Sarchet Family Blog

Cutest Shoes Ever!

2012-02-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

I had to get these little boots when I saw them!

I was going to a baby shower for a little boy. How cute are they!

I am so glad they have cute stuff for boys now. Love it!

Tech Night at my house!

2012-01-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

Had a great time with Rebecca and Sydney!

2012-01-25T19:01:00.000-08:00

Last week the kids prayers came true! Snow!

We actually had a small blizzard.

I really did not think that it would last longer than a day!

The kids had Monday off as a holiday and then the snow started. I was so mean and made them go to school on tuesday. Even though they were thinking the snow was going to start that day. Vincent texted me from school when it started snowing and said "he did not feel safe". What kind of statement is that! I come to find out that the teachers told him that if they did not feel safe they could go home. Oh my...crazy. We live like two miles and it is mostly flat roads to our house from school. If the worst happened he could walk home. I made him stay at school. Luckily for me the snow did not really stick until that evening. The rest of the week we were out for snow.

It was beautiful! The kids had a great time.

Andrew and Vincent had a fun time snowboarding and sledding down our hill.

As you can see Vincent has his camera on his head. I will try and load one of his videos here also.

Some neighbor kids that collected on our street. They all enjoyed the jump Vincent made.

Gus and Andrew had a fun time in the hot tub and playing in the snow.

Beauty in the Snow!

2012-01-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

I will blog more about the snow soon...but I was so excited to get these fun photo's of one of the hummingbirds in our back yard. He changes colors when he turns his head. Some times he looks just plain and then WOW the bright fushia color is displayed. He seems to be the king of the feeders. Always on watch for other hummingbirds trying to take his nectar. He is very bossy. Sometimes when you go out side he will buzz right close to your face to warn you away. You can hear him clicking at you also. We really enjoy watching them all year round.

For some reason he was posing for me today. Lucky me! I think he was also trying to tell me, not to let the sugar run out!

Blown Glass Collection

2012-01-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

Vincent has been very busy in his Glass Blowing class. I am pretty jealous that Sammamish has such a cool art class! It was not available when I was there.

It has been a while.... not saying how long it has been.

Check out his creations! Don't worry Mom I will send you yours soon.

Sorry it did not make it for Christmas!

Dinner by Vincent!

2012-01-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

I love that Vincent had to make dinner for his homework! It even tasted good! He had to have it documented by photos for his report. And then we gave it a review. So happy he can follow a recipe!

Weddings and Reunions

2012-01-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

December was a busy month!

Christmas and then two cousins weddings. It was so fun to see my cousins on my Dads side back in Washington. I was also able to visit with Candace because her niece married one of my cousins! Scotty Ryan. So now in a really far out way I am related to Candace (Croshaw's maiden name)!

Case & Kristen Cooney

Scotty & Rachel Ryan

Cute flower girls! Ellie Carlson

Krisse-Candace-Julie

It is crazy to see all these kids grown up and getting married! It really makes me feel old. I used to be the babysitter for these guys! But I enjoy them getting married because it brings all my old friends and cousins together! I love a good wedding! So bring it on!

Merry Christmas 2011

2012-01-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Added some pretty blue lights to the tree this year. To match some cool ornaments Vincent made in his Glass Blowing class.

I wish you could see Sandy's face. She is growling at Gary and Vincent. She does not like the sound of paper and was not happy with some of the wrapping paper. She was outside for most of the morning.

Vincent and Andrew both got some Helmet Cameras. Very cool. They tried them out after church.

We all had a great Christmas! Everyone was very spoiled.

It was also nice having Christmas on Sunday. It helped keep everything calm and remembering the true meaning of Christmas at the same time. I wish it was on sunday every year.

I love my Savior and Everything he has done for me!

Christmas Eve Color?

2012-01-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Doing some last minute shopping at Target!

Awesome store.... But anyways....Gary comes up to me and says..."Um I think it is time we do something with your color." Ok really? but I knew he was right...so off to the hair color isle. Gary picked out the color and I was instructed to do it as soon as we got home. So 20 minutes later and I am now a brunet. It think that is what my real hair color is close to. I can't remember.....

Ok I agree it really did look bad!

But my favorite hair dresser is taking time off! Yikes!

I guess I will have to take things into my own hands.

Oh Man I really am looking old.

But getting the grey roots out and one hair color is definitely much better than before.

Hello there.....

Santa Visit Please!

2012-01-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

All I want for Christmas is my boys Santa Photo....Well that is not every thing I want......

I had to beg and plead for the kids to come to the Mall with me and get their photo's taken. I let the boys sit in a chair and play video games while I stood in line for 1.5 hours. But they showed up when it counts.

I had a hard time getting Vincent to smile for me. Ugh...

Did I tell you I had a leak?

2012-01-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

Well the Hot tub had a leak....so we had to have it lifted and then after much arguing and haggling I got the hot tub company to pay for having an acrylic patch done on the floor of the hot tub- well they paid for half of it. They wanted me to ship the hot tub back to them at my expense! Can you believe it. Then they would pay for the fix that way. Like I would pay for shipping! Right....

The patch seems to work. It is not the most beautiful patch but cheaper than a new hot tub!

I also had some surgery last month and it fixed my leak :-) I can now sneeze and not worry about anything!

Botanical Garden Christmas Lights!

2011-12-08T22:28:00.001-08:00

Create your own free scrapbooking design

A fun night at the Bellevue Botanical Garden! We had a great time with David and Rebekah and the girls!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-07T21:28:00.001-08:00

Yeah! New place for Thanksgiving! Davids new house worked out perfect! I see a new tradition in the works. Lots of room, big oven, and you can shoot out the back window! Really!

Great looking bird!

The cooks in the kitchen working hard!

Nothing better than a good game of Operation!

Vincent working hard on a bench for the dinning room table! Just in time!

Happy bunch with a lot of food to eat! It was so yummy! David made some awesome gravy that had caramelized onions in it! YUM! He stuffed the Turkey with onions and it made it so juicy!

Of course the hit of the night was the Janet Rolls. It was fun seeing on face book all my relatives around the country posting that they made Janet rolls also for dinner. Janet will never be forgotten! Love you Janet!

David lives out in the country- well Northbend....close enough. Vincent and Gary brought a few pellet guns to shoot at David's house. But there was a bad rain storm and it was crazy windy. So Vincent put out a few targets in Davids back yard and then went back inside and opened the window and started shooting. David said "Well why not?" and they all had a good time shooting out the window.

Later David and Vincent and Rebekah went to try out Davids new 22 gun. The took a walk in the rain and went to a deserted area and shot a few rounds off. I think it was Davids first time shooting his new gun. Don't they look tough!

We then made a big mess in the clean dinning room making gingerbread houses. I had to give up on mine, it would not stay put together! Ugh!!! The candy was good. :-)

Rebekah made a really good dessert. It was a whipped light lime goodness! Very yummy! Good job Rebekah!

David also made a really good apple pie and pumpkin pie. The crust was awesome! He used Vodka in it...Humm...

Nice work Natalie and Tiffany and Andrew!

Time for a nap! That means it was a good Thanksgiving!

Very thankful for being able to spend the day with some of my family! I missed the rest but we were able to Skype with some of them.

What did you do on 11-11-11?

2011-12-07T17:42:00.001-08:00

11-11-11

Ashley and Scott got married!

What a great time we had celebrating with them on the happy day.

Ashley looked so happy and so Beautiful! Just as I imagined! Truly the Bell of the Ball.

