Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine

Much to our surprise… snow started falling yesterday!! I do believe we just had the first day of spring exactly one week ago. What weird weather… I am trying to stay on the positive side and hope that these March Drizzlings bring Summer Sizzlings!! ;)

We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.

I have always been interested in volunteering; I just haven't had the time to be able to commit to anything. I have found this great website that lists all kinds of ways you can volunteer. They even have a special section on "Virtual Volunteering". It's a program that allows you to volunteer at your own time, from your home with very little needed.

I just signed up to be a Volunteer Counselor for TeenCentral.Net and KidsPeace. They said the only thing you need to have to qualify is interest. TeenCentral is a place for teenagers to go and find information and support on any topic they need. My job as a volunteer will be to give these teens the support they may not be able to get from their friends and/or family.

I absolutely love working with kids and I realize that Alyssa will soon be a teen. I think this will help prevent her from having to go through these difficulties that a lot of children and teens have to. I will be able to show her and explain to her what other people really have to face and hopefully she will learn how to deal with her own issues and she can feel comfortable talking to me about it.

I have also signed up to make greeting cards for patients at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. These cards are simple words of encouragement for the patients (children & adults) going through physical therapy and recovering from conditions such as head injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, orthopedic surgery, or loss of limb. I can't imagine having to go through anything like that. And I would hope that none of my loved ones would have to either. These simple cards offer great encouragement to the patients, which means a lot to me! It's also something the whole family can get involved in. I am going to set aside a few nights for us to sit down and make cards.

It feels good to help in any way that I can, especially when it's something I care so much about. I will keep you posted on how things go. I'm sure the more active I become in this, the more volunteer opportunities I will take advantage of!!

~Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living.If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.~

Yet another busy, fun-filled weekend!

We knew that our weekend was going to be pretty busy, so we decided to have a relaxing night in on Friday. We had some dinner, finished watching our Smallville DVD and then watched “I am Legend”.
Saturday we had some running around to do, which consisted of Katie dragging Dan around the mall! Then we spent the rest of our night celebrating Stephanie & April’s 30th Birthday. The Birthday Party was held at The Bonney Lake Tavern (BLT). Very “interesting” place, basically what you would expect out of a tavern in Bonney Lake. A lot of people ended up coming so we all had a great time.
Alyssa spent Easter with her dad this year. So Dan and Katie went and had Easter Lunch with Dan’s dad (Paul). He made a delicious ham, mashed potatoes, hamburger rice stuffing & coleslaw. Dion and Rylie were there when we arrived, so we got to spend a little bit of time with them too. Rylie told me that the Easter bunny brought her money. I asked her how much and she said, “I think it was like 30,000”. If she’s right, I want to know what she’s been doing to get on the Easter Bunny’s good side! Anyone that knows Dan’s dad knows that he cooks for an army, so we were all sent home with plenty leftovers!
We ended our Sunday afternoon with grocery shopping, then home so Dan could watch a special on Dinosaurs while Katie made DELICIOUS Neiman-Marcus Cookies. Anyone that has an email address has to have seen this recipe at least 20 times. I got it again the other day and realized that even though I had seen this email over and over, I’ve never actually known of anyone making them. So I thought I’d give it a try. They turned out GREAT!! Dan said “They’re the best cookie I’ve ever had!”
So, we had yet another great weekend. This week is going to be a busy one while Katie and Alyssa get ready for a long weekend in Kettle Falls.
We hope you all had a wonderful Easter spent with loved ones!!

We Celebrated Rylie Senger’s 4th Birthday on Sunday!

(Dion & Candy’s Oldest Daughter)

Rylie invited all of her friends and family to Super Jump in Sumner, WA. Super Jump is a big warehouse filled with Inflatable Slides & Jumpers. What a great idea!! The kids weren’t the only ones who enjoyed them though!! Parents were able to use it as well.

Katie had to sit out, due to her injured hip.

Afterwards; Dan, Katie & Alyssa went to Dion & Candy’s to visit a little more. Alyssa and Rylie were playing dress up.

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks...

Squak Mountain – Issaquah, WA

One of our goals this year as a family is to really get into hiking and camping. This last weekend we were able to go on our first family hike. We were looking forward to it all week, keeping a close eye on weather while searching for places to go. Weather didn’t seem too promising, but we made the decision to plan a hike and if needed, we could cancel. Rather then not plan one at all and then have the weather turn out nice.

Dan found a great family hike on Squak Mountain, just outside of Issaquah; between Tiger & Cougar Mountain. We (Dan, Katie & Alyssa) got up early Saturday morning, ate a healthy breakfast and headed out. Alyssa had never been on a hike so she was really looking forward to the experience.

We arrived at the trail around 10:45. It had been sprinkling and a bit chilly, but we had hopes that it would go away. We decided to set our goal for the Bullitt Fireplace. This would make for about a 2 mile hike, one way. Unfortunately shortly after starting the hike, Katie had noticed a pinched nerve in her hip. We decided to keep going, hoping the pain would go away. As luck would have it, it only seemed to get worse and worse. We had already gone a mile; and she thought it would be such a waste to turn back now. So, we kept trudging a long, having to stop from time to time.

