Christmas 09

Christmas in Prosser.  It was so nice to be 'out in the country', away from the crazy, busy city life on the other side of the mountains.  My grandma hasn't had visitors for Christmas in quite some time, so it meant a lot to her for us to make the trip.  And of course, not knowing if we will be spending the holidays together next year, with my sister in law's potential transfer to Japan next summer and Jay's rotation in 2010, we knew this year was going to be even more important than ever to be together.  Though we had cell phones, we had no real distractions - no computer, no TV, no schedules to stick to - just simply enjoying the time with each other.  It doesn't happen very often, so it is a blessing when it does.  We hope you all had a wonderful and peaceful Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

Had our annual baking party yesterday and it was fun as always.  My brother, sis in law, nieces and my sis in law's mom, Dianne, came over to decorate and bake cookies.  I had baked several dozen sugar cookies the night before so everything was ready.  Naturally, my brother and Jay were in the garage throwing darts and having "guy" time while the ladies were in the kitchen - that is no surprise in this household.  It was a lot of fun this year to see Scotty really dive into the decorating - unassisted!  The inch-thick frosting and piles of sprinkles and candy that he would put on each of his creations was almost too much for me to handle, but once I finally relaxed and let him just be a kid, it was quite entertaining to watch.  He could not manage decorating without having to lick everything he touched....oh well, we're all family here!  We had a great time and the end result was dozens of fresh baked and decorated cookies to share with each other.  Sadly, Zac napped through the whole party, but maybe that was a good thing...??  There's always next year.  We are all looking forward to our trip to Eastern WA to spend Christmas with my Grandma.  It'll be the first time my brother and I have spent Christmas there together in over 20 years, so we are really excited to relive some of the old memories and make plenty of new ones.  MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!   

Preschool Christmas Program

Taking the stage

Brotherly support

This little girl was NOT having any of it!

This was just a bad picture of Scotty's teacher, but it could sum up the sentiments of the evening among the organizers?!

Scotty's school had their Christmas program this past week and it was every bit preschool.  Kids going here, kids going there, singing too loud, not singing loud enough.  As much as the teachers tried to organize it, there is just no hope when you've got 30 kids that are five and under.  God bless 'em for trying!  It was a joy to watch and pretty hilarious in some parts.  Scotty, ever the entertainer, did great and didn't seem to be bothered one bit by the huge crowd of parents and family members in front of him.  It was a great moment to be a mom and it just keeps getting better :)  

Wahrmund Family Christmas Tree

Wheres dad?                                       Stand back, kids....

                                            That was a work out

It just hangs off a little

There she is

In our quest to have a "good ol' fashioned family Christmas", we decided to head out to the Olympic National Forest and chop down our tree this year instead of using our fake, pre-lit tree.  We packed up the boys and the dog and headed west toward the mountains.  Had lunch in a cute little cafe in Quilcene, an old logging town, then grabbed our $5 tree cutting permit and off we headed into the woods.  It was a perfect sunny day for being in the wilderness and the boys had a good time exploring.  When we saw it, we knew - ahhhhhh - the heavens opened up and the light shone down on this lone tree on the side of the hill (well, not exactly like that...).  It didn't look that big when we first spotted it.  But we realized its monstrocity once Jay got up to it and started sawing.  Shoulda brought the chainsaw.  So far we've had to cut off more than 8 feet in order to get it into our living room...the tree touches the top, even with vaulted ceilings, but it is what it is.  I guess when you get the green light to cut "any" tree you want, you take it seriously.  A good ol' fashioned family Christmas tree indeed.  Now I am just waiting for a squirrel to jump out.....

Party of Five

BABY W3 at 10 weeks.

It's official - the Wahrmund's are expanding yet again.  Had an ultrasound today to confirm that A) there is really a baby in there, and B) that I am 10 weeks along.  Just as I had calculated.  Even though I've been sicker than sick for the past five weeks and no doubt indeed expecting, it's always reassuring and wonderful to see the tiny heartbeat and the little flutters of movement (and was he/she really dancing for the camera today!).  I didn't hear the heartbeat at the doctors office, but when I returned home I found the item I ordered waiting for me from Baby Beat, the company that rents out doppler heart beat monitors.  Something I've done with all my pregnancies.  So I immediately checked for the heartbeat and was so excited when I found it!  I could listen to that sound all day long, it is music to my ears.  As of now, all is progressing as it should.  Baby is due June 27....three days before Scotty's 5th birthday!  But since it will be a scheduled c-section, it will be more like June 20.  Sadly, I am now in the "35 and older" category - sometimes referred to as "elderly maternal age".  YIKES!  Hopefully ol' grandma here will be just fine in the coming months.  I'd like to find out the sex of the baby, but Jay, as usual, does not want to know.  He is set to be deployed when baby is born and wants to be surprised via email.  Scotty is excited and is telling everyone about the "baby in mommy's stomach that makes her sick"....both he and Zac pat and talk to my belly.  It really is endearing.  Lets hope that endearment carries over when baby actually arrives :)

A Mother's Heart Attack

Jay has been taking the boys around our development on his motorcycle and they love it.  Usually he will have just one of them sitting in front, but now he's taken to having both of them ride along.  When I was sitting on the porch waiting for them to come back, I heard him reve the engine and speed all the way up the hill.  The boys think it's the coolest thing, but I could've KILLED him.  Neither child is wearing a helmet and he's playing Evil Kenevil!  GRRRRRR......

Vaccinaton Gone Awry....

