Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them

Our weekend started with an emergency visit to the dentist because Alyssa started getting a toothache. The dentist said she has a cavity that got infected. They need to pull the tooth but not while it’s infected, so she was put on antibiotics. After the dentist, I took her to Beverly & Dion’s. Her grandma & grandpa (Jake’s mom and her husband) Alyssa was very excited to be able to stay with them, especially since she knew they were going to go fishing in the morning. Saturday was opening day for Trout fishing. She pulled in a 13 ¼” Rainbow Trout.

Since we didn’t have Alyssa, Dan and I thought it would be nice to take advantage of the night. He went and finished the dashboard on his car (which turned out GREAT!!!) And I went and spent some quality time with my good friend Stephanie. We went out to Thai, went back to her place for some great conversation then spent the night at her mom’s house.

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning. Dan went and helped Dion & Candy move and I went home to prepare for the afternoon. I made some salsa and coleslaw. Around noon, I drove out to Ravensdale to pick up Alyssa. She and I went to Sabra’s 8th Birthday party. Chuckles the clown put on a very interesting show for us. All the kids loved him!

After that birthday party, I took Alyssa to Chris & Karri’s house. Then I went to Chris Gourley’s house to start setting up for Sarah’s Surprise Birthday Party. WHAT A SUCCESS!!! I was so nervous that it wasn’t going to work out. She had absolutely no idea, everyone that was involved played along perfectly. We couldn’t have pulled it off otherwise! Chris took Sarah out to dinner for her birthday, I showed up shortly after they left. Everyone else showed up around 5:30pm and Chris & Sarah returned around 6:30pm. Sarah could not believe it. She was shaken up the whole night.

Sunday we all woke up, I made some biscuits & gravy; we watched a little Nascar racing and then went and picked up Alyssa. The three of us enjoyed a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon BBQing and watching Smallville. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend!!

We haven’t had a whole lot going on, but I had a few people bring up the fact that we haven’t blogged in a while. Last weekend we house-sat for Dan’s dad. Paul went to Arizona and Mexico for a week. A much needed vacation. So we spent most of last weekend spring cleaning his house and helping Dion and Candy move. Unfortunately we had to miss Jackson’s Birthday party and missed seeing everyone. We were both really looking forward to it and were so upset that we weren’t able to make it. Living south of most of our friends is not always easy. Hopefully our friends can understand this and not take it personal. We really do miss you all very much!! Summer shall bring longer days and more opportunity to get together. (Hopefully)

A couple weekends ago, Alyssa went to a really cute spa in Bellevue with her Girl Scout Troop. They all got makeovers and manicures. They were also sent home with bags full of goodies. She had so much fun. We really do love the opportunities that Girl Scouts gives her. She has been doing very well in school. Next month her and I get to go to Tillicum Village for a class field trip. A trip we have been looking forward to all year.

I have been very busy at work. I was able to work on a High School Blood Drive on Monday. Those are always quite interesting. It makes me very grateful to not be in high school any more. The drama that goes on is just amazing. And to see the way the girls treat each other is heartbreaking. I’m sure we were all there at some point in our lives; I think its part of growing up. Now I see why my mother always taught me to treat others as I wanted to be treated. It is now my job to teach Alyssa how to treat people and hope that she isn’t treated like a lot of those poor girls. She already shows the caring side of her at school. She gets very sad when children mistreat other kids. She is the one that will make friends with them no matter what other people think. She even wanted to give one of her classmates $10 because his parents didn’t have any money. She always seems to amaze us with her big heart. We are so proud of her.

That is all for now, we have yet another busy weekend ahead of us… so be expecting an update early next week. We hope you all have a GREAT weekend!!! Lots of Love…

Dan's Project

Last summer Dan sold the 72' C10 Truck and bought a 79' Chevy Malibu. You can see by the pictures that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Unfortunately, with us getting ready to buy a house, he hasn't been able to work on it as much as he would like. So, in the meantime he's been doing the best he can to fix the cheap/easy stuff until he has the time, money and space to make it perfect. If you're ever curious to see where the project stands, we'll be posting progress pictures every chance we get in our Picasa Photo Album (on the right). We all know how proud Dan is when it comes to his hot rods!

