A word from my sponsor..

That sponsor is me- Nicole! I have been driven to do it again folks! My Mom has neglected her blog. A blog shouldn't be abandoned during the holidays. It might get lonely and feel depressed. Which just isn't right. This year we are doing Christmas different than we have ever done it before. We are all gathering at my house here in Las Vegas. We have plans to spend Christmas with the Bowden's and I know that we are all looking forward to spending time together. Last year my Dad told us girls that we are getting to the age where holiday traditions are going to need to change. He told us it is ok to make our own traditions He told us to make it feel like Christmas where ever we are.

Traditionally, We have Christmas Eve with the Chapin side. We all cram into Grandma and Grand Dad's house. The house becomes noisy as we all arrive. (All my Dad's brother's laugh the same.) We have a huge spread of appetizers ranging from egg rolls to meatballs. When it is time to eat we gather in a circle and hold hands and someone is chosen to pray. It usually isn't a long prayer I don't know if we would last. Then we all grab our plates and load up. There are the same joke every year. As you head to your set with YOUR plate someone comes to take it from you saying "Oh, Thanks for dishing ME up." We draw names and exchange gifts. One of the younger cousins help pass out the gifts. As soon as we all have a gift we are allowed to open them. (flashlights are always a hit with my Dad and his brothers) Then comes the throwing of the paper. Wrapping paper flies through the air until someone emerges with a trash bag to clean up the mess. Then we sit and talk until it is time to head home.

Last year when I came home for Christmas it was snowing pretty good on Christmas Eve. We got a call from Grandma Chapin saying she canceled Christmas. The roads are to bad. No big deal my parents quickly pulled together an awesome spread and we had our own appetizer Christmas Eve dinner. We ate and lounged out in the family room to watch some of our favorite Christmas movies. It was fun. It was comfortable. It was happy. I enjoyed being curled up on the floor with a pile of blankets watching movies with my family.

Then traditionally Christmas Day we spend it with the Lee side of the family. We alternate between our house and the De Boer's. First thing in the morning Michelle is ready to open presents. We all torture her and prolong it as long as possible. We all have to be showered. Mom puts the cinnamon rolls into the oven. We set the breakfast table. We pick up anything that doesn't belong out in the living room. Dad thinks of anything to make Michelle wait. Then when we are finally done we open gifts. I am slow. I like to admire the paper, the bows, the size. Michelle is fast. She rips it open admires it and moves on the the next gift. I like to let my pile grow. I like watching everyone else. Then after the presents. We have brunch. Mom makes cinnamon rolls, egg dish, fresh fruit, hash browns. It is always so good. After brunch we clean up and start prep for dinner. (we love to eat) While Mom slaves in the kitchen we all play with our new stuff. Usually, we have to set up something and try it out. Then all the family shows up. We visit, we eat, we visit more. Then we play a game. I don't like to play but I like to keep score (until I am told I am doing it wrong). Finally, everyone heads home and we settle into a movie.

I love our traditional Christmas but this year will be different. I can't wait to spend time with my family. In less than a week we will all be under the same roof. Making a new tradition. (Hopefully, posting for my Mom won't be a traditon that sticks around.)

Honored Veterans

Today is a day to remember and honor our Veterans.
Last month we were on vacation to Arizona, and on this trip we took a road trip to see some of the sites, some were planned and others we just stumbled upon .
One of our stops was in a small northern Arizona town near the Utah border. We were told that there was a place we could stop and learn more about the Code Talkers. Little did we realize it was located at the Burger King. A display explaining the role of the Navajo Code Talker in the World War II.
I had heard about the Navajo Code Talkers and they were about to communicate strategies during the war, and there code was never broken. What I didn't know is that this was classified information and when the soldier were discharged and came home they felt compelled to honor the secrecy. It was finally revealed and it wasn't until 2001 that the US government awarded the Code Talkers the Congressional Gold Medal.
Many of the Code Talkers couldn't take advantage of getting jobs through government agency as a result they weren't at liberty to discuss what they did in the war. Most returned to their small towns and took local jobs.
Thank you to the Code Talker and all other veterans that have fought for the freedoms I enjoy each day.

