a very merry

Well, another Christmas is over. We had fun family and friend gatherings, with big Christmas morning surprises. Hopefully all of you had a nice holiday also.

Christmas Eve at my parents' house. The cousins:

Christmas morning brought a huge surprise for the kids. It was time to replace the old escort wagon. We now own a Kia Soul, in the "Alien" color.

Christmas Day dinner was spent with our good friends, the Blaises. I brought my camera, but it never made it out of the bag. But we had a great time! And the cranberry mojitos were so yummy.

The day after Christmas was a gorgeous, chilly, not a cloud in the sky type of day. Amy, my hiking/snowshoe buddy had planned a trip to Gold Creek Basin. (I had been there once last year too). I enjoyed my adventures last winter so much that I bought myself some new snowshoes in the spring. And just recently Costco had a great deal on a set. So, I bought them as a spare if one of the kids wanted to join me. Kelsey took me up on the offer! It was Kelsey's first time, and we had other new snowshoers in our group too.

Here is our group of eleven:

This is Kelsey and I running along the trail. We don't last long......phew......it is hard work

I still can't believe the beautiful day

Have a nice day:

enjoying the holiday month

We are in full Christmas mode. I am happy to say that I have most of my shopping done, my letters mailed, gifts wrapped and most of the treats delivered! Phew! We also just found out that Michael only works until 2:30pm on Christmas Eve. So, we WILL be able to have the family gathering at mom and dad's! We have had a lot of holiday events recently.

The annual Santa Breakfast at the high school. Michael playing his viola.

Yes the moms made our senior boys get a picture with Santa! Ben, Zach, Michael and Jeremy:
Jingle Bell Dash in downtown Seattle:The high school winter concert. Chamber Orchestra. Michael is third in on the right.Michael is singing with the jazz choir, Dynamics.The orchestra and multiple choirs joined together to perform Vivaldi's "Gloria." I love it! And, I was surprised to find out that Michael had a solo (viola)!

Dad, Mom and Grandma:
Family picture:

Baking and more baking

Baking day 2009 was a success. Baking for me takes a few days, but the official baking day is when we make Buckeyes and sugar cookies. This tradition started in 1995. Krista came over to make cookies with Michael (age 3 1/2) while I made my Buckeyes. And, we have done it every year since. (Krista--confirm this for me: but didn't you make it even when you were in CA?)

We had an amazing decorating crew this year: Krista, Ryan, Kelsey, Michael, and Jaclyn (Michael's girlfriend). Ryan was a little disappointed when he found out he couldn't eat all the cookies he decorated. :-)

Buckeyes ready for the chocolate. This is two triple batches or over 300 total!

the finished product:
Kathryn "guarding" the table of cookies waiting to be decorated:
The decorating committee:

Ryan helping Kelsey: (oh, and the shirt he is wearing was once worn by Michael and Kelsey!)

an awesome display of creativity:

I want to thank all who help me get through baking day. I could never make this many without you. This is one of my favorite traditions!

Thanksgiving 2009

We had Thanksgiving with my family at our house this year. It worked out well, since Michael was working until 4:30. Pat smoked a couple turkeys, and everyone brought food. It was a delicious meal!

Ryan had fun tugging the rope toy with Mango.

Cute Kathryn:

Mom and Dad, with Michael and Kelsey:

The dinner group (minus Kathryn, Pat and myself)

The remainder of the long weekend has been very low key for me. In fact, I think I have stayed in sweats the entire time! I do not even attempt to deal with Black Friday crowds. I just hop on the computer to shop! I have done a little yard work, and some card making. I am checking my baking supplies for the upcoming Christmas baking. My running buddy is out of town, so I am making all kinds of excuses to not get out and run. I decided to not go snowshoeing with co-workers. (sensing a lazy trend here?) Pat and I are helping Michael finish up some college applications.

Saturday was an exciting day for the kids. Kerri and Eric gave them an early Christmas present and took them to the big rival UW/WSU football game. Their seats were in the press box! Oh, and to top off the fun......Huskies shut out the Cougs, 30-0! Woot!

Kelsey, Michael, Kerri, Eric and my (and Kerri's) cousin, Angela:

On a sad note: my mom and dad lost two of their three labs last week. One was expected as he had been sick for a while. But the other was a big surprise. She got sick one day, and found a place under some bushes, to pass away by the next day. RIP-Jake and Mollie.

down shifting

I actually had to stop to think if I had taken any pictures this week. And, of course, I had taken a few. Really though, I just kept three. One, below, was taken at Michael's last orchestra concert at the middle school. As much as I will miss hearing the newer kids play, I will NOT miss the very uncomfortable bleachers! I am looking forward to his next concert at the high school in December. It is the orchestra and choirs, separately, and combined. Last year's concert was amazing.

Last week was my final week of pre-scheduled increased hours at the office. I am looking forward to having my normal work days back. But, I will miss the extra hours on the paycheck.

Friday was a great evening out with my sisters. I also got to play with Ryan, snuggle Kathryn, and get kissed by a puppy.

Saturday we helped celebrate the official adoption of a great young lady. She is now a legal part of her aunt and uncle's family.

