Hollie's 17th Birthday

Thom and I took Hollie and her friends to Harry Potter Exhibit at the Science center. Several of Hollie's friends had never been to the science center so they did all the usual exhibits as well.

 Butterfly house, which Hollie hates. I am unsure why she does not like butterflies or birds in general. She must get this from Nana who also shares this fear.

We also got the girls tickets to see the newest Harry Potter film in the IMAX theater at Seattle Science Center. The line started outside which Thom and I sat out there and then the girls joined us the last ten minutes, then we waited inside for about an hour. Here they are camped out in line.

 Finally in the movie theater!

 Hollie Alexa and her sister with friends gathered around singing Happy Birthday! Then all the girls but Katy stayed the night.

Here is a fantastic shot of Hollie at the family birthday on Sunday. Hollie and her friends stayed up until 0600 am on Sunday morning so I pretty much just let her sleep all day. The family party included Nana opa, papa, uncle chris amelia (aunt missa was working at the hospital), Aime Jon and kids, ron scott and michelle walker, Aunt Cheryl (Uncle dave was sick)

It was a wonderful but expensive weekend and Hollie really had a great time.

Macy's Day after Thanksgiving Parade

The parade this year was better than ever! This year they did not film it or at least not in the usual spot so the parade moved fast! Here are pictures of the girls in line waiting for Santa pictures. Unfortunately Maddy was sick and could not join us :(

The girls were not excited about still having to take Santa pictures they feel they are too old. The poor boy waiting line behind us was home from college and his mom was making him do Santa pics! 

Random Pictures

Thom and Theo (my friend Aimie's oldest son) enjoying desert. He has the most handsome little haircut.

 Augie about to crawl (Aimie's youngest son)

                                     Snow storm 2010 we got about three to four inches total, kids out of school for three days and then right into Thanksgiving break.                                 

Lauren and her friend Mikki playing in the snow the first night, Hollie went over to Kelsies and Lilly's house to enjoy the weather. I had no problem with driving in the storm but the idiots sharing the road caused such back ups that a normal 20min drive turned into an hour and a half. Thom had to help push other peoples cars, such a good samaritan.

My Niece's birthday's

So I have three special little girls that were all born either Nov 13th or Nov 14th, busy two days!

 Miss Maddy turned 15 years old. She is attending Stadium HS and is quite the socialite!

Amelia is now seven years old, she is into Harry Potter and is going to school at St. Vicent De Paul

Georgia is now 4 years old she is really into animals and sleeps with a rubber snake. 

Random

Lauren at her fall piano recital 2010

My friend Kris got tickets to "New Day" it is a local morning show and she took some of the soccer girls. This show featured Mack Strong Seahawks, an actress from House wives of Orange county, and a four course meal from the doggie dinner (not suitable for humans)!

Back to School 2010

Hollie 16 years old about to start her Junior year!

Lauren 13yrs old about to start 8th grade!

Issaquah Tournament Summer 2010

The Roadrunners finish first in the tournament! Lauren kicked a goal just over the goalie's head it was perfect. She played midfield for most of the games.

November 2010

O.k. so even though I was all excited that I found the charger to the camera the computer that I knew how to upload too is out of order. :( So pictures will have to wait a little while longer.

Hollie ~ I think all of her friends were born this month??? She has been a busy little bee with her friends, she is writing more and more, she will be getting a new queen sized bed as we are preparing for the eventual transition to adulthood! Starting to buy items that should carry her through her 20's... I can not believe how old she is, it seems like yesterday she was running around with the white sheer over her head, I can picture her tight curls as if it was yesterday.

Lauren ~ Well she has been fighting a sinus infection, I swear this child is now 13yrs old still will not blow her nose, will not do saline rinses, and will not cough up the croup junk in her airway. I do not know what to do with her! Her soccer team played in the presidents cup tournament and took second in thier district, we really should have had a shot at state. I think the teams moto will be 1 goal for every 30 attempts on goal. No one can figure out how to break this cycle. 

