sunday sunny sunday

this weekend was all glory and sun and fun.

my friend carol's bridal shower on saturday followed by dinner with the girls at toulouse petit, a new restaurant on lower queen anne. FANTASTIC food! the parmesan grits will change your life.

and this afternoon brought peter and mandy for sunday dinner. the menu:

• beef stroganoff with noodles
• lilo's do ahead salad with avocado
• trader joe's par baked bread
• mandy's famous yellow cake with chocolate frosting
• and lemon water served in the trusty gurgle pot

how lovely it all was.

auld lang syne

new years resolutions:

{1}update blog more often
I promise to write more posts and provide more entertainment than I did in 2009! it still won't be daily updates but I've decided to view my blog as my digital scrapbook (since I stopped traditional scrapbooking a few years ago). in fact, I will start back posting events that happened in 2009 so be on the lookout for those soon.

{2}explore more
my goal is to take a day or overnight trip quarterly somewhere around the puget sound area. I live in a "bubble" in my little world and don't move outside of it unless I have to. let's shake things up a bit. :)

love you all and my hope for you is peace and joy this new year.
make it good everyone!

the sisters of freckle-face haynes, the dog-faced boy

staying true to tradition, my christmas gift to my parents were tickets to see a show in seattle.

this year's choice:

irving berlin's white christmas

the program

we had great seats in the balcony

isn't the theatre pretty?

group shot before the play started

the snow!

white christmas is my favorite christmas movie and to be honest, I was worried that the play might change things too much from the movie that I wouldn't love it as much. thankfully, things were enough the same I needn't have worried! the general's granddaughter, susan, had an annoyingly different role in the play but it was easy to overlook because of all the rest.

and it snowed!
in the audience, over all of us. well, it didn't quite reach us so high in the balcony but it was beautiful to see as it fell over the theatre in front of us. one of my favorite things!

..how do I prefer this face to another...

my little sister got engaged last night!

congratulations katie and jeremy! I am so happy for you.

now it's on to the planning stage...my FAVORITE part!

I heard it's your birthday

my little sister is 26 years old today.

I love so many things about this girl...

1. she's hip and trendy
2. she even has her nose pierced
3. she knows the lyrics to every song
4. I wish she could teach that skill to me
5. she is an x-ray tech
6. and loves her job
7. she has many good friends that treat her well
8. she is a sweet sister
9. caring, generous, super fun
10. she is tall and loves it
11. her favorite band is jars of clay
12. but she listens to almost everything
13. like michael jackson, adele, beyonce, katy perry
14. are in her cd changer at the same time
15. she has already paid off her student loans from school
16. obviously she is better with her money than I am :)
17. she is always buying new perfumes
18. and I admire her sense of adventure
19. she has a love of coats
20. she owns about 25 of them
21. she loves to play games, any kind of game
22. she is on a bowling league
23. and owns her own bowling shoes and ball
24. she loves mexican food almost as much as me
25. I love it when she comes to visit me
26. I miss her

happy birthday, dear kate!

announcing the arrival of

samuel jeffrey
born february 7, 2009
3 pounds, 7 ounces

my dear friend angie and her husband jeff added baby sam to their (now) family of five. big sisters abby and alex are ecstatic to try out their fine-tuned sistering skills.

he arrived a tad bit early at only 30 weeks but he's a fighter. off the breathing tube and doing very well. thank you Lord.

I cannot wait to meet him!

want some of my time?

while perusing my november issue of real simple, I read something a reader submitted about giving the gift of time to her friends at christmas.

it got me thinking. can't everyone use more time? even if it's not their own?

enter, me.

a few of my friends received this certificate this holiday season. as hard as it will be with some of us living states apart, I've already received requests for time usage.

angie: time spent walking and exploring places she's never been when she comes to visit in may 2009.

chandra: seattle sightseeing trip in summer 2009

what can be better than sharing time with your closest friends?!

revealed

remember my christmas project from last year? my goal each year is to come up with an original idea for a fun gift for all the children in my life.

this year's project: dress up cases

I spent months hitting thrift stores all over the city, sorting through my grandma and great grandma's old jewelry, altering, customizing...and simply having a ball!

there is one case still on it's way, embroiled in transportation snafus, but here are the happy recipients so far..