The Streak Continues

In a past post I indicated that I have been on an airplane flying streak. I revealed that I have a love for flying and this past year I have had the occasion to fly each and every month. Now it wasn't planned - it just happened. When I flew in August to visit Nicole and looked toward September I realized that I didn't have any flight plans. When I was expressing my disappointment that my streak was coming to an end to a group of friends. One of our friends (Charles) has a pilots license and said that he could take me for a flight. I didn't give it much thought and then the next time we got together Rayme and Charles had scheduled my September ride.

Here are a few pictures of my flight on Saturday. It was a gorgeous sunny day! We flew towards Blaine (being careful not to cross the Canadian border - not a good thing), and then went over the San Juan Islands. The views were amazing! The whole experience was remarkable. I live in a beautiful part of the world.

Don't tell anyone, but I got to fly the plane too.

I missed a holiday!

I was reading one of my favorite blogs and discovered that I missed an important holiday.

It was National Chocolate Milkshake Day this past Saturday. I wished I would have known before this wonderful holiday, as most of you know that I am all about celebrating especially when tasty treats are involved.

I am going to ask a favor from my blogger friends, can you make sure that I don't miss any other fun holidays like this one?

Last month our Annual Smore Day was postponed because it was raining. :( It is hard to have a campfire when it pouring rain.

Does Time Fly?!!

Early this summer I received a notice that my 30th year class reunion was being organized. Wow, 30 years really??? I did the math and yes, it was indeed 30 years.

I was very involved in many high school activities, and I would have to say my memories of high school were good ones.

Of course, the planning committee sent a following email enlisting past and current photos for a slide show presentation accompanied by a questionnaire. I really had a hard time responding to their request. I am highly critical of any pictures of myself, and seeing a picture of me on a big screen made me shutter at the thought.

Here are some of the questions that I was to respond to

• Tell them the highlights of my journey through life since 1979.


• When I retire you will find me living in (fill in place) and spending my time doing (fill in).


• My passion in life is.......

The 1st question really stumped me because how in the world was I going to highlight 30 years in a paragraph. You know when you get a question or statement and you want a good response, and then the next day you get it. Well, that is what happens to me all the time and it happened this time too.

Here is some of my highlights of my life's journey.

I have learned to teach, serve, nurture, need for spiritual awareness, love and in return I have been taught, and been served, and been loved, been nurtured, and have a knowledge of my loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

When I retire I hope that I can continue to learn more, teach more, serve more, nurture more, and become a better example of my Savior Jesus Christ.

As far as my life passion is to celebrate and be grateful for each day.

That is my life for the last 30 years as concise as I can get.

By the way, I had a good time with my classmates celebrating our class reunion.

Anything Nicole Can Do... So Can Michelle

See a few weeks ago Nicole hacked into Mom's blog. I (Michelle) thought it was genius. However, was not smart enough to guess Mom's password. I called Nicole to ask her what Mom's password was and she told me no. I had to figure it out myself. I thought that was incredibly mean and told her I was giving her the silent treatment for 1 month. It has been a week. And it is really hard!!! However, I finally figured it (the password) out tonight! Therefore I think I can stop the silent treatment because technically I figured out the password! I have never been the fan of the silent treatment. In fact I LOATH it! I am sorry Nicole that you chose this course. I hope you have learned your lesson!

P.S. Sorry Mom that we used your blog. And don't worry about changing your password... I accidental already forgot it. So basically we are back at square one.

P.S.S. The picture has nothing to do with a silent treatment, but I love this pic of me and my parents. It's from the NorthWest Washington Fair

Weekend Fun & Memories

I love weekends! Why are weekends so fun?

For me it means a different schedule and having more time to enjoy the things I love.