It was fun to see all my syblings at the party! I love getting together with them all! Too bad we are so far away from everyone!

Grandkids together for a photo

Todd and Sharolyn

Scott and Jenn

Westra Family!

David and Rebekah

Julie and Gary

The Reception!

Allison hired a decorating company to dress up the church gym. Looks pretty good! Best I have seen yet. even a chandelier in the middle!

They served cookies and milk at the party. 12 different types of cookies I think and then plain milk and chocolate milk. They were so good! And they displayed the cookies so cleverly and cute. Good job Allison and Ashley!

Red Velvet Wedding Cake was great!

Ashley and Angela!

Cindy Angela Steve

Daddy and Daughter

The crews after decorating the truck! Very cool dudes....

We wish Ashley and Scotty a happy life together! They have a great start for sure with lots of family support. Love you both!

While we were in Vegas we also took the kids to the Beatles "Love" show. It was awesome! The boys loved it. Andrew listens to the Beatles all the time on his iPod. I am so glad we were able to fit the show in.

North Bend Views

2011-10-31T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our trips to North Bend.

The fall colors were great.

I wish I could live down this lane. How fun would that be. I bet it looks great in the summer and winter also. I am sure the gardener is not too happy with the clean up he will have.

Rebekah met me and the boys for a quick family photo. I mean quick. It was a last minute idea to do this. They were not too happy with me. What else is new.

Grandma and Grandpa loved the colors also.

Grandma really likes this little moss bump. It is cute.

I took this photo with my phone of the same moss bump.

North Bend- David & Rebekah

2011-10-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

David and Rebekah bought a new house in NorthBend. Unfortunately when they bought it, it came with some Squaters who did not want to leave. It was hard work to talk them into leaving. David and Rebekah helped them pack and even slipped them some money to leave ASAP. It still took about 10 days but they are gone now. So now the hard work of cleaning up after them and getting rid of a bunch of junk they left behind.

But the house is great and it is going to be Awesome! They have a river behind them and it is going to be a lot of fun in the summer. And the view of Mt. Si is great. They are very close to the base of the mountain. Lots of open space around and beautiful trees. It feels like they are out in the country. Well OK they are.

The front of the house before they were able to move in. We kept driving by to see if they had left yet.

The views from the house!

This is the view from the back yard.

The river behind the house.

Really big leaves all over the place!

Back to School Mom

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be back at school....It does feel a little strange some times. I am going to be studying for a Digital Media Arts degree. I am starting off taking 3 classes: Portfolio class- Graphic Design-American Anthropology. BC has a Running Start program so sometimes I have classes with 16 year old kids. But they can be very helpful. I find most of the boys want to be game designers. Even a few girls do also. I am not sure what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe a Web designer. Not sure.

It is very handy that school is so close. I try and walk if the weather is good. I am also home by the time the kids school is over. So it works out perfect.

Aunt Janet

2011-10-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

I will really miss my Aunt Janet. She left us kind of un expectantly. I will always have fond memories of my her. She was always kind to all of us kids, and there were a lot of us. She was a master of Arts and Crafts and was always willing to make us anything she could.

When I told my nieces that she passed away, they said "You mean Janet who makes the Rolls?" Janet is famous in our family for making super great Rolls. They have become a tradition for every Thanksgiving dinner.

We will all miss her very much. Thanks for everything Janet. I love you very much! But I am very great full to know that you are happy being re-united with her boys and Grandma and Grandpa. What a great time they must be having catching up. Having the gospel in my life gives me so much peace. We will all be together again.

Peace be with you till we meet again!

On the Board Again!

2011-10-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Andrew was very prepared this time!

Vincent found some roller blading protection for Andrew to wear while practicing long boarding. Vincent is really great about including Andrew in things that he likes to do. He is determined to get Andrew comfortable on the Longboard.

Not to sure about the activity, but I do like that they are doing it together!

Vincent the Glass Blower

2011-10-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

I snuck into the school to take some quick pictures of Vincent and Alex blowing some glass. It was so cool. I will post pictures of the finished work soon.

Pretty cool huh! I wish I had that at SHS when I went there! No fair.

Grape Jam!!!

2011-10-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

I figured out what to do with all the Grapes from the back yard.....

Jam Jam Jam!

This is my first time canning Jam all by my self. It was stressful and lots of work. It smelled awesome in the kitchen. I did 7 batches in two days. I had about 40lbs of grapes to use. I think I used most of them. But after the 7th batch I was done. So I did throw away some, well I composted them so not to worry.

If you are in the area- guess what you are getting for Christmas this year! Grape Jam!

I must say I am very proud of my self!

Here are a few steps that I took:

5lbs of Grapes

Smash and cook down the grapes- get bottles clean and hot

Strain Grapes and collect the juice!

Add the sugar and pectin- boil for 1 minute

Kind of scary because it foams up almost to the top of the pot

Ladle jam into jars

Make sure top of jars are clean

Put lids on and hot water bath!

Done!

Grapes from the yard!

2011-10-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Can you believe we found all these grapes in our back yard?

Yes it is crazy! We let the grape vines grow up in the pear tree. The pear tree has been dying for a while now. So we decided why not let the grapes grow there. It made a great trellis for them. But it was a little challenging to pick them so high up.

Now what do we do with them?

Jelly? Juice? Syrup?

I am researching on You Tube for ideas.

Do the Puyallup!

2011-09-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I did the Puyallup with Andrew and his friend Mathias.

I wondered why I had not been there for so long....now I remember. Talk about expensive. Parking, entrance, food and cost of the rides. It was fun, but I don't think I want to spend $9 for a cheeseburger again. There was a lot of fun "people watching" that is for sure.

I guess they did not like this ride....they said it was boring.

The Zipper was a favorite. No way was I getting on it.

Go Vincent

2011-09-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well- I don't think Vincent will stop Longboarding any time soon. My goal is to keep his head covered when he boards.

His friend recently wiped out in our neighborhood. He called me and told me Kallan was hurt. I wish I had taken a picture of poor Kallan when I got home. Vincent had cleaned is wounds and did not have bandaids big enough. So he used napkins and ace bandages and blue sports tape to cover up his wounds. He was pretty proud of him self. Kallans Mom came and took him to the doctor to have his head looked at. All is good- he was fine. A small concussion I think.

Vincent in action...

Senior Photo Time!

2011-09-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to take some fun photos of a couple of cute girls last month.

It was fun to be taking photos of girls and not of soccer. Not that I don't love soccer. But they don't wear cute cloths and smile at you.

How fun and cute are these girls.......? Very!

Here are a few of my favorites:

My Country Cousin

2011-09-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Country Krisse?

Wow have things changed!

Last month we went as a family to Idaho to visit one of my best friends (who happens to be my cousin). Krisse and Kit just finished building their new house (it is awesome!). I will miss having them close by. We were just getting into a good habit of going out to dinner with Jan once a month. Crazy that we lived so close, but we went for a long stretch of not seeing each other. But we will not let that happen again. Even if she did move far away.

This is Krisse today!

What a cutie! She looks so great holding these carrots that she dug up out of her inlaws garden.

This is Krisse in 1986, when we were young. I would have never dreamed back then that she would be living in a town of 600 people. That she would be shoveling manure for her daughters pony (and enjoying it). That she would be working with her own hands, remodeling her old house to sell and working on her new house, inside and out!

