Meet Abby, the $24 (less 15%) puppy

Last weekend we took the kids to downtown Seattle for some Christmas shopping, including a visit to the FAO Schwarz department at Macy's, where Emma found the cutest little puppy with "June" (Emma's birth month) embroidered on its sweater. Of course, being FAO, they wanted like $12 for this tiny little puppy (luckily they also accepted the Macy's coupon I had conveniently stashed in my purse). So we bought her the puppy and I spent the rest of the day being nervous about her losing it somewhere on the streets of Seattle, saying typical Mom-like things such as "Emma, if you lose that puppy we aren't going to buy you another one." Finally, I couldn't take the fretting anymore so I put the puppy in my coat pocket for safe keeping. 100 yards later, the puppy was gone! It had fallen out of my pocket, and evidently some (hopefully) lucky child found it. So off we trotted back to Macy's, for another $12 mini-puppy (luckily, I also had another coupon) and a towel for me to wipe the egg off my face!

Emma named the puppy "Abby" and wanted me to post a picture of her with it; plus a picture of her laying on her bed which she made all by herself today! She is so proud when she does "grown-up" things like that.

Emma's letter to Santa

Um...I'm pretty sure she's NOT gonna find one of these in her stocking this year!

A visit to Canlis

Here's our official "Christmas picture" for 2008, taken at Canlis Restaurant in Seattle. Bailey, our oldest, is on the right (green tie); Nolan is in the center; and Emma is pretty in pink (and pigtails). Papa John and Granny Penny have hosted a lovely dinner at Canlis for the past few years, and we really enjoy it. The kids do too. Thanks Papa & Granny!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home this year. It was just the five of us plus Grandma Jan (or, as the kids call her, Grandma Bus). Of course, we didn't let the lack of a big crowd stop us from cooking a huge dinner! Jeff smoked a turkey, we had lots of yummy side dishes, and of course we enjoyed hors d'oeuvres throughout the day. And what Thanksgiving would be complete without the Costco Pumpkin Pie? It was a great, relaxing, low-stress day - just the way Thanksgiving should be!

Oops, Emma stepped on the Pumpkin Pie!

The boys enjoy watching football together.

Nolan has a beautiful smile.

Emma made our Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Jeff works on the stuffing. Or is that the green bean casserole?
Or the gravy? Or the mashed potatoes?

Let the snacking begin!

Caught canoodling

We have a pretty funny cat. She pretends to hate the dog, but when she doesn't think anybody's looking she snuggles up to him. I happened to catch the two of them out on the deck and had my camera close by. Awww...could it be...love?

Emmy's new hat

Grandma brought Emma a new hat - isn't it cute?!

Happy Halloween

That's Emma on the right, in her "kitty" costume. Well, it's

really a leopard but she calls it a kitty.

Nolan was a vampire this year. I did his make-up.

Do you think I might have a future career in Hollywood?

Happy Anniversary to us

Jeff and I celebrated our 9th anniversary today with a day off from work and a trip to downtown Seattle. We had lunch with Dad & Penny at our favorite sandwich spot, Salumi (um, if you haven't been there, and you love a good sandwich, put it on your list for your next trip to Seattle), then we wandered around downtown for a bit - stopping for sweet treats at the Dahlia Bakery and Top Pot Doughnuts (yes, it was a sugar overload - but hey, how often do you celebrate a 9th anniversary?). On the way home we went to the Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive for an amazing dinner - we had never eaten there before. It was romantic and fun, and the service and food were top notch. We also decided that for our 10th anniversary next year we're going on a Caribbean cruise! We can hardly wait and it's a year away!

Here we are on our last cruise in 2006. We love to get all

gussied up for formal night! Doesn't Jeff look handsome in his tux?

Rocket Man

We recently discovered a fun new family hobby - shooting off model rockets! Bailey received his first rocket, an Estes Amazon, for his birthday in September and built it in his bedroom. Then we took it down to a park not far from our house and launched it. (This was before we learned it's actually illegal to shoot off rockets from a city park in Bellingham...oops!) Subsequent launches have been held at an undisclosed private location not far from our house.

Bailey & Nolan's 12th Birthday

Wow, it's hard to believe the boys are 12. It seems like just a couple of years ago they were tiny little 5-pound babies just coming home from the hospital. Where has the time gone? I'm so proud of the boys and what great young men they are becoming. They are polite, well-behaved, and constantly impress me with the good decisions they make. It's not easy being 12 - I can still remember how hard it was when I was that age - but they are handling it very well. Here are some pics from their birthday party. (Emma decorated their cakes!)

My (last?) craft project

I used to do a lot of crafts, but somehow - with 3 kids, a husband, a job, and trying to keep up with my training schedule - I have not had much time for it lately. I've started to give serious consideration to giving up some of my more sedentary hobbies in order to devote more time to being athletic. So I hereby present what could very well be my last major craft project for awhile: a wall hanging I did for Emma's room. I bought the letters already cut out at the craft store, and decorated them with various paper and embellishments from my (vast) assortment of craft supplies. It's hard to tell from the picture, but each of these letters is pretty large! Emma really loves this project. And it took me so long to finish just the 4 letters in her name, I was really happy we didn't name her Penelope!