Last weekend Rayme and I were able to attend our work picnic. We were asked to help with the food which involved BBQ-ing the burgers & hot dogs. It was fun to see our co-workers and meet their family and seeing everyone having a good time.

The drive up to Silver Lake was like going down memory lane. I remember as a child our family would go to Silver Lake to visit my parents friends. They had a wonderful rustic cabin at the end of the Lake and our family tradition was to go there and camp on Labor Day weekend.

I recall that my sister learned to water ski at the lake.

The reason I explained it was a rustic cabin, at the time it didn't have plumbing. Which means that they had an outhouse. Using the facilities during the day wasn't really that bad, but when it was dark that is a different story. With flashlight in hand and the all courage I could muster, when nature called during the night I ventured out to use the facility. Upon my return I was surprised to find an animal on my way back. I was sure I spotted a bear, but knew that shining my flashlight at it wasn't in my best interest. It must have heard me and ran off. The next morning I reported to my parents that I saw a bear on my night hike. To this day, they think I saw the families big dog. Big dog or bear I am glad that I had already visited the outhouse. Memories...I love the days we went to Silver Lake.

Nicole's Birthday Celebration - Part 2

Rayme and I flew down to celebrate Nicole's birthday- a week later! (Yep, I got to fly again .) It was a fun weekend, and it has been awhile since Rayme, Nicole and I have been all together. Some of the things we did, we went to the Pro Bass Store - it is huge sporting goods store and we browse the store for quite some time. The store has different animal displays (not live animals) one being a giraffe. Rayme was trying hard to get a perfect picture of the giraffe and Nicole, but it was a bit tricky not to get just the legs of the giraffe and not to have Nicole climb up on the giraffe (there was a sign not to climb on the animals). Rayme decided laying on the floor was the best angle to get the picture. Little did the nearby customers know that he was taking a picture and thought they should call 911, as they were afraid he had collapsed on the floor and needed medical attention. Never a dull moment with the Chapin's. (Nicole has the picture on her camera.)

Since it was Nicole's birthday and we flew, packing a present wasn't the best idea. We figured Las Vegas has stores and shop for her gift there. That meant a journey to Costco to pick up her gift, little did I know that she inherited her fathers trait of riding the cart through the parking lot.

When I was in Las Vegas the last few times, we didn't have a chance to go the strip at all (apparently some locals never go to the strip except to take their out of town guests). There are lots of free entertainment on the strip. We have never experienced the Bellagio Hotel fountain with music. We watched a Discovery Channel one time and the show went behind the scenes with the fountain construction and engineering. It truly is amazing. The lights on the strip are so fascinating.

Our brother-in-law Bob joined us on our next adventure visiting Mandalay Bay "Shark Reef" aquarium. Since the night before we were watching some of "SHARK WEEK" we knew all about the protective gear the divers wear when diving with sharks. Sure enough we were in area of the sharks and yes the divers were in with the sharks and wearing the shark protective apparel.

What a great weekend celebrating!

Nicole's birthday - Let the celebrations begin!

Often I don't remember what date exactly I did certain things, but today I remember with clarity what I was doing 26 years ago today.

The day started with a doctors appointment and the doctor telling me that I was going to have a baby that day. Apparently, the doctor knew that I was having contractions and being it was my first what did I know. So I stopped off at my work where my Dad worked too and told them I was going to have a baby today. Then off to Rayme's work and told him the news and did a few errands and thought maybe I should make sure I was ready to go to the hospital like pack a suitcase or something. Then the thought occurred to me that maybe taking a nap would be a good idea, since at the time I didn't know how long this labor thing was going to take. The doctors instructions was if I anything happened to call him and go to the hospital. Rayme decided to come home from lunch and check on me to make sure everything was okay. Probably as soon as he got to work I was making a phone call that it was time to go to the hospital, because I was feeling weird and remembering that the doctor told me to call him I did what I was told and was instructed to go to the hospital. About 4 hours later we welcomed our first born baby girl Nicole to our family.