Back in 1986- Krisse was great (Fabulous)- but some would say she lived a privileged life. Not that that is bad. Not in any way. I certainly enjoyed it....but i am getting off track. I will just say that Krisse did not know how to put gas in her tank. Way back then, they had full service gas stations. So to see her today I can certainly say "You have come along way Baby! I love you!"

Here are some fun shots of the week end we stayed there.

The cabbage out of the garden was Huge! Bigger than Gary's head even. Ha ha..

Click on these Mosaics to make larger if you like.

Thank you Krisse and Kit! We had a great time!

So much that we really seriously thought of moving there. There is a great piece of property down the street from Krisse's that I fell in love with. Awesome view of the lake and the wet lands. I still think about it, and I have a perfect house picked out for the spot. It never hurts to dream. You never know. I could win the lottery!

Does this look familiar to any one? So many memories when I saw it on her back porch! Love it!

Heart on your Knee?

2011-09-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

I have heard of some one wearing your heart on your sleeve, but wearing it on your knee?

Vincent had a long-boarding accident and we had patched him up with a big band aid. He took it off one day to check it and "Look Ma- I have a heart on my knee!" crazy. It really does look like a heart! How often does that happen?

He was thinking of picking the scab to make a scar, but then decided not a good idea. :-)

He is pretty handsome.

SeaFair 2011 = Blue Angels

2011-08-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Blue Angels

My favorite place to watch the Blue Angels fly is on the I90 freeway.

They close it off and let us stand on the freeway to watch. The only bad part is that they don't let you walk that far down the bridge. Bummers.

Some of my favorite kids and photos of the airplanes.

He's Back!

2011-08-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Oh the Beautiful Game!

Gary is happy again!

He can Jump and Run and Jump some more!

His mens team missed Gary, and he really missed them! I can not say "No" when he wants to play soccer. It makes him so Happy! And a Happy husband makes everyone else HAPPY!

Wow...should I say Happy one more time? :-)

Whoops! Ouch!

No worries, he is alright. We are done having children anyways. :-)

Andrew and I went and watched the game. Well, I think Andrew watched a few minutes. I know my iphone battery was almost dead by the end of the game.

Let it Burn!

2011-08-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Card Burning Bonfire!

One more month left of working. August 28th is my official last day working as a Reverse Mortgage Consultant. It is a sad thing for sure. But I decided to have a card burning party at my house. It was fun to have a few people over that I work with. We all have tons of flyers and cards and misc stuff that is no longer good. I recycled most of it. But I saved a few things to burn. We also made paper airplanes out of some of the flyers and competed to see who could make it into the fire.

I can't wait to see what the next chapter in my working life will bring.

School then a new Job!

???

Mt. Rainier/Extra Snow

2011-08-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Sun finally came out!

"Quick get in the car and lets go see Mount Rainier! "

When the sun comes out we head to the mountains. It has been a very rainy Summer so far. When we can see the sun we some times skip church and head up the mountain as a family. (It does not happen very often) This has been a tradition that started when I was little. I have some great memories of this trek. You really have to take full advantage of the sun when you live in the Northwest. We really needed to get some vitamin D for our bodies and our Soul.

We were able to take one of Andrew's friends, Mathias with us. He is awesome. Fits right in. None of Vincent's friends were available. Oh yeah, he has no friends. :-)

Notice Gary with his Ipad next to the river. Hmm...And Vincent drove for a long ways. But when the roads started to get windy and steep cliffs off the side we swapped him out of the drivers seat. Gary took over, but he never stops where I want him to. Well he did stop a few times for photos. It was the fastest trip on the mountain. With all the snow we did not have places to walk around and look around. It was very crowded at the lodge also.

We drove up the Paradise side of the mountain. I have never seen so much snow this late in the year. Usually by now all the meadows are in bloom and beautiful. I really don't know if all the snow will melt this summer before it starts snowing again. We stopped at Reflection lake and it is surrounded by snow. The kids had fun walking on the snow banks. It made me a little nervous. Not sure if there would be hollow spots that they could fall thru. But all was fine.

Northwest Trek

On our way home we decided to stop at Northwest Trek. We were done so quick on the mountain that it would have been a shame to not go here on the way home.

Lots of animals were out enjoying the sunshine also. It had been a while since we did this trip. The kids enjoyed it. But we do not need to rush back. It was very expensive. So once in a while is fine for this trip.

We will have to give the mountain a little more time to melt all the snow this year. I will be watching for signs of spring up there. :-) I love all the flowers that pop up. So pretty any time of year. Very spectacular even with a small cloud on the top.

Love you Mountain! Hope to see you again soon!

Scout Camp!

2011-08-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Scout Camp!

Gary and Andrew headed our for Scout camp with lots of excitement. Andrew is now 11 years old and can finally go on overnights with one of his parents to camp. He was so excited. But I think he was the most excited about being able to use his pocket knife.

They went to camp Piggot. It was not too far away. That was nice. We thought it was going to be for two or three nights. But it only ended up being one night. Yeah. Gary was very excited about that. Of course we way overpacked. But we packed to three days. Oh well, its all about being prepared.

They ended up having a great time. Gary said it was very posh for a camp. They had some great Tents for them to sleep in, and they cooked all their food for them. My kind of camping. :-)

Cabo 2011-Two Weeks!!!

2011-07-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

Wow- What a Trip.

I must admit I have felt a little overwhelmed by making this post. What to do with over 1200 photos that I took? How do I tell the story of what a great time we had? Two weeks is a lot to cover. And I am sure you all do not want all the details. But I don't want to forget them either. And since I am no good at keeping a journal, this is the closest I get.

Here are some of the highlights of the great time we had.

I will try and cover the Who- What- When & Where at least.

Who:

Gary -Vincent-Andrew-Myself! My parents Joy and Jerry also joined us for a fun 10 days!

What:

Vacation to Sunny Mexico!

When:

Beginning of July 2011

Two weeks were perfect. Lots of time to do activities and hang out at the pool and relax.

Where:

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It is at the tip of Baja California. The Very, very tip!

The Beach

Grandma brought some small kites and the kids had a fun time flying them. They got very high. Andrews took out all the string and Batman went flying out to sea! We watched him fly away for a long way over the ocean. So sorry for littering. We did not do it on purpose. Grandpa was happy with his chipping wedge on the beach. Lots of area for practicing his golf skills. :-)

ATV Riding

in the dessert and then to the Pacific Ocean

We had a great time riding thru a dry river bed and followed it to the Ocean. It led us thru a small cattle ranch that was fun. The bulls and cows did not mind us at all. They just looked at us like we were normal everyday visitors. I guess we were in a way. Lots of old dried up cattle bones along the way. They have not had rain for over two years in this area. But I think they did get some the next day for a couple of hours. Grandpa did great riding on his ATV. Andrew rode with me. He is not stupid. He saw how the other boys drove and decided to stay with me for the whole trip. Gary had a close call on his ATV. He was doing doughnuts and had it tip over. I was very happy that no bones were broken. One boy in our group did break his ankle at the end of the trip doing the same thing. They never learn...

A Day at La Paz.

We drove for about 3 hours to visit the capital of the area. We did get stopped by some armed patrol military men. They did not speak english, so I was glad we had Vincent with us. They had us all get out and they searched the car. Yeah no drugs were found. It helps that there was none with us. I so wanted to take a photo. I had my little camera in my hand even. But I did not want to push my luck with Mexican Military Police. They did not look to friendly.

We found some beautiful beaches that were not too crowded at all.

