A Few of My Favorite Things..

Thanksgiving on Whidbey; Becca and Alex plus the Crossen clan and Alex's parents met out on Whidbey Island to cook and eat a wonderful and festive dinner. It was a great time to lay back and relax, plus it was Tater's first ferry ride, so that's always cool! Kelly and I were so thankful to make it to dinner on time and we didn't have to do any cooking!! It was a combined three Thanksgivings for us this year, wow :)!

Thanksgiving 2011; Kelly's family (Terry, Tracy, Candace and Cory) all came up to Tacoma for probably one of the best holiday dinners I have ever had! We cooked, went out to dinner in Proctor, played nerts which was epic because Candace and Cory are unstoppable, visited Lauralee, and watched some Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special. 

Terry made me a beautiful multi-color scarf (she already knows that I love cozy and colorful things!) that Tater is cuddling. 

Cory's 30th birthday in CA. 

Beautiful trip; lucky, lucky us to be able to see a gorgeous part of our west coast with some great tour guides (Cory and Candace)!!

Progress!

Kelly and I booked our photographer and I bought my dress! 

Larry Stanley is going to be our photographer for the day of our wedding and the day before. We are so incredibly excited--- once Kelly and I saw his work we knew immediately that his work was one of a kind and absolutely beautiful. 

Saturday before Becca's birthday party we went and checked out a couple beautiful dresses by Vera Wang at a dress shop downtown Seattle. I found the perfect dress; very classy yet playful and unique details, or as Liz said "fancy arts and crafts" (maintaining my elementary teacher-position even into the realm of fancy couture dresses) and it was obviously very, very much on sale. 

Becca Boo's birthday in Woodinville was great. Her fiance Alex planned everything and it worked out seamlessly, plus Elaina came up from San Francisco which was an excellent surprise for everyone! Wine, Big Daddy's bus service, red velvet cake & Stumptown Coffee + ending the night with some NCAA BBall--- it was awesome. 

This week is going to be great and super busy at work, Christmas baking and shopping and hopefully seeing some of our buddies!! 

Ghirardelli Chocolate

A commercial for Ghirardelli chocolate just flooded my memory with some great times with my Dad's family in San Francisco. San Francisco has a lot of significance to my life because of the priceless memories I have with my Dad's family. Next to Colombus, MT-- San Francisco is a place where I was able to visit my Grandma Ginger and my aunts and uncles. Kelly and I have also bopped around the bay area and made some of own memories pounding the pavement, but my most cherished ones come from my earlier years.

Some of the deeply archived photos are too embarrassing to share of some of mine and Becca's most awkward years (decade..?) but here are a few highlights that I get to remember because of my Dad's awesome family did so much to keep us connected during the holiday seasons of our younger years. A Few Highlights...

• Visiting China Town and watching Becca sprint through it because it was "too smelly"! :)
• Spending time with my Grandma in her little apartment
• Grandma introducing me to Hello Kitty 
• Seeing a whole duck served at a Chinese restaurant
• Doing presents and celebrating the holidays at my Aunt Colleen's 
• Seeing the city and all of the amazing sights at night lit up for Christmas 
• Seeing the Palace of Fine Arts with my aunts and uncles (now one of my all time favorite places)

I have the coziest feelings when I think about my time with the Crossen side San Francisco and the bay area. Those memories mean so much to me--  and will always influence my new traditions Kelly and I are creating together.

Busy, Busy, Busy

The past few weeks have been packed with birthday celebrations, football games, Becca and Alex's engagement celebrations, pumpkin carving... and the usual grind of our day to day. 

Work is busy and going well for Kel and myself. He has been on a few work trips, and I am getting ready for student led conferences this week. Definitely looking forward to that! 

We are reprinting the save the dates, so they will be en route within the next week hopefully. It is fun sharing with friends and family the details about our 6/9/12 Chico wedding; the anticipated relaxation of the hot springs and the natural beauty and adventure of Montana. Not to mention the fact that we're getting married, that is the best part of it all!! 

Here are some cute pics my Dad took of Becca and Alex too. Cute Pics. 

My Favorite 2-year Old

I finally saw my favorite 2-year-old, 3-year-old and 6-year-old (Gus, David and Betsy) last Sunday after my family went to the Seahawks game. I live across the street from the Kessler/Stonich household and was their nanny all of last year. It is so fun to think back at all of the many, many memories I had with their family. Some of my favorites are definitely: 

1. Daily double stroller rides up the hill to school with the 2 boys and Betsy in it, 1 dog on a leash and a cup of coffee.
2. Singing made up songs to Gus so he would fall asleep
3. Watching the kids check the advent calendar every morning during Christmas time
4. Halloween; angel, and kitten-firefighter, so wonderful.
5. Curious George with "eggies" for breakfast.
6. Taking David and Gus to the pumpkin patch with his preschool class, picking out a pumpkin for Sheepy
7. Gus playing soccer, bouncy house, ruling the open gym for tots, library read alouds, lots and lots of treats at Zoka's
8. Seeing the kiddos ski at Alpental, while Gus slept on my back
9. Betsy losing her teeth, and creating fake teeth to fool the tooth fairy
10. Lots of play dough, potions, cookies, and messes in the kitchenMany trips to the museum of flight-- I think one of them will be involved with aviation
11. Gus and Betsy's day at Owijimaya
12. Swim lessons, making popsicles, watching baseball during dinner (usually not that interesting for kids unless we were talking about Gigi and the Phillies) 
13. Snow days, windy rainy days running home from school, sunny hot water balloon days

So much fun. When I think about family I will always treasure what I experienced with them as a cohesive and solid unit. I sure do miss them!! <3 <3 <3 

Stained the Deck, Figuring Out Save the Dates

Great weekend in Tacoma/Seattle. Kelly and I worked hard to repaint the deck, it looks awesome now! (pictures to come). Watched the hawks with the family and friends in Seattle, sad loss.

Tater Tot went swimming today with his life jacket, we had to enjoy the hottest day out of our summer! It is still 80 degrees out, nice!

Kelly and I are close to having our save the dates printed, hopefully get those out soon! Got a few more engagement cards; we feel so loved and blessed to have such amazing and supportive families and friends!

Looking forward to a busy and fun week!!

4 Day Weekend

What a great week! I have 22 almost 7 year old's in my class, and they are all wonderful. I'm working with an excellent team in my favorite school district. I am so lucky! Day 2 we did have balloons and cupcakes brought in for a student's birthday. I was proud that my class not only left with blue frosting on their faces and balloons tied to their backpacks but everyone also made it on the right school bus. Yay!!

Kelly and I had a great week of picking out colors, talking about wedding invitation/save the date ideas, and looking through magazines.
Here is one color combo idea:

Grey
Poppy
Aqua
Yellow


June in Montana! So excited!

This weekend we get to go see DMB and Dispatch at the Gorge on the Columbia River. Very few bands have so much meaning  to me; Dispatch and Dave Matthews Band have been musical staples in my life for the past 10 years. I used a Dispatch song  in Jocelyn's slideshow at her memorial, and the DMB concert with her and our girlfriends is such a great memory. This year Becca, Alex, Christa, Liz and Mike & co. will all be out there too, should be a great time!

*And my ankle is feeling better :)