The things I love and admire about Nicole-

Has a smile that brightens a room

A love for traveling and seeing new places

Loves her family

A great card sender - birthday, thank you, cheer up, thinking of you, etc.

Loves to scrapbook, sew and all round crafter

Gives thoughtful gifts

Gives service

Loves the Gospel

Is a good example

A loving sister, daughter, grandaughter, niece, etc.

Sets goals

Hard worker

A wonderful friend

A good listener

Is honest and has integrity

Shares her testimony of Jesus Christ

Fun!

Laughter is part of her day even if it is at herself

Is on time (she was born on her due date - should have clued into that)

Organized & tidy

Has a desire to be a learner

Is kind and thoughtful

Creative

A bargain shopper

Obedient

Has a positive attitude

We have been blessed that she came to our family.

The Adventures of Wal-Mart

Michelle and I were at Wal-Mart shopping making our selections and then on the frozen foods aisle was a young man in his 20's sporting a knit cap (it is 80+ degrees outside) with his headphones on with his accessory of a bandanna over this face (wearing like you would to rob a store way). And I should add that the his color of choice was all black. Let's just use the word "scary". After he made his selection from the freezer he didn't bother to shut the door, and I would say he used a little more force opening it than was necessary. Of course, he got a few looks in his direction.
Then Michelle and I had a discussion about what would we do if we were held hostage in a Wal-Mart store. Michelle thought if we were in the middle of the hostage situation we must have bad luck. My thinking was to first hide and if that wasn't an option keep an eye on the situation until you could take over the bad guys.
Then we finish our shopping, and off to the check stand and who do we get behind? Yep, the scary looking guy.
I have my plan in mind - I kept my distant (not to close, not to far away - I don't want him to smell fear), and I have my shopping cart as my defense and I stand behind my cart with a ready stance. The plan is if he decides to hold up the cashier, I was going to ram him as hard as I could and take him by surprise, and pin him down if necessary.
I am happy to report that I didn't have to use my cart as a weapon, and I made my purchases without any confrontation.
Another Wal-Mart shopping adventure.

Updating My Blog

Apparently, I have at least a couple of people that read my blog, and it's time to update my blog unless I want Nicole to hack into my blog again. I want to let you know that I really don't think that she actually "hacked" into my blog, when she is the one that assisted me in setting up my blog.

Let me start with Memorial Day.

The cemetery that is around the corner from our home displays over 1300 American flags all through the lanes of the cemetery. It is a very awesome feeling and helps me reflect what Memorial Day really means. Of course, Memorial Day also is the unofficial start of the summer season and a picnic is definitely in order and we meet up with a group of friends at Semiahmoo County Park.

My next weekend is over to the other side of the mountains to help celebrate Megan's graduation. I can't believe that she is all grown up!

Of course since I have a few friends on the Eastside and had a great time meeting up with some of them for a scrapbook garage sale, breakfast and some scrapbooking fun! Since it was my birthday weekend Jane made a some yummy cake.

That brings me up to my birthday - Rayme is a very creative guy. Who else can say that their husband gave them a week full of surprises - one surprise for the number of years I am. Just to mention a few - a homemade coupon book to include a car wash, dishing up ice cream, and if he was on the computer and I wanted/needed it he would gladly give to me without waiting.

To keep up with my fly every month this year - I went with my friend Dawn to AZ for a few days. We had fun in the sun, with her daughters and her precious little granddaughter, shopping, late night swims, and cute pedicures.

Sandy and I went on a scrapbook field trip that took us south and moved up north the I-5 corridor to our favorite scrapbook stores (we found a good one in Kent). We called our friend Anita to meet us. It was a fun filled day!

Moving right into July - my next flight takes me to Las Vegas to see Nicole! It was over 4th of July weekend. (Keeping up on my fly every month so far.) We had a fun weekend shopping, eating, movie going, scrapbooking - circle journals and Heidi's (Nicole's friend/roommate) class memory books. Nicole bought a new love seat so that was delivered while I was there, so furniture moving was included in the weekend.

