Pop, Pop!

Happy Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day!

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Click on the picture to go to the site where you can

even play a popping game!

Who Knew?

Last night our family was invited over to Jenny's house to play games with their family. We eagerly accepted the invitation! Jenny prepared lots of treats & goodies to eat (yay) and we got right to the games. We played Apples to Apples first (remember how much we like this game?) ... there were 9 of us ... SO fun to play with such a big group, several we don't know well at all!!! The 2nd game we played was Guesstures. We had never played before but it was fun. I'm not the best at acting stuff out (it's a fast-paced Charades-type game) but I managed to do ok. It was really fun to see how everyone chose to act ... the adults & the kids. Fun stuff. The last game we played was Whoonu. Haven't heard of it yet? You should definitely give it a try. It's sort of like Apples to Apples but not. You are essentially guessing what you think is someone's favorite thing(s). Sometimes you are right on & sometimes you are way off. Jenny had NO idea how much I enjoyed dog shows. I truly do LOVE dog shows. I don't like dogs in real life (woof, woof ... SCARY) but I love them on T.V. lol Go figure. Either way we had lots of fun & learned a lot about each other.

Tuesday Sweets

Jerrie & I went to town yesterday with a plan

... to eat sweet treats.

We succeeded.

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We started at Rocket Donuts. We'd talked about going before but never made it together. Jerrie had gone ... but yesterday was my first time. They have a donut with bacon on it. Ewwwww. We didn't get one of those. I got a glazed donut (seriously, what's better than a glazed donut) and a cinnamon crumb cake. They were good. Not fabulous but good. I also drank a blackberry Izze ... yummy. Jerrie had a latte & a bismark.

The atmosphere/decor is interesting. Apparently there's information about it on the website. I didn't read it beforehand. Maybe if I had I wouldn't have been so surprised by what I saw inside. lol

We then shopped at odd stores here & there before we ended our day at Katie's Cupcakes. We've been before but yesterday they had a hummingbird cupcake which HAD to be tried. It was ok but it was not nearly as good as the hummingbird cupcakes they have a Trophy Cupcakes. Don't get me wrong though ... if I went to Katie's again, I'd have it ... but I'd know it wasn't going to knock my socks off. And that's ok. :)

Twirly Girl

Callie bought herself a new skirt at Old Navy

& oh my goodness does she love it.

She's demonstrating it's "twirliness"

in the picture below.

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Enjoy!

Let There Be Light!

Callie has been asking us to put Christmas lights in her room for quite a while. I've always said no. Then we bought new lights this year & once we realized they wouldn't work on our tree (white cord on a green tree, uh NO) we didn't know what to do with them. And to top it off, Terence never returned them, so we've had these lights just sitting around the house. I figured that was as good a reason as any to put them in her room. We didn't tell her though. She knew we were doing something in her room but she didn't know what.

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SURPRISE!!!

Commitment

I found this shirt and laughed a LOT! I knew I had to buy it for Calob. I wasn't sure he would appreciate it as much as I thought he should, but when he opened it Christmas morning & laughed ... a LOT ... I knew he "got it!" Silly shirts like this crack me up!

Apples to Apples

Calob & Callie received the game "Apples to Apples" from Santa for Christmas this year. I had heard about it from time to time but heard LOTS about it in the week leading up to Christmas. Weird. Anyway, we played for the first time the other night & had a really fun time. If you don't know how to play (Terence, Callie & I played for the first time that night) here you go - General game play is as follows: players are dealt red cards which have a noun printed on them, and the judge (a different player in each turn) draws a green card on which an adjective is printed and places it for all players to see. Each player then chooses a red card they are holding that they think best describes the green card. The judge then decides which adjective he/she likes best. Sounds simple, right? Well, yeah ... sort of. The hard part is trying to figure out which card the judge is going to pick. I was the first judge & I took a picture of the cards. I had to pick the red apple card that I thought matched "legendary" the best. What do you think I chose? (hush Jerrie, you already know)

I chose Tom Cruise. Yes, he's crazy ... but it's all good. He's a great actor. I did have to think about it though. I thought all 3 cards fit the green apple card but chose Tom in the end. I think it would be really fun to play with another family (in addition to ours, of course) and really see how crazy it could get. We had a few minor/major "discussions" about a few of the rounds, but it was all in good fun. I can't wait to play again.

Christmas Eve Dinner

We went to Sharon & Gord's last night for a lovely Christmas Eve dinner. Normally we have dinner on Christmas day but Gord had to work so we celebrated early. It was great as always. It's amazing to have such good friends who are always willing to invite us to share their holidays with them!!!

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Calob & Gord playing Mario Kart.

The 2 families.

V.B.S. Finale

I can't even tell you how much fun Callie had at V.B.S. this week. She can't decide if cake decorating or worship dance was her favorite night ... but I'd say she came out a winner all week. It was a GREAT program & Callie (and Makenna too) had a blast!!!

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So last night was cake decorating ... the girls chose to make butterflies. Who knew huh? lol

Callie couldn't stop herself
Tonight the church had a family bbq. They served hot dogs, fruit, chips, etc & had lots of games & fun things for the kids to do. The girls found a tree to climb & we got some great pictures out of it!

Callie even took this pic of Jen & I

Sparklers Rock!!!

I don't think there are many things in the world that are as simple & fun as sparklers! Yeah, you read that right ... SPARKLERS ROCK!!!

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Callie

Calob

Calob behind Callie
Me

Terence

Purple Rain

Tulips Everywhere!!!

This past Sunday we made our annual trek to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The tulips bloomed late this year because of our late spring but they were definitely worth the wait. I have to say, I am NOT a flower person, but I definitely appreciate the fields of gorgeous colors. I just love it!

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I've recently started "talking" to my cousin, Justin, via Facebook. He & his family live near Bellevue and wanted to meet up with us at the tulip festival. This is a younger cousin who I haven't seen in about 25+ years so I was thrilled to be able to "meet" him again & meet his family. It was great to catch up & see who he is now - as an adult (weird). Last time we saw each other I was taller than him ... no more. Not even close! lol

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Our family picture

Justin's family

Juene, Justin, Eva & Amie (who is pregnant)

Callie & Calob

Me & Terence

Calob, Eva, Callie & Juene

Juene ... so cute
After we left the tulip festival we decided to head to Bob's Burger & Brew, just outside of Burlington, to hang out some more & eat. It really was a great day. Eva & Callie seemed to really hit it off as well.

Juene, Justin & me ... Justin is SO tall!!!

Texas Finale

I think these are the rest of the pictures from our trip to Texas. There are 3 groups based on who took them. The first set is from Callie's camera (our old one) ... she had fun taking pics.

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With the first cake she EVER made

(with lots of help from Aunt Lainey)

Dairy Queen
Riverwalk
Me at the homestead

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These pics are from my dad's camera

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Callie with a cow

Callie & Ariel w/the cows

Terence, Calob & Callie @ Bob Miller's

Calob playing "old school" video games

Callie with the dogs

Playing Dutch Blitz

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From my purse camera

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Callie & Ariel @ The Alamo

Bill & Terence chillin' under the camper

The amount of miles I drove ... oh my! 610 ... eek!

On our flight from San Antonio to Dallas there was the body of a fallen soldier on board. I noticed the escort before the flight (T was actually talking to him) and wondered if that was why he didn't have any baggage. The pilot and flight attendants both spoke about the honor they felt in transporting the body to it's final resting place. We were on the same plane, same seats, etc. for the flight from Dallas to Seattle so we were able to watch the proceedings out the windows. It was emotional to say the least.

That is the pilot helping to move the body