Thom~ doing well in school, suffered an injury during work to his wrist. On temp leave for two weeks seeing ortho end of Nov.

Leah ~ Completed orientation to new job, back to working 3 12 hour shifts a week, should give me a lot more time off. Still pregnant had the 20 week ultra sound and blood work all negative. We are not finding out the sex, started filling out the baby book. Got very teary when I was looking back over all the things I wrote about the girls.

Baby ~ Moves a lot according to the literature should only  be awake 6 hours of the day but I think this one is awake 12hrs, Thom has felt the baby move, Robbi, and I think that is it. Girls have not felt baby move yet. The joke is that baby will either be a swimmer or a hockey player. It loves to move from side to side off my hips.

Update

Good news, we finally found the charger to the camera and will be able to post pics as soon as it charges... I am now 18 weeks into this pregnancy baby is moving but I am the only one who can feel it at this point. I have gained about five lbs + the six lbs I lost back in July :( Thom is funny he wants to attend all the appointments and help pick out maternity clothes? He is really busy with school, work, and coaching so thinking we may need to hire a house keeper for twice a month. I can not keep up with this house, work, and being mom. I did end up doing the blood tests to rule out any congenital abnormalities including downs syndrome and everything did come back negative :) These tests are not 100% accurate so cont to pray for a healthy baby. We have another ultrasound in the next two weeks, we are not finding out the sex despite what Thom says. My rationale... I am the one giving birth and I need something to look forward too!

My babies are all grown up!
Planned Hollies 17th birthday party! Feeling bad that I never planned a friend party for Lauren since we went to Hawaii and Pats wedding. Then last birthday for Hollie we did the big sweet sixteen and took Hollie to Disneyland ?? So I am going to have to find a way to make it up to Lauren. Hollie's 17th birthday we are going to the Harry Potter exhibit with six friends (I did limit friends this year), then we will take them out to dinner, and go see the new Harry Potter release at the IMAX theater. Family birthday will be on her actual birthday. Every day that weekend will be busy with the parade, thanksgiving, birthday's.

Hollie had her Fall band concert of course sounded wonderful, love going to the Highschool performances. She is done with Pep band performances, so she has her Friday nights back now. Her golf season has ended she had a great time but will not be going on to district.

Lauren has gone to Wenatchee for tournament, performed well but they came in 3rd or 4th place (we did not stay to find out). The familys all stayed at the best western lakeside in Chelan, the hotel was beautiful, huge rooms vaulted ceilings, loved seeing the lake every morning. Lauren is now playing in the Presidents tournament and so far they are winning!

Lauren's cross country track she loved running with the girls on the team but it was not her strongest sport. She is definitly a sprinter, I am proud that she cheered on her team. She finished most races between 6th and 12th place and at district place 63 out of 100.

Thoms courses for next quarter are going to be physics 2, chemistry 1, and calculas 2. Trying to talk him into two classes since he has no filler classes left.

Girls.....Girls.....and Husband

So update Hollie last few golf matches 9 holes scores 58 consistently, Lauren's last soccer game was a win, and her track meet (we had to remind her that she has a cold) she came in sixth out of 20-30 girls. Hollie is loving her junior year and was very excited that the juniors won the spirit week. Hollie has performed with her pep band for two football games and likes her classes. She is going to require a tutor for a class this year since she made it to second year Spanish and I only took first year. Lauren is adjusting to her new school she is now at Columbia Jr High. Our school district is really unusual in that they have a pre- primary (preschool-1st grade), two secondaries (2nd-5th grade), middle school ( 6th and 7th), Jr High (8th and 9th) and then High school. Lauren is doing well in all her classes and has taken up piano this year in addition to her flute. Thom starts school tomorrow he is taking Calculus, physics, and archeology. Good luck to him!

We Are Pregnant!

So Thom and I have debated about having another child for the last three years. We love being parents but with the girls already in their teen years we were unsure whether or not we wanted to start all over. We have been hosting nieces and friends with babies over the last year to make sure or to talk our selves out of it?  One month before I turned 36 I said I did not want to be pregnant after 36 and we better make a final decision. I had been running and pushing to lose weight, this apparently changed the cycle and my count was off. Our conversation we found out was pointless the last week of July.