Lake Padden

It was a hot day so we took the kids to Lake Padden for a picnic for swimming, playing on the beach, and meeting cute puppies!

A Day at the Fair

I took Emma and the boys to the Northwest Washington Fair up in Lynden; later Jeff met us out there, then grandma took the kids home and he and I went to the Chicago concert (as in, Chicago the 70's band). It was SO hot and muggy, but we had a lot of fun. Little did we know this would turn out to be pretty much the only week hot weather we would have all summer.

Swimming at Grandma's

We took advantage of the weather warming up and went swimming at grandma's pool.

Clear Lake Triathlon

While Jeff was on his little jaunt from Seattle to Portland, I raced in my second (and final) triathlon of the season - the Clear Lake Tri in Skagit County. It was a really hot day and I didn't do very well; but hey I finished, I didn't die, and I didn't come in last. Here's my race report if you like to read such things.
Here's a picture of me from the Padden Triathlon a few weeks ago. I didn't actually get any pics at the Clear Lake Tri. But in this pic you can still see some of my cool triathlon race gear (that's one thing they don't tell you at triathlon school - that triathletes are "gear junkies" and you will need a lot of race gear if you want to be cool). First, I have a lovely new road bike which my race sponsor, Scott Real Estate (a.k.a. Dad) helped me buy. I also have a hydration backpack that my sweet hubby (a.k.a. Jeff) bought me for my b-day. And of course I am wearing the uber-cool and trendy combination swimsuit/bike pants that are a must when you are a cool triathlete like I am! I also received a triathlon wetsuit for my birthday from Dad & Penny.

Jeff: the super-cyclist

On July 12, after years of dreaming and months of training and long bike rides around Whatcom and Skagit counties, Jeff celebrated his 50th year by finishing the 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland Bike Classic (STP)! The STP is considered one of the 10 biggest recreational bicycle rides in the country, drawing riders from across the nation and from other nations, and has been operating for more than 25 years. Jeff finished the ride in 2 days, spending the night at my aunt's house in Chehalis (just past the half-way point).

One of the really cool fringe benefits of training for the STP is that Jeff has fallen in love with cycling. He now rides his bike to work almost every day, even in the rain! It's hard to believe that just a couple of years ago Jeff weighed over 350 pounds and could barely make it up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing. Now he is in the best shape of his life and has almost become like a different person!

We're back from Camp Meriweather

The boys and I (I'm an Assistant Scoutmaster in their Boy Scout troop) returned from a week at Camp Meriwether in Tillamook, Oregon. We really had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful camp, situated on a bluff high above the Oregon coast. We did everything from rowing and swimming to archery, rifles, and just playing on the beach. Since we were at camp over the July 4th holiday, we also got to witness a moving ceremony where a US flag was retired. Oh, and I was a finalist in the camp chili cookoff - I lost to a guy from Texas, and I'll admit his classic Texas chili was amazing. But my white chicken chili was pretty good, too, and it earned me 2nd place. Not bad for my first-ever cooking contest! One of the best parts of scout camp was just getting to spend some quality time with the boys, and watching them with their friends. One of the worst parts was that, late one evening, I was returning alone from the restroom and a mother bear and her cub crossed the path right in front of me.

The "Schooner" crew prepares for battle at

the sandcastle building contest (one of the

boys in our troop won)!

Nolan (in red) and his scout friends dig a

fortress on the beach.

Bailey prepares for a tomahawk throw.

My first triathlon

With Jeff busy training for the Seattle-to-Portland Ride in July, I decided to do something especially crazy and - along with my good friend, Quinn - joined a local triathlon club. On June 28, I completed my first race: the Lake Padden Triathlon right here in Bellingham. The race included a 1/4-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride, and 2.8 mile run. When I started training, my initial goal was simply to finish the race without dying. As I improved throughout the spring, my goal then became to finish the race without dying AND not to come in last. I'm please to announce I accomplished both! My goal for next year is to complete the longer version of the Padden Tri, which is a 1/2-mile swim, 20-mile bike, and 5.2-mile run.

Jennifer's 40th birthday

Jeff took the day off of work and we drove up to Vancouver to celebrate my 40th birthday. It is so amazing living this close to a great city like Vancouver, with its incredible diversity and absolutely phenomenal selection of restaurants. Today we found a great sushi place for lunch and had dinner at our favorite Chinese place, a dive over on E. Hastings called Penny Restaurant. Even though I'm still in shock at hitting the big four-zero, it was a fun day!

Father's Day Camping Trip

We've made it an annual tradition to go camping every year to celebrate Father's Day and my birthday. It's also become the yearly "shakedown" trip for our little 22-foot travel trailer, which we've nicknamed Ethel (the Suburban we bought to tow her is named Fred). Ethel, also known as a 1984 Kit Companion model, joined our family about 4 years ago after we rescued her and gave her a complete overhaul and remodeling. She's cute, she's cozy, and best of all she beats sleeping on the ground! This year we did our trip to one of our favorite (and nearby) campgrounds: Bayview State Park in Skagit County. This is also the trip where Emma learned to ride on 2 wheels on her bike!

We really enjoy taking the kids camping because it's a fun way to spend time together as a family, without the TV, video games, computer, and all the interruptions of daily life.