Last night we had Alyssa's Orientation. Her teacher seems really nice. She is younger and she's lived in Orting her whole life.


Alyssa's dad (Jake) and his wife (Amey) gave birth to their 2nd child, Ashton LaRoche. He was born at 10am on Tuesday morning, weighing 8lbs 5oz. They also have Morgan who is 4 years old. I think he looks a lot like Morgan, who happens to look a lot like Amey. But I can also see a lot of Jake's features in him. Either way, he's adorable and oh so tiny!!

Ashton LaRoche

Ashton and his big sister Alyssa

Alyssa, Morgan & Ashton

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. It's going to be really busy, but we'll be finishing up moving and finally getting completely settled into our new home. Alyssa starts school on Tuesday, so we also have to spend the weekend making sure she is all ready. I have made up a daily schedule and as long as we stick to it, things should run very smoothly. I think she's excited to go back to school and see all of her friends.

May you find serenity and tranquility

in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known and the conflict

you have experienced give you the strength

to walk through life facing each new situation

with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those whose love

and understanding will always be there,

even when you feel most alone.

May you discover enough goodness in others

to believe in a world of peace.

May a kind word, a reassuring touch,

and a warm smile be yours every day of your life,

and may you give these gifts

as well as receive them.

Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.

— Unknown

We have spent the last two nights in our new home!! We feel so much more comfortable here. Unfortunately, There is still a lot of work to be done. Tonight we are getting a U-Haul trailer so that we can get everything out of the apartment and into the condo. HUGE Thanks to Kevin for helping us out!! I'm happy that we have a 3 Day weekend to take advantage of. Hopefully we can get settled in just in time for school to start.

We have orientation at Alyssa's school tomorrow evening. She's in the same school district, but a different school building. She's pretty nervous about that. We still haven't found out which teacher she has. They will have it posted tomorrow during orientation.

Thank you to everyone who has asked about me going back to school. I have gotten a lot of encouragement and so many friends asking about it. I really appreciate all of your support!! I met with the school regarding Financial Aid last week. Everything looks good, but we will have to take out some Financial Aid Loans. Since we are hoping to buy a home in the near future, we are debating whether I should wait until we are in a house before I start school. That way right now we can focus more on buying and then we'll be able to get into a house in the price range we're looking for. And as Dan mentioned, once we are in a house of our own, We will be able to afford for me to work part-time so that I can focus on school. So it was very heartbreaking to realize that I probably won't be able to start school as soon as I had hoped. But it's very exciting and worth the wait when you think about the big picture. We are hoping to see our mortgage broker some time next week... he'll be able to let us know how much a student loan will affect us. We'll also have a better plan as to what we need to do in the next few months to prepare for home ownership.

In Loving Memory...

10 Years ago on this day my grandmother passed away. She was only 63 so it came as a big surprise to everyone in the family. Even after this long, I know there isn’t a day that goes by when she’s not thought of. She was so strong, so loving and so caring. We all have such great memories of her. She was the backbone to our family and made us who we are. I remember when she passed away; I prayed that my mother could be half the grandmother to my children that my grandmother was to us. Although those seem like hard shoes to fill, my mom has no problem living up to it. I see the way my mom (and dad) are with Alyssa and me niece and nephews. All the children look up to my parents the same way I looked up to my grandparents. I am so grateful for them.

Grandma, I know we all remember the smiles you have left on our face. I can speak for everyone when I say that we are blessed to have such an honest and great person like you, and the love you gave us was so pure, honest and true. Thank you so much for being such a great inspiration. You are missed more and more every day.

There's holes in the floor of Heaven,

And her tears are pouring down.

That's how I know she's watching,

Wishing she could be here now.

And sometimes when I'm lonely,

I remember she can see.

There's holes in the floor of Heaven,

And she's watching over you and me.

Stressed to the Max!

I am going to meet with the financial aid department for my school this afternoon. I have submitted my FAFSA application and the results are back. I am so anxious to see how they turned out. Really crossing my fingers for GRANTS GRANTS GRANTS!! Going back to school is a very exciting and stressful thought. It’s going to be a lot of hard work butI have seen many people do it… so I have no doubt that I can too.

Dan will be starting school next week just in time for Alyssa to start the 3rd grade. We’re also in the middle of moving, so the stress level is higher then ever. The three of us sat down a couple nights ago and made a pack that we would work through this as a team. Pulling our teamwork together, it should be a piece of cake. I have made a schedule for all of us to share jobs and duties around the house, considering we’ll all be working hard on our educations as well as working full-time jobs.
I know that education is a necessity at this point, but along with education comes more stress and more debt yet less time. Luckily it’s a short program (less than a year). I guess we’ll see how the financial part goes tonight and then go from there. Cross Your Fingers…

It's Official... We're Moving!