Now 12weeks along we are happy to announce that we are having a baby! I have had terrible morning sickness (all day) starting back the first week of August and it is just now getting better. Never had any morning sicknees with the girls so of course I am thinking that this was not a good idea. Thom and the girls are very excited though. We just had our second appt the ultrasound picture of the little alien is not clear as it was flipping around and around not willing to stop. I assure you that the head was attached with all four extremities. We are not finding out the sex of the baby and will be delivering at Swedish. 

Hawaii

Hawaii 2010

Hanama Bay for Snorkling, girls did great, Thom is a fish, I freaked out could not get the breathing, saw one fish. The kids and Thom saw hundreds of colorful fish....

Family, missing from pic is Sean's family they had to fly home saturday.

Pearl Harbor was an amazing experience loved the tour guide. The girls even enjoyed all the ships.

Our family on the beach, we went to a luau and when we got off the tour bus they gave you a lei. Well the boy (probably 22yrs old?) kissed Hollie on the cheek after placing the lei around her neck and she blushed so big.... It was the highlight of my trip.

Melissa and I at dinner.

Pat (my brother) and Michelle.

Thom got up and did the Hula

My morning child and my not so morning child.

Lauren 12yrs old

Hollie 16 yrs old on the beach where we watched the fire works.

Summer 2010

Hollie back to school 2010 16yrs old

Lauren back to school 13yrs old (posed for every pic)

Roadrunners win the tournament! Lauren played the entire last game with no substitution and she was pastey whenit was over.

Her usual self!

Laurens birthday was at the park, it was very warm that day! Lauren had a good time but wished she could have had a friend party.

Some of the excited people, that attended.

I just loved this pic of Kris and I at Laurens birthday

Hollie and her dog

We had the nieces over twice, was a lot of fun.

A great pic I found from last christmas....

Hollie's Band Concert Spring 2010

Camping at Sunlake 2010

Sun Lakes 2010

Our family went camping over in Eastern Washington this last weekend with about six other families. This is one of our favorite summer activities and I was sad to have to come back. We went to Sun Lake State campground just outside of Ephrata, Wa. As children both Thom and I's families would spend summers out at this lake. The last time I had been there was when Hollie was one for a family reunion so it was nice to get back.

Friday was a long day, of course we left at 6pm peak traffic time for the Memorial Holiday. A half hour into our trip the truck broke down :( We did finally get to our destination. It was beautiful warm sunny during the day and at nights it had the Eastern Wa winds. Saturday we had a huge breakfast and then played Volley ball, Lauren and Natalie went off to hang at the docks (what all the teens did), Hollie and Alexa went for a walk around the park. We took the kids and rented paddle boats.... The girls loved being out on the water. They we sprayed with water on purpose by the jet ski's and then the boys took out a boat and they chased each other. Yes, there was a little flirting on the 12year old part.... Not ready for the youngest to grow up. We had mexican night for dinner and played Liars dice. Sunday we had a mini golf championship and then went out on Craigs boat. Thom jumped from a 20 ft cliff into freezing water he couldn't catch his breath on the way up, so the rest of us would not get in that water.

Hollie stayed for an extra day while the rest of us headed home. I had to work on Monday for the PACU. The drive home was considerably better. Will post pics as soon as I can.

Lauren's Wa State HX Fair

Lauren had her Washington State History Fair on Tuesday the 25th of May. She was assigned Camas, Wa which apparently was known for paper productions. So the goal of the fair was to give the best presentation and to get the most parents to vote for your booth. They had to go up to random parents introduce themselves and invite them to come learn about their city. Lauren's team offered parents swedish fish but I am not sure how this tied into the city. They also did a quiz for parents to try. It was cute but they could have done better in preparing.

Afterwards the kids Thom and I met up with other parents from the function at Ranchito's a Mexican place we all love. It was great to just enjoy the wonderful community we are raising our kids in. We ended up inviting all the school parents to one table and the kids to a few tables. Scary how the kids out number us!

