Lauren family party

Lauren is now 16 ! We celebrated with family at our house in Fife. Nana, Opa, Papa, and family friends Robbi and Clay with their kids Alexa and ryan were there. Lauren loves to help bake cakes and we chose to try a pink lemonade cake this time. Probably would have turned out better had we not gone to alki all day :) Dad was able to get out of work by 830 pm -we were not expecting him til 9:30.... We are so lucky to have a great kid !

Lauren really wanted her Lettermans jacket. She had worked some what hard and made it to State in Track/Lettered in track. They put it on rush order and we had it prior to her birthday. She loved it! So proud.

Nathan 2 yrs has figured out that he can get to the cake and swiped some:)

Lauren is 16 - wow

Ragnar

I completed Ragnar :) 17.3 miles

Our teams number

Loved all 3 circles were completed

Van 1

My last leg

My first leg

My second leg

Styles of shoes we wore :)

Nursing School

We have not been together as a group since graduation. Holly is expecting her first baby, Laura has had 3 babies, Mary has the one, Jolene has had two children since we have graduated. It was great to see how everyone has been doing. Laura and Mary have girls the same age. Jolene and Laura have boys the same age. All the children were well behaved and shared toys nicely. The celebration was held at Jolene's- very generous of her. She did the subs. 

Getting ready for Ragnar

We have decorated our van :) remaining decor tomorrow! Super excited and scared! We leave at 0400 tomorrow!

Backyard

Why is it I have waited this long to through a blanket on the grass and lay under the tree? Nate is playing in his sand box and Lauren is practicing her cartwheels for cheer! I am stretching and enjoying the sight of the children. Hollie is talking to her friend Alexa. 

Summer time

Loving my mommy time with the kids we spent the day getting Lauren's letterman jacket, I had lunch with Mary Capouya - she helped me get Hollie job interviews and we play softball together. I came home Nate woke and we built tracks out back - very relaxing :)

Work group

Picture of the group I worked with this last weekend. Picture was taken and sent to Yo who was out on medical leave. Bob is the newest member of the group and can make us laugh- great sense of humor. It was a fun weekend.

Britany and Krystal below. Above starting on the right Bob, Becky, Scott, Julie, Leah, Maria, and Robyn. Titles not added because we are a team:)

As the economy has turned and with health care going through many changes Multicare is cutting our benefits. We work very hard and have the worst health care coverage. We have a terrible retirement package and no pay raise. Co workers and I went out for informational strike.

Jen - little Cora and Courtney work with them in Ed

The last three months of babies with a set of twins. We have had a huge baby boom at multicare.

Becky with miss Lily on the way ! Worked with her in PACU and Ellie worked with on the floor.

Starting right Nicole wk with on the floor, Terri has wk at marybridge  x 32 yrs I worked with her on the union went to conference together and in the PACU, Amy I wk with on the floor. 

Hopefully we will get an ok contract.  

A difficult ten minutes

July 10th I get off work early as I slept horribly the night before. I had several stressful dreams and then got sucked in to an old movie. I took off early the next day from  work at 3pm. I took Lauren to soccer practice( very ready for her to have her license). Nate and I went to Safeway. I let Nate do a lot. He knows how to swipe my debit card and enter my pin. I give him the keys to the truck and let him unlock. We unload the groceries and watch the fireman who were in line behind us load up the fire truck and drive off. I go to put Nate in his car seat he drops the keys off to the side and they fall into his diaper bag. I buckle him in and normally would climb up and over him to retrieve the keys. Well I dug a big long hole the day before and so I decide to go around to the other door to get the keys of course shutting Nates door. If course the door is locked. I was calm but my heart rate was up it is a sumner day middle of July with no spare key. I called 911 those same guys came back with sirens ( even more humiliating) it took them a bit but they were able to get the car open. Nate remained calm throughout the entire event. He followed directions well. While we were waiting for the fire truck I had him unlatch his top part of the seatbelt and try to get the keys, of course he couldn't reach. When we got him out of the car he had beads of sweat but was otherwise fine. Of course will not ever let him have the keys again and I am pretty sure that I know lose the mother if the year award. I am pretty sure I will be nominated for the Darwin's award:( 