There were many junctions throughout the hike, which didn’t seem to match with the original map that we had looked out. After researching this hike, we realize we weren’t the only ones that had this problem. We found that it is best to follow the signs along the paths rather then use the map that was posted out front.

What a feeling it was to reach the Bullitt Fireplace. We were so happy that Alyssa was able to experience her first achievement as a hiker. She did so well, not a single complaint. She’s already looking forward to many many more hikes.

The Bullitt Family donated the original 600 acre land in hopes that it be preserved as a natural area. The Squak Mountain Trail passes the Bullitt Family summer cabin. Years ago, the house (which was built by Stimson Bullitt) burnt down, leaving only the fireplace and chimney. This is an excellent place to stop and picnic and either continue on with the hike or use as a turning around point. Considering Katie’s injury and the fact that it was our first hiking experience… We decided to turn around.

As you can see the weather didn’t exactly clear up. Just as we got to the Bullitt Fireplace, it started to sprinkle with small hints of snow. We’re so happy that we didn’t let weather get in the way.

After our hike, we treated ourselves to a nice soak in Paul’s Hot Tub. Then went out to have dinner with Chris, Sarah & Zack. We played Wii for a little bit. I couldn’t help but think of how silly it is that they have these games and activities on a game system. Have our lives really became so wrapped up in technology that we have to have our fun in front of the TV, no matter what it is we’re doing (Bowling, Tennis, Carnival Games, Etc…) After such an adventurous day I kept thinking, What’s next… Hiking on Wii?

(as always, you can view more of our pictures from this hike in our Picasa Folder to the right)

Goodbye Goldie

We finally had to say farwell to Good Ol' Goldie the Oldie. After many years of loyalty, we decided to sell her while we could. She was a great car and treated us well. I know that she will do the same for the nice man that bought her.

We want to send out a HUGE Thanks to my mom and dad for giving Goldie to us. Hopefully some day, we can do the same for them!

With each sunrise, we start anew

This morning our typical drive to Orting started of really foggy but just as we started to head down the hill the fog broke and I saw one of the most beautiful sunrises I had ever seen. The air was so crisp and clean, there weren’t any clouds and the mountains were so defined. You could almost hear the peace in the air. The sky was filled with beautiful shades of blue fading into peach. I thought to myself how sad it was that such a beautiful thing would only last a short while. Pretty much like most events in our lives. As humans it’s natural to rush through life trying to get as much done in the least amount of time. Think of how many beautiful moments we have rushed through, without taking the time to grasp and enjoy it. How many things have we put off until tomorrow? How many smiles have we skipped because we were too busy being angry or sad? How do we let our pride take over everything else? Why is it that people seem to concentrate so much on the negativity? There seem to be about a million magazines and websites out right now that focus on GOSSIP. Celebrity Gossip at that! Do people really have nothing better to do with their lives then to gossip? I don’t watch the news for the same reason I don’t get involved with that. If there’s a “current event” that I want to catch up on, I will, but I am not going to worry about what’s going on in someone else’s life. Anyways, my point is that at least for today that sunrise has brightened my day!! It doesn’t matter if clouds get in the way because I will have that picture in my head of just how beautiful it was… if even for a minute.

Girl Scout Cookies GALORE!!!

As mentioned before, Alyssa is very active in her Girl Scout Troop. She has been selling cookies like there's no tomorrow. We were able to rake in 222 Cookies in PreOrders and the number just keeps growing the more cookies she sells. Last night Alyssa and Katie stood outside of the Orting Safeway and sold over 65 more boxes in just two hours! The people were so nice and generous. There were a lot of people that donoated money even after buying cookies and some that donated their cookies to the Military Troops. One nice lady even gave Alyssa a cute little stuffed bear. She named her Mint Cookie (cause she's green). We are so proud of Alyssa's hard work and accomplishments. She has a great time doing it and loves to make a difference in everyone's lives.

Quick update….

Things have been going great!!

We spoke to our mortgage broker who is working with us so that we can plan to buy our first home this summer. We’ve been working really hard to save up as much money as possible and really look forward to shopping for our home.


Dan and Katie had a very relaxing night-in for Valentine’s Day. Dan surprised Katie with a couple gifts and the sweetest card ever!! (he thinks it’s silly because it’s so “cliché”…. But it was perfect!) We both made a wonderful dinner together. Not sure if it was all the love that was put into the meal, or maybe it was just really that good. Either way, we couldn’t have asked for a better night!



For Katie’s Birthday weekend her sister Heidi came into town. That Saturday we had a Girls 80’s Night at the house. It was so much fun and everyone really got into their outfits!! I think the only thing that could have been better is if Katie’s mom could have been there too!

Alyssa has been growing sooo much. She keeps losing more and more teeth. As you can see, she seems to lose them faster then she can grow them. She sold over 200 Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year. Tonight we get to wait outside of Safeway in Orting to sucker all of the shoppers into buying cookies!!