Another fun filled day was with Sandy & Sonja was going to Marine Park in search sea glass. It was a bright sunny warm day (a perfect day at the beach). We enjoyed some nice cool refreshing Italian sodas - mmmm. These girls have opened a whole new world with the coffee stands, who knew there was so many yummy beverages that don't contain coffee.

I think that brings the few of you that read my blog up to date. It seems that it takes longer to update your blog when there has been a long time between blogs. I think it would be easier to update it on a more regular basis.

Mom, You have been hacked...

(Sorry, old picture..Somehow we didn't take any this last weekend.)

Sometimes... Just sometimes, people need a push. Mom this is your push. I am tired of looking at the silly hop/flying squirrel and crow. It is time to update. My Mom has been the little traveler. Last weekend she came down to Las Vegas to spend the weekend with me. We had a great time. We shopped, helped Heidi with her end of the year scrapbooks, finished our own circle journals, went to a movie, saw some fireworks, ate some In N Out and had a great time.

Mom also recently spent a weekend in Arizona with her friend Dawn where I know she shopped at Costco. I am sure she shopped other places but I for sure know of Costco because I called her and she was there and asked if she could talk to me later. Don't worry. I wasn't upset. She also went and had her toes done. She got red which leads me to believe I am wearing off on her and they even had flowers with some bling. Super cute!

So, in case you are keeping track Mom is still going strong with her flying once a month goal and I know she has August taken care of because her and Dad get to come down to Las Vegas to visit! I can't wait!

*************************

Mom,

Sorry, I hacked your blog. But I did it because I love you.

Love,

Nicole

A day in my life....

On my way home today from work, I witness the funniest thing.
I saw a crow chasing a squirrel across the road. Actually the squirrel was running/hopping and the crow was flying/hopping right after the squirrel. In fact, I had to slow down so I didn't hit them both with my car. I can't say that I have every saw that before.

No Voice

The other night I noticed that I got tickle feeling in my throat. I go into that mode of taking all the measures you do when you think you might be getting a cold. NyQuil before I go to bed, gargling with Listerine, vitamins, you get the picture. Next day, yes it is indeed a cold that seems to moving to different parts of the head/throat area. Today, I (rather Rayme) called into work to report that I won't be coming in, because I don't have any voice - none, hardly a whisper. Of course, I took my OTC cold meds and they did make me a bit sleepy so I went back to sleep. Now, I think that I have a couple of phone calls to make, not going to happen unless the people I call have extremely good hearing. Do you know that when you don't have your voice you are very limited in your communication, but I can blog.

I love flying!

Yes, I do love to fly! It is really more about the journey then the destination. It amazes me that these huge airplanes weighing tons can gracefully lift off the ground.

This year I have managed to get on an airplane every month! It seems that is coming to an end, no airline reservations are in the works until October. :(

Hmm......maybe I should go see Nicole in Las Vegas or maybe Michelle in LA?

My Grandma Lee loved to fly (not that she flew very often), but she lived close to our small airport. When the airplanes would land they went right over her house, and she would gaze up watching them and even knew the schedules and knew if they were delayed and the different airlines logos and tail numbers. Maybe I inherited her intrigue with airplanes?

Ouch! That really hurt!

I really don't know if you can tell from the picture or not, but my little toe is swollen and black and blue.

Yes, I will be the first to admit that I am not the most graceful person. Wouldn't it make a good story that I was doing some kind of adventurous activity? I am sorry to report that it wasn't anything that glamorous...I was walking in the kitchen and caught my little toe on the leg of the bar stool.

I figured I probably broke it, but the next morning I went to put on my shoes and that wasn't going to work. So even though it isn't quite sandal weather yet, I am sporting sandals this week.

Oh, by the way - this isn't the first time I have done this.

It's time for another update!

Our vacation started with a surprise

for the guys to a Mariners game.