Puerto Balandra is a huge cove about a mile across. You can walk the whole way across even. The deepest part was about chest deep. Not a lot of coral in the cove. So not too many fish. But warm and fun to swim in. Lots of people were kayaking across.

Telecote was the second beach we went to. What a nice set up it had. It had hardly any tourists there. We were late in the day, so I think what few there were they had left by then. I had suggested we drive to a beach and the car got stuck in the sand. All my fault of course. A nice man helped dig us out. We then went for a short snorkel cruise with him. It was great. We swam with some huge sea lions. It was a little freaky if you asked me. They would swim so close to you they would brush up against your legs unexpectedly. Unfortunetly by then my underwater camera had broken. Lots of fun. It would be nice to go and spend the night in the area to really enjoy the beaches and the town.

Time Share Heaven

We are very lucky to have a few time shares. They let us vacation in style. We also love that they have kitchens and great eating areas. This trip we stayed in two places.

First we stayed at Playa Grande. Great place with fun pools for the kids. Lots of activities to do with the staff. Very fun atmosphere. We did not stay in our normal room this time. As we switched around the dates. We stayed in a great two bedroom right on the Ocean. Loved it.

Second we stayed at a brand new place called Grand Solomar. They are still not done building the resort yet. We bought it last year before they had the first phase finished. It was a gamble, but it looked great from what we could tell then. We were right. Very high end and fabulous. All the room look out to the ocean. The pools were very nice. All with those fancy infinity edges looking out over the ocean. It really was top notch. We all felt very spoiled. We had a huge two bedroom with a hide-a-bed for Vincent.

Pool Time

We had a great small pool right out side of our building. We could look out to it from out porch. We met some very nice people at the pool. Couples from Texas and Georgia and California were our favorites. We all got along great. Later in the week a few ladies joined us and made some waves that the pool was for adults only. Well no signs were up yet. Everything is so new. But by the end of the week they had them up and the boys had to stop going to this pool. Always a few bad apples in the group. But we only had a few days left and the other pools were awesome also.

The Beach

Our timeshares are on the Pacific Ocean side of Cabo. The beaches in our area are not safe to swim in. It is even against the Mexican law to swim in them. Every year a couple of people die from the strong currents and rip tides. This year the surfers were coming to our beach. They were fun to watch. But hard to keep telling your kids, you can watch but you can not join them. Just too scary for me. Also the hotel security would not let the patrons go. Eventually the Marine Police came and made them all leave.

Dolphin Discovery

This was our first time doing this adventure. 25 minutes away in the Marina Puerto Los Cabos is a great new Dolphin pen. In is located in the ocean water and not in a tank like some of the Dolphin places. I was not crazy about supporting dolphins in that environment. I am hoping that this pen in the ocean is a better environment. We had an awesome time. You can tell all of the people who work there really loved the animals. I will do this again for sure. So fun!

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/los_cabos/los-cabos-location-overview.asp

We had a great great trip.

Zip Lining and snorkeling were lots of fun. No accidents with Jelly fish this year. Yeah! I was a little nervous and wore a long sleeve swim shirt a couple of times, just in case.

I am so glad my Mom and Dad were able to join us on this trip. We have been going here for many years. I would often wish my Mom and Dad were here to enjoy watching the waves with me. I got my wish this year. I am so glad they loved the waves as much as I thought they would. My Dad would sit on the porch and eat his breakfast every morning and watch the waves. They were really fabulous. Gary was not too happy with all the noise the waves made at night. He tried earplugs for a couple of nights even. It was really loud.

All in all I wish it never had to end.

I wish I could bring everyone I love to this great place.

One of the things I love about this place is that I am with my family and the sun shines everyday! We need that coming from the Northwest. Very very badly.

My goal is next time I visit I will know a little more spanish. :-)

I love my Daddy!

2011-06-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

Thank You Dad!

You have been a great Father. I feel very lucky to be your Daughter!

One of our family traditions was that when you turned 13 you got to go on a special date with Dad. At least all the girls did. Not sure what the boys did. It was very exciting. As a child of a large family (9) we did not get to go out very often. Snoqualmie Falls Lodge was a very fancy restaurant. They were known to have a great breakfast. I remember it was "Honey in the sky" or something like that. We had window seats and could see the falls perfectly. It was a very special day for me. I was also old enough to get my ears pierced. :-)

As of father of 9 you did a great job.

Recently Dad has become a camera bug. He loves to take photos! I love that also as you know. This is a typical photo of my Dad now. Camera and his water with him. If he had a golf club nearby the photo would be complete.

Thank you for being such a great Grandpa to my boys. When they were little they loved to follow him around and try and fix things with him. My boys love to be with Grandpa. Thank you for loving my boys!

The boys are very excited to see Grandpa and Grandma at Cabo in a couple of weeks.

Love you Dad! See you soon!

xxooxox

Andrew Graduates from Elementary School!!!

2011-06-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

Andrew is now a 6th grader!

He is out of Elementary school. Kind of sad. It is a great time of life.

No more Recess and having a single teacher for all your subjects.

The school put on a short Graduation ceremony for the kids. They have 3, 5th grade classes at his school. They picked two kids from each class to give a speech. Andrew's two good friends were picked. James and Sujeri. They did a great job. Then the teachers had the kids pick 3 words to describe their classmates with. They used the 3 words in the ceremony when calling up the kids to graduate.

It was fun to see the different personalities represented. I tried to upload a video, but it did not work. Uhg... Andrews words to describe him were: Funny, Calm and a Four Square Expert.

They also had one of the students sing. The back up music did not work, so she sang with out it. She did great. I think her name is Daisy. They also had a slide show for the kids. Highlights of the year and then of course baby pictures and photos of them today. Very cute, the kids loved it. Lots of fun music and some of them even danced during the show. Andrew did his belly roll for the crowd also. He got a big laugh out of that. :-) Silly boy, he said it was so appropriate as they were playing a Shakira song.

After the ceremony they had a little cake set up for the kids. As the kids left the gym the parents set up a archway for them to run thru. They loved it. Huge smiles on the kids faces!

Andrew loved his teacher! She was great! Miss Ottesen. I do agree with him. She was a Super teacher. Andrew really improved this year. She really helped support him and help him grow. She will be getting married very soon. We are all very happy for her. Thank you!

Unexpected Conference Call!!! Ugh!!!

2011-06-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Wells Fargo, Largest Reverse Mortgage Lender to Exit Retail

Business [Update]

http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2011/06/16/wells-fargo-largest-reverse-mortgage-lender-to-exit-retail-business/

Well it is official....I am out of a job! So sad!

I have loved working my job for over 4 years. I have met the most amazing people! And have really helped out so many people and their families. Such a shame that this service will not be available too much longer. I can take applications up to the end of June. Then I will be working to be sure they close.

Everyone was very surprised and shocked that this happened! I am very grateful that Gary's job is secure and going well. I am also grateful that I was able to do this great job for so long. It really has been awesome. I will really miss this job. It was very rewarding.

My team mates of RMC's have been super fantastic! We all worked together so well. Every one shared their knowledge and wanted to see each other succeed! We would often get together and share ideas. If I ever needed anything I was always confident that some one would answer my email or give me a call. From my Area manager to my co-workers we really worked as a team. Senior's well being was always our top concern. Seeing the relief come to their life was really some thing else.

