Primary Chorister

Here we go again!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

Our debit card number took a fantastic vacation to Vegas yesterday. Hung out a little, maybe it took in a couple shows, saw the sites, oohhh, maybe won some money, hit a couple pool parties. I'm not exactly sure as to her (my debit card #) vacation itinerary but I do know for sure that she (my debit card #) did a little shopping while hanging in Vegas. She was able to take a fun little trip to the Apple Store to buy a $1600 computer. I wonder what color she bought? Red or green would have been fun, or maybe that aqua color...pretty! Too bad my debit card # didn't want to share the goods. I would have loved a new computer, especially a Mac. Oh well, I hope you enjoy your new amazing computer that never gets viruses. I will in fact enjoy my nice old computer that sufffers from narcolepsy and spontaneously shuts off at random and has a beautiful blue line running down the center of the screen.
Oh, the joys of Credit Card fraud.

Denny Creek adventure

That looks like dangerously rushing water you are standing next to, Jenny.
Why yes, it is slightly terrifying and very cold...
Why are you risking your life by tempting this waterfall to suddenly change course, envelope you and carry you downstream?
Because, fellow readers...my husband wanted to take a picture. Isnt it beautiful?


























Boy, that looks like fast running water...I wonder how strong it is? And what an interesting choice to take along your 4 year old?

Look how happy you all are to be away from the cold merciless waters of Denny Creek. And no hiking picture is complete without a ballet pose.

Birthdays

The beginning of the year is filled with our family's birthdays.

January 29th - Steve turned 33. I unfortunately do not have a pic of him opening his present...new pajamas!! Don't be jealous. I also made him his favorite dessert, Bread Pudding! Steve thinks its divine, the rest of us...YUCK! He enjoyed it, solo.

Next, February 3rd, Cailin turned 7. Steve was actually hoping for her to be born on the 2nd, her birthday would have been 2-2-02. Alas, that did not happen. Even though the magic all started to happen on the 2nd, 24 hours of labor took me over onto the 3rd, a Sunday. Superbowl Sunday. I will always remember that because that is pure love for Steve to miss what turned out to be one of the best Superbowl games of all time. Fatherly love!

Funny story. The morning of the day Cailin was born, I was in full blown labor, this is the conversation that ensued between the 2 of us...

Steve sweetly leans over to me and whispers "Honey, I need to go somewhere, Ill be back in just a little while".

Me: "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?".

Steve: "I just have to quickly return the carpet cleaner to the Hardware store, it will be fast"

Me: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Steve: "But there's going to be a late fee"

I don't remember the rest, but I do remember that Steve in fact did not leave and my father who knows everyone in the city of Tempe Arizona made a phone call. Our Carpet cleaner was returned on a later date and no late fee was incurred. Cailin was born that evening, weighing 7lbs 15 oz. A itty bitty tiny peanut of a baby according to my family. Never had they seen such a small baby. She was born and immediately nursed for an entire hour!! that was the beginning of our intense nursing relationship. She nursed every 1 1/2 hours for the next 18 months and tolerated a sad and difficult weaning at the age of 3. Cailin was very intense. I don't know another word to describe her. People were genuinely concerned for me when I told them I was pregnant with Avrie) they couldn't possibly fathom how on earth I would manage a new baby with Cailin. But she is grown and just turned 7 (Ill write a later post on the ways I love Cailin) Cailin has light brown hair and the goofiest laugh. She is the spitting image of her Aunt Vicky and Abuela, gorgeous!

For her birthday party she wanted to go bowling. Birthday parties are a bit hard here because our place is small and the weather outside is blah. So, bowling it was. Everyone got their own team t-shirt and they all had fun! Unfortunately, the battery on my camera died soon after the party started and I had to purchase a disposable camera (for $10). The quality is not very great.

Next birthday, I turned 33 on March 20th. We ended up that evening in Mill Creek at Cailin's ballet class so we decided to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Steak, red red red juicy bloody steak is my absolute favorite food, so it was perfect. We all shared an enormous chocolaty gooey sweet dessert and somehow found room in our tummies to devour it. We all had a good time.

The next and final birthday. Avrie, the baby, turned 4 on March 27th!! Oh, this was truly the saddest birthday yet. I didn't mind Cailin getting older but watching Avrie let go of babyish words and use big girl words, dressing herself, feeding herself, singing all the words to Katy Perry's Hot n Cold song (she can, its hilarious, Ill post it sometime). These feats of becoming a big girl are killin' me. I want it to just slow down a little bit more. Avrie was born a week after my birthday, 10 days late on Easter Sunday, in the morning after only 12 hours of labor. Labor started at an Easter egg hunt and progressed throughout the night. I watched Chicago and Moulin Rouge, pausing during each contraction so as to not miss any of my favorite songs. Cailin was there to watch Avrie's birth, isn't that exciting. She was a little scared but was very brave with Grandma's help. She weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs!!! Holy crap. Ironically, Cailin's head and chest were bigger. LeAnn and April I think were the ones who dressed her after she was born. For some reason that is the only thing about the whole birthing thing that whigs me out a little bit. She looked like a mini Cailin but very quickly turned into her own little person. She is my little blondie, with blue eyes, and hilarious! She says the funniest things. Again Ill post a what I love about Avrie post sometime soon.