It is little hard to keep it a surprise when Rayme didn't want to bring a jacket (after all we don't need jackets in Mexico) and then proceeded to take the stadium blankets out of the car to make room. I finally convinced him he might need a jacket and the blankets can stay in the car. It was a fun game and the Mariners won the game! Go Mariners!!

We make it to Puerto Vallarta without any issues, OK maybe I should warn anyone that goes to Mexico about the timeshare vultures. Man, I thought I made it through without being enticed to their cunning ways, little did I realized that Rayme, Marc & Vaughn were nabbed behind me. Dang, they have them. The question - do I move forward without them or go back and save them? Of course, I go back but I don't save them I get sucked in too. We did get some fun excursions that we did enjoy later in the week.

We finally get to the resort - it is

huge!!!

Then onto finding our rooms and

this is what our view was.

It was beautiful!

My favorite time was at sunset and every night we would decide where we wanted to eat. My vote was always to go to the restaurants by the beach.

Some of the excursions we enjoyed was a trip to Yelapa. The only way to get there is by boat. We had a wonderful boat ride and even spotted some huge Manarays. It took us a little while to figure out the two fins thingy out of the water. Process of eliminations we figured it out.

Here is a picture of Vaughn para sailing, and Yelapa.

Here is Rayme on the zip line.

Rayme, Marc & Vaughn had a blast on this adventure.

The reason you don't see a picture with me is I didn't go. A few days before we left for our vacation I was sick with vertigo (spinning) and the instructions included that if you have vertigo you would not be allowed to go. Plus I already experience enough spinning for the week.

This was a very relaxing vacation. Most of my decisions is where I want to lay by the pool or go the beach. Ahhh - it was paradise.

Thanks Marc & Vaughn for coming with us on another great vacation! You are awesome travel companions.

More wonderful memories were made.

Rayme and I celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary this trip. I am very lucky to have a great traveling buddy that doesn't mind carrying my bags. I tip him well.

I probably should let you know that all of us returned home healthly - no swine flu here.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone!

An update is here!

I realize that it has been sometime since my last post, and with that lots have gone on in my life. Travel, celebrations, learning opportunities and more travel and more celebrations!

The first I would like to report on is our cruise to the beautiful tropical Southern Caribbean. We started our vacation in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We stayed a couple of days to enjoy the beauty of Puerto Rico and one of our stops was the Rain Forest and a hike to LaMina Falls. Our tour guide said it was just under 2 miles and cautioned us the trail was bit up and down. It was worth the hike.

We traveled with our friends on this cruise I think the total in our group was 17 (not all went to the Rain Forest). Lloyd decided to take a plunge in the pool under the waterfall. It was much colder than he anticipated. In the first picture you might notice Lloyd isn't in the picture because he was in the van trying to keep warm. I may want to remind you that all of us were still adjusting to the warm climate of Puerto Rico.

It was a busy cruise, it was a 7 day cruise with stops in St. Thomas, Barbardos, Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts.

We had a great time with our friends on our vacation! We had the opportunity to learn the finer art of playing Hand & Foot, how much luggage can fit in a van with passengers, and that you can lose carry on luggage, that you can all pay the same amount at the hotel and some get suites and some not, how many entrees the guys will order on the cruise ships, or how many pair of shoes the women pack. Yes, it was an educational trip too.

Onto the next weekend after we got home. A few of my friends attended Time Out for Women - a Women's Conference in Seattle.

I need a spiritual boost once in a while, and this time was just what I needed. It had many top notch speakers reminding us that we are daughters of God and we are loved by him. Sweet assurance!

Of course, what would be a womens weekend to start out with some shopping - we stopped at the Alderwood Mall. It seemed it was really a necessary stop because Dawn needed to find a dress for her son's upcoming wedding.

We stayed at nice hotel in downtown Seattle not far from the conference center. Finding our hotel room we needed to have an escort to our room because you needed to have a key in the elevator and go up and around or was it down and over through the doors, and if you need to go back to the parking garage you need to go back to the lobby go into another set of elevators not the ones on the right but the set of elevators on the left. You get it? We did manage to make it to our room, but I would have to say it took all 4 of us to remember our directions.