I think I will plan on taking the summer off and spend time with the kids. I will be looking around for my next awesome job. I think it will be hard to find something as rewarding and fun as this job has been. Being a flexible sales person has been nice also. I was really able to make my own hours and be their for my kids. I am super grateful for that. Being a Mom is the most important job ever. I was lucky to be available to them when ever they needed me on a moments notice.

Thank you Wells Fargo!

It was great working for you!

Seattle Center Field Trip

2011-06-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Friday was a fun day with Andrew and some of his class mates. All of the kids who volunteered for leadership positions like- Patrol or Recycle collectors or other school groups got to go for a trip to Seattle Center for a Reward. I quickly volunteered for this trip. It was so nice to be with a group of kids who are responsible and respectful of others. They really were the cream of the crop! We had no problems with kids. No worrying about what they were going to do.

They had a photography scavenger hunt set up for the kids. We literally ran all over the Center looking for places from the clues that they were given. It was very good exercise for the chaperones! We were all out of breath at the end.

The weather held out and it did not rain! It would have been nice to be sunny, but it was not too bad.

The kids were so excited to get to the fountain! We all ate lunch around it and then the kids were let loose in the water! A lot of then had swim suits on under cloths and had towels ready. A little crazy, but they loved it. I don't think any of them stayed dry. It was fun to watch!

Kind of sad that Andrew is in 5th grade now. No more field trips like this. Middle school does not do a lot of Field trips.

It had been Years since I had been up in the Space Needle. It was fun to see the sights and see how the kids enjoyed it. It is a pretty expensive thing to do as a family. I would say that over half the kids had never been up to the top before. And it will probably be a long time before they go again. It was a great Reward for them all.

Good job Lake Hills PTSA!

High School Soccer Done!

2011-05-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

Vincent had a great season with his High School soccer team. He started playing on the Junior Varsity team and loved it. He got lots of playing time and they won a lot of games. All of the boys on the team are great. It was a lot of fun to watch them play.

Toward the end of the season he was asked if he wanted to join the Varsity team. He decided to finish playing with the JV team and also move up to Varsity. He was able to play half a game with JV that way he stayed eligible for Varsity. The Varsity team was doing really well and that was great, but it meant a lot of time for Vincent on the bench. Oh Well....it is fun to be on a winning team, and play with the big boys.

SHS JV Team

They had a fun time playing with the SHS Alumni.

This is a fun shot of the boys when they knew they had won Kingco and beat Mercer Island!

Vincent making a goal and the Goalie is very upset. Poor guy!

Dad and Andrew trying to stay warm at a very wet game. We had a few of those for sure.

SHS Varsity won Kingco Conference! Very exciting for the boys. Yeah!

Off to a quarter final game in Camas Washington. It is right next to Vancouver WA. About a 3 hour drive. The boys left early on Friday and spent the night in town so they would be ready for the big game. I drove a group of boys down and then Gary came down later after work.

They have a really nice stadium for the High School.

I had never heard of Camas before. But it is a very small town with really good sports teams. And the whole town shows up for the game. I don't think there is a whole lot to do there. :-)

The boys ready to go.

It is hard to watch on the side lines when you know you have no chance of playing.

SHS gave it a good try. But they could not get a goal in the net. It was a very physical and fast paced game. They ended up losing the game. It was very hard on the boys. I felt so bad for them. They really tried hard and work so hard to get here.

But I am proud of them. They won Kingco and will be there again to beat them next year. :-)

They ended up wining the State Championship this year.

My Birthday Trip!

2011-05-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

This year for my birthday I was invited to attend a scrap-booking retreat.

I usually only go once a year in February. There is a group of women that go 4 times a year. If they have a cancelation they open it up for others to join. I was lucky to be invited and it worked out that the timing was right for me to go. My Awesome Husband gave me a great present of being able to attend this trip again. My boys also let me leave them again. Hard to do, but it was so much fun. I even got a little exercise in while I was there this time. Thanks Jen and Julie for pushing me up that huge hill! I thought I was going to die.

First stop is getting to the Ferry Boat to take you to Whidbey Island. It just happens to have and Ivars next to the boat launch. It is so great to grab a quick fish and chips to go and enjoy it on the short Ferry ride in the car! Yum!

A crazy neighbor has these signs on her fence. She is in a dispute with another neighbor. I liked this one "You Cant Fix Stupid"!

The group shot - not the best photo- but I did not take it. I think there is a better one out there somewhere.

My group had a Theme as Joni's Subs after her families Subway shop that she grew up in. Of course our meal was the best!

One of the groups had the Royal Wedding as a theme for dinner. They dressed up as part of the royal family.

One of our Moon Light Ladies (MLL) is currently going thru chemo treatments for cancer. She has been having friends that come and sit with her during treatments make pieces of a quilt. So while I was there we all made some pieces and started to put them together for her. It will be her survivors quilt when it is all done. We are happy to hear that her last scan came out clear! The prayers for her have been working! We love you Deb!

That darn board struck again!

2011-05-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Vincent so loves his longboard that he wanted to share his love with his little brother. Well the love was not enough to keep his little brother safe. Andrew also fell off the board and got pretty scraped up.

Poor Andrew, he was doing ok until he saw the blood getting worse not he arm, then it really set him off when he saw that his side had gotten scraped up also. All of a sudden he got really pale and his face started to bead up with sweat and he said " I think I need to sit down". We quickly got him sitting down, then got him bandaged up quickly. He felt much better when he could lay down with a cold cloth to his head. What a cute boy.

He is usually much more cautious than his older brother. But every once in a while Vincent rubs off on him.

The Royal Wedding

2011-05-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

What kind of person gets up at 2am to watch a wedding on TV?

A wedding for people you have never met, and likely will never meet in the future.

Me!

Call me crazy, but I was so excited to watch the Royal Wedding on TV. I would have loved to have gone to see it in person. But it was not good timing. Gary had just gotten back from a trip to England a few weeks before the wedding. Andrew and Gary went to see his parents.

While Gary was in England I had him search out for Wedding memorabilia. He said he could not find too much. I think it was still a little early for all of the stuff to hit the stores, or they were sold out. Denise helped Gary find some fun stuff. Some banners to hang up, flags with Will and Kate on it. I asked Gary to find me an english hat to wear. But he came home with a hat that looks like a mini flag/umbrella. Very fun, but not quite what I was looking for. I am sure I will use it one of these days.
He did find a very nice crystal glass that was made for the wedding. So nice...I have it on display next to my wedding photos of my ancestors.

I took these photos of my self dressed up in my best bathrobe for the big event. Silly I know, but it was fun. I loved the Wedding dress and all of the fancy hats. Seeing all the people arrive for the wedding. The Abbey looked great with the trees inside. Ok I really loved everything about this wedding. I could go on and on, but then I would sound even crazier that I look right now. I still have it saved on my DVR. Not sure when I will have time to watch it again. But I would love to curl up some time on the couch and see everything over again. Maybe one day...that is if Gary does not delete it.

I remember staying up to watch Princess Diana and Prince Charles get married. I had been babysitting and they got home really late. I was able to watch the beginning of it while at the house waiting for them to come home. It was Awesome also. I told my mom about this and she said she remembers watching the wedding when Queen Elizabeth got married. That is so cool! I guess it runs in the family! And I also think that every girl thinks about being a princess in a royal wedding. The ultimate wedding fantasy! So I am glad that they had such great coverage of the event for all of us romantics to watch.

Ok Enough is Enough I know. Gary has stopped reading this blog along time ago. Sorry Babe!

Yikes...Vincent crashed on Longboard!

