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