Avrie had a cooking party, every friend received an apron (which I sewed quickly, sorry if any of yours fall apart in the dryer), they each made their own pizza and Ice Cream Friday (not Sundae, her birthday, as she informed me, is not on a Sunday). Everyone seemed to have a good time, although seven 3 and 4 year old are a bit overwhelming and exhausting. Even if the aprons fall apart, they were cute for the pictures :)

Now, I am done because if I have to upload one more photo onto this site I think I will fall into an even greater depression than this God forsaken weather has already thrown me into and I might just have to drive my car off a cliff. Good Night!!

MPH, the law or just a suggestion

Dear Seattlites,

If the speed limit on the freeway says 60mph it is probably not a good idea to drive ....

50mph!!!!!!!

Do the good people of Seattle have nowhere important to go? Do they not have the slightest sense of urgency?I cant stand it!!!!!!! Don't even get me started on their inability to merge at a speed greater than 30 mph. I know I said a while ago that I was calling a truce with all those crazies that refuse to apply even an ounce of pressure to that pedal on the right that the rest of the world refers to as the gas pedal but somewhere as these people here were growing up in this sunless, soggy God forsaken place they were taught about all the taboos of their isolated little world, one being the forbidden act of driving the actual posted speed limit, their refusal to honk...ever!! and sitting at a red light two car lengths behind the stop bar. Why do they do that? Ive never seen that before I moved here, it happens all of time. Why cant they pull up all the way? Someone please give me a logical explanation for this annoyingly stupid act of ridiculousness. (sometimes when I see someone do this I quickly slip my car into the spot in front of them, it makes them very uncomfortable. Its too funny)

Anyways, as you can see I had a fabulous time driving 20 minutes to Mountlake Terrace today. I hope your drive tomorrow is just as fun.

"...we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

There is so much to say about today, so much I'm feeling right now, so much I weeped about today that I am practically speechless. Which, if you know me well, is making your jaw drop about now. But, no worried my friends, I will brave past this feeling and write something.

First, yesterday was a wonderful day. I was so excited to sit my girls on my lap in front of the computer and listen as a family to Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" Speech. It literally brought tears to my eyes as I watched Cailin soaking in every word of that speech. As I helped her memorize my favorite line "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." As we talked about the significance of that speech, of that gathering. The significance of those masses standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial. That this historic day would not be happening if that historic day had never occurred. The impact of that thought is so incredibly grand.

On to today's events. I was so tempted to keep Cailin home from school. I didn't because I was convinced by friends that they would be watching the inauguration in their classrooms. Why oh why do I fool myself into putting more faith than deserved into the public school system. Cailin's class watched 10 minutes. Blah, unacceptable. I should have kept her home. Anyways, we will Youtube it later this week.

Huge moments for me:

His denouncement of

"petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and
worn out dogmas"

What? What? How will government even be able to function without those, aren't those the backbone that hold our political system together? Basically a polite big fat raspberry to the Bush administration.

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a
weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and
non-believers."

I looked and looked and I couldn't find any speech given by a president that was inclusive to Atheists. What a big step. Its about time we actually have a President that acknowledges the fact our Nation is made up of more than wealthy white God fearing gun toting men. Hallelujah! These differences do have the potential to make us a stronger nation. If everyone just stopped trying to look through the same toilet paper tube, this nations eyes would be open to more that we thought we were capable of. The spirit is behind us, now lets all just take a step.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has
shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have
consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not
whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it
works..."

Ever since Reagan there has been rhetoric after rhetoric about government involvement. Is the government part of the problem or part of the solution? Guess what the government is here to stay, they have to be part of the solution, because they exist to govern. That is its job. That is our job. T o work together, unite. We are reminded... "This is the price and promise of citizenship" The government just needs a little reshaping to better serve the people.

President Obama (doesn't that just sound so wonderful) was able to, in about 15 minutes, completely wipe out all of Bush's failures and falsehoods, bad policies and indecisions.

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord....the time has come to set aside
childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring
spirit..."

I don't want today to end. But at the same time I'm excited for tomorrow to begin. This is truly an historic moment. To all of you out there just waiting for him to fall on his ass. Unclench your fists, turn your frowns upside down. When pleasant surprise begins to creep into your character, let it in. Let him succeed, accept him, support him, be proud of him. We would have done the same for your guy.