Tagged!

Ok so Abby has tagged me so I guess I will do this...

20 Years ago I was....
12 soon to be 13. This was the summer before I went to 8th grade. I am pretty sure...Abby says she was also going into 8th so one of us has calculated wrong.... but oh well close enough. I really don't remember much, but Abby mentioned the Nordstrom Anniversary sale and this was a found memory each summer. I also used to go to church camp each summer and did love it so I am sure I was just getting back from having a great time there. I also probably spent my summer babysitting.

10 Years ago I was....
22 soon to be 23. I was working at the Factoria Nordstrom Espresso Bar as the manager and had recently met Kevin-we met February 98 as that is when I started at the Factoria store and he worked there too, in the shoe department. Oh the memories of working there. Kevin and I officially started dated on Memorial Day of this year. Our first date was a Mariners Game of all things. In October of this year I made the move to theNordstrom Corporate Offices and began working in the Accounting Department.

5 Years ago I was...
Spending my first full summer living in Kansas. Kevin was just finishing his first year of Law school and I was growing my first tomatoes. And man my plants were big! I worked forPayless Shoes Corporation in the Lease Administration department as a Lease Auditor. In looking back this is really how God works things out in our lives, after working in the General Ledger portion of the accounting department atNordstrom , a position opened up as a Lease Administration- I took the job and enjoyed it. It was not just chance that when we moved to KS, there happened to be a Retail Corporation headquartered there that had openings with the same kind of work that I did forNordstrom . Cost of living is less there and so are wages so it was a real blessing to find a great paying secure job with benefits. I will always look back on Kansas with fond memories -good church, good friends, good neighbors, good job etc.

3 Years ago I was...
Living back in my home town of Yakima. And a brand new mother to Ella! She was born the end of June so was still a tiny baby at this time. I was also taking care of my elderly great Aunt and working for Jan's Catering! Wow! Kevin and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this year.

1 Year ago I was....
Moved into our new home that we built-we moved at the end of March. This was very exciting for us and Kevin spent a lot of time and energy putting our personal stamp on this place. A mother of two now, Roc was just two weeks old and I was adjusting from one to two. I remember thinking how could I have thought one was a lot of work? I stopped working for my mom (other than bookkeeping on my own time) and was officially a stay at home mom. Kevin also just started is planning job with the city. Ok I just realized this was not one the items, but I wrote it so it stays.

So Far this Year I....
Celebrated Ella's Third Birthday and Roc's first. Witnessed many of Roc's firsts-crawling, cruising, walking, running, etc. Not really anything too special this year so far, just the same old same old... Oh we have planned a vacation... Kevin's sister is getting married in SC so we decided to make the trip, this will be a good time of seeing a lot of his family we have not seen in a while and will be fun to see this part of the country. Oh and Ella gets to be a flower girl-I am excited about that.

Yesterday I...
Went to Office Max to get ink for the work computer, went to Target since we were right there. Then went and did the weekly bills for my mom's business while Roc napped. Drew came and watched him and it worked out great. Drew did not want me to pay him as he said he ate enough Tillamook Ice Cream and Cheez -its' to make up for it:) Had dinner and put the kids to bed, worked on catering stuff (till my bedtime:) Exciting life I lead, I know.

Tomorrow I will...
Be taking Ella to the dentist. I have a sinking suspicion she has a cavity so I am stressing a bit about this! This is also her first dentist appointment. Looking at the grocery ad's-one of my favorite Wednesday morning activities. Laundry and cleaning-but hey aren't those pretty much everyday occurrences?

Next Year I will...
Be the mother of a four year old and a two year old. I think life will be much easier. Both the children will be older and I think everyday it gets easier. Celebrate 10 years of marriage to Kevin-wow! Maybe we can go on a cruise! Yeah right I am to frugal for that but a girl can dream right? :) Actually I want to go on the Disney Cruise, but not till both kiddos are old enough to enjoy it-so that won't be next year, but soon enough.

I tag...
Stella and Kaitlen. Oh and Sam, Jen, and Sara since I frequent their blogs too! Now get to it:)

Attention Starbucks Fan's

If you have a Starbucks gift card or Duetto visa, and have registered it-go to Starbucks on Friday or Saturday, with your card, and get a free Vivanno. It is a new smoothie type drink, that comes in banana/chocolate or orange/mango/banana. Also if you are unaware once you have registered your card you will not longer have to pay for Soy/Breve/or Heavy Cream milk upgrade or flavored syrups in your drinks. Also when you buy a pound of coffee you will get a free tall beverage of your choice. Now if you are just a regular coffee drinker you get free refills while in the shop. Just go to Starbucks.com for all the details and enjoy a free drink this weekend. I will be for sure!

Future Basketball Star

We got Roc a Basketball Hoop for this birthday, it is the kind that gets taller as the child does. He seems to enjoy it. Here are a few shots of him in action.

Roc's Birthday Party

Roc had a great birthday party. It was a family party, plus Stella-but hey she is such a good friend she is considered family too. We did a BBQ and had delicious pie made by my Grandma Ruby. Roc enjoyed his birthday cake but seemed very serious while he was eating it. Thank you to everyone who came and for all the wonderful gifts. We really appreciate it. Here are a few pictures from his special day.

