ParentMap's 2008 Gingerbread House

A few of us from ParentMap put together a gingerbread house (a school house theme--in case you can't tell) for a gingerbread house display at a local mall. Emily and I finalized setting it up...


















So pretty with the cotton fluff and lights all around it :)


















Our very own boss, Alayne, was one of the judges! Hmm, conflict of interest perhaps? We figure that's why we didn't win any of the awards this year (we did last year when she wasn't a judge! ;).


















Although the truth is that the competition was stiff--check out the Space Needle!!

Out with the Likkels

We went to a play together in our old neighborhood then out for some gelato. Eric is our pastor and also brothers with our brother-in-law, Brett.

Tanis Family post-Thanksgiving fun

Our local carousel opens the day after Thanksgiving so off we went for a spin.


















Then to dinner at our favorite local Greek restaurant--belly dancers on Friday!

I love this picture of Ezra looking mortified by the half-naked belly dancer near our table. In a few years his eyes will be looking somewhere else ;)














Hey Brett, you're looking in the wrong direction! ;)














The next night we left the kids at home with babysitters and had a lovely evening out with just the adults.














Cheers!














The Space Needle at night--with the annual Christmas Tree on top.













The long weekend ended with a whole family game of Four Square

Thanksgiving 2008

Hanging out while the bird roasts...














My one contribution to the menu--making the gravy (an essential part of the meal!).


















Now *that's* what I'm talking about!














The annual Cynthia And Turkey Leg photo...














Ezra and 2nd cousin, Mark, initiating The Annual Making Bazillions of Paper Airplanes which has become a Thanksgiving tradition.














The outcome of the paper airplanes tradition is that we fly them over and over again--sometimes strategically hoping to have them land on a random high-up windowsill, other times in masses all at once. Good times.

Old friends

Asia and her best friend from kindergarten, Gracie. They moved and we haven't been in touch much but we've recently reconnected. Old friends are special!


















Gracie's older sister, August. Dear sweet 9 1/2 year old August was diagnosed with leukemia on November 1st. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she deals with chemo, missing school, and all that icky stuff. She's such a trooper!

Rock Star Dental Patient

Candle making

Making Christmas gifts for the kids' teachers (and maybe for a few other people too!! ;).

Darren's Surprise Party

Sara successfully put together a surprise 40th birthday party for Darren :)














Us with Sara's brother, Greg (the man of many looks. He's been known to resemble the UniBomber--remember that guy?!).














An action shot of blowing out their candles (Happy 35th to Sara while we're at it! ;)

Cute little friends

Out for breakfast after hitting the gym--had to laugh at my cute little short friends whose feet didn't touch the ground! Aww :)

Keeping an eye on the neighborhood...

I thought this bird looked kinda cool perched on the street railing just above our neighborhood.

Crazy Hat Day

The crazy hat gang at the school bus stop...

High School Musical on Ice

We got tickets from my work to see HSM on Ice. Go Wild Cats! ;)














We're all in this together...














A few of the ParentMap kids after the show.

Super Kid

Aww, Ezra. He got a special award from his teacher for being a super kid.

I tell you, he is the best example of "when he's good he's very good, but when he's bad..." ;) He can be such a little stinker at home sometimes but at school? Perfect angel! What a guy.

McTeachers Night

I am so not a fan of McDonalds, but hey--they provide this fundraising opportunity so what can ya do?! Our PTA organized McTeachers Night at the local Golden Arches--a bunch of our teachers helped serve the food and hundreds of the kids from our school came there for dinner. It really was a fun evening--and profitable too!

Here's me with our principal and one of the music teachers. Everyone had fun!














Ezra's teacher, Mrs. Young, learning how to run the cash register. The kids sure loved having their teachers serve them!!

Hangin with Opa and Oma

Ezra and Oma just chillin














Our dear friend Agatha (one of Opa and Oma's best friends from Vancouver) spent an evening with us.



















Opa accompanied Asia--him on the harmonica, her on the piano. It sounded great!














Opa read a story about a Dutch boy to Ezra's 1st grade class.














Oma read to Asia's 3rd grade class. She loves spending time at the kids' school, it reminds her of all her years of teaching in elementary school!!

Weekend Getaway

Opa and Oma (my parents) stayed with the kids so Andy and I could go off on a little getaway to the local (less than an hour away) wine country.














We didn't realize that one of the wineries was having a big event (lucky us!!). Matt from Waxen Art had a booth there, I know him from going into his shop often enough so it was fun hanging with him and his lovely girlfriend.














We spent the night at a lovely hotel, Willows Lodge and had dinner at a really nice restaurant, The Barking Frog.














The dessert was included in the price so I got two (since Andy doesn't like desserts). Lucky lucky me!














Love the look of the rows and rows of stained barrels.













CHEERS!

The Election :)

(No offense to those of you who weren't raising champagne glasses, lucky us that we live in America and can have our own differing opinions ;)

We had a bunch of neighborhood friends over to watch the election results and once Obama got above 200 we decided it was safe to crack open the champagne!














How incredibly exciting! Now let's hope he can follow through with the promises he made during the campaign :)

Joint Birthday Party

We decided to try a joint birthday party for the kids this year, roughly in the middle of their Sept (Asia) and Dec (Ezra) birthdays. November 2nd we had a fun pool party...













Asia spent most of the time going down the cool slide.














Byung playing ball with the boys.














Since it was a joint party I wanted it to be something the kids both enjoy. They are both into Pokemon so I made a poke-ball cake plus cupcakes with a pokemon card as the decoration on each. The kids were thrilled :)














Snack time after being in the pool...














It definitely seemed odd singing Happy Birthday to them weeks after/before their actual birthdays, but the kids had a great time so it was a success.














Note to self: There is no pretty way to cut a ball-shaped cake.














Asia and some of her friends as Infernape (a Pokemon).














The cousins came over for a little "after-party" before heading back to the island.













We had the birthday party guests bring non-perishable food items instead of gifts (Asia and Ezra aren't saints, I assured them they'd both get plenty of presents on their actual birthdays ;).

A few days after the party we headed down to the local Food Bank to bring the 76lbs of food we'd collected. It was a good experience for the kids, they got a little tour and learned that there are a lot of families--most likely including some of their friends from school--who need to come to the Food Bank because they can't afford the grocery store...