We have been stuck in Puyallup for a while now and have made the decision to move a little north to be closer to friends and family. We will be renting our friend Nicole’s condo in Federal Way for a few months, until we are ready to buy. We’re still trying to work really hard on saving up money so we will be ready for home ownership. We aren’t exactly looking forward to everything that comes with moving, but we are really excited to be closer to everyone. It’s been so hard living in Puyallup, I am thankful that Dan has put up with that commute for this long. We will be moving out the end of this month, so the next couple of weeks are going to be packed!! No pun intended ;)

I have also decided to go back to school. I have been doing a lot of research on becoming a Medical Assistant. I think I have finally decided which school I want to go to, now I just need to work out all of the details. For the last couple of months I have been looking for a new job, something closer to home and closer to Alyssa’s school. There were a few different options but I was being pretty picky considering I already have a good job with great benefits, pension, retirement, etc. Fortunately I didn’t have any luck… yes I said fortunately. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have decided to go to school. I realized that I don’t want to sit at a desk for the rest of my life... I am so sick of doing office work all day everyday. I want to be out working with people and making a difference. I also know that this will be a good example for Alyssa. She’ll be able to watch me go through the school and it will encourage her to stick to her goals at becoming a veterinarian.

Weekend in Kettle Falls, WA

Our trip back to kettle Falls was so much fun!

We left home Friday afternoon. The drive over was beautiful. There were lightning storms that surrounded us the entire way… what a show! Somehow we managed to stay out of the storms though. I think one of our favorite things to do is go on long road trips with each other. It’s so nice to be able to talk and listen to music. Even after so many years, we still learn something new about each other every trip we take. Alyssa was very anxious to get there, so she tried sleeping most of the way to pass time. We arrived at my sister’s around midnight. Zzzzz…..

Everyone one woke up bright and early Saturday morning. My sister made the guys (Dan, My Dad and her husband, Casey) breakfast before their walleye fishing trip. They went and picked my dad up and hit the water before 8:00am. The three of them had a great time… They caught 8 Fish total. I was so proud to hear that Dan caught the biggest!! While they were out having their fun; Me, My Mom, Heidi and the kids went to “town” (Colville, WA). We stopped at the farmer’s market then hit a great yard sale. All together we spent about $64 and drove away with the back of my truck packed. The man that was having the yard sale was cracking up at how excited we were. We couldn’t wait to tell our guys about the great deals we got. We met them on the beach of Lake Roosevelt/Columbia River a little after 2pm. The weather was cloudy with occasional breaks of sun. It was still really hot. All of the kids were getting along so well. They started playing Lost and made a really cool fort.
After the river we all went back to my sister’s house and had a BBQ. Dan and I challenged my mom and dad to a game of Horse Shoes, although it was a close game… We still won!! Then we played my sister and her husband and won that game too!! We are the Champions!

Sunday we all got up and got ready to go to my parent’s house for a big fish fry and family pictures. My brother was there with his family and my grandpa and Carol as well. The food turned out great… my mom knows how to fry some good walleye!!

Sweet Alyssa...

Grandpa and Grandma (my mom and dad) with all of their grandkids.
The next morning we had to get up pretty early to have lunch in Spokane. We stopped at a Sushi place called Raw then hit the road. It was nice to take the break in our 6 hour adventure back home. We also stopped at the scenery spot in Vantage (to see the wild horses display), something we’ve never done before. It’s one of those things you kind of take advantage of. We have driven by it so many times and never even thought about stopping. It was a beautiful day for it too. Not a cloud in the sky and the water was nice and calm.

The weekend went by way to fast but we still had a great time. I really wish that we could make it over more often.

2008 Ellensburg/Yakima River Rafting Trip

Last weekend Dan and I went on the Annual Rafting trip to Ellensburg to float the Yakima River. We had such a great time. When we got up there Friday night the wind was blowing like crazy. We had so much fun hanging out with everyone… and getting a chance to meet new friends as well. Everyone woke up bright and early Saturday morning; we each made our own breakfasts and then headed out on our great adventure.

We had 34 people in our group attached with 22 rafts! We floated approximately 15 miles which took about 4 hours. The weather was perfect. Dan and I had a bit of a rough start to our float when we tried to stop at a nearby island to wait for friends. There was a large log that jumped out at us causing Dan to go overboard and skid on his back over the rocks. I was able to paddle over to him and luckily we were able to pull our teamwork together and retrieve our second oar. After the long haul, we all made it back to camp safe and sound. Everyone was beat but most of us continued to hang out for the night. I can’t believe that Dan and I were able to make it through the rest of the night considering we were the last two to go to bed the night before… or shall I say that morning (5:30am). We’re still not sure how we pulled that one off!

We got back into town nice and early Sunday, waited for Alyssa to get home and then the three of us cuddled up watching our LOST DVD’s the rest of the day. Now we only have 12 more months until we get to do it all again!! We can’t wait…

As always I have pictures posted on our Picasa, under the Spring/Summer 2008 Album.

We’re heading out to Kettle Falls in a few hours to visit my family. We should get there nice and late tonight (6 hour drive). Dan is getting up early tomorrow morning to go fishing with my dad, my brother and my brother in law. On Sunday we are planning on having a BBQ at my mom and dad's and taking family pictures. Hope everyone has a great weekend!! We are very excited for our trip. We’ll be sure to tell you all about it next week.

Goodbyes are not forever ~ Goodbyes are not the end ~ They simply mean I'll miss you…Until we meet again!

Kala and Sheldon were dropped off at the train station this morning for their long journey back to North Dakota. It has been so nice having them here. We've all had such a great time getting to know them. I know they were very excited to get back home to see their family and friends. I have tried my best to keep up on the different activities that they were able to do while they were visiting. Dion and Candy took them out to do so many different things around town... they even took them to see the ocean for the first time.

I hope they had as much fun as we did!! I know Alyssa really misses them too.