Summertime Update... Car Crash, Celebrations & Lots of Heat!!

It’s obvious that summer has finally made its appearance in western Washington which has kept us very busy.

On Saturday, June 20th, I was riding with Katrina and Lindsay in Katrina’s car. We were stopped at a stoplight when someone hit us from behind. No one was seriously injured and much to our surprise, Lola the Corolla wasn’t even totaled. We did have to spend hours in the emergency room to make sure we were all fine. Since then, I have had to get X-Rays and started going to physical therapy/massage therapy. I am finally starting to feel much better and have gotten a lot of my movement back. Katrina and Lindsay seem to be doing much better as well.

That same day, we drove to Ellensburg for our friend Bryan Hoyt’s Surprise 30th Birthday party. We drove over with Mic, Steph & Little Jackson (The Dupis family). We had such a great time riding up there with them, doing some great catching up. The party was a big hit. So many people showed up and set up their tents for the night. Everyone had their significant others and children (if applicable). Alyssa was at her Girl Scout camping trip, so she wasn’t able to go. But it was so great to see everyone else’s families.

The following week, we had Dan’s niece and nephew stayed with us. It was so nice to have them. I was still in too much pain to work, so I was able to stay home with them on Tuesday. They are great kids to hang out with, always full of love and laughter. They fit right in at our home!! Dan dropped them off with Dion and Candy Thursday morning. Another uncle picked them up for the weekend to go camping.

Friday night I went out with some girl friends to celebrate Katrina’s 27th Birthday. Dan and I woke up bright and early Saturday morning. Dan was scheduled to work all day, but when he showed up there was no one there to let them in. He wasn’t too upset considering it was supposed to get up to 90!! Sarah and I had tried to plan a Surprise ½ Birthday party for Chris since his birthday falls on Christmas every year. Things didn’t work out as planned considering Chris started planning his own BBQ. So we all hung out by his pool, BBQ’d in the afternoon and relaxed by the fire to finish the night. Dan got burnt to a crisp, even after applying sunscreen all day. (There are pictures under our Summer Picasa Album)
We woke up at Chris & Sarah’s Sunday morning. They both had some running around to do, so Dan and I went and had brunch at AppleBee’s (one of our Sunday rituals). Afterwards, we went back to Chris’s and sat by the pool to keep cool. The weather was amazing all weekend long. But by early Sunday afternoon, we were ready to be indoors relaxing. As usual we finished our weekend with dinner and Smallville.

Anyway...

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.

Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

- Anonymous

Congratulations Alyssa!!

Alyssa has been in Girl Scouts for a couple of years now. Monday night she graduated from a Brownie to a Junior.

We are very proud of her. She is doing very well and absolutely loving Girl Scouts. She has a great leader who always has something for the girls to do which has allowed them to earn so many different badges. Alyssa will now start wearing a green vest instead of her brown vest. She leaves for her Girl Scout Camping Trip tomorrow afternoon.

Being in Girl Scouts has taught her many different lessons; so I really hope she continues to be so active. It has also given her the chance to become really close with everyone in her troop. They are a great group of girls.

(there are more pictures from her graduation in the "Alyssa" album on our Picasa page)

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

Friday after work we met Dion, Kala & Sheldon at Paul’s house. Then we all went down to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners. We got there nice and early so we were able to walk around the stadium. Sheldon got to catch some fake fly balls. We finally found our seats at the very top row off 1st base. We were surrounded by 45 high school students that were on a Mission from Texas. It was Adrian Beltre Booblehead night, so we all got one of our very own! It was a very nice night for the game. The roof was open all night, which made for a great city sunset.

We ended up spending the night at Paul’s house Friday night and since he was working all weekend, we decided to take the kids. The four of us went to Chris & Sarah’s house to see Chris’s new patio. We were hoping it would get hot enough for the kids to be able to swim, but no such luck. So they played Wii instead. Kala and I made Fried Bread for Indian tacos for dinner… they turned out GREAT!

Sunday morning we all got up and went to the Brewery in Burien for Father’s Day brunch. The kids had a great time seeing all of the cars. After the car show, we went back to Paul’s house to unwind. Much to our surprise Dion and Rylie were there napping when we showed up! They had just gotten done watching KungFu Panda. We had such a great weekend with Kala & Sheldon, it was very hard to leave them.

They seem to be having a good time, but we can also tell that they are getting homesick. We’re hoping that they can come spend some time at our place next week. There’s not a whole lot to do during the day while we’re at work, so we might need to introduce them to some hobbies to keep them busy. (you can see all of the pictures from our weekend on our Picasa under the S.O.S Album)

Early Father's Day

The three of us celebrated Father’s Dan last night, since Alyssa will be with her dad this weekend. We had BBQ’d Cheese Burgers, Fries and Salad for dinner while watching Smallville. After dinner Alyssa and I surprised Dan with his Father’s Day gift.
We framed a bunch of pictures of the two of them...

This is my favorite picture, so it got it’s own frame!

She also gave him a poem that said:

MY DADDY'S HAND

Daddy, Take my hand in yours and you will plainly see,

How very much I need you now to love and care for me.

As my little hand grows, I will need you even more,

Everything I do in life, I have never done before.

Teach me to be kind and loving, sharing and forgiving,

Show me through your acts of love the pure joy of living.

The years will pass by quickly and one day I will be grown,

I will pass what you have taught me onto children of my own.

Hold me always in your thoughts and remember when we are apart,

The special love between a child and a daddy's heart.

Happy Father’s Day ~ 2008

Needless to say it was an emotional moment. Earlier in the week, I wanted Alyssa to come up with the one reason she loves Dan so much. Without even having to think about her answer, she said “I love him because he loves you so much mommy!” We are both very fortunate to have him in our lives. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wake up realizing just how lucky I am to have him. He has a heart that keeps on giving. He always knows exactly what to say to bring a smile to my face. The fact that he can love Alyssa like one of his own means more to me then he’ll ever know and I know it means a lot to Alyssa too.

He absolutely loved the gifts. He said it’s the best gift ever!!

Dan stopped by to check on the kids at Paul's last night. When he called me, I could hear them doing karaoke in the background. It sounds like they were having a great time getting spoiled by Grandpa.

We just purchased our tickets for the Seattle Mariners game tomorrow night. Looks like the weather might actually be on our side for once! We're hoping to get down there a little early to show the kids around. I will have the camera... so check back for lots of pictures!!

A really really quick catch up...

Oh wow!! It has been quite a while since I last posted. We have been extremely busy and absolutely loving it. Since my last post my sister came to town for a Surprise Birthday Party (Theme: Black & White) for our friend Amy. The following weekend we met up with a great group of friends at Lincoln Park in West Seattle (on what seems to have been the only nice day so far) followed by another night at the Ivy’s. I also planted my first garden!! I have never planted a full garden before, Paul let me plant his. So, I guess we’ll see how it turns out.

We are more then ready for this weather to go away… Snow in June just isn’t acceptable!! Dan’s niece (Kala, just turned 15 on Saturday) and nephew (Sheldon, 10) arrived bright and early yesterday morning. After picking them up, we spent the rest of the day at Paul Senger’s house. I made a feast of a breakfast including French toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple. Then we did some yard work while waiting for Dion and his family to show up. Dan, Alyssa & Sheldon spent all morning draining and scrubbing the hot tub (while Kala was sleeping); so after dinner we all got in to enjoy it.

It’s so great to have the kids here. It has been YEARS since they’ve been out here. We’ve all been searching for activities for all of us to do, so if anyone has any recommendations we would appreciate it.