I am so happy to know they loved them!
makes it all worth it.

christmas karoake

without further adieu, please welcome the christmas karaoke that had us running to the bathroom and/or choking with laughter.







sorry for the bad rotation, I wasn't thinking clearly when filming this one.






the granddaddy of them all, hilarity ensued!

christmas 2008

after being rescued off the hill (blasted snow had the city pretty much shut down), christmas eve was spent at my aunt's apartment with lisa and tony. we had grandma's traditional clam chowder, ate way too much and talked until bedtime.

christmas day was down in puyallup with the rest of the family where there was way funny christmas karaoke. it was sketchy getting down south because it was snowing so hard in seattle when we left. by the time we got back into town that night, they had plowed the hill and you could drive up queen anne ave for the first time in 10 days. it was a christmas miracle!

kicking it in my holiday appropriate socks, savoring family togetherness

this gift has such a long story attached to it, you'll have to ask ed sometime about it.
(short version: he likes to tease people and gets them to think that lights - in his office, on cruise ship - are operated by a clapper.
it's so much funnier when he tells it.)

brother and sister and dueling texting, a christmas staple

a girl and her new camera (courtesy of her son)

my sister was on call christmas day so my parents spent time with her in hermiston before heading over to seattle for an extended christmas weekend.

we had a second family dinner, in seattle this time, complete with mexican feast and games.

for their gift, I took my parents to a play at the taproot theatre and then dinner at the melting pot. I can honestly say it surprised the heck out of me when I loved the play so much I pretty much cried through the last 20 minutes. sheesh. I was a mess...but it was totally worth it! and none of us had been to the melting pot before so that was all a surprise. my favorite part was the cheese (wisconsin trio, my friend, I dream about the wisconson trio) with the chocolate a close second. I think mom and dad and aunt b enjoyed themselves so it was a success in my book.

our opposition in a rousing game of mad gab
(notice the chilled posture of ashley, she doesn't know what she's up against)

(she's realizing she's got to get with the program in order to win)

(they had to call in reinforcements)
but I'm not sure it really helped since I can't even remember who won!

I pray that everyone's christmas was as wonderful as mine.

god bless us everyone.

merry christmas from seattle

from my heart...

...to yours.

christmas hint

I've been working on a christmas project for months. here is a sly shot of the finished product.

won't you be excited to see all the details once they have all been delivered?

I can't wait to show you!


the first recipients were THRILLED with theirs.

that warms an aunt's heart for sure!

how well do you know mark?

just for fun, wanna play a game?

here are the trivia questions we asked at my dad's party...

1. what is mark’s sister’s name?

2. what city did mark and sara live in when he first became a trooper?

3. what was mark’s first job?
a) meat packing plant
b) roofing company
c) janitorial
d) parts handler

4. how many years was mark in the army reserves?

5. what is marks’ favorite movie?

6. what was mark’s license and badge number with WSP?

7. where is mark’s favorite vacation spot?

8. how many times has mark jumped out of a plane?
a) 10 b) 30 c) 20 d) 40+

9. where did mark grow up?

10. what kind of car did mark drive when he met sara?

have fun!

birthday entertainment

my mom, my sister and my mom's friends

my cousin...isn't her voice amazing?




chip and glen




my sister and her friend (now roommate) andrea




glen singing a pretty good johnny cash


enjoy!

happy birthday dad

my dad just turned 60.

that's a pretty big milestone I think.

one that deserves a party, right? that's what we thought too.

the invitation

his menu choice: round table pizza and breadsticks
(with salad and fruit thrown in for healthy measure)

chip and glen battle it out in wii boxing

we had a short trivia game on all the tables to see how well people knew my dad.
some of the answers people came up with were priceless!

my mom and her girlfriends (for moral support) serenading my dad with "my guy"

he couldn't believe we really put 60 candles on.

happy birthday dad.

I love you all around the world and back.

