissa will be graduating soon with a Nursing Degree and hopefully working with me at the Hospital. They were the ones that hosted a grand Christmas Eve dinner. Maddie I didn't get a picture she had to go back to mom's before I got there on Christmas day.

My brother and his girlfriend Michelle. I believe they have been together 3 years now. We are all secretly hoping that he marries this one! In fact my grandma sent his Christmas card addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Wagner. I personally have seen a wonderful caring Patrick who puts her needs above what he wants to do most of the time. He is still 30 yrs old after all and I know my husband as well as many others have a hard time with those two to four hour video game marathons. No one is perfect needless of all me!

My brother Greg his wife Joanne both wonderful people dedicated to our community and their family. Chris their oldest son has a wicked sense of humor. He is working on his PhD in Mathematics/Physics stuff (best way I can describe it is some next to level shit well above our heads). Cynthia is about to turn 21, she is in school for her BSN.

My brother Sean and his wife Kelly (who makes the most unbelievable dishes). There daughter Anna is so into princesses, it reminds me of Lauren at that age. She had a really cute holiday outfit to wear but she prefers her princess dress. She and Amelia together are a hoot, they at one moment would be coloring together~2sec later running and chasing each other~ and then tears and complaints that one wasn't being nice to the other. Typical 4-5 yr old friendships. I love having the younger kids around.

All in all I think Christmas was a success this year.

Laurens First Band Concert

These are pictures from Laurens first band concert. It was fun the clarinets were in rare form as only a first band concert could be. Lauren played Jingle Bells,Good King Wenceslas, Jolly Old St.Nick, Ode to Joy, We Wish You A Merry Christmas on her flute. She practiced every chance she could after school on the weekend. At the end of the Concert the Music teacher explained that he feels Children learn music better if they learn movement for example dance! So the Concert ended with all the bands, no instruments, dancing to Boot Scootin' Boogie. Loved it!

END OF SEASON Party 2008

End of season soccer party was tonight December 14th! The girls celebrated the end of their successful season by going to the Pool and then to The Rock pizza in Federal Way. They each got a plaque personally made by the Coach with pictures of each girl on it which was amazing! The girls had a secret Santa exchange, Lauren got a ton of candy. It was a fun party. Lauren's favorite part was swimming and jumping off the diving board.

SNOW ! ! ! ! ! !

Here are the girls in the snow! This wonderful white stuff started to fall last night while the girls were at our friends house for a birthday party. All the kids went outside in less than appropriate winter gear. This included no coat, some went out with out shoes, and no gloves. They were so fun! First thing this morning Lauren woke up and like a young child wanted to go out right away. So I told her to go wake up her sister. I know not very nice esp since Hollie loves to sleep in! Lauren's favorite tv show is Friends and in one of the episodes Chandler gets in Joey's face and says I have a favorite song it is called wake up. This is how it goes wake up wake up wake up~! Hollie is such a good sister I think mine would have been missing a few teeth. They had fun and came in to a warm house full of love and Hot Chocolate!

Second Place in the District

Wow ! ! ! ! What a game, they started off both teams standing in front of friends and family. In attendance for Lauren was Mom, Dad, Nana, Opa, Aunt Missa, Uncle Chris and Cousin Amelia. They announced the teams by each individual, everyone stepped forward when their name was called and the crowd cheered. Now Lauren however loves to be different! Laurens name is called and she steps forward like a rock star with her arms up in the air. Amelia was beyond cute she just kept Chanting Lauren! Lauren! Lauren! then when we would cheer for her other teammates she would say no not Emma, Lauren has to win. The concept of team escapes her but that is not surprising. Lauren had some fancy footwork she set up a few attempts on goal. Our team was the first to score, then Harbor team scored twice. We got it tied up but in the end Harbor got one last goal. Final score was 3-2 and for the first time we got titled Second Place in district. Wow! that it all I can say is wow! Nana brought hotchoc, Uncle Chris had the space heater, and Opa called the penalty before the refs. I love watching her play !!!!!!!!!!!