2011-05-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hello- Let me just say "I told him so". You really should not go down the steep hill - you might get hurt. Some may say that it is my fault Vincent got hurt. Because I put the doubt in his mind that he could get hurt. But I really think that he got hurt because he had switched boards with a friend and was not used to the wheels.

I feel bad that he got hurt, but happy that he was not hurt worse. It was just a flesh wound. He was a little uncomfortable at soccer for the next few days. I was able to wash out the wound and wrap him up good. I seem to be pretty good at bandages. I wonder why?

Some do not learn a lesson. He was out skating 10 minutes later.

Sweet 16? Vincent

2011-05-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Vincent! 16!

I have am so lucky to be your Mom!

We are so proud of you. You have grown up to be such a nice young man.

For Vincent's birthday we decided to go to a new Brazilian Steak house in Factoria. Well, I will not publish the name as I am not sure I will go again. The price for dinner was way way too much. I am sorry but 60.00 dollars a person is crazy. I know you can eat all you want and the food tasted great. But we were very disappointed that they did not have grilled Pineapple. This is really something that you expect to have at a Brazilian restaurant. I am not sure what they are thinking of charging that much and then not having this available.

I am very glad that we did not check the price while eating. I don't think that gary could eat if he knew that.

Oh Well Vincent you are worth it!

Deception Pass! Ditch Day!

2011-05-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Some times when the sun is out and your sister is in town- you just need to say "Lets go!"

I was able to talk all of my boys into joining us on an outing. And I think they all had fun!

We spent the day at Deception Pass at Rosario Park.

David and Natalie came for the fun and my cousin Craig came also with his 3 boys! That was a fun surprise- they are real troopers to come at the last minute and drive about 3 hours to join us! Awesome!

Allison and I loved all the moss on this tree! She is not used to seeing moss- she is a desert girl now.

I just thought this tree was really cool!

One of our favorite things to do when sitting on a beach is to put out a bucket and try and throw rocks into it. Weird, but it can keep you entertained for a long time.

This made my day! I love it when I can get a family shot! Pure happiness for me! I love my boys!

What a handsome son I have!

What a fun family I have! I wish we could get together more often!

For some reason I just really love this bridge. Many years of great memories are related to this bridge and the beauty of the area is tremendous.

Craig and his boys! They have grown up so fast! We missed Mauri a lot on this trip. We will be sure she makes it not the next outing!

Three of the Nine together! We missed all of our other siblings! Love you all!

One day we will be together again.

Field Trip - State Capital

2011-04-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gone on a Field Trip to your state Capital?

When I heard about Andrew's class going I was like....I would love to go! I do not remember going myself. Well maybe I had gone....but I don't remember it. So when they needed Chaperones, I was all for it. Even when they needed me to drive kids in my own car, no problem. They had two classes going and not enough room for everyone. Kind of sad, that they only had one bus available. But I am happy to help out when ever I can. Most of the kids are really good. There is always a few ...... Andrew's teacher is very good with them all.

I really liked the dome....It is huge.

The kids love seeing all the police men in the building. They had a huge demonstration the week before. With people camped out on the floor out side the Goveners office.

We had a great tour guide. You could tell she had been doing this for a long time. She knew just how to take care of the trouble makers. Get them involved. I loved it.

I loved seeing all the cool details in the building. I wont bore you with the all.

They had a mock trial for the kids in the Supreme Court room. Andrew got to play a Defending attorney and they went thru a real trial that had happened in that court room. The kids really payed attention and got involved. It was great to see. Good job tour guides!

Some of these books were from 1854! I was really surprised they kept them uncovered. Records of the trials. I was impressed. Very cool.

We watched the lawmakers at work.

This Chandelier is huge....You can fit a small car in the middle of it. It is 29 feet wide in the middle.

I had a great time. Thanks! I am glad this building is open to the public. Washington is a great State!

Daffodils and Tulips!

2011-04-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to Mount Vernon and see what was blooming. The Annual Tulip Festival had started but as you can tell the weather is still cold. So most of the tulips had not yet bloomed. But that was ok because I usually miss the Daffodils. We had perfect timing for most of the daffodil fields.

We did get kicked out of this first field. The farmer had left the gate open for his workers, but we saw it as an open invitation to visit. Well they told us other wise. But that was after we had taken some photos. So we just packed up and went to find another field. The next we found was even better! They were so bright and the color seems a richer yellow. ??

I think we had good timing also, because not too many people were out in the field.

I do not understand how they can post no parking and no trespassing signs in the fields that are in bloom right next to the street. Do they not want us to visit, and buy stuff in the shops. As you can tell this bothers me. They only have two fields set up for taking photos. And they make you pay to go in and they are usually really crowded. I think most people are very respectable in the working fields.

I had a great time taking photos as you can tell. It really was the perfect lighting, it was not too bright out. I do with it was not so cold.

We might try and go up later when the Tulips are ready. We will see.

I love this photo of Andrew. He has his video camera in his hand also. Awesome!

The ground here was really bouncy, you could tell it had been very wet recently. They had fun jumping up and down and bouncing.

We just happened to come upon a parade! We were cracking up when we saw all the corvettes. On the way here the kids were playing Car Bingo and one of the squares was to find a Corvette on the road. They could not find one. Now we know they were all getting ready for the parade.

I think this is also why not too many people were in the fields. They were waiting for the Parade. The kids had a fun time seeing all the animals and cool old cars.

Thanks for a great day Westra family! It was a very fun day.

England Trip Gary and Andrew

2011-04-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

Gary and Andrew went to a Butterfly hot house and had some fun. Not too many places are open this time of season. So when they saw this open they took advantage of some warmth and something fun to do.

Not quite the same Bonmarche they are used to seeing. Well I guess it is called Macy's now.

Andrew was intrigued at how old everything was. And with that some times they fall apart.

Andrew and Gary stayed a few nights with Gary's sister. Aunt Dominque and Jonathon, what a cool house they live in.

I personally love her smart car. How cute is that.

Andrew felt right at home with Jonathon and Olivia and the i-toys.....

What a cutie in her new shirt from America! Sorry I could not find one to fit Dominique!

The boys took a trip up to Wem and looked up Gary's old Grammar school that he went to. Back then it was an all boys boarding school. Now it is Co-ed. He went and walked around the school and one of the teachers remembered him. Wow he must be really old!

This is part of the dorm rooms.

Andrew found it interesting that Gary actually dried his cloths on this. Hmmm..he really is old.

Some of the old buildings in the area.

I have a feeling Gary spent a few fun evenings in this castle...

Gary explained to Andrew that some of these buildings were built to be decoys during the war. So that they would bomb these and not the real buildings.

This is one of the city centers that they did shopping in.

Gary's parents live in Wisbech. They spent a few days with them visiting and eating well. Gary's dad spoiled them cooking and doing their laundry. They had a great time catching up and helping Gary's Dad buy a new computer. I think he is all set up now. We are glad that he now has a lap top and Skype from anywhere in the house.

They also spent time with Gary's other sisters. But I do not believe any photos where taken with them. Too bad. Denise and Donna are quite the characters. I love them all. I am sorry I missed the party.

The trip went great and I am very glad they made the trip. It was fun to have the iphone and the ipad to be able to do face time with each other. We talked about twice a day while he was gone. Love it!

Gary & Andrew off to England!

2011-04-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

It has been 3 years since Gary has been back home.