Good Bye Party

I realize this is not the best picture but I was so busy enjoying the party I did not take pics with the real camera (sign of a good party). Sandie, Beth Leahy, and the girls planned a goodbye party for me as I move on to the next chapter in my life. We went to the Chalet Bowling alley in Proctor district of Tacoma. Loved it! I am a terrible bowler...Really bad my best score in the past was a 77. I did not get any better! So starting left Karin, Sandie, and Delmas are just a few of my work friends who actually OWN their bowling balls. I was going to be laughed at but that was part of the fun!

Sandie organized a poker bowl. I was able to pair up with the player of my choice since every strike or spare you would get a card. Who ever had the best poker hand at the end of the 10 frames won the pot. We played two rounds I never won the pot :(

My co-workers Sandie, Beth, and Karin gave me a beautiful fresh water pearl braclett. I really work in the best department in the hospital.

Weekend Update

This weekend was crazy! Friday we went to a fundraiser for Kenzie's Younglife retreat. We played volleyball against other families in the non competative league. Our team below starting left Brittney (friend from Laurens soccer team), Olivia (soccer team and family friend), Kenzie (same as olivia), Lauren, Hollie, and Kelly (also family friend and soccer team). We only had three adults! Myself, Thom, and Kris. We were the only people with children and we did lose each set.

So Saturday at 0700 we all woke up at 0630 to go work the fundraiser garage sale for Lauren's soccer team. The girls pitched in and were a big help. Lauren and Hollie got a lot of clothes from the sale. Apparently our team has great taste in clothes. Papa Murphy's in Milton gave us 20.00 off our lunch cost so a big thank you to them (I had the girls write a thank you). The garage sale did well and afterwards I had Anna and Amelia over for an overnight! (see below)

Sunday Lauren went to run with Taya, her sister, and the HS track coach at 0800. Hollie spent the night at Lexa's house and we had Anna and Amelia until noon. Lauren had a project that is due tomorrow so she headed over to Brittney's house after running 5 miles. I went over after my neices were picked up. The Brittney and Lauren had us video tape their project and after some tweaking we left at 3pm. Thom picked up Hollie and made lunch.

Then the girls and I went to see the movie Letters from Juliet with Kris and her girls. It was a wonderful movie. I am such a hopless romantic. I love these girly movies and esp. going to see them with friends. We ended up bumping into Arica and her girls.

It was a very busy weekend but thankfully fun too. This week will be long we all work or go to school Mon- Friday and then after that on Monday we have the MB Softball game, Tuesday Lauren has her Wa State History fair, Wed. I have my goodbye party after work, Thursday I am on call, and Friday we leave for Camping.

I really need to take a vacation from my life! I know I over schedule but I still have about four friends that I need to spend time with and my wonderful family. Thankful in two weeks I go back to 12hr shifts so I only work 3 days a week!

Love to all

Night time fun

I love little feet in womens shoes! The girls took out my heels and were trying to walk in them.

Amelia came up to Uncle Thom and told him that he got caught driving with out his drivers license! She and Anna were there to take him to Jail (giggling the entire time). Thom being the great uncle went along with this.

The shoe closet Jail!

They are locking him in with Lauren's funraiser cards that they wrote their names on as badges! We had fall out with Lauren about this but promised her those would be dad and I's cards. If you look closely Amelia can not stop laughing as they are shutting the door.

Uncle Thom's fingers trying to get free! When they opened the door I got a picture.

We watched Shrek the movie and ate popcorn with M&M's . The girls spent most of the movie acting out the dancing, fight scenes, and repeating lines they liked. Favorite line for both of them, " In the morning I am making waffles." I read stories to help ease transition to bed. Yeah that didn't work it is hard to go to sleep when you have someone next to you. We started at 0930 and I went in every 20 mins to remind them it was bedtime. At 1130 I finally decided to give the choice go to bed now or in five minutes one of them was going to be sleeping in Hollie's room. Hollie of course is spending the night at a friends house. 1145 I went up and they were asleep.