The current pictures we have posted are of his dashboard. There were a few cracks and holes that need to be filled before he paints them. He's been working very hard on them to get it to look great... we are anxious to see the final results.

LOVE THEM!!!

I was just going through some pictures and came across this one. I can't believe I almost forgot about it, It's by far one of my favorites. I love them both so much, yet that love grows stronger and stronger every day. I look forward to seeing what our future holds.

I never imagined that I could be this happy!!!

Thank You Friends...

Dan and I were sitting in the hot tub last night having great discussions after a long day. We started talking about our friends and just how lucky we are to have them in our lives. We think that our friends are more then typical friends and there's not a day that goes by that we don't realize this (this also goes for our family, who we concider the best of friends). So we really want to take this time to Thank You ALL for being so awesome!! We look up to all of you with respect and honor and we know that each of you plays a role in our lives that neither one of us could live without!

Happy Friday, Have a Great weekend.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.

Remember that a lot... goes forever.

Remember that friendship is a wise investment.

Life's treasures are people... together.

Realize that it's never too late.

Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

Have health and hope and happiness.

Take the time to wish upon a star.

And don't ever forget... for even a day...

How very special you are.

XOXO

Rascall Flatts Concert ~ 04/05/08

HUGE HUGE HUGE Thanks to my friend Sarah (and Chris) for buying me a Rascall Flatts ticket for my birthday!!

After days in bed feeling like I was moments from dying (head cold and chest cold) I had to break the news to Sarah that our months of excitement for this concert was over, I wasn't going to be able to go. Friday night I was still in so much pain, I thought there'd be no way I would make it on Saturday. Fortunately Saturday morning I woke up feeling better than I had all week. Still not 100%, but better. Dan was on his way to opening day at the race track and the thought of staying cooped up indoors AGAIN killed me. Sarah had told me that she found someone else that wanted to go, so I didn't even think it was an option for me to go still. But when I texted her, she was more then happy to hear that I was feeling better!! I felt horrible to let the filler of my ticket down, but she was very understanding.

I was nervous that going was going to make my flu worse, luckily I am still feeling better and better each day!! I am so happy that I was able to go. We all had such a great time, I finally got to meet some of Sarah's friends and hang out with her sister Anna again. What a great group of girls.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

I realize it’s already a week into April and I’m a little late sharing my Successful April Fools Prank, but I’ve been in bed sick…

It starts back on Thursday, March 27th. My last day of work until Wed. As I am heading out the door my boss yells to me “Don’t crash in your plane and don’t hurt your knee.” He said this because weeks before this we had a lady from our department visiting family and hurt her knee really bad, she ended up having to have surgery and has still not been able to return to work. Now, I think to myself, WHY on earth would he say something like that to me. (I guess you’d have to know my boss’s sense of humor… something we’re all still trying to figure out). So, Alyssa and I got back into town Monday but we both had Tuesday (April Fools Day) off. We’re sitting at home, getting some R&R after a long weekend. I ponder a while, trying to figure out a prank to play on someone, finally I figured out a way to fool a few people at work…. And so it began:

Here is a rough idea of the texts that were shared between one of my best friends/co-workers that day, Keep in mind that these texts were through out the whole day...
Katie: I think Bill (my supervisor) jinxed me; I broke my leg Saturday night L
Stephanie: On No! Are you ok?
Katie: Yes, I’ll be fine. I slipped on a frozen piece of snow… I’d send you a picture but I broke the camera on my phone when I fell.
Stephanie: Can you drive? I can give a ride if you need.
Katie: Luckily it’s my left foot so I’m still able to drive, thanks though.

So at this point, I’m thinking it’s worked and I’ll show up to work the next day and everyone will wonder where my cast is and I’ll get to say “APRIL FOOLS!!!”

Concerned Stephanie proceeds to inform my boss so word gets around the whole blood bank Very quickly!! Shortly before noon, my boss starts to get suspicious and asks Stephanie if she thinks I might be trying to play a trick. Anyone that knows me should know that it was a joke… especially since it was April Fools Day.