Visit to the fire station

Today we, along with Josh and Sadie and Scott and Hailey, Karis, & Avery, went to the fire station for a tour. Kevin set this up as he has decided to decorate Roc's room in a fire engine theme, so why not get him even more interested by getting to actually look at the different trucks, the station and meet some real firemen. The children were all given stickers, a hat, and pencils. We toured the whole station and the firemen explained what they did, what each room was, what there specific duties were, etc. Also we even have some fire women in this town! I think he said there were three but I can't quite remember. The adults were more interested in all these facts, but the children got more excited when they got to get in the trucks. They first got in one of the old fashioned ones. (I was a bit disappointed that all the children wanted to do this, but Ella-but oh well I am not into forcing something just to get a picture) Then we went outside to check the others out. Roc sat in the drivers seat with Kevin and tooted the horn. Then (I think it was Sadie) got to turn the sirens on. At first the girls did not want this to happen as they thought it would be to loud- I was fearing some tears, but then Hailey decided it was funny, so that got them laughing instead- Thanks Hailey-you're a real trouper! Then the real highlight came-they let the adults ride up in the ladder-Kevin and I went first, then Scott and Josh (with one of the firemen). The put these heavy duty belts on us and then linked us to the side of the ladder cage. It was really high up, I think 100 feet. The view was amazing and it was only slightly scary when it moved. The last thing they did was one of the firemen got all dressed up in his suit they wear for fighting fires and showed us everything they put on and why. I think it was a really great experience and the firemen were very informative and spent a lot of time talking to us. It was great and I am glad we did it. I took a lot of pictures so decided to try a slide show instead. For some reason I could not get the -add a page element- slide show to work so I am adding it through slide.com instead.

Red Art Gallery

So Katie (my sister-in-law) discovered a little art gallery in town that does art for preschoolers on Fridays from 10-12. We decided to take the girls today to check it out. It does cost 5 dollars but we went ahead and decided to splurge on some fun :) My dear little brother Drew was willing to watch Roc for me, which I am really glad for-I was able to help the girls and not worry about what Roc was up to or what he was putting in his mouth. We got there right at 10 and only a few others were there, but by the time we left at 11:00 it was getting crowded so I was glad we got there early. The girls had fun with gluing a collage, stickers, and painting, and they were even allowed to paint on the walls. We decided that Abby needed this feature for the next craft day. What is funny is Ella really likes to cut so the other day (after she cut my shower curtain) I gave her a bunch of construction paper and told her to cut it up, I was going to do a collage, but have not gotten around to it yet. Here a few pictures of the fun.

Now I have been hounding Katie to start a blog and told her this would be a good way to start, don't know if she will go for it, but we can hope!

As Promised

Roc was up from his nap on time and I was able to snap a few shots of him right at 3:17 pm.

Happy Birthday!

To my sweet little boy. I can't believe it, but today he is one! He is such a sweet little guy and we are blessed to have him in our family. I love you so much! He has recently learned to clap so when I sang Happy Birthday to him today he clapped along. Another one of his new favorite games is to play "Where's Roc?" He will hide behind something and when we say "Where's Roc?" he will peek out with a big grin on his face and then hide again right away. He also loves to climb on things and is quite proud of his accomplishment in doing so. He also has mastered the art of running and prefers this over walking. Here a just a few pictures of him today and his birthday, provided he is not napping I will get a shot of him at 3:17 pm-when he is exactly one year old.

The First of Many

Today I picked my first ripe tomato! I hope this is the first of many. I really only like Roma tomatoes, so I planted 3 of those and one of another variety. I can't remember what it is called but it is sorta like a Grape tomato but bigger-it sounded like a cross between a Grape and a Roma. It was actually pretty good. I have some big Romas growing but they are not turning color yet... and for some reason my plants are not getting that tall. In KS they would grow almost as tall as me! Roc wanted a taste of the tomato too and kept trying to grab it while I was trying to get a picture.

Holiday Weekend Recap

On Friday we went to my parents house and the kids got to play on the new water slide. Ella wasn't totally brave on it and had more fun just playing around it and climbing up and down-but not actually sliding down. It looked fun and I was wishing there was an adult version available. I am not into taking babies out late so we skipped looking at fireworks. On Saturday Ella and I went to watch my brother Andrew play baseball for a little while, he got a few hits while we were there and they won the game! Ella even found a little friend to play with! Then we went with my mom to Macy's- I was in desperate need of some summer clothes and a new swimsuit. I found a few things which was good but could not find a swimsuit. I decided that since I have had the same swimsuit since before I started dating Kevin, it was time for a new one :), so I will keep looking. Then I talked Hannah into seeing the Kit Kittredge -An American Girl movie- with me. It was actually pretty good. On Sunday we did the usual church in the morning and then I went, with Ella, to go to my mom's catering bills for the week. Afterwards Ella and I swam for a little while and then Sadie came down to swim too. When we got home Kevin surprised me my washing most of our windows! They look great! Thank you!