Mini Vacation with the Matney's

My sister and her family came to visit from Kettle Falls in March.
We all went and spent the day at Pike’s Place and then went to the Seattle Aquarium.
It was my sister’s 30th Birthday and her and her husbands 5th Anniversary so we also went out to Sushi!!

It was a long weekend stay for them; Heidi even came to work with me that Tuesday for a few hours.

My sister and her family at Pike’s Place

Doing the touristy thing...

The kids at Pike's Place, Check out the nasty sea creature. IT MOVES!!

The kids dressed up in scuba gear

Some random pictures from the Seattle Aquarium

Alyssa + Dan + Katie = Happy Family

I love you sister, Thank you so much for coming to visit!

Proud to be...

am·bas·sa·dor (ām-bās'ə-dər, -dôr')
n. A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another, usually for a specific length of time.

I was just offered the position of our Student Igniter Ambassador at school. I will be responsible for welcoming new students and guiding them through the process. I will also be responsible for handling any student issues.

I am very honored to hold this position and really look forward to helping my fellow classmates.

Another great bonus, I get to wear black scrubs at school instead of the blue scrubs that everyone else has to wear!!! :)

Time after Time...

Once again I have managed to fall way behind on my blogging. Devastating, Right?? ;)

Working full time, going to school on weekends and running a family has become quite a chore. So my time is very limited to say the least. Any free time I do get away from work and studying I try to spend with family and friends.

A quick re-cap: Things have been going well. Being hibernation season and the fact that I am in school 3 out of 4 weekends per month, we haven’t been up to a whole lot.

We had Alyssa’s parent/teacher conference. She is doing really really well. She was awarded as Peak Performer/Student of the Month for February!! Her teacher said that she is a great help in school, always helping the other students and setting good examples (for the most part). She also mentioned how much fun Alyssa is to have in class… always making everyone smile with her funny jokes and stories.

I am really enjoying school and learning a lot. Since I started in December I have been able to maintain my 4.0 with close to perfect attendance. I have met some great people while going to school; I can see life time friendships in the making. My graduation date in September is approaching faster then expected. Woo Hoo!

Dan has been staying busy with school/work and has been trying to get his hotrod put back together. He has been working on a project at Pete’s Dad’s cabin on most of the weekends that I have school. He has also been a huge help around the house while I am at school or needing to study!

Needless to say, the three of us have been incredibly busy while trying to maintain somewhat of a social life on top of all this. We hope everyone is doing well and I hope to keep up on this darn blog.

Now... Where was I?

I suppose I should start with our holidays:

Thanksgiving: We went to Kettle Falls to spend Thanksgiving with my family. My parents just remodeled their kitchen, so this was their first Thanksgiving in their new home. It was a nice long weekend, just not long enough.

December 19th – Alyssa’s 9th Birthday!!! We still can’t get over the fact that she is 9 years old. We surprised her with a new tank for hermit crabs. After she opened the tank, we took her shopping to pick out everything she needs. She was so happy!!! We also had a little pizza party at Round Table Pizza.

The cake that Alyssa decorated all by herself... for herself!

Christmas Eve –Alyssa spent Christmas Eve & Day with her dad this year. So we took her back to his house Christmas Eve Evening. We let Alyssa open her Christmas gift from us, which was a cell phone. I have never seen her face light up so bright. It’s been so nice keeping in touch with her all day every day J Alyssa’s dad was having a dinner party with his family, So Dan and I stayed for a little while to visit. I got to see some of his family that I hadn’t seen in years! It was really nice… and Alyssa was so happy that we stayed. She loves having all of her parents there.

This is what the gift looked like before

she had to unwrap about 10 different layers!!!

Christmas Day – We spent with Dion, Candy and their girls. It snowed like crazy, so we got to play in the snow and build a snowman.

Dan & Dion

New Years – We had full intentions of going to Mic & Stephanie’s to celebrate but I ended up getting a fever and body aches. So the three of us stayed in. I was fast asleep on the couch shortly after Dan finished cooking us dinner, I believe it was around 5:30pm. Dan and Alyssa stayed up watching movies.

So far this year has been Great for us. We are all well and healthy and still fortunate enough to have our jobs. It seems like so many people are struggling these days, We are grateful that we have each other and we are blessed to have a home to go to and a warm meal every night.

Dan has been continuing with his apprenticeship and going to school every other Wednesday. He’s just about to finish with a Boom Truck Course as well. I started school on December 6th to become a Medical Assistant. It has been so much fun. I have already learned quite a bit, passed my first class with a 4.0!! What a great feeling of accomplishment. I was even able to start drawing blood and giving injections my 2nd day of school. Only 8 more months to go!!

(this is me... working really hard at school)

I apologize for not keeping up on our BlogSpot. I know quite a few people have been asking. Things have been pretty hectic, both at work and at home. Our school schedule has been scattered due to holidays and weather, so between school and work I haven’t had a day off since New Years Day. Any free time I do get, I’m busy doing homework or spending as much time as I can with the family.

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Oh Darn It!!

Just when I thought I had a moment to catch up on my blogging, I got completely sidetracked by reading everyone elses. Things are going GREAT!! I know a bunch of you have been getting on my case to update the blog... Time has been hard to find lately and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Maybe I will find time this weekend while I'm at school ;)

TO BE CONTINUED.....
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Happy Thanksgiving, With Love...

The three of us will be heading over to Kettle Falls this Thanksgiving to celebrate with my family. My mom and dad have worked very hard the last year or so to rebuild the new house they bought. This will be their first Thanksgiving in their new home with the newly remodeled kitchen. We can’t wait!!!

We have so much to be Thankful for this year. We have great health as do our loved ones. We have happiness through our true friends and family. And most importantly, we have each other.

We would like to take this time

to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving

Jumbo Peanut Butter and Jelly

Yesterday was a co-worker’s birthday, so I brought in a cake that I had made.

It may just look like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich….

But this is no ordinary PB&J.

This sucker is 8” x 8”

It was a great hit and fun to make.