Saturday night we had Dean and Jude over for dinner. Jude brought her much loved pot pie for our main course. Yummy!

I had no plans for Sunday. Kelsey asked me if I wanted to go with her and a friend to see New Moon. (I would need to drive them anyway, you see!) I have read all of the books, and enjoyed them. The first movie, Twilight, was very disappointing. So, I went today, with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised......I liked it! It is so funny to listen to a theater of girls all gasp when the Jacob character took of his shirt for the first time.

Well, that was my week. Fairly mellow. Oh, and if any of you are wondering about the other two pictures: I had kept another one from the concert, and I took a very grainy picture of the puppy with my cell phone.

slightly calmer life

This week has seemed to have a quieter tone to it. I still worked some extra days. But, I think having the kids home right after school, and no meets to travel away to, have helped. We had the cross country banquet on Thursday night, and it was a nice celebration. The coach always talks a little about each athlete, and there was a nice slide show. Michael was honored as 'most inspirational' for the guys. And Kelsey was given an award for 'hardest worker' for the girls.

So, as a treat for me......I went hiking again! Kelsey came along with co-worker Amy and I, to Rattlesnake Ledge. This hike is close to home, just off of I-90. There was no rain, and it was not too cold. But as you can see, there is snow in the mountains! I loved that we got a hike in, and we were home by 1pm.

They take food from your hands: Kelsey and I were posing for a goofy picture, when Kelsey saw the bird coming....I tried to still pose for the camera, as the bird landed on my hand. Amy didn't think she captured the bird until she saw the picture later, at home!
This is the view looking up to where we hiked. Yes, we were at the top :-)

Now I need to focus on the fact that Thanksgiving is in two weeks and Christmas is soon to follow. I am soooo not prepared!

one tired, but proud, mommy

After last weekend's exciting race, there was a bunch of activity trying to figure out all the details for the trip to Pasco for the state cross country meet. At first the school district wasn't allowing overnight school trips because of H1N1. Thankfully, finally the trip was approved, and we found hotel rooms! I drove over with the coaches and runners, with a few extra kids and another mom in my van. We left a little earlier than planned (left the high school at 1:00) due to the forecast of stormy weather in the mountain passes. The drive over was a rainy one with a lot of standing water and splashing water from the semi-trucks through the pass. It is a 3.5 hour drive, for those that don't know the area.

Kelsey and friends decorated our van: (side note-Nina, our girl state runner, ended up with 102+ fever and was not able to participate....so bummed for her)Pat drove over early Saturday morning. Here we are with our runner:

Jaclyn and Christina made signs:

Michael and his support team, Jake and Ben:

Michael's race (4A boys) was the final race of the day. They had a false start, due to some boys falling at the beginning. But here is Michael just past mile 1:I am thankful for my zoom on my nice camera...
Finishing his race:
He finished at 17:10, a new personal best. A great way to finish the season!

Well, the season is now done. And Michael is done with high school cross country. I hope he is happy with how he did. I am so very proud of him....especially knowing how far he has come as a runner. Here are some flash back pictures of him.

7th grade Brier Terrace Middle School:

Freshman year at MTHS, running at Nike Danner Invitational in Portland:

After the race we had the drive back home. There had been storm warnings all weekend for the mountain passes. Thankfully we only had some slow downs when we hit snow! The roads were not too bad. But I am happy to be home safely! Now I have to tackle everything I ignored around here for the past week. While trying to fight off whatever virus is trying to take over my sinuses! Thanks to all of you for your support.

homecoming week 2009

Another busy week around here. Once again, I'll skip the boring work stuff and go right to the fun kid stuff. The kids had fun dressing up for the different theme days at school this week for homecoming.

Michael decked out in red, the senior class color:

Kelsey in the sophomore white:
Some of the cross country team getting ready to run the football to Edmonds Stadium for the homecoming game against Kamiak on Friday night.
Michael and Jake running the flag, with the xc team following onto the field. And, yes it was this wet and windy the entire game!! But MTHS actually won! And now the football team is heading to the playoffs for the first time!
On Saturday morning we headed to South Whidbey for the final NW District meet. Once again, a very rainy day! Not too many pictures were taken. Kerri and Eric made it over to stand in the rain and cheer on Kelsey during her last race of the year. Thankfully it was an awesome run! She ran her fastest 5k-at 22:13. Her teammate, Nina came in 5th for the 4A girls, and qualified for the state race next weekend.
We thought this would be Michael's last high school race, and I told him to just go out and have fun. He ran the race of his life! He passed two runners in the last 400 of the race to finish as the 15th runner, and take the last spot to qualify for state! It is his fastest 5K time at 17:11. Woohoo!! He gets to run one more race! What a fun race for Kerri and Eric to watch!
The boys decided to play in the mud!
Now fast forward a couple hours.....still Saturday here.....and all dressed up for the homecoming dance.

Michael, with his date, Jaclyn:
my beautiful children:
The group before heading out to dinner. (and yes, the four boys are the same ones from the muddy picture above!)
Thank goodness we get an extra hour of sleep this weekend. We all need it!

Here is a video clip from the homecoming assembly. The senior and sophomore section doing "ice cream and cake" (the Super Sonic video was too long for the blog world!)