I know you like to party

one example of how my family parties when we all get together.

the shameless exploitation of children.



hunter's dancing didn't quite translate to the limbo and although his dad's suggestion of "touching his chin" was a tad patronizing, it made for good video. :)

einar couldn't care less if his skills were below par. he was just in it for the fun.

hailey on the other hand, came up to her mom after this and said that she thinks the limbo is "her thing." she might be right.

go army

my baby cousin tony has enlisted in the army.

this is a good thing. as I've said before, we are a military family and this is cause for celebration.

yes, we haven't forgotten there is a war going on. and he understands the risks involved with his choice.

tony is following in the line of some great men in our family; my dad, his dad, our grandpa, two of his uncles, just to name a few.

war controversy aside, the military is an honorable professional. one where self respect is gained and skills are honed.

his going away party was just a few days before he left for basic training (aka bootcamp). he is at fort benning in georgia and all he can say so far is that it rains...hard...everyday!

tony (r) visiting with some friends.

his dessert of choice.
it followed a filipino feast of lumpia, chop suey and SO much more.

hunter and hailey hamming it up for the camera.

nothing says "bon voyage" quite like a competitive game of guitar hero.

tony, we are so proud of you. good luck.

good news

april 2009 is going to be a busy month for me.
I will be come an "auntie" again, twice over.

angie told me she is expecting on a friday.

hailey told me the very next day, on a saturday.

oh. my. goodness. they are due within weeks of each other!

I love that two of my dearest friends are expecting at the same time.

and I found that dandee is expecting too. what is in the water around here?

this "aunt jenny" is getting prepared, learning new songs to sing and doting on the big sisters that are super excited as well. my greatest honor is being the "aunt" to these children. thank you jesus.

happy birthday tony

my "little" cousin tony turns 19 today.

I remember when he was born and I helped change his diapers. stories were told tonight at family dinner that he was assuredly embarrassed to hear. but he graciously listened and laughed.

tone loc is:

• strong
• smart
• going back to school
• respectful
• easy-going
• healthy
• quiet
• a music lover
• loved
  
• and always will be my little "tony baloney"
  

his birthday menu of choice was caesar salad, bread, spaghetti with hot italian sausage and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. aunt b bought these weird, huge noodles from trader joe's that I'd never seen before. they were good.


happy birthday tony. I love you.

land of the free and the home of the brave

what a perfectly lovely weekend. the weather was almost perfect every day and that's good enough for me. I spent most of my time on my parent's back patio visiting with friends and family and it was simply heaven.

friday was the big day for our family. the fourth of july is one of my sister's favorite holidays so she took the whole weekend off in order to celebrate in proper fashion. we begun the day with the parade in pasco. we thought it was longer than usual and lots of good candy. someone even threw otter pops out, how fantastic is that idea?! we always sit in the same place, with the same people. I hadn't seen them in years so it was fun to catch up in between cheering for the local dance team. how fun!

the rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent preparing for the holiday barbecue. I cleaned the patio off, helped my dad hang lights, and helped set up chairs. there was even a little time to visit with marilyn while I picked up my handpicked blueberries for the fruit salad. yummy.

my parents live only a few blocks from the river where one of the local fireworks presentations are, so those willing to brave the late hour, cold(ish) wind, and crowds all walk down to for the show.

my favorite parts:

• parade
• hotdogs on the grill
• seeing friends
• perfect weather
• meeting carsten for the first time
• angie's flag cake
• flag bunting on deck railing
• meeting katie's friend brad
• fresh cherries
  
  

ready for the parade.
I coordinated noemi and kyle's wedding in 2002. they just had their second baby less than two weeks ago. she looked great!

mom and sadie.
mom used to babysit sadie when she was a baby. she is almost 12 now.

fresh watermelon and cherries. and a little girl smiling at me from across the table.
summer loving.

me, chandra and angie.
sneak peek of baby carsten. more to come.

sweet alex and some watermelon love.

it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
alex was unfotunately in the path of an oncoming frisbee which resulted in a scary bloody nose. she recovered quickly, don't worry.

alex, angie, aunt jean, abby, ethan, and jeff.
on the way down to the river for fireworks.

brad and katie.
sorry for the finger mark (alex took the photo) but it was so good of kate and brad, I couldn't not use it.

grand finale.