The timing just seemed right to send him home again to see his family. His Mom was asking him " When are you coming?" what can you say to that. She is not well enough to come and visit us any more. We miss them visiting us here.

Spring break was coming the next week. Vincent can not miss any school. We learned our lesson there. Too hard to make up as you get older. He also had a soccer game that he would miss. Not a big deal, but missing school was.

I had work to do and did not feel like it was a good time to take off. Working by commission is hard to figure out when to take a vacation. I must say that England this time of year is not my favorite. All the cool stuff I want to see is closed up for the season. I will make it during the summer one day. I do miss all the family!

So that left Andrew to go with Gary. I do not think her remembers his last trip too much. What a great time to spend 10 days with his Dad. Gary said he did Awesome on the long flights. We could not get a direct flight with out spending an arm and a leg on it. The spent about 16 hours getting there and about 23 hours coming home. Ugh! Jet leg has been

I missed the boys a lot while they were gone. The house was so quiet. Vincent was busy with soccer and school. But during the break with just the two of us home it was soooooo quiet! Vincent had friends over, but the house still seemed empty. It is just not the same with Gary and Andrew gone. I am not sure I will let them leave again with out all of us going.

One huge thing that bothered me about this trip is that I had no control over photography!!! Will they take photos?... Will they take photos of people? Will they think to stop along the way and take a few shots of memorable places? I had to just let it go....not think about it....because even if I was to give them instructions I have learned they do not care. Not until it is years past and they forget every thing.

So all I have so far is one photo of them at the airport on my iphone. Oh...Wait...Gary just told me he has some photos for me. Ok! Yeah! I will down load them tomorrow and get them organized to post.

Hang tight...:-) Photos to come.....

Glow Tolo? SHS

2011-03-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

Sammamish High School had a Glow Tolo.

Don't ask me what that means. But the kids took it as dress up in bright colors and stuff that would glow in the dark. I also had a bunch of glow sticks for them that they took to the dance.

The kids came to our house and had dinner. Gary Barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids. And he also grilled yummy onions and mushrooms and bacon to put on the burgers. I can't forget his great Ceasar salad also. So Yummy! Gary did an Awesome job as cook.

I think the kids had a great time before and after the dance. I heard the dance did not go too well. Better luck next time.

Vincent with his date Sarah. She is a very nice girl.

Vincent is lucky that he got asked to a dance with such a fun and nice girl.

Dinner at Salty's

2011-03-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

This month for Dinner the Girls went to Salty's on Alki. They were having a special deal for $30- 3 course meal. The food was great the the company was awesome! The view is also spectacular from the restaurant. Jan also drove us around to the hot view points in the area. We had fun goofing around and snapping photos on my new iphone. It is so cool.

Krisse just sold her house in Kirkland and will be moving next month. Maybe. So we are sad and will still keep trying to get together when she is in town for work. I think we will be able to do it. If not Jan and I are still keeping up with our monthly dinners! Love my Girls!

Andrew Field Trip - Symphony

2011-03-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

3/27/2011

I was happy to be a chaperone for Andrew and his class mates for a field trip to Seattle. The Seattle Symphony put on a show for a bunch of elementary schools. Some of the schools that we were sitting behind were kind of scary. I felt very sorry for the teachers with them. A bunch of them looked like they were from the Hood. These kids were all in 5th grade. I do not want to see what the 6th graders look like.

But I am sure they are all very nice down under the hoodies they were wearing.

All of Andrews friends were very nice and well behaved. We ended up driving with James Mom because the bus was full. Lake Hills does not have the extra money to be sure there is room for everyone.

The show was a little long for some of them. But it was a great experience for them to go to such a nice place and feel special for the day. I loved seeing the dressed up also. :-)

Video by Andrew!

2011-02-27T22:18:00.000-08:00

Andrew had been learning how to make movies. He is doing so great. We got a new Mac and it has imovie on it. Andrew was very interested in it and started watching the tutorials online about how to use it. We even took a trip to the Mac store at Bellevue Sq and took a mini class on it with him.

This week he took the camera to Vincent's indoor soccer match and video taped it. Then he went home and down loaded it and edited it. He did most if all by himself.

http://gallery.me.com/garysarchet#100028

He is very proud of it. And we are very proud of him.

Good job Andrew! Way to go!

Snow in Bellevue- not Seattle?

2011-02-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

We had some crazy weather.

The snow came to town, but not every town!

It was snowing in parts of Bellevue but not in Seattle. Everyone went home early from Seattle because the snow was heading our way. Well they all drove into the snow instead of away from it. We got over 3 inches at our house and just a dusting on Richards Road. That is about a half mile away. Seattle did not get any at all. That is Washington. I think Forks got about 13 inches.

I love this photo.

I was lucky to get it. None of my family wanted to take it. I made them all feel guilty so they decided to do it. I had only about 5 minutes of their time. Of course I forgot how to set the timer, so that took 2 minutes of of the deal. We took two shots and this one worked. Yeah!

Thank you boys!

Andrew took advantage of the snowy roads. Vincent was not able sled as he still had his hand in a cast. He was not wanting to get it wet or hurt himself any further. Good idea. Not worth it.

Too bad all the neighbors kids were not home. Andrew had to sled all by himself. We really need more kids to move in. It's not the way I grew up. We used to have tons of kids on the hill.

Super cute!

I love the trees with snow on it! So beautiful!

I must say I love it when it snows in Bellevue.

Especially when all the kids are on break. No snow days to make up!

Gary had taken the week off also. But you know Gary, he was working a lot from home. His office all knew he would be home, so they kept calling him! How rude. Well it pays the bills, so I won't complain too much. :-)

Whidbey Island Scrapbooking Extravaganza!

2011-02-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

A 3-night weekend with a bunch a ladies on a beautiful island. I think this is the 4th time going on this trip. This time I drove myself and took my time getting there.

I packed slowly and then drove around the island and stopped at the scenic spots. Loved it!

What a great view some of these houses have.

First night dinner out! We were a very loud bunch. I am not sure the Island was ready for it.

Our group was the first to make a meal. We had lunch assigned to us. We chose a Martygraw theme.

Rice and beans and chicken of a few different heats. Joni made a yummy bean recipe with a ham hawk cooked in it. Ok I am not a cook but I did buy the food from the store. This was my first time buying a Ham Hawk. The list also said 1 stock of celery. So I literally bought one piece of celery. Everyone thought that was pretty funny. Truth is I don't really like celery. Well it all turned out great and of course our meal was the best!

Our food group! We are Awesome!

Group photo time! One of the husbands dropped off something at the cabin so I talked him into climbing a tree and taking a photo of us. Yeah. Just wished I had the flash on to fill in the shadows.

When I get lucky a pair of Bald Eagles stops by to sit in the sun on a tree nearby. Yeah! Here are a few photos I took. I got lucky!

Ok some think this photo is in bad taste (Gary). I think it is pretty funny.

Some of the ladies posing for a photo.

This is the Barn. It is a great place to do scrapbooking. Some of the ladies also brought some sewing projects.

One of the new girls came in and said- Oh my! I didn't know people were bringing the whole store here! She was thinking she brought a lot of stuff with her little rolling cart. If you are out of something or need to borrow something usually some one has it for you!

Keep On Scrapping!

2011-02-20T00:22:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of group shots we took today after lunch! It was a great sunny day so we wanted to take advantage of it for our official group shot! And we had a husband dropping off some food, so we got him to climb a tree and take a photo of us all! Nice!

It is the second night in a row staying up past midnight to scrap!