The next weekend is my Grandma McConnell's 90th Birthday celebration!

I also had already signed up for a overnight scrapbook crop for that weekend too, and since the crop was the night Friday night and Grandma's party was Saturday afternoon I thought I can do both.

Nicole was able to come from Las Vegas to help celebrate Grandma's birthday and to participate in the crop.

Let me take you back a few years ago for Christmas, I decided to make a 12x12 scrapbook to give to Grandma, but since I get this creative ideas very close to the occasion I gave her a album with the layout pages without the pictures. My plan was to enlist my extended family members to give me some of their favorites pictures to be included in the album, I didn't get as many pictures as I planned, so I needed to come up with the pictures and of course it took longer than I expected. So thankfully Nicole came at the perfect time and put the finishing touches on the album and we were able to give it back to her for her birthday.

Onto the next weekend - Utah! Michelle graduated from Paul Mitchell Beauty School!

This is Michelle with her friends (classmates) Kendra and Rochelle.

For their graduation the graduate made up a model with hair and make up and explained the techniques and inspiration that they used. She has passed her cosmetology tests and now just as to complete her needed hours and should be finished in the next week or so.

After the graduation and dinner, I was able to convince Rayme, Michelle & Chyla to go to Roberts Crafts. Robert's was having a moonlight sale - open until Midnight! We were there and they announced that there would be a drawing at 11:00PM and being that was only a few minutes away we stayed for the drawing and wouldn't you know it Michelle won the $50 gift certificate.
You have to know Michelle had declared herself as "not crafty" and so Nicole and I benefitted from her win fall. Thanks Michelle!

For many of us this winter has been a very unpredictable one, it apparently followed us to Utah as we enjoyed Friday & Saturday in the 60's, on Sunday our drive back to the airport included a snowstorm. When we fly into Seattle it was sunny skies. Go figure!

Another great weekend! Thanks Michelle for graduating and giving us an excuse to come visit. It was wonderful!! Oh, thanks for giving me some highlights, your Dad's and Nicole's haircuts.

Sorry the post is so long, but it has been a long time.

Update is coming!!

Alright! Alright! I have gotten messages from family and friends it is time to update my blog. They think the milk has progressed into another form and that is gross.
So an update is coming! It has been a busy month, so there is lots to blog!

How do you measure time???

How do you measure time?

Do you watch a clock, use a planner, a calendar, the sun, seasons?

How about checking the expiration date on the milk carton? Yes, I have noticed that I check the milk carton to make sure that we can use it before it expires. This week when I checked the expiration date is comes very close to vacation time. Yeap, I use it like a calendar.

Tag - I'm it!

Anita tagged me - I was to go to my 6th picture file folder and the 6th picture.

Here Rayme and I are on our cruise vacation in August 2005. We arrived a few days early to take in the sights around New Orleans. Since we were so close to Mississippi we decided to visit another state and stopped to see the what was around and found the Stennis Space Station visitor center and took a tour. It was very interesting!
This is about a week or so before Hurricane Katrina made it grand entrance to this area. I have often thought about our tour guides how they were affected by the hurricane and if they were all safe.

Here is the next part - I am suppose to tag 4 people to take part. No pressure....

Nicole
Michelle
Tracy
Lisette

New Year - Celebrate!

This is the year to Celebrate!

Last year my good friend Jane embraced the word "balance" and tried different methods to remember to have "balance" in her life.

My word this year is "Celebrate"!

I want to remember to celebrate the things in my life - daily celebrations, family and friends, holidays, and my many blessings. The word celebrate just sounds happy.

To start the new year off Rayme and I were invited to celebrate a surprise birthday party! Happy Birthday Toyke!

The very next day I got to help celebrate Ray & Cali's wedding! Congratulation Ray & Cali!

I love to celebrate! And looking forward to many more celebrations! What do you like to celebrate?