Leahs Work Chirstmas Party

Here is part of the Gang I work with including Santa! We had a potluck style dinner, door prizes, and a visit from Santa that was heart warming. One of the littlest children she was about 22 months saw Santa coming in and headed towards him with her arms wide open and a big smile. Last year we had more children and they were missed. Well maybe I will just have to have another one.

A NEW HOUSE

So this is the model of home that we got at auction, I will send real pictures as soon as I can get down there and take them. The auction was an experience that we wouldn't have even tried for but Grandpa said that he wanted me to buy new construction (and a specific builder who doesn't work on this side of the mountains) I think he had a hand in getting this home. This whole process has been stressful, fun, and all the other emotions mixed in between. Right now we are going through the "closing" part with finalizing the loans and escrow. Please keep us in your prayers so that all goes well and also for our real estate agent Jon Hunter and Debbie McNeil our loan officer who have to survive me! Yes I am in rare form! Thank you to all ~ Leah

Hollie's 15th friend birthday! We started at our house where they got to write down their ideas for pranks. We went out to have pizza at Roundtable and then to Laserquest. The girls were singing songs all the way home. Highlights of the night for us was the random question and answers. Example.... What questions would you ask your parents if they had to tell the truth? Arielle had the best answer, " Where do you hide my Christmas presents." Kate was hilarious every answer that applied she would say," To save the Earth." Twice she said, "to save the polar bears." Then once in response to what animal would you be,"Polar Bear." Hollie enjoyed being surrounded by such good friends.

Our 13th year at the Macy's Parade Hollie now 15 and Lauren 11 ! It rained lightly throughout the parade. They did add new floats and different groups this year! We took the girls to get Santa pics afterwards which they didn't fight us on at all. I told them that they could stand behind Santa however when they got up there Santa challenged them. He said " Are you to old to see Santa?" It was obvious he was in character. Afterwards we went to the CrabPot on the waterfront and to the Olde Curiosity Shoppe.

Hollie's 15th birthday cake, with all my love..... Mom

Hollie's hair being decorated by Amelia her 5yr old cousin. She celebrated her 15th birthday after thanksgiving at Nana's house. Highlights she received a riding helmet and beautiful necklace. Comic books, fun socks, gift card, and clothes. It was a wonderful day.

AMELIA TURNS FIVE

Maddy and Amelia's Birthday

My niece's birthday was on Nov 13th and 14th (November is a busy month for me) Maddy turned 13 years old! I wish you could see her outfit she was so cute. She is usually the post child for Ambercrombie and Fitch. Her and her friend (in picture) were signing Karaoke until Amelia now 5yrs old (where the time goes I don't know) took over. Amelia had several friends and family over and they were cute. She opened her gifts with an enthusiasm that prompts you to want to give her more. At one point she dramatically was hugging another little girl saying "I love it Annabell this was exactly what I want" All just too cute.

GEORGIA IS NOW TWO !

Miss Georgia turned two last week can you believe it! We all went to Spaghetti Factory on Nov 13th for dinner. Georgia was cute she smiled at everyone and strangers would stop by the table to tell her Happy Birthday. In this picture she was eating the chicken off the side of the cake before it was cut. She was into farm animals so I made her a cake with what was suppose to be chickens and ducks. Although I ended up making them all chickens. Talented I know. I am so privileged that I get to be a part of her life.

Hollie and Katherine together since birth

The girls together a rare event! They are no longer joined at the hip and are very different at this time. Like most little girl friendships as soon as they became older they developed different interests. Katherine is very into fashion and her future goals. Hollie is into Japanese Anime and lives in the now. I have to say that when I saw this picture though it just melts my heart. I do love seeing them together. It was just 12 yrs ago Aimie and I were sitting in the Milton house talking about what they would be like when they grew up. It happened so fast.