Moms day with the kids

Tuesday July 9th - took all the kids to Point Defiance Zoo. Nate and Hollie are both big animal lovers. The zoo for me gets transformed in to something magical when I see it through their eyes. I have had our membership about two years now and have never seen the main stage show. It was impressive. They had the volcher swoop close to our heads. All the animals came out but they were really actors in this play they have put together. Lauren and I both laughed and enjoyed it as much as the other two. At the end they asked for donations to a wildlife preserve. In turn you could get on stage and pet the animal. I am always telling the girls when you want to get something from me it is all in how you present your case and to always choose your words wisely. Selecting the wrong word or not thinking through how you phrase something may negatively impact what you want to accomplish. The way the zoo put on this show and the percentage of the audience that made donations was very impressive! 

Here are the kids Lauren 15 Nate 2 and Hollie 19   

We went home after the zoo, put Nate to bed and got on our work clothes. The side of the house has a spot that collects water. The girls and I put on 3 hours of hard manual labor. We dug a trench as pictured. We were very proud of this, it was back breaking work! We placed two inches of rock followed by a large French drain. We laid landscaping cloth over the drain and added dirt to level it out. To celebrate our accomplishment we went out for dinner and ice cream :) 

Our weekend

Nathan- In the last month he learned to walk backwards. The last few days this is his favorite mode of transportation. He does not like the sprinkler or being splashed in the face with water. We continue to work on his colors. He loves to have books read to him, we spent 45 mins this evening reading straight. He loves to be outside and helping with chores. He takes pride in working.

Hollie- spent time with Alexa at her house. She went to the gym and asked about a volunteer position. She interviewed at Multicare for a greeter position. They currently do not have an opening but will keep her in mind. She is going to the unemployment office tomorrow to try and get help finding a job. I love her resilience and remind her that there will be a job for her, we just have to find it.

Lauren- She is going to have a busy year this year. She spent the weekend on Friday had Lacy over to stay the night. They went to Menchies (frozen yogurt place), did nails, played dance game, chased the boys in the neighborhood :) Saturday she went over to Nate's (BFF) they went for a run on the Milton trail, they played video games, and just hung out. Sunday was sister time :)

Thom and Leah- spent time together ! We took a drive and played board games. Thom insisted on challenging me to Scrabble so I beat him. He then asks for a rematch- I beat him again!  So what do you think about best out of 3? Yes I do believe I won yet again. :) We planned the back yard and are looking at buying a car.

My own down falls

I will be participating in the Ragnar run in less than 15 days. I am not ready by any means and have a fair amount of anxiety about letting my team down. I have several projects that I need to complete at work with another upcoming meeting fast approaching. I also have anxiety about. I am so afraid of failing or letting others down that I do not complete the task and make excuses. I have normally kept this under check however in the last year it seems to be worse. Why do I feel that I have to do it perfectly? I have no idea. It is frustrating. Then to watch Lauren also have the same issue? How did she learn this from me? Ugh need to develop a plan to change this behavior. I have looked into some behavior therapists for Lauren and then some one for me. The funny thing is -I dont want to be perfect or the example? I just want to be fun, relaxed, and carefree.

July 5th

Took the girls and Nate to NW Trek. Hollie and Nate love seeing the animals. Lauren not so much. I love the wooded trails but feel that the small animal exhibits are not well maintained. Nate loved the tram we got on the 1:00 so he fell asleep about half way through. I loved getting to hold him while he napped. It is a rarity at best just before bed we rock but as soon as he yawns he asks to be laid in his crib. I did not have a stroller with us, Nate walks everywhere. We cut our trip short, I carried him to the car. Where he woke during transfer and remained a ray of sunshine for the rest of the day :) I am very lucky most children do not wake well. Animals we saw included grizzly bear, bison, rams, deer, moose, and a raccoon.  Probably won't go back for a bit, it was costly and animal exhibits were not as nice. Although Mike the tram tour guide was great.

Girls trip to Alaska

The girls hopped a plane up to AK to visit grandma and pa Evans. They stayed at the river house in Salcha. Activities included shopping, horseback riding, and going on the lake. They tried to teach Lauren and Hollie how to drive a stick. Hollie backed out but Lauren picked it up. She did great however according to the grandparents it was a bit scary at first. She had a moose cross her path and wouldn't move. They stayed 5 days and had dinner with all the family. They loved getting to see everyone. Sounds like it was a good trip.