Merry Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we did some last minute shopping, dropped presents off at friend`s houses and in the evening, we celebrated the holiday at the Anderberg`s house. Everyone had lots of fun playing the Mitten Impossible game, caroling at the neighbor`s house, eating yummy mexican food, and playing dominos & canasta by candlelight. We love our family and enjoyed spending time with all of them.

On Christmas, we slept in!! Yea!! After breakfast, we opened our stockings from Santa and presents from family & friends. When Jenna got her treat present, she stuck her whole head into the package to get a treat out. Funny stuff!! We thank God for all His blessings and sending His Son to be born on this day. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

SNOW DAY!!

Today we woke up to a bunch of snow and the kids had a snow day from school (all schools around here were closed). Caitlyn & Evan came to stay with us and we played in the snow (Evan didn`t last long. He went inside and played with my legos). Papa worked hard at taking the snow off the carports. Caitlyn & I worked hard at building a snowman before it started to rain. Then we came inside and enjoyed a hot cup of cocoa.

San Francisco Trip

On Thanksgiving weekend, we took a road trip to San Francisco. Our first stop was in small country town in Oregon called Rice Hill. We stayed at a very nice motel and ate our Thanksgiving breakfast at an old fashioned Denny`s Diner. I loved the old photos that they had displayed at the diner and the yummy hazelnut coffee. Our waitress was very friendly and she said that she has always lived at Rice Hill. We planned to stay at the same motel on our way back home. Our motel in California was not so lovely. In fact, we had street dwellers living in the back parking lot of the motel. They also had pet dogs (YES! That is dog poo in the picture of the trash and dumpster.) When we walked outside of our room, we could smell a very strong unpleasant odor. Welcome to California!!

We did love visiting the city and the weather was wonderful. When we first arrived in California, the temperatures were in the low 70s and the mid 60s in San Francisco. Glorious!! I loved seeing the palm trees. We spent Black Friday exploring the city, eating at Chowders, and shopping at Fisherman`s Wharf.

We also got a ride on a rickshaw (Man drawn two-wheeled carriage or in our case a woman drawn two-wheeled carriage). Yes!! All three of us got in this while a very nice hippy chick (arm hair included) pulled us along while pedaling the bicycle at the greatest of ease. She was amazing and my inspiration to get into shape.

Our ride on the rickshaw was to the depot to catch a ride on the cable car to the cable car museum. On our ride there, some of the kids on the car were singing "Rice a Roni the San Francisco Treat!" very loud. Too Fun!! We got to ride the cable car for free because some of the route was closed for the city`s tree lighting ceremony. The museum was very interesting and we got to see how the cables worked (the cables were very loud and stinking).

We had an awesome trip and alot of fun together. On our way home, Nana got her picture taken with Santa and we visited the famous Dutch Brothers Coffee (we watched an episode of "Undercover Boss" on tv about this company). We thank God for this time off to travel and see new things.

Autumn Love

Autumn is my favorite! Its great to live in the Northwest where we can enjoy all four seasons. I love watching the colors of the trees change, cool school supplies, pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, MY BIRTHDAY, fall sports, picking out a pumpkin, harvesting fruit in the orchard, bike rides on a crisp sunny day and much much more.

                                   Nana made plum pie and it was very delicious!

                              Gray and I went to a coffee house on Camano Island.

                                 My Joyful Heart friends gave me this delicious gift.

     The Griffins gave me these beautiful flowers and a cute little pumpkin for my birthday.
                                         

                                
                                    I loved my Big Bang Birthday Bash Weekend.

Grey and I tried to stay dry during soccer practice.

                                   Shawn got a new job and his driver`s license!

                Coach was having the kids do silly soccer drills to get the wiggles out.

                          My friend, Missy, got me this awesome Vulcan parking sign.

I`m in LOVE with STARBUCKS!!

Cheri gave me a fall gift card for my birthday!!!

                          Aunt Sharon and I geeked out at Bellingham`s Comicon.

                                 This stand had cute little trinkets and hair pretties.

                                 I spent a bit of time looking for Spiderman comics.

               There were lots of cool costumes but I loved the Queen of Hearts the best!

                        I bought a comic for me and an Ironman comic for the boys.

After Comicon, Aunt Sharon and I went out for lunch and a movie. With the gift card my friend, Karen, gave me for my birthday, we were able to get tickets, popcorn, icees, and candy. So Fun!!!!

I thank the Lord for every day that I get to spend with my friends and family.