Does blogging count as a scrapbook page layout? YES!

Valentines Day - Love my Husband

2011-02-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

I love my Husband!

Gary's whole view of being romantic is "why would I be romantic on the day some one else tells me to". I have to tell you that Gary is constantly being nice to me. Here are a few of the favorite things he does for me!

Not only on Valentines day but everyday!

That is when it counts!

Calls me during the day to see how my day is going

Supports me when my work does not go as planned. That is often

If I mention that I would love to have something it usually comes in the mail soon

No complaining if I want to go on a girls trip

Offers to send me to visit my sisters

Doesn't tell me when I need makeup on

Fixes my computer easily

Likes to shop with me

Loves Me!

Gary gave me this cute heart necklace and matching earrings! Love it!

Thanks Honey for all you do!

I am sure this list could go on more but I don't want him to get a big head.

Thanks for agreeing to marry me 23 years ago!

XXOXOXOO

Bingo!

2011-02-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I had a great evening at his school. Bingo for books! They had fun prizes for the winner and then you put your name on the back of your old cards for drawings of books. It was a fun way to get the kids involved and have fun time. And of course raise money for the school.

Some random kids from school. I love their cute faces!

Andrew Big-time Haircut!

2011-02-19T01:33:00.000-08:00

Just when I am getting used to looking at Andrew with his hair long he decides to have it cut.

It has taken a long time to not look for the crewcut blonde boy during soccer. I have had to look twice to find him in the crowd. He just did not look like himself. Well now I have to retrain myself to look for the cute blonde boy with the crewcut again. He does have really nice hair. Vincent is a little jealous of the smooth and calm hair Andrew has.

Vincent's hair has been getting curlier every day. He gets that from me. I remember going thru that same stage at his age. Luckily it will calm down as he gets older.

There is my cute boy! He looks great both ways. What a lucky guy. He has that great double cowlick in the front that really makes it stand up straight when he wants it to.

I am so glad that I know how to cut my boys hair. It is has saved me a lot of money and grief.

Vincent Red/Black Cast

2011-02-19T00:56:00.000-08:00

Time for the follow up visit after Vincent's surgery.

Vincent was very nervous to have the bandage taken off and to see the stitches. The doctor took off the old bandage and poor Vincent was stressed about moving his hand with out the wrap on. We did not see the actual incision because it is still taped up. Vincent was pretty intrigued to see the thread hanging out. Luckily they dissolve on its own so they just trimmed it up close to the skin.

Lots of color choices for the cast. We were able to talk the cast guy into doing two colors. He was not going to do it at first. But then we discussed how many rolls of fiberglass would it take for the cast. He said two- so we said how about two different colors. Yeah! Ding-Ding!

(The cast guys is familiar with us as Gary has been in there many times for his leg cast- we know quiet a few people at the hospital these days)

Sammamish colors are Red and Black! Go Totems! SHS-

Three weeks for the cast to stay on. No heavy lifting or to much stressful activity for a while.

Bummers- So a little break from Basketball and Soccer.

Maybe he can concentrate on his homework now???

One can Dream - is that too much to ask?

Andrew Pinewood Derby! Last one!

2011-02-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

Andrew is now 10 and will be in going in to the big boy scouts next year. So this year is the last year for making pinewood derby cars. It is sad and sweeeeet! We have fun making the cars but it can be a lot of work. Andrew's car looked super great this year. Gary and Andrew worked together cutting out he wood and sanding it. It turned out pretty cool looking. Sorry we figured out too late that we should have sanded the nails to make the wheels go faster.

All the kids were so excited for the races! I think they had over 50 cars racing.

Poor car came last in all the heats. But over all he did not come in very last. The tracks are getting pretty sophisticated.

Vincent Thumb Surgery

2011-01-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

So........Vincent hurt his thumb playing basketball for Sammamish. He hurt it on Friday night. He complained about it but we put ice on it and said lets see how it feels tomorrow. Well Saturday he played a late indoor soccer game and felt his thumb move out of the socket and was in pain. Gary took him to the hospital at about midnight. They got out of ER at 3am. He did not break it, but he might have done some tissue damage. Instructions to have Vincent see orthopedic surgeon monday morning.

Monday morning we go see the doctor. And sure enough he has torn the ligament off the bone. Luck had it and she had an opening that day at 2pm. Our appointment was at 10. Off we went and got his pre-surgery physical appointment done. Then we had a couple of hours to kill. Gary and I had lunch, poor Vincent could not eat because of the surgery.

Surgery was about a half hour late. Not too bad. We got home by 5:30 pm.

It was a long day. But all went well. We are very thankful we both have jobs that are flexible and we have great health insurance. We use it a lot. :-)

Vincent Sunday...feeling ok- he can not move his hand.

Vincent can text pretty good with one hand.

Monday - waiting for surgery...Good thing the boys had their I-touches so they could post on face book and play games.

Yes I am here- Gary told me to go home and that he could take care of everything.

What! Mom's don't leave at a time like this! This is why people have Mothers to help them through times like this. Nice that Gary thinks he has things under control. :-) But no way!

Getting closer to surgery time. Vincent is very mellow. Poor guy.

Reading his kindle. He is a reading machine. We are buying him a new book about once a week. No joke. I told him I would buy him as many books as he can read. Much better than video games!

Cool electrodes that read your brain waves. So during surgery they can be sure you are sleeping and resting. Way cool!

Saying good bye is hard on Mom's. I did get choked up as he was leaving. The nurses were very nice to me. Gary could not understand why I was getting a tear in my eye.

All went great. The surgery was a success. He did great and everything is all back together again. I was so glad to have it over with.

Vincent is looking a little drugged up here. Well he is...I wanted to video tape him, but the nurse did not think that was a good idea. Darn.

I do love my Vincent! I am so glad he is home!

Cub Scout Camp Fire!

2011-01-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the cub scout camp fire. Don't you love it!

Hot dogs on a stick and for dessert Smores.

I love that the camp fire is behind the church building.

The boys had a great time.

Andrew's 1st Band Concert

2011-01-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

Andrew's First Band Concert!

Andrew did a great job!

He is sitting next to his buddy James.

He is not very happy with me here. The flash was bothering him. But I could not resist taking one more photo. He got angry with me after the concert. He said he could not even play the song after, because he could not read the notes. The flash blinded him. Whoops sorry! :-)

If looks could kill- I would be dead... :-)

What cute boys. Don't you love 10 year olds!

A Day at the Zoo

2011-01-20T22:19:00.000-08:00

The kids had a day off from school for Martin Luther King day. David and Rebekah were planning on taking the kids to the Aquarium. When they got here Rebekah was not feeling great so David decided to take help get her sorted out at home and maybe find a doctor. I was quick to take the kids on my own! I love to go places with kids. I miss taking my kids around town. Vincent is getting too big and does not always want to go out and about with me any more.

We got in the car and I offered to take them to the Zoo instead of the Aquarium. We had just gone last month. It was not raining so we decided to go! Yeah! I love this place. The kids were great and David was able to meet up with us later for a short time. Then Tiffany had to leave for a doctors appointment. So Natalie stayed with Andrew and I for a little longer at the Zoo. She seemed to have a great time with Andrew.

I took a ton of photos of course. But here are a few of my favorites.

Thanks kids for a fun day at the Zoo. Next time we will have Vincent come. He had basketball practice so he could not come with us. Next time I will have him miss the practice. How often do you go to the Zoo with cousins on a clear day. :-)