We are in the playoffs

Lauren's team is now 2nd in their division and are headed to the playoffs Saturday 22nd of November! The team she played this last Saturday was brutal. The very first play only 60seconds into the game Lauren was pushed in the back hard enough she fell to the ground. She of course being the tough girl she is got up, mad and took the ball on the next play. This team was not skilled just a lot of elbows and open hand slapping. Lauren did get called for pushing after she had been pushed several times she had enough and took the girl to the ground. She was upset because #1 she got called and hates being in the wrong ,2nd the other team got a free penalty kick. Our girls won the game 3-0. We have a wonderful coach and hope to win the playoffs next!

They Won !

Wow, what a game in beautiful Enumclaw! If you are a soccer purist, this was a game for you. A lot of crisp passing, defense, and of course, Seattle weather fit for November. This was a tournament game and our opponent was an undefeated team. But our girls played hard in the blowing wind and pouring rain. The game went into overtime at 1-1. Then the prettiest center pass to a charging forward put us ahead for the rest of the game. Lauren played most of the game as a midfielder and was unbelievable against the more aggressive opponents. She matched their intensity while claiming ownership to her territory of the field. The parents, including Leah, were losing their voices from rooting their team to an unexpected victory. Congratulations, girls! We will be back next Sunday in this tournament!

Lauren about to go out with a group of friends from school. This is the first year where I did not go out with the kids, which was hard. She had a great time and got a ton of candy. She was so cute in her little cheer skirt.

Hollie as Lady Gwendolyn for Halloween. This was the first year that she did not go house to house. She chose to join another good friend and help make this a special Halloween for little children at St. Luke's Church. I have never been so proud of her dedication to others. I always have said that the peace corp will be blessed to have her. My brother in laws best friend happened to be at the church with his small daughter. They were in Hollie's line as she was in charge of the Duck Pond Game, this was a fishing type game.

Another Child had cut in line (Hollie had already c/o how many little kids would not wait their turn), Hollie politely reminded this child that they had already had a turn. The parents of that child said that they hadn't been in this line. So Hollie then informed them that they needed to then wait their turn and pointed to the back of the line. She is such a rule follower and a good citizen.

UPCOMING BAND CONCERTS

Here is a picture of Hollie at last years Grand Daffodil Parade. They performed well in Apple Blossom they placed second of all the schools there. This year Hollie's winter band concert will be on December 4th, at Columbia Junior High (7pm). Lauren will play in her first band concert on December 16th at Columbia Junior High (7pm).

Just having fun!

We took the girls out for ice cream after a play date in my car. Hollie is at the top of the pyramid, Lauren to the right, and Anna (a soccer friend) on the left.

Friends, Drinks, and Fun with Chicken Joe

Robbie,Thom, and I went to see Chicken Joe and the Fabulous Cocks at the Muckleshoot yesterday. The lead singer is one of my co-workers husband. I originally saw them perform at the swiss when I worked at US Bank (a long time ago). The band covers hit songs from the last few decades. The highlights of the evening was DeeDee getting hit on by the loser in the white belt, Thom dancing before the beer (he did better after), and laughing. The girls not featured Hollie was at Alexa's birthday and Lauren was rocking the karaoke at Natalie's house. You can check out the band at http://www.chickenjoeandthefabulouscocks.com/

Maria's 30th

Maria (Top pic far right) is a friend from Mary Bridge who I admire a great deal. These pictures were taken at her 30th birthday party. The party was fabulous, I drank way too much. Most embarrassing moment was trying to dance like we were back in the 80's. Thom did not get in any of the pictures that I have seen so far. Thanks to Robbi and Clay for taking the kids.

Hollie Update

Here is a picture of Hollie with one of her favorite friends! Hollie got a report card today with all A's and B's. German is by far her most difficult class. Thom is helping her but the last German class he had was dare I say 18yrs ago. (Wow we are getting old) She is loving band and video class. Doing exceedingly well in History which has the most difficult teacher in the school. We are so very proud of how hard she is working.

Lauren's Soccer Game Oct. 11th

We were on the road for this last game to beautiful Vashon! Picture of team on the Vashon Ferry. All the girls were slow to get into the game but by the second half Lauren turned on the speed and was instrumental in keeping the ball in the offensive zone. Ultimately we tied the game so they have now won three and tied twice. They have not lost yet! Next Game is at 1:30 pm here!