The naval hospital finally got both seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines, so Scotty and I headed down to the clinic on Saturday to stand in line like a bunch of cattle.  It took us about an hour to get through and when we did of course Scotty started freaking out.  I went first so he could see that it wasn't bad.  But that didn't seem to help his nerves.  Fortunately, the seasonal vaccine was a nasal mist and that was no problem.  But the H1N1 was a shot.  So, bracing for the worst, I held on to his upper body while the corpsman held his legs steady...however, I neglected to keep his arms tight and Scotty instinctively swatted away at the pain, thus dragging the needle from entry point down across his leg.  EEEK!  The corpsman was sure he got the vaccine completely injected before Scotty swatted, but I am not convinced.  It bled for quite awhile and I think the sight of that was worse for him than anything.  Needless to say, it definitely did not help with easing his fears of future visits to the the immunization clinic....

A Happy Halloween

The boys were really excited for Halloween this year. They had a party at their school on Friday and were permitted to dress up, which was fun since most schools don't allow that anymore. Last year Zac was in a stroller but this year he walked our entire development (about 50 houses or so) and hung in there til the very last door. It was a lot of fun to experience their excitement knowing they both fully understood what was going on. Scotty chose to be the exact same thing he was last year, a Seattle football player, and I didn't protest, as I was just happy he wanted to dress up. Zac was a rodeo clown, the costume I made for Scotty two years ago....most people don't know what he is unless Jay is dressed as a cowboy next to him, but this year - ahem - the ol' Wranglers didn't quite fit. Though, perhaps going as a bull would've been more fitting :) It was a good time, the boys got a lot of candy that they don't need and we made some fun memories - dad was home this year to enjoy it with us!

Scotty and Princess Avah

Scotty loved that his teacher was dressed like him

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We headed to the great pumpkin patch and corn maze this past weekend, but I think we waited too long in the season because there were no good pumpkins to be found!  Scotty and Zac managed to salvage two small pumpkins and that was good enough for them.  I guess we'll know better next year to get an earlier start.  The corn maze was fun.  Last year you could see right over all the stalks, so it was lame.  This year they were nice and tall so it was a real maze where you could get lost if you weren't careful.  Lots of fun for the boys!

An October Day at the Beach

she almost caught one!

Scotty had sniffles yesterday so I kept him from school, however he was feeling fine and I wanted to get out of the house.  So I got a crazy idea to head to Ocean Shores, a two hour drive from our house.  It was raining and blustery and cold and the wind was blowing 100 miles an hour (that ought to be good for Scotty's cold), who wouldn't want to be at the beach in those conditions?!?!  But we had a great time beachcombing, chasing birds and digging in the sand.  A little rain never hurt anybody.  We practically had the whole beach to ourselves so we were able to let the dog run around to her hearts content.  It was a lot of fun.

Alaska Grown

I thought these "Alaska Grown" shirts were cute when I saw them on our trip to Alaska, but had no luck finding them in the boys sizes before leaving.  However, my good pal Suzanne finally found them in Juneau and surprised us with them earlier this week.  Scotty was excited to wear his to school today and it was a hit!!  Super cute.  Thanks Suz! 

Grandma's 75th Birthday Party Surprise

Patricia Lou (DeMille) Godfrey, age 16

We hosted my grandma's 75th birthday party at our house and it was a fabulous time.  She and three of her friends traveled over from eastern Washington on Saturday morning and arrived our house around 5 PM.  Meanwhile, the rest of the family arrived around 4 PM and it was a great surprise to her all who were in attendance.  My grandma is very special to me and it made me so happy to have our family and her friends at our house to celebrate this milestone.  She doesn't look 75 nor does she "act" 75, as you would be able to tell by the video clip of her 'gettin jiggy'....so glad I recorded that!!  Of course, thanks in part to the "Bourbon on the Rocks" that Jay kept feeding her all night - my Grandma was loopy and it was HILARIOUS to watch her let loose.  I know everyone had a lot of fun at the party and it was really great to see my grandma so happy and so loved.  Happy Birthday, Grandma....here's to many more!

Helping grandma find her way

The grand entrance

The cake I had made and the collage of pictures of the family

59 years later....

The Grandkids and Great-Grandkids

(seven other kids were missing unfortunately - but the most important ones were there :))

Bye Bye Baseball :(

We brought the boys to the last Mariners game of the season yesterday.  It was a beautiful Fall day in Seattle and it was Zac's very first baseball game. 

Zac checking things out

The boys were totally engaged in all the goings on

MMMM gotta have garlic fries a.k.a. Rally Fries :)

The Ms played a great game and ended a winning season with 84 wins, 77 losses.  Third place in the American League West.  A record that no one expected after last year's heartbreaking 101 losses.  It's amazing what a new General Manager, a new Manager, lots of new young players and a few older ones can do to improve a sinking program.  They called it the rebuilding process, something the Ms have long been overdue, and the new slogan this year was 'A New Day, A New Way'.  A new way indeed.  Manager Don Wakamatsu refers to a "belief system" that the players embraced and it is definitely what made things happen this year.  Despite lots of injuries and setbacks, they prevailed and it was the most enjoyable season to watch.  It beats the year they had 116 wins and all the years they made it to the playoffs.  This year was magical for a lot of reasons and I am so glad we were a part of it from start to finish.  No one knows if Griffey will be back next year, but his comeback year is something we will never forget, even if he was only batting .214!!!  He is a hero in every sense of the word.  The impact he had on the team and the fans is immeasurable, and he is definitely one of the main reasons this year was so special.

Griffey

The players saying goodbye to each other,

a rare show of comaraderie and emotion in professional sports