So Stephanie starts asking questions:
Stephanie: What kind of cast are you in?Katie: Right now I’m in a plaster cast with a weird boot until the swelling goes down.
Stephanie: How long will it take to heal?Katie: It’s really hard to say, they thought it might take longer because of my brittle bones.

Then I figure she has started catching on because she starts getting a little carried away

Stephanie: Don’t worry about a thing. I talked to Bill and we’re trying to make accommodations for you to return to work.
Katie: Accommodations? Like what, An Elevator??
Stephanie: We’re not sure, we’re trying to get a hold of Mike (out maintenance guy) to see what we can do.
Katie: Well, don’t worry about it too much, I can use the ramp to get to my office downstairs… I just won’t be able to go up and down the stairs to sign for packages. I’m sure if Susan can do it, I can manage.
(I think at this point she probably expected me to give in already, so she starts really digging)
Stephanie: Keep this on the down low, we’re sending flowers.

Alright!! She got me. Even if she has caught on to my prank, there’s no way I was going to take the chance….

Katie: APRIL FOOLS!!!
Stephanie: Are you serious? I need to go talk to Kat to make sure she hasn’t ordered them (the person responsible for ordering flowers)
Stephanie: Too late, the flowers are in route and Kat is going to have a talk with Chris (the CEO of the company) (I can tell she’s trying to April Fools me back by making it seem like I was going to get in trouble)
Katie: OH NO STEPHANIE!! Are you going to get into trouble for lying to everyone?Stephanie: No, You are you jackass!
Katie: I didn’t do anything wrong, I just told you a little joke, you’re the one that told everyone.
Stephanie: They’re just going to deduct the flowers from your paycheck.
(Now, I wasn’t sure how serious she was… I knew they couldn’t deduct the flowers from my paycheck.. .the question was if the flowers were coming or not)
Katie: that’s fine! At least I’ll still get something out of it, I’ll be sure to send you a picture with my non-broken camera!!!
Stephanie: Ha Ha

When I returned to work the next day I had no idea how many people knew about this. A lot of people walked up to me to praise me on my prank well done, others were a little annoyed because they HAD started making arrangements for me and the rest had no idea it was a joke so they were still looking for my cast!! Luckily they were all good sports about it… I suppose I shall eagerly await the prank that will be played on me next ;)

Our Long Weekend...

We have been out of town the last few days, So I figure it would be a perfect time for an update:

Bright and Early Friday morning Dan drove Katie and Alyssa to the airport to fly over to eastern Washington. We landed in Spokane around 10am. Katie’s sister Heidi and her boys picked us up, we all did some shopping and then out to Sushi. That night we had a great girl’s night at Heidi’s. We all stayed up until about 4am catching up. The next day we had Heidi’s birthday party to get ready for, so we all went out to lunch and finished our running around. Alyssa was sad that we weren’t able to spend Easter with my family like we usually do, so my mom set up a Week Late Easter Egg Hunt. The weather was not holding up so my mom got into the High School and hid the eggs indoors. All of the eggs were filled with cash!! Alyssa, Lucas & Carter all had a great time!! Later that night, Heidi’s party started with a “ladies only” party, at least 20 women showed up! Afterwards we met up with more people at the local tavern. (ONE of the local taverns). Sunday we made a big ham and potatoes dinner. I made North Dakota style Cole Slaw for the first time. I have watched Dan’s parents make it a few times so I thought I’d give it a try. It wasn’t as good as theirs but for my first time, I think I did pretty well! We had a couple members of the family show up for the dinner. The only way the day could have been better if Dan was there. Unfortunately we had to head back home on Monday. We drove back with Amy Swatzell and Layla, what crazy weather across the state.

While we were out of town, Dan was went hiking with Chris Gourley and some of their buddies. They took Chris’s Jeep up camping and panning for gold. I was hoping to come back home and be rich, but they didn’t have as much luck as I had hoped. Dan said it was a lot of fun except the weather they had to deal with.

Even though we spent the weekend separated, we all